West, on the outer side of the island Senja, in Bøvær, is the Crow Castle. This place is a pearl! We were celebrating a number of covid-postponed milestones in the family of Idun’s older brother Frode. As the family is quite big, we needed some space to meet. And both space and atmosphere you can find in the Crow Castle. There are several living rooms:
A Løwø family’s party at Kråkeslottet. Photo: Anette Løwø
… and bedrooms. Many bedrooms. Or, in fact, some of the bedrooms are probably what you could call sleeping places. Check out this favorite:
Bedroom or bedplace?
Yes, you can actually sleep here. With a beautiful ceiling made from an old door:
Artistic ceiling and artistic lamp.
… and when you put down your foot in the morning, there is a direct view into the sea.
A panorama view or just looking down?
Bøvær is a tiny community. The population has decreased from 17 in the year 2000 to only 8 people in 2015. The fish house is no longer used for unloading fish, it is used for art, concerts, cafè, events and celebrations. And swimming! Here, it is easy peasy to bathe – just jump into the beautiful sea from the quay. For those of you who are afraid of cold water – there is a sauna at Kråkeslottet. With a small hint concerning where the disperse water for the sauna oven should NOT be collected:
NB! The sauna water is to be taken from the shower.
Another poster made it very clear that shouting in or by the water after 9 pm is not very popular among the neighbours. There are plenty of them, as you already know.
Night in Bøvær.
We were at Kråkeslottet for a whole weekend, and did bathe both night and day. Without shouting! It should be possible to enter 13 degree celcius water without yelling, right?
Morning bath at Bøvær. No need to shout, just enjoy. Photo: Egil Hestnes
Some did more advanced diving than others: (Ulvhild salto)
On October 13th 1899, the port of Titran was full of fishing boats. Lots of herring had arrived, and fishermen from all of Mid-Norway hoped to make good money. This was at a turning point between the old and the new times. There were many traditional fishing boats built for sails and oars, but also some larger ships with steam engines.
Titran anno 2022. No fishing boats in sight.
Many were those who had a bad feeling before they left for sea. Friday the 13th made them feel insecure, in addition to a falling barometer pressure. But the desire for profit, how to handle that? Nobody wanted to stay ashore and watch the other fishermen go to sea and collect boatloads of the ‘silver of the sea’. By six o’clock in the afternoon, most of the fishing teams had placed the nets in the sea. Years later quite a lot of the survivors said that they had seen a warning, a ‘Merman’ who got up from the sea and looked towards them, but they did not take notice of it.
Titran. Here you could cross the bay on foot in the old days, when herring fishing was at its peak.
At about two o’clock after midnight, the fishing fleet was attacked by a storm. A survivor, from one of the steamships, later told that he was thrown out of bed, because the wind came so suddenly. The sky cracked with icy rain, hail and gusts of wind that tore sails and rudder to pieces. The smaller boats tried to find their way back to Titran, but it was impossible. The night was dark, no visibility in such rain and wind. 31 boats went down, and 140 fishermen lost their lives. Of those who survived, many were aboard the larger ships that stayed at ocean all night in the storm, instead of trying to find a harbor. During the whole night they were waiting for the wind to reduce and the sun to rise. This is how they avoided the dangerous waters off Frøya in the gloom and darkness of the night.
Old Sletringen Lighthouse. From the Information board by Høynesveien, Titran.
After the accident, a nationwide fundraising campaign was launched for the bereaved. There were many widows who were left alone, crying with their flock of children. The collection was very successful, it raised over a million NOK. Idun’s grandfather, Emil Herje, interviewed survivors and widows, and has written about the Titran Accident. These are strong stories. In many families, all the adult men disappeared that very night. Fathers, sons and brothers often fished from the same boat. According to tradition, many men took care of the money in the family and kept it with them at all times. Therefore all the family savings disappeared into the sea together with the man.
‘When will he return?’ Memorial to the Titran Accident, by Kristoffer Leirdal. Unveiled at the 50th anniversary in 1949.
