The Woudagemaal Steam Pumping Station

Friesland sits low and wet, and in 1920 it got the machine that keeps it drained: steam engines in a long brick hall on the IJsselmeer shore, driving pumps that lift water out of the provincial system and throw it into the lake. It is the largest steam pumping station ever built and it still does the job, which is the rare part. For most of the year it stands cold and is shown as a monument, with the polished flywheels, the boiler house and the original fittings left as they were. When rainfall pushes the water too high the crew fires the boilers and the whole hall works, hot, loud and open to visitors on those days.

What you actually see

• The engine hall - the row of steam engines and their flywheels down the length of the building.
• The boiler house - where the fires are lit when the station is called on.
• The pumps and outflow - water being lifted out of the Frisian canals and thrown into the IJsselmeer.
• The visitor centre - the explanation of how a province is kept dry and of the levels it is set against.

When to go

Guided tours run through much of the year, but the station only steams when the water asks for it, usually in the wetter months, and those days are announced at short notice. If seeing it run matters, watch the announcements and be ready to travel. In quiet periods the hall is cold, clean and much easier to photograph.

Honest expectations

For most visits nothing is moving, which disappoints people who came for a working engine. The commentary is technical and heavy on water management, and English provision is thin at times. Lemmer is awkward to reach without a car. On steaming days the hall is hot, deafening and crowded, and tickets go quickly.

Nearby

Lemmer harbour and the IJsselmeer shore, with the Frisian lakes north of the town.