Almelo, Zenderen, Aadorp

Anyone who travels with a tent will recognise it: one of those fine, sturdy cotton tents. Chances are that it is made of fabric from Ten Cate, an international company that has been making a name for itself in the world of textiles for centuries. The Ten Cate family started making fabric in Almelo as early as 1691, and grew to become one of the most important players in the textile industry in the 19th century. Its directors were even called ‘textile barons’! Egbert IV was the last of those textile barons, before the family business merged with the Royal Steam Weaving Company.

During this route, you cycle past special places that remind you of the flourishing textile industry and the prosperity it brought to Almelo. The Watertoren and the old Steam Cotton Spinning Mill have a different function nowadays, but still show you how impressive the factory buildings from that time were.

Linked to Almelo's prosperity but not to the textile industry is Huis Almelo, a 13th-century manor house. This impressive house is privately owned, so unfortunately cannot be visited, but the driveway leading to it is a picture in itself! This lane is called Gravenallee because this is where the wealthier inhabitants of Almelo used to live, in beautiful houses that were a great contrast to the modest workers' dwellings of the past.

Want a historic tour of Almelo? Choose this route and cycle through nature and the city centre.