When the accident occurred, Sletringen lighthouse outside Titran was brand new. This led to a lot of criticism. The lighthouse, with its 20 m was too low, and the light did not go far enough. It was decided to build a new and taller lighthouse, and the result was a new cast iron lighthouse which, with it’s 46 meters is Norway’s tallest lighthouse. The name comes from the island where it is placed, which is ‘slett’ (plain). The old timber house was moved to Sandstad by Hitra island, where it still makes use as a lighthouse (Terningen).
Sletringen lighthouse is now the landmark it was supposed to be.
Between Titran and Sletringen there is an infinity of islets and reefs. Could it be a good idea to swim to Sletringen? After some study of maps, we came to the conclusion that we had to do a variation of the sport known as ‘Swim-Run’, if the Tobatheornottobathe-people were to reach Sletringen without motorized help. The speed of some of the participants is not very impressive, so it is tempting to translate Swim-Run to ‘Walk-Swim’ in this case. For the occasion, we dragged with us a not insignificant amount of luggage, including an inflatable boat. We did not stress the time schedule, the most important thing was to come home without any accidents.
Walking towards Sletringen Lighthouse.
From Høynesvegen we went northwest as far as we could, and then started swimming. We wore wet suits, gloves, wet socks and fins. We crossed three narrow ‘channels’ on the way outwards. At first we changed from regular shoes to wet socks/fins and back again, but after a few times we got tired of it. Knut managed well, he had also a pair of wet shoes in his luggage, but Idun’s wet socks did not survive the trip. In advance, we had thought a bit about this thing with high or low tide, but on closer thought, it was not very important. Actually, we could spend a whole day on the trip if necessary. And the tour turned out quite exciting (but not dangerous!). Especially when crossing a small channel, where the current was so strong that it felt like crossing a flooded river instead of the ocean.
Crossing a river or crossing a channel?
After passing three channels and as many islands, we were ready for ‘The big crossing’ over to the lighthouse. It is about 250 meters open water to Sletringen. The weather was fantastic, no wind or waves. But still – the swells really broke against the shears on each side of the lighthouse. Idun was very thoughtful. “I reserve the right to turn back as soon as I notice there is too much current!” Idun said. And then we set off. There was no current! Not scary at all, this absolutely beautiful day. Once there, it was a bit awkward to get up on the rock. The swells pull you down as soon as you think you are ashore. You have to grab the rocks while the sea recedes, waiting for the next wave to push you ashore. It went well!
In good flow towards Sletringen.
However, Idun had to admit that the new, beautiful bathing cap she had received as a Christmas present was too cold for this type of expedition, so on the way back she switched to a warmer hood. But what a marvelous place Sletringen island is! A fantastic landscape! A beautiful lighthouse! Though, it must have been harsch to live out here in the stormy winters. Sletringen is not a big island. In bad weather, the waves cross it all. The lighthouse was vacated in 1999. Frøya municipality has started a project to make the lighthouse accessible to the public. We really hope this will actually happen. Imagine spending the night at Sletringen lighthouse!
Sletringen lighthouse is tall and beautiful.
The return was just as nice as the way out. This time the sea was ‘flooding’, and we felt that we were pulled inwards. We swam past the first island – but with the tide the islands had become more numerous, so we ended up with 4 crossings back as well. All in all, a brilliant day. It’s great to swim and walk to Sletringen lighthouse! But we want to point out that good wetsuits, exceptionally calm weather and sufficient experience / adaptation to cold water is needed if this kind of expedition shall be successful. You are hereby warned!
A trip to Sletringen is just right!
Sources: ‘Titranulykka’, Edited by Hans A Grønskag ISBN: 82-993698-1-9 ‘Stormhav’, Leo Oterhals, ISBN: 82-90757-1-23
When reading about how countries/cities/towns should make things easy for movie makers, there is much talk about all the tourists who would come to the places where a movie is shot. In that way, the location should earn money, even if the movie is sponsored for selecting that particular location. If this really happens, is debatable. Especially when e.g. the Norwegian “Prekestolen” (close to Stavanger) in “Mission Impossible” is presented as being in India!
Few might have thought that the movie “Everyone hates Johan”, shot in Titran on the island Frøya, would bring any tourists. But we can confirm it now has happened! Knut was an extra in the movie and was one day on Frøya recording a while ago. When the movie finally came to the movie theaters, he didn’t see himself until his name was in the credits. That’s what can happen when you are an extra!
