Dijkman Klompenatelier Salland - Luttenberg

To anyone who questions the art of clog-making in the 1920s and 21st century, Martin Dijkman (57, fourth-generation Salland clogmaker) has this to say: 'It sounds corny. It isn't.' Dijkman carves, chisels and planes Armani clogs, skating clogs, clogs with heels à la Katrien Duck ('very nicely painted red') and skeeler clogs with wooden wheels from pieces of poplar or willow wood that are, say, 40 years old. Those special clogs are not for sale in the shop, but purely 'for show, for entertainment'.

During demonstrations for groups and parties, in his Dijkman Klompenatelier in Luttenberg, Martin Dijkman indeed turns them into a complete show. Not for nothing does he speak of 'performances' and does not shy away from comparing himself to Twente dry comedian Herman Finkers. 'It is a unique profession,' Dijkman says of the craft of hand-clogging, of which seven professional practitioners remain in the Netherlands. Coincidence or not, most of them are in the east and north-east of the country: the Achterhoek, Twente and Salland regions.