Hem, Netherlands

Blokdijk is a hamlet in the municipality of Drechterland, in the Dutch province of North Holland. Until 2006, Blokdijk was part of the municipality Venhuizen.Both Blokdijk and De Hout are formally a part of Wijdenes. Blokdijk arose at the dyke from Hoorn to Venhuizen. It was first mentioned in 1402 as Block-dyck, and means "enclosed pasture near a dike". Blokdijk does not have place name signs.

Oosterleek is a village in the municipality of Drechterland, in the Dutch province North Holland. The village used to belong to the municipalities Venhuizen (1970–2006) and Wijdenes (pre-1970). Oosterleek was first noted on a map in 1311 as Oesterleke, in which oester means "eastern" and leke means "stream". This name was supposedly a reference to the fact that the village was located to the east of a stream. During the 17th century, it was a fishing village which was home to a population of about 500 people.Nowadays, a small bit of Oosterleek lays in the Markermeer, because the levee was moved westwards to guarantee full safety. It is said that this part included a church. The current church was built in 1694. The church was decommissioned in 1972, and is nowadays used for weddings, expositions and concerts. It is also home to local library.

Westerwijzend is a hamlet in the municipality of Drechterland, in the Dutch province of North-Holland. Westerwijzend lays just to the west of where the Wijzend canal used to bend southwards from Binnenwijzend. To the east of the former Wijzend is Oosterwijzend. Nowadays, Oosterwijzend and Westerwijzend are being separated by a paved road beginning in Hoogkarspel. Westerwijzend is the bigger hamlet of the two, and is formally considered a part of Hoogkarspel. The occupation of the southern part of the hamlet is mostly agricultural. The northern part is untilled, and borders the Zaandam-Enkhuizen railway.

Venhuizen (Dutch: [vɛnˈɦœyzə(n)] ; West Frisian: Fenhúze) is a town in the north-western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia, in the municipality of Drechterland. Venhuizen was a separate municipality until 1 January 2006, when it was merged with the existing municipality of Drechterland. It was decided to call the new municipality Drechterland. On a map of the Hollands Noorderkwartier from 1288 is Venhuizen mentioned as Veenhusen. The name could be referring to houses at or in the fen. The Dutch Reformed church dates from the 15th century. The other large church is the Roman Catholic St. Lucaskerk (St. Lucas church), built in 1956. It's also locally called the tough (robust) church (nl: stoere).

Hoogkarspel is a railway station in Hoogkarspel, Netherlands. The station opened on 6 June 1885 and is located between Hoorn and Enkhuizen. The station is on the Zaandam–Enkhuizen railway. The station and services are operated Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The current station building dates from 1965.

Oosterwijzend is a hamlet in the municipality of Drechterland, in the Dutch province of North-Holland. Oosterwijzend lays just to the east of where the canal the Wijzend used to bend southwards from Binnenwijzend. To the west of the former Wijzend is Westerwijzend. Nowadays, Oosterwijzend and Westerwijzend are being separated by a paved road beginning in Hoogkarspel. Oosterwijzend is the smaller hamlet of the two, and is formally considered a part of Hoogkarspel. The occupation of the southern part of the hamlet is mostly agricultural. The northern part is untilled, and borders the Zaandam-Enkhuizen railway. Oosterwijzend has a small industry area, called Zuiderwijzend.

Hoogkarspel (West Frisian: Hougkarspel) is a village in the municipality Drechterland, located in the north west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. The name derives from the words hoog (Dutch for "high") and kerspel, a Middle Dutch word for parish. Hoogkarspel was a separate municipality until 1979, when it was merged into the new municipality of Bangert, which has been renamed to Drechterland in 1980.

The Hoogkarspel water tower is a water tower in Hoogkarspel, Netherlands built in 1930. Its architect is W. Mensert, who worked for PWN at the time. The tower is 49,1 metres tall and has two water reservoirs of 600 and 400 m3, and is an official rijksmonument. It has no current use. The tower is located in the centre of the village, which is remarkable, since water towers of this height can usually only be found at barely inhabited places.

Drechterland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈdrɛxtərlɑnt] ) is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. The municipality was formed in 1979, in a merger of the former municipalities of Hoogkarspel, Westwoud and Oosterblokker. Its original name, Bangert, was changed to "Drechterland" in 1980. In 2006, the former municipality of Venhuizen was added to Drechterland.

Wijdenes (West Frisian: Venès) is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is located in the municipality of Drechterland and the region of West-Frisia. The village was first mentioned around 1312 as Widenesse, and means "wide headland". Wijdenes started as a peat excavation settlement in the 12th century. In 1282, a castle was built near the village by the count of Holland, but it was destroyed in 1296 by armies of West-Frisia.The Dutch Reformed church was built in 1619 after the medieval church burnt down in 1616. The tower is from around 1500 and the balustrade and spire were added in 1839. The church is no longer in service, and is used as a recording studio and residential home.Wijdenes was home to 347 people in 1840. It was a separate municipality between 1817 and 1970, when it was merged with Venhuizen.

Lutjebroek is a village in the Netherlands. It is part of the municipality of Stede Broec. Lutjebroek has a population of just over 2000 people. In colloquial Dutch, Lutjebroek has become synonymous with "any insignificant speck on the map". This is probably due to the comical sound of the name: the Dutch word luttel is akin to the English word "little" and broek is Dutch for "pants". However, broek as used in Lutjebroek and other Dutch geographical names means swamp. Lutjebroek takes its name from the small swamp that existed nearby when the place was settled. The village is close to Grootebroek (Groote is Dutch for large).

Martinuscollege is a secondary school in Grootebroek in the northwest Netherlands. It combines both lower and upper secondary education under the principle of "2 under 1 roof". All forms of secondary education are available, including LWO (leerwegondersteunend onderwijs), VMBO (voorbereidend middelbaar beroepsonderwijs), HAVO (Higher General Secondary Education), and gymnasium. The school attracts students from other towns including Andijk, Venhuizen, Wervershoof, Hoogkarspel, Bovenkarspel, Hem, Enkhuizen, Hoorn and Westwoud.