No matter, we liked the movie very much and suspect it is closer to the truth of how it is to live on Titran than the natives would care to admit. So we just had to take a bath in Johan’s foot steps.
What we had planned, was a bath in the sound right below Johan’s house, where his parents lost their lives. This is right west of Titran and is called Svalbalen beach (originally Svalbar, from “Sval”, meaning chilly). What we hadn’t considered, was the tide. We arrived Titran friday evening and went straight to the beach, but quickly realized that at low tide it looks quite different than in the movie. So we went back the next day on high tide instead and then it looked just right.
A bath in honor of Johan’s parents
The houses of Johan and his childhood sweetheart Solvor, whom he happened to blow up a little, are close to the beach, just as the movie depicts it.
Johan’s house to the right, Solvor’s in the middle.
At the beach there is now a house for bird watching. Very nice and very new, but maybe a little too far from the beach for misusing it to change before bathing.
You can watch birds outside the house as well, but many days the indoor option might be preferrable.
Without knowing for sure, we suspect that this house has a direct correlation to the movie, since it was brand new. Maybe financed by money someone got for renting out their house for filming? Actually it was so new that we were the first to sign in the guest book! Which was a first for us.
One thing we hadn’t thought about, is that there are other central elements in the movie to see around! E.g. these bars where Johan showed his strength.
No chance for Knut to beat Johan in this game…
Also Sletringen lighthouse was in the movie, but that’s another story. Our conclusion is that a bath in “Johan’s bay” is just right.
On the western tip of the Island Frøya you will find the fishing village Titran. The name has an unknown meaning, but it is an old fishing village, mentioned by the Nidaros’ Archbishop Aslak Bolt in 1433, when he gathered “The Titrom fishermen” for a meeting. They agreed to pay all the fees that the Christian court ordered. That means, at Titran, there were both people and money at the time, and the fishermen were even willing to give some extra fish out of pure goodwill. Before 1430, all the Norwegian fishing villages were free to settle.
Titran is absolutely gorgeous!
The grand old days were in the 16th century: Of Frøya’s 49 households, 15 were on Titran and 15 on Sula. During the fisheries, there could be hundreds of fishermen out here in the ocean gap, with a safe port and a short way out to sea. Today, the number of inhabitants is less than 100 people.
Titran seen from the north.
On the south side of Titran we find the peninsula Stabben, where the Germans built a coastal fortress, Stabben, during the WWII. The work started in 1941 and was part of the Atlantic embankment. Serbian and Russian prisoners of war dug out more than 20 bunkers and hundreds of meters of underground passages.
View from Stabben towards Sletringen lighthouse.
The fortress was opened to the public in 1990, so Stabben fortress you just have to come and visit!
Well prepared in the bunkers inside Stabben fortress.
The fortress was equipped with 3 Krupp canons (150 mm K 16), with a range of 22 km. The purpose was to hit allied ships. The construction of Stabben fortress turned out to be a mistake. Very few ships passed by Frøya. The shipping lane goes inside the neighbouring island Hitra, sheltered from wind and waves!
Canon position on Stabben.
During the WWII, shots were fired from the Stabben canons only once – at their own: German minesweepers who had misunderstood the signals from the fortress.
Stabben fortress.
The Germans left Stabben in 1944, and the families could move back to their houses. The Germans had occupied all the houses on the Stabben peninsula for 3 years.
At Titran you will find beautiful bathing places everywhere, it hardly makes sense to recommend one in front of the others. We were accommodated in the Titran old school – it has been converted into apartments – so then it was natural to cross over to Stabben from there. An absolutely beautiful bath in a quiet, marvelous evening.
Frøya – this incredibly beautiful collection of islets and reefs, bays and fjords, has the same name as the fertility goddess in the Norse mythology: Frøya. You just have to wonder: Why it is so desolate out here? Did she not listen? Was she not flattered enough to make the islands fertile? Then it turns out that the name comes from the Norse word frøy = lord, the foremost, that is, the foremost island.
Absolutely a bather’s paradise – Frøya municipality.
