Every design for Meppel

Stand on the Prinsenbrug, the lifting bridge over the Gasgracht, and Meppel's life as a canal town is right beneath your feet. This stretch of water was dug open again in 2008, after much of the town's network had been filled in during the twentieth century.

What sets Meppel apart is the way water threads through a dense old centre. The canals carry the names Heerengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, which is why the town is sometimes called the Mokum of the North, and pleasure boats still find their way in. For centuries peat from all over Drenthe passed through here, from the Drentsche Hoofdvaart and the Hoogeveense Vaart down the Meppelerdiep towards Zwartsluis and the Zuiderzee. Beyond the squares and the Grote of Mariakerk, the Wilhelminapark and the Rosarium give the town room to breathe.

And then there are the mosquitoes. Locals are Meppeler Muggen, after the tale of a swarm once mistaken for smoke pouring from the church tower.