With a barge carrying peat from Worpswede bound for Bremen, a skipper had to use the rivers Hamme, Lesum and Wümme. The journey took about three to four days. In the year 1754 a project was started to connect the newly founded village of Tüschendorf with the river Hamme. The canal, called Alte Semkenfahrt, had to make an arc to pass the hill of Weyerberg, then joining the river Hamme.