And when it comes to fertility – Frøya’s fertility lies in the sea! Here you will find the clearest water and a business that has been founded on fish since the Stone Age.
A clearer water than this you can’t find!
Frøya municipality has a land area of 230 km2 and consists of thousands of larger and smaller islands, islets and reefs. The highly committed inhabitants (something above 5,000 of them) go hard if they feel unfairly treated – just try to build wind turbines here!
Sometimes the wind turbine wins, sometimes the eagle?
Frøya is a birds’ paradise. Here you just have to put on your shoes – there is goose shit everywhere. And you have to expect strong protests wherever you go – the geese alert you whenever you do disturb them.
2 goose families were minimally stressed when we past them.
The business here today is still about fish – and in particular farmed fish. On Frøya there is a high number of ‘Salmon Lords’. The population has in the 2000’s increased more than the average in the Trøndelag region. The smaller villages, though, show a declining population, and the number of inhabitants on the small islands is declining.
Salmon Lord is needed here!
In our search for bathing places on Frøya, it (unfortunately!) did not help to search the municipality’s website. Big sigh: Please, all you municipalities out there – set up a list of the best bathing places you have! It can be a bit tedious for us – on Frøya, for example – to have a bath in all the bays and fjords and lakes to find the best bathing spot. But suddenly while driving, we found this gem, not far from Nordskag, at Utfrøya:
Valen pearl, with such a nice sign you just have to stop?
At Valen (by the lake Aunvatnet), there is a very nice bathing place, with benches and tables, floating jetty and a diving tower. Fabulous! A little worn out, though.
Knut prepares our GoPro at Valen bathing place.
Where is the community spirit of voluntary work? Not much is needed to bring this fine bathing place back to its former glory. First of all, maybe clean up the surroundings a bit, so it looks more like a bathing place and less like a rubbish place.… Or does someone think there is something called a bathing season and that it has not started yet?
After the young ones have left the nest, we haven’t watched the traditional children’s parade on the Norwegian national day of May 17th, but taken a hike instead. A couple of years we went on top of Storheia, Trondheims highest mountain. This is a nice little trip, with only a short walk down to town afterwards (easily combined with a bath at Sjøbadet). But after the city was joined with the neighbouring Klæbu in 2020, Trondheims highest top is now Kråkfjellet and much less accessible.
So we took a shorter option, went by bike to Bekken gård and walked up to Estenstadhytta. The cabin wasn’t open for serving, but we knew that and had everything we needed with us!
May 17th 2022 at Estenstadhytta.
Of course we also wanted a bath and on the way down we went by Estenstaddammen. Trondheim was blessed with phantastic weather, so we don’t believe anyone was shocked that we cooled ourselves down a little.
Correct bathing outfit for the national bath.
In Norway there has been much debate lately about our national costumes not being suited for people not comfortable with standard stereotypes like male/female. So we tested a switch.
Select any letter you are comfortable with: LBGTPQHWNEUSGD…
No doubt that a bath is the right thing to do on May 17th!
Røros, with almost 4000 inhabitants, was basically uninhabited highland until the copper mine was founded in 1644. The town is therefore called Bergstaden (The Mountain City), or just Sta’a (City) in the local dialect.
Absolutely beautiful it is, at Røros!
In the 17th century, the Danish king Christian IV was broke, and he sold away his crown estates. The largest sale went to Joachim Irgens and consisted of all crown estates in Helgeland, Salten, Lofoten, Vesterålen, Andenes, Senja, Troms and most of the Norwegian mining business. The value was equivalent to a barrel of gold (100,000 riksdaler). In 1646, Joachim Irgens traveled to Trondheim, and there he was referred to as a ‘man who found great taste in mines‘.
Kjerkgata in Røros (the main street).
In the hope of solving the money problem once and for all – with fixed income – King Christian IV sent out a scriptum in 1644. The letter promised rewards to those who could find any metal ore, but also harsh punishments to those who did not report their findings. From 1630, there was a mining business at Kvikne. People from Kvikne later started up in Røros, under the direction of the farmer and reindeer hunter Hans Olsen Aasen. In the beginning, when the mine was run in ‘Rauhåmmåren’ mountain, it did not pay off. But the income increased a lot with the discovery of what is today called Gamle Storwartz / Auf die Fortuna mine. The copper mines at Røros were considered among the richest in Europe at the time.
