The 'Blauwe Kei'
The ‘Blauwe Kei’ borrows its name from a large blue slate that was allegedly brought here by the River Meuse in the course of the ace ages, when boulders from the south were dragged along by a mighty stream of glaciers and meltwater.
The combination of canals, the sluice valve complex, the work of art by Michel Franssens and the cosy pavements make the ‘Blauwe Kei’ one of the tourist draws of Lommel.
The ‘Blauwe Kei’ is also a popular halting place on the cycle route network.
The canal Bocholt-Herentals (in popular speech the Meuse-Scheldt canal) is renowned for its locks. Seen from Antwerp, lock number 1 in Lommel ‘Blauwe Kei’ is the last lock on this Kempen canal. It is the first lock that you pass if you come from Bocholt at the junction of the canal and the ‘Zuid-Willemsvaart’. In Herentals the canal Bocholt-Herentals joins the