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Another sight, prior to the Procession.  All the cheap (free) seats along the wall of the Dijver quai are already taken up. But, for now, a different priority is on the agenda. 
Today will be an especially busy one : it is "Heritage Day" and, from 10:00 a.m., it will be "open house" in many places which are otherwise wholly inaccessible, and thus impossible to visit.  Have no fear : Blog from Bruges is on the trail, camera at the ready.

Vessels could still be seen here at The Langerei till the beginning of the twentieth century. Somtimes, the ships would even anchor quite farther up, deep inside the city, as far as the Jan Van Eyck square.  However, since then, a few more recent bridges have been built across the Langerei. This one, the Snaggaard bridge, is one of those. It was named after the Snaggaard family, who had a house near the actual site of the bridge, as far back as the years 1100-1200.  

The small sign here refers to the earlier name of this house, which fronts on the Fishmarket while its backside is on the Huidevettersplein (The Tanners' square). Ihe sign reads "In Sint Jacob 1626".

This is the other side of "The Golden Carp" house, on the Fishmarket. It is now indeed a fishmonger, where previously it was the café "In the Jacob", which belonged to the De Meulemeester family. François De Meulemeester did also business on the fishmarket proper. In order to help the fishmongers in keeping the market clean, as was their duty, the city made some improvements, in 1900,  to the ancient waterpump, which had been there since 1859. Contrary to the other waterpumps of Bruges, which were all simple handpumps in those times, this one was equipped with a pressure-system. And thus, De Meulemeester could spray the market clean himself.
During the years that followed this "improvement", the pump, which was dismantled during the war, became a bone of contention between the Market Master and the technical services of the city. Now it was holes, then it was obstructions, and the waterhose was quite often out of commission and it took its glorious time before agreeing to replace it. Rather than considering that the Reie, from where the water was pumped, was fouled up, the city's technicians said that De Meulemeester didn't know how to use the pump properly, that he did not hang the hose on its hooks but left it lying any which way on the ground, that he...François De Meulemeester, who did not want to sweep the dirt away before spraying the market, argumented that the pressure was inadequate, that the inspector "had it in for him...", that... And so on, and so on...In 1913 the city settled the problem by simply appointing a new Market Master, a certain Schaeverbeke. But... the problem of the waterpump did not go away.
The pump was eventually replaced with the one that used to be on the Rozenhoedkaai (the Rosehat quay), but with world war 2, this pump disappeared as well.

The situation now is as follows : de "Kleine Vismarkt" (the Small Fishmarket) has become the "Huidevettersplein" (the Tanners' Square) and the fishwives have disappeared.. A painter has replaced them and, when the weather allows, you can find him there, painting scenes and sites of Bruges in watercolours, and, naturally, selling them. The old cafés have become tea-rooms and restaurants where, from Easter till October, you can sit on the terrace. The café "in de Jacob" (in the Jacob) is now "den gouden karpel" (the Golden Carp).

Laat ik het eens hebben over een \'petite histoire\' uit het begin van de twintigste eeuw.  De grote geschiedenis van koningen, opstanden en oorlogen is belangrijk om weten, maar minstens zo belangrijk is de geschiedenis van de kleine man en zijn kleine voorvallen.
Wat nu het Huidevettersplein noemt was vroeger gekend onder de benaming \'Kleine Vismarkt\'.  Daar werd, zoals de benaming laat vermoeden, de kleine vis verhandeld door de visvrouwen.  De marktuitbating vroeger werd, zoals nu nog altijd gebeurt op markten, in huur gegeven aan marktmeesters.  Die pachters van de markt moesten, als de markt gedaan was, die schoonmaken.  Waarschijnlijk eerder ook al, maar zeker tussen 1900 en 1913 was de marktmeester van dienst een zekere François De Meulemeester.  Ik ben op die geschiedenis gestoten omdat ik vroeger eens de stamboom van mijn vrouw uitgeplozen heb.  Tot dertien generaties voor haar (ik spreek dan van de jaren 1650) woonde haar familie al in Brugge.  Die François de Meulemeester, afkomstig van Houtave, niet zo ver van Brugge, was de oom van de grootvader van mijn vrouw.
Deze foto van Flori Van Acker is genomen in 1905 en misschien is die manspersoon op de foto wel François De Meulemeester.  Deze foto is op metersgroot formaat tentoongesteld in de Volkskundig Museum.  Let op de benaming van het café \'in de Jacob estaminet\'.  De Meulemeester hield dit café open, samen met zijn vrouw en zijn vele kinderen.

With this photo,  I will be giving you a short historical side light. We are at the beginning of the 20th century. While it is important to know the grand historical involving concerning kings, revolts and wars, now and again, happenings on a smaller scale and concerning the ordinary man, prove to be just as important... within the overall scheme of everyday life.
What is now known as the Huidevettersplein (Tanners\' Square) was previously named \"de Kleine Vismarkt\" (the Small Fishmarket.) There,  as the name indicates, fish was being sold to the people of Bruges. The stalls were mainly operated by fishwives. Then, just as is still the practice now, the general administration, as well as the right to rent out space on the market was handled by a Market Master. At the closing of the market-day, the fishmongers had to clean the market. Between 1900 and 1913, and maybe even before that, the Market Masterer was a certain François De Meulemeester. I happened on the story while, some time ago, I did some research for my wife\'s family tree. Indeed, her ancestors have lived in Bruges as long as thirteen generations ago (read : the year 1650). This François De Meulemeester, who was from Houtave, not so far away from Bruges, was the uncle of my wife\'s grandfather. This is a photo of Flori Van Acker, taken in 1905, and the man in the picture is thought to be François De Meulemeester. A meter-sized reproduction of this photo hangs in the Volkskundig Museum. Check the name of the café \"in the Jacob estaminet\" : François De Meulemeester was the owner of the café and this is where he and his wife, and their numerous children, worked and lived.

 
A look at the Minnewater Castle and the adjoining park, as seen from the Minnewater bridge. The castle is \"only\" 109 years old. Architect Charles De Wulf drew some inspiration from the 16th century late-gothic style when he drew the plans. Which is why the castle may look older than it really is.

Minnewater = Lovewater. Any citizen of Bruges will tell you that, when you stand on the Minnebrug (the Love Bridge) and look in the water, you will see the person for whom you have the greatest love of all... Absolutely true!