Røros city center.
King Christian IV wrote a letter of privilege in 1646, which gave Røros copper mines (i.e. Joachim Irgens) exclusive rights to minerals, forests and waterfalls within a circle in a radius of 45.2 km from the center Old Storwartz. Inside the circle, all farmers could be ordered to sell their products and perform transport tasks for the copper plant. But this also meant revenue for the locals.
Charming wooden houses in Røros (except the church, it is made of stone).
The first smeltery was built in 1646 by Hitterelva river, less than a mile from ‘Gamle Storwartz’, and the city (Bergstaden) startet to grow there. Irgens wanted to name Røros after himself and renamed the city ‘Irgenstal’, but it did not work out. Sta’a was named Røraas, which at the end of the 19th century was changed to Røros (possibly meaning the outlet of the river Røra). The city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage. Røros is southern Norway’s champion in coldness, with a low temperature record of -50.4°C from 1914. There is quite a need of firewood in the winter!
Bergstadens Ziir.
Røros church from 1780 is also called Bergstadens Ziir (beauty). With 1800 seats, it is one of Norway’s largest churches. The size implies that it should provide service to one of the richest copper mines in Europe.
Røros church. No actual need for 1800 seats on a regular Sunday in April.
When searching for bathing facilities in the Røros municipality, we learned that Gjettjønna (the Goat lake) could be a relevant place. Very close to the city center, too – this was promising!
In search of Lake Goat by Røros city.
In the implementation phase, doubts began to arise. Was this the right pond? Including all this industry at the south end?
Charming industry, no goats.
But swim – of course!
Yes. We did bathe.
… which made us even more in doubt. Did they actually float timber in this pond? … And was this actually timber? It seemed to be from a log house. In a pond?
Log house timber floated (?) In Gjettjønna (?).
Subsequent investigations suggest that we might have made several of the following errors:
Relying on Google Maps (which consistently refers to Hitterelva as Glomma (the longest river in Norway, which Hitterelva runs into))
We noticed currents in the lake, which indicates that it was a river (Håelva) and not a lake
There is a lake called Gjettjønna further away, by Glåmos. Maybe that’s where the great bathing spot is?
Check at which end of the lake the bathing area actually is
The latter applies to Gjettjønna on the other side of the road of the river Håelva. It seems to be shallow and not very idyllic in the northernmost end, but there might be a paradise on the other end, who knows? We did not investigate the southern end..
Not so idyllic shallow water – at the northernpart of Gjettjønna.
It’s not really necessary or right to have a bath in Håelva. But after the bath a, dinner in Kjerkgata followed by a rock concert in ‘Storstuggu’ (= the great hall). We got to experience ‘Spidergawd’ – Oh, what happiness!
Røros copper minery was established in 1644. Occasionally up to 2000 people were involved in the business. In addition to the miners, this also included many local farmers who contributed with transport and firewood. When the plant went bankrupt after 333 years of operation; some 110,000 tonnes of copper and 525,000 tonnes of pyrite had been mined.
The river ‘Hitterelva’ on the south side of Røros center.
Above Røros church you will find a lot of industrial history, including the Smeltery and Malmplassen (Ore Square) with the old weight. Røros Museum is responsible for the preservation of 80 buildings, 15,000 objects and 70,000 photos from the mining history of Røros.
Hitterelva with the dross heaps in the background.
When the Smeltery was built in 1888, it was called ‘a monster sized wooden shed’. In the Smeltery, the ore was processed into export metal through very energy-intensive processes. This quickly eradicated the forest, and the firewood had to be collected further and further away. The Smeltery was in operation every day all year round, except one month in the summer, when the workers had to take care of their farms.
The Smeltery (to the left) at Røros, from 1888, was rebuilt in 1988, after a fire in 1953.
The Smeltery dam was built in 1646, as part of the start-up of the copper mine. The dam was needed as water inlet for the wheels that run the bellows in the Smeltery. On the way down from lake Hyttdammen to the Smeltery, the water was also used to operate two grain mills and a stamp house for felting wool – very useful.
