Impressions of Julshamna, Møre og Romsdal county
Here are some pictures from a phototrip to Julshamna in Møre og Romsdal county
We have had lots of nice weather this summer. We even set some record high temperatures. After a few days of rain, the sun came out and my son and I decided to grab our photogear and go out to the coast to visit the little inlet Julshamna in the municipality of Fræna, Møre og Romsdal county. This is about a one hour drive from where we live east of the town Molde. This is on one of the most dreaded stretches of the Norwegian coast.
Julshamna may be translated to Julsharbour.
Coming to Julshamna a summer evening, with a beautiful sunset and just a light breeze, tells little about the life of the people, who through the centuries, lived here. Not much of the old community is left.
From a search in the National library I learn that Julshamna was marked on old Norwegian maps. This means it was a place where boats landed. There must have been a store there at some time, as one person I found was titled “Store clerk in Julshamna”. I find mentioned that in the winter of 1800, a fishing crew got bad weather on their way home and was able to make it to Julshamna. By the time the reached land, one of the crewmembers had died. The captain of the crew was Ole(Olle) Osnes.
Knowing how bad the weather on the coast can get, we easily understand that many times the life must have been pretty rough here.
From late 1800’s to well after the second world war, passenger-, and cargosteamers trafficing the coast called at Julshamna. As the inlet is too small and shallow, the steamers did not dock, but were serviced by smaller boats bringing passengers and cargo to and from the anchored wessel. This could be a daunting task a dark and windy winterday.
It looks like some work has been done in later years to shelter the harbour from the ocean by heightening the jetties around it. Today the harbour is used to moore leisure boats.
Click on the first picture and navigate the picture carousel:
I guess this post ends my “summervacation” from blogging. I will now try to post about genealogy. If you have ideas to topics I might cover, please don’t hesitate to contact me. It may also be things that I have written that you would like me to elaborate on. I am always hapåpy to hear from you!
The photos from Julshanna are stunning, especially the one looking West. Wonderful work – both you and Hans Inge!
Beautiful photography! I really get a sense of the sea, and the mountains thrusting up right from the sea. Also a sense of the sparse settlement these days, since you took so many pictures of buildings that are now weatherbeaten and old.
Your comment about the old days when big ships couldn’t enter the harbor brought to my mind a family story. In 1925, when my father was 10 years old, his father was a civil engineer in charge of building the very last part of US Highway 101. This two-lane highway went probably well over 2000 miles along the West Coast of the US, from the Mexican border up to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. This mountainous peninsula, one of the earliest National Parks, separated the Pacific Ocean from Puget Sound, itself a major fjord system. Many rivers came from the mountains into the Pacific. One of the most southerly was the Hoh River. This last section of US 101 was a loop highway around the Olympic Mountain Range. My grandparents and their three children lived in a tent at the mouth of the Hoh River for about 10 months while the last piece of the highway was being built along the Hoh. Supplies had to come by donkey down a trail from the finished part of the road, or in by sea.
There was a treacherous sandbar at the mouth of the shallow Hoh, so big ships couldn’t come into the river mouth. At high tides in good weather at midday, small boats could find their way. But at night, or when weather was bad, it was my grandmother’s job to stand at a pre-appointed place with a kerosene lantern, and guide the small boats around the sandbar, into the river to the dock. When I was a child, my father took us there to see the river and the sandbar. The mountains didn’t rise quite so immediately from the ocean as in your pictures, but it is still very rugged country. Even today, it’s not possible to drive immediately next to the ocean along the Washington coast. It’s even dangerous to walk along much of this coast without paying close attention to the tides. The further south you go, into Oregon, then California, the less rugged it is, but I’ve driven the entire length south as far as Los Angeles, and it’s a beautifully rugged coastline.
Sorry for such a long post, but thank you for jogging my memories of stories my father used to tell about his childhood!
Doris
Seattle
No apologies needed. I like stories, and your’s was very interesting. Thanks for visiting, kind words and for commenting. If you have more stories I am happy to publish them here on the blog.
Stunning compositions offering a clarity of time, space, & place. Think about exhibiting your work!