The best walks and hikes around Menen

The Preshoek ecotunnel was opened in early 2021 and is the first of its kind in all of West Flanders. Large and small animals can safely move under the E403 via this tunnel. It increases traffic safety and ensures a better connection of the nature-rich zones in the vicinity of the Preshoekbos. In the summer of 2022, David Duits painted the dividing wall between the ecotunnel and the roadway, with animals of course: from owl to frog to hedgehog.

The name "17 October forest" refers to the day in 1918 when Lauwe was liberated. On that day, Lieutenant George William Edendale WHITEHEAD & Second Lieutenant Reginald Hopkin Hill GRIFFITHS M.C. were shot down from the air by a German machine gun. They died on the field of "Farm Verbrugge". Source: information board on site

The current Sint-Bavokerk of Lauwe was built in Neo-Gothic style in 1877-1879. It was erected next to the site where the previous, Gothic church stood, which was demolished in 1880-1882 due to its overly advanced state of disrepair. That church dated from the end of the 14th century. But that was not the first church in Lauwe either. In 1143, the first stone church already stood here, and even earlier, a wooden mission church. The current church was initially surrounded by a cemetery and a wall. The wall was demolished in 1940, the cemetery was cleared and is now a parking lot. In 2000, the church was fully restored. Inside, you will find, among other things, two old confessionals. Source: Wikipedia

ideal location for a stop along the way...

Nice cool trail road combination

The official name of the historic farm in which Restaurant Kasteelhoeve is now located is actually "Kasteelhof", as the wooden sign states (also the name of the street in front). The history goes back to the middle of the 14th century, when the lordship "ten Bulcke", a split from the lordship of Rekkem, was created. Ten Bulcke was governed by the noble families of Rekkem, van Walem and d'Ablaing until the French Revolution. Ten Bulcke is a so-called 'flying lordship': it has no foncier, which means that the lord did not reside there. In the Ancien Régime, the farm was probably the residence of the bailiff of the lordship of ten Bulcke, a fief of the castle of Kortrijk. The oldest mention of the farm is in the Rentebouck vande heerlichede vanden Bulcke inde prochie van reckem… from 1618. On a figurative plan, the farm is shown as a rectangular brick volume. The initially open entrance was later replaced by a gatehouse. The current farm has a mainly 19th-century appearance, except for the early 17th-century residence or former bailiff's house. Source: Inventory of Immovable Heritage

A blind wall at the entrance to the Vrije Basisschool Kaspar was given a street art look. Contrary to what could be found here and there on the internet, the work is not by Jatse Verschoore - he told me himself - but by Pieter Jan Boone, the Lauwenaar with whom Verschoore collaborated several times, including in setting up a street art walk in Kortrijk and a large work on a wall of the Streuvelshuis in Heule. The work by Boone, alias "Jucte", that you see here in Rekkem has suffered somewhat from 'the ravages of time'.

As part of the "Menen Muurt" project, the city council of Menen had a number of highly visible facades painted by local artists. The first work in that series can be found here, directly opposite the St. Nicholas Church in Rekkem, where Dirk Steppe started working on six intertwining Breughelian scenes in 2019. On the right in the background, the painter has smuggled himself into the work as a kind of cameo. More about the artist: https://frockgallery.com/nl/shop?artist=25