The lake Hyttdammen (Smeltery dam) revision 1947.
The work in the Smeltery was reorganized in 1887, and after 1900 Hyttdammen was no longer maintained. The dam disappeared in the 1934 flood. In 1947, a new dam was built on the same site, in concrete. The function now is as a collection dam for the loose materials in the river. After a clean-up operation in the summer of 2021, Hyttdammen has become an excellent spot for bathing!
Full speed at Hyttdammen.
In the spring of 2022, filming takes place in Røros. Parts of the historical movie ‘The Riot’, about the miner’s uprising in Sulitjelma are shot there, and Knut joined as a ‘featured extra’. An excellent opportunity for new bathing experiences!
Sterke-Knut (Knut-the-Strong) or Spoon-Lars?
Rather busy times for Knut. Filming during the day, programming work in the evening and occasional partying at night. Truly good he is strong! A bath now and then helps!
Tromsø’s city beach is on the south tip of Tromøya (Trom island). We parked at the old aquarium, a starting point of nice hiking paths along the ocean. The old aquarium opened in 1952 and collected salt water from 25 m depth so the animals could have the same environment as in the sound.
The old aquarium in Tromsø.
For a period Tromsø Museum had not only seals and reindeer, but also polar bears in Telegraph Bay: Binna and Pelle (mother and son). It is said that they loved biscuits, but the main food was fish. In 1954 they escaped and started swimming towards Grindøya on the other side of the fjord. After a wild hunt they were recaptured and the police ordered them killed. And that was the end of the zoo in Telegraph Bay.
View towards the old aquarium.
So we felt quite safe as we went for a test swim. The bay is named after a sea cable layed across the fjord to Tisnes in 1894. The cable house still stands and gave some shelter from the rather icy winds while we were changing.
Knut and cable house in Telegraph Bay
Corona had loosened it’s grip, so there were quite a few people on the paths taking pictures of the beautiful mountains on Kvaløya.
Bay with a swing.
For their sake we hope they had better luck with the equipment than we had that day! Our GoPro totally failed us, so we got only 4 pictures from the bath instead of 1 each second. We now have 2 GoPros, and a tripod for mobile, so we can assure getting at least some useful pictures from future baths.
Idun is rising from Telegraph bay.
But a nice, fresh bath it was. Right now is a good time for a bath in Telegraph Bay! Next time we go there, we’ll get some better pictures too…
Senja is Norway’s second largest island, with an area of 1586 km2 and almost 8000 inhabitants. The name possibly comes from the Norse ‘sundr’ = ‘separated, apart’, and in that case refers to the strongly divided coast. The nature at Senja is spectacular: High mountains, deep fjords and beautiful, white beaches.
Okay nature at Senja, in okay winter weather. The forested island is Tranøy.
On the south side of Senja island is the small island Tranøy (Crane island). On Tranøy, people settled some 2000 years ago. Remains of 3 boat houses from Viking times have been found, and also burial mounds. There we wanted to go kayaking!
Starting point: FV231.
Idun’s big brother Frode has vacuumed the second hand market of kayaks for years, so he is well equipped. Knut was corona sick and stayed home, so the seventh kayak was not in use this day.
Ready to paddle. Photo: Ulrike Naumann.
Tranøy is an old church site, and was under the Archdiocese of Nidaros from 1270. Today there is a rectory on the island, with a museum in the old house.
Tranøy rectory.
Several exciting stories are presented in the museum. Here is a picture of a women’s brooch from around the year 900, which was found in the former Tranøy municipality.
Brooch from year 900.Tranøy’s wild sheep. Back to the left you can see burial mounds.
There is a beautiful white beach on Tranøy, but for practical reasons there was no bathing done here this time (‘Someone’ had become hungry, and the food was forgotten in the car). Well back on ‘Mainland-Senja’, however, a bath was just the right thing to do, even though the sea was not quite as shiny as at the start of the trip.
A bath in front of Tranøy.
A bath in front of Tranøy is just perfect!
Water can’t be more crystal clear than this, can it?
