Poeke Castle

Aalter (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈaːltər] ) is a municipality located between Bruges and Ghent in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Aalter, Bellem, Lotenhulle, Poeke, Knesselare and Ursel. It is bordered on the north by Maldegem, on the east by Zomergem and Nevele, on the south by Deinze, and on the west by the province of West Flanders. The mayor is Pieter De Crem.Effective 1 January 2019, the municipality of Knesselare was merged into Aalter. Aalter was home to 29,242 people in 2021.

The Battle of Axspoele (sometimes Axpoele or Thielt) took place on 21 June 1128 on the landed estate of the lords of Axpoele in the County of Flanders between William Clito and Thierry of Alsace. The two men were rivals for the title of Count of Flanders. William had been appointed to the title by Louis VI of France following the 1127 murder of Charles the Good but Thierry, cousin of Charles, had the support of Henry I of England. In 1128, Thierry secured the support of a number of Flemish cities, although most of the nobility supported William. Thierry led a force of 300 mounted men-at-arms and 1,500 infantrymen to Axspoele on 19 June to lay siege to a castle held by one of William's supporters. William was aware of Thierry's movements and moved with a force of 450 men-at-arms to raise the siege. On arrival he recognized that most of Thierry's army was infantry and decided to give battle. He positioned two-thirds of his force on a hill in sight of Thierry's army and held the remainder in reserve, hidden on the reverse slope. Thierry ordered his cavalry to attack; after a brief engagement William ordered a feigned retreat and his reserves crushed Thierry's pursuing horsemen. This caused panic among Thierry's infantry who broke and fled, with William's men in close pursuit. However, William's victory was short-lived, as he died around a month later from a wound sustained in another action, and Thierry became Count of Flanders.

Aalter is a railway station in Aalter, East Flanders, Belgium. The station opened on 12 August 1838 on the Line 50A. The train services are operated by NMBS/SNCB. The current building was built in 1984 by architect Jacques Devincke.

British European Airways Flight 706 (BE706/BEA706) was a scheduled international passenger flight from United Kingdom to Salzburg, Austria. On 2 October 1971, whilst en route at 19,000 feet (5,791 m), the Vickers Vanguard suffered a failure with its rear cabin pressure bulkhead. The resulting depressurisation of the tail section caused the surfaces of the tailplanes to separate. The aircraft entered an uncontrollable dive and crashed near Aarsele, Belgium, killing all 63 passengers and crew on impact. A piece of debris from the aircraft struck a passing car, causing minor injuries to one of its occupants. United Kingdom AAIB concluded that the failure of the rear pressure bulkhead had been caused by undetected corrosion located at the rear of the aircraft. The corrosion couldn't be noticed by crew due to the inspection technique that had been applied by BEA. Numerous pressurization cycles caused the crack to grow, weakening the rear pressure bulkhead until the structure was unable to withstand further repeated stress.

Aarsele is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a subdivision of the city of Tielt.

Kanegem is a Belgian locality, part of the municipality of Tielt, in the eastern part of the province of West Flanders. This rural locality is known as the "Green Village".

Bellem is a village and deelgemeente (sub-municipality) in the municipality of Aalter in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The village was originally called Bethlehem. Bellem is located about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of Ghent.

Ruiselede (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrœy̯səˌleːdə]; West Flemish: Ruuslee; historically Ruysselede) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. This town only comprises the town of Ruiselede proper. On January 1, 2006, Ruiselede had a total population of 5,113. The total area is 30.20 km2 which gives a population density of 169 inhabitants per km2. Ruiselede was the location of a coastal radio site. From 1923 to 1940 it had a VLF aerial. On 30 December 1933, the mast was demolished when an aircraft collided with it.

Machelen, or in full Machelen-aan-de-Leie, is a village in the municipality of Zulte in the province of East Flanders of Belgium. It was the hometown of the painter Roger Raveel.

The Vinkt massacre (Dutch: Bloedbad van Vinkt) was a war crime committed by German soldiers in the villages of Vinkt and Meighem in East Flanders on 26–28 May 1940 during the Battle of the Lys. Between 86 and 140 civilians were deliberately killed by Wehrmacht troops from the 377th Infantry Regiment of the 225th Infantry Division, supposedly in retaliation for the Belgian Army's resistance in the village.

Hansbeke is a village and deelgemeente (sub-municipality) in the municipality of Deinze in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The village is located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west of Ghent.

Museum van Deinze en de Leiestreek (Dutch for 'Museum of Deinze and the Leie region'), also known as mudel, is a museum of fine arts and folklore located in the city of Deinze, Belgium. The permanent exhibition displays exclusively artworks produced by artists who worked or lived in the region from about 1879 to today as well as folkloristic objects.