Here at Leek Nub News we post around 20 - 25 articles a week all about lovely Leek.

But did you know there is another Leek, located around 350 miles away and across the sea?

As well as being the name of our town here in the Staffordshire Moorlands, Leek is also is a village and former municipality in Groningen province in the northeastern Netherlands.

The municipality, which bordered the Drenthe and Friesland provinces, was merged into the municipality of Westerkwartier on 1 January 2019.

The village grew around a fortification that was constructed there during the Eighty Years' War with Spain. The name 'Leek' was derived from a brook, the Leke.

The town is sometimes also called De Leek. In Dutch, the people from Leek are called Leeksters.

Every year around Pentecost there is a fair (Pinkstermarkt), drawing thousands of people from the area, and near to the village is a shallow lake, called Het Leekstermeer, with recreational facilities.

The main attraction in the village is the Nienoord estate, which was founded in 1508.

A manor house in the estate is home to the National Carriage Museum, which is home to various types of carriages and sleighs from the 18th to the 20th century. The 250 coaches in the museum's collection were used by farmers, the common man, noblemen and royalty.

Also on the estate is a recreational park with several model railways.

The area is also known for its 12th century churches, which are built in the Romano-Gothic style.

So that's what life is like in a town hundreds of miles away that happens to share a name with us here in Leek!

Do we share many similarities other than the name? Maybe, maybe not, but perhaps they would also be interested to learn about their namesake over in Staffordshire, England.