Wijk D. The connection between Valkenswaard and Leende. Piet Vrencken has lived here all his life. The Vrencken family lived in buildings of the Loudon family, which also owned the entire Valkenhorst area. The buildings of Wijk D tell stories. Both from the mouths of the residents and from the things found there.

 

At that time, the Vrencken family lived opposite the building where he currently lives. The father of the family worked for the Loudon family as a gamekeeper. In the middle of the night, Piet's father got up to light the family's heating. He and about 30 staff made sure that there was enough wood in the winter day to keep the Loudon villa warm. Piet's father did this for most of his life, but at a certain point became physically too much for him.

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At the moment there is therefore little more to do as a gamekeeper, according to Piet. "The hunt used to open on October 15, but we were already busy with the poachers a month in advance. We picked it up. ' Game wardens had police authority at the time. They were allowed to stop people and stop cars for control. "I've been through a lot in those woods. Poachers often drove in the middle of the night. Those hare-white dogs that had been trained walked past their car. The poachers drove into the wind across the meadows and the dogs would catch the hares. "It was Piet's job to stop them. He has been through many things there, he says. "Beautiful and ugly things. Fights, shootings and shots at cars. Sometimes they even came to my wife's door at night to bore us at home. Then they were shouting: "Is he at home, that filthy thing?" That sometimes became quite dangerous. "

 

Piet also consciously experienced the war. It was very busy in the neighborhood around Market Garden. The English were billeted in the buildings of Wijk D. Refugees from Valkenswaard also came here. 'Because it was getting so busy, my father wanted us to go to the neighbors. It was full of tanks and military vehicles so he thought it was too dangerous for us. We then went to a few farms further on: the Heezerhut. We sat there for about 5 days until Valkenswaard was liberated. But gossip was circulating about the family we ended up with. They were thought to be "not good." They were a bit on the German side. "

 

When Valkenswaard was liberated, the soldiers moved on to Heeze. But the family where Piet's family stayed turned out to be no longer safe. As soon as the English got a view of the Heezer Hut, they fired. Because the Heezerhut had to be destroyed. After all, they were blacklisted. They were German-minded people. But when the shooting started, we were hiding in the cowshed. My eldest sister lay down in such a ditch from the fright. But when the English were shooting at the Heezerhut, my sister was shot in the knee. At the time she was still in St. Jozef in Eindhoven. '

 

Piet talks enthusiastically about all the beautiful things, but also all the evil he has experienced in

District D. One thing is certain: you can write a book about it.