Overhalla municipality in Namdalen, with almost 4,000 inhabitants, is one of the larger Namdal municipalities in terms of population. It was a special name for a municipality, you might be thinking, which ‘hall‘ are we talking about? But the name has a completely natural explanation. After the national assembly, Namdalen was divided into two parts, and the upper half of Naumdølafylke was called ‘œfri halfa‘ (“Upper half”) in Norse: Overhalla simple as that.
Overhalla was populated a long time ago. In the municipality, archaeologists have excavated remains of settlements from 1000 BC, a number of burial mounds, burial stones and other finds, including the Hunna sword. Of old stuff, however, Ranem church from 1187 is the most eye-catching. The church burned in 1899, but has been beautifully rebuilt with a wooden roof and tower.
Tobatheornottobathe has become very interested in waterfall bathing, but it is not always easy to find suitable pools below them. And especially in Namsen, as it floats quietly and nicely mile after mile. We really wondered if the ‘Queen of the Rivers‘ herself had a bathing secret or two for us. The question was: Are there any fun swimming spots here? We got a tip about ‘Sælkhylla‘ or ‘Sellægshylla‘, about 10 km from Ranemsletta, on the south side of the river.
Sælkhylla is a great place! Here you can swim carefully in the small bay within the rapids, or you can go onto the rocks.
The height of water determines how far out you reach, but we made it to the nearest reefs at least.
Then there were discussions. We didn’t have any wetsuits with us, and the conclusion was that we shouldn’t try to float through the current.
But – we found a nice jacuzzi, perfect for a bubble bath!
However, some caution should be taken. It is said that a girl drowned here a long time ago, and the body was found in Namsos 3 weeks later. Be careful!