Mechanisation of peat extraction and the peat bedding factory
1914 to 1962
In 1914, the company Steegh & Esser from Venlo builds a peat litter factory at Broekheurne railway station. This factory is mainly focussed on peat extraction in the German Amtsvenn. The peat is delivered by lorries pulled on a narrow-gauge track. Peat litter bales are produced in the factory. Operations cease in 1962. By this time, little of the original 1,900 hectares of peatland remained.
In 1938, a small peat bedding factory was also built in Aamsveen by the Twentse Turf Maatschappij company. This factory is located on the Horsterveldweg and Lappenpad to the east of the Schaapskamp area. In addition to peat litter, it also produced pressed peat for the brickworks in Alstätte. The business is sold in 1957, but a major peat fire breaks out before the sale is notarised. The entire peat stock goes up in flames. Although compensation is paid, peat extraction is subsequently discontinued. Little remains of the two peat mills. The narrow-gauge tracks were dismantled and the route was never recorded on a map.
