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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 0 under the edge of the ice cap of Jostedalbreen enabling one to reach Fjaerlandsfjorden. Forty years ago there was no road to come here from the north, nor was there a road south so the village of Mundal then was only accessible by boat. My uncle and aunt went there for a week's holiday to stay in the Hotel Mundal which was there then and actually has been in business since 1861 and was still functioning today. Nowadays the village of Mundal is the secondhand book town of Norway, Norske Bokbyen, a bit like Hay on Wye in Wales. However I counted about six book shops in Mundal today. The bookselling season is from May till late September with a dozen rustic buildings. Since the 1960s there have been little transhumance summer farms called stols. Wetlands called boyaori are wet lands that have attracted 100 species of birds. Latterly the Norsk Bremuseum has been built near Highway 5, the new Norwegian Glacier Museum. Another newish tunnel takes you out of the valley to link up with Sogndalsfjora, actually only completed in 1986. Little satisfaction in finding a hotel in this town, we decided to go northeast along the side of Barsnesfjorden first to see the hotel at Solvorn but full but with help from the patron there we were booked in at the Torvios Hotell further on the 55 in Marifjora and right on the edge of the water on Gauppefjorden, a delightful spot! Another great day! Breakfast at Torvis was indeed a pleasure on Lustrafjorden before returning to the 5 and arriving at Mannheller for the ferry for crossing the upper reaches of one of the longest fjords in Norway, the Sogne Fjord. The 5 continued on the south side till meeting the E16 now contained in a tunnel for 25 kilometres competing all comers as the longest tunnel in the world as far as Aurland. This day was to be the journey to travel on another of Norway's highlights, the world renowned Flam Railway, pronounced 'flom'. Arriving at the station to the sight of another cruise liner one knew there would be hundreds to be accommodated on the train as well as ourselves but with a philosophical shrug of the shoulders, I arrived at the ticket office and came away with return tickets not wanting to be trapped in Myrdal for the night high on the bleak fjell where the main line from Bergen to Oslo meets the Flam Railway. The tickets were not till 17.25pm for the hour journey and the return was at 18.35pm arriving back at 19.35pm, in reality a two hour journey there and back. So in effect the famous Flam Railway journey was on hold. More of that later! Well, the possibility of a delayed start on the rail journey had been taken into consideration the night before so there had been some planning of options having scanned the Cappelens Kart 'Stort bilatlas Norge 1:325000, our trusted map purchased in Oslo and an excellent atlas for the journey as already described. Again picture postcards, a great source of knowledge in any country of significant sights both local and national, help one to select the main places to visit when in alien territory. The two fjords Aurlandsfjorden and Naeroyfjorden just to the north of Flam, were possible excursion areas for the afternoon. The first of these involved an 18 kilometres stretch along the E16 west most of it in two tunnels apart from 3 of those kilometres. Arriving in Gudvangen, there is a ferry connection northwards along Naeroyfjorden into Aurlandsfjorden and then east along the aforementioned Sogne Fjord to Kaupanger on the north side. However, a narrow road leads five kilometres north along the west side of the narrow Naeroyfjorden to the hamlet of Bakka. It was a glorious summer's day with blue skies and bright Myrdal sunshine and Bakka was a small settlement hugging the side of the fjord. There were a number of white wooden houses clustered around a church, which had a rood screen with motifs at the end of the pews. Some of the houses were holiday homes. The whole village is dominated by the very narrow Naeroyfjorden. Returning through the first of the two tunnels to the blue sky another minor road goes north to Undredal right on the edge of Aurlandsfjorden. Walking down to the few shops there was a cafe where there was welcome refreshment to be purchased including a variety of goat's cheese coloured brown and local to this village where there are eight cheese producing farms. The population is 112 inhabitants and 500 goats. Relaxing under the awnings here was very pleasant and a welcome break munching the local fare and soaking up the peaceful atmosphere of this unspoilt village with the lapping of water from the wash of boats passing by. What a wonderful place to tarry a while and savour the atmosphere in the bright sunshine of such a delightful spot. The stavkirke measures only 12 by 4 metres and has only forty seats, the smallest stavkirke still in use in the whole of Scandinavia. A lasting view, gazing down on the multicoloured properties from this tiny church is still indelibly printed on my mind. The Flamsbana was the start of the train journey at 17.25 up the Flamsdalen following the road for the first part through a number of stations with high mountains on the sides of the valley. Getting nearer to the head of the valley the train now hugged the side of the valley with a steeper gradient to reach the high plateau. There was a very interesting stop when all the passengers disembarked by a spectacular waterfall and we were all entertained by a water nymph singing and dancing high above us on the rocks. With the show over the passengers rejoined the train and the journey continued up to Myrdal on the steepest part of the journey until we approached the station which linked with the line from Bergen. A short stop at Myrdal before then return with another succession of fine views going for the first part of the journey before reaching the lower slopes. The last part of the journey for the day was to continue along the E16 eastwards to Vinje and then northwards on the 13, ten miles to the Helgatun Pension Hotel which was very comfortable for the overnight stop. Besides Geiranger all the accommodation was booked the day before or on arrival the same day. No problem. Leaving Helgatun next morning it was amazing to see a completely new development of hotels, houses and apartments being built all associated with a new skiing village. Travelling south on the main road to Voss, tarried a while on the edge of the Vargsvatnet Lake, just below the Fleischers Hotel by a memorial to Cnud Rockne, a well known football coach in the 42
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 0 US. Voss is an attractive town and a centre for skiing. The journey to Bergen was along the E16 made up of numerous tunnels that interrupted the blue sky which was much more welcoming. Reaching our destination, Bergen, where it rains on more than 200 days in the year, we were welcomed by glorious sunshine on a warm summer's day which gave a wonderful feeling for visiting this lovely city. Boats of various sizes berth in this natural harbour, and parking on the quayside the visit commenced. Reaching the Fishmarket at the head of the harbour there was a lively buzz as locals and visitors mingled in the market and in front of the Bryggen, a well known landmark for anyone arriving in Bergen by sea. Finding the Aroma Restaurant with an outdoor table, lunch was taken not far from the start of the funicular up to the Floyen, relaxing and watching the world go by before embarking on a visit to the centre of this lovely city. Passing Torget with various types of caviar and then the church in Korskirken, there was the delightful park with a bandstand of colourful flowers and the statue of Grieg, one of Norway's most famous sons. It was a real pleasure to be part of the buzz of Bergen walking through the centre of the City before leaving to go to Trollhaugen to see the residence of Edward Grieg and his wife Nina. There was so much to see here and a very pleasant place to relax by the water that two hours disappeared taking in the peaceful atmosphere of the house that once was home to Grieg and Nina, the studio and the garden. What an impressive visit to Bergen which made a much greater impression on me than either of my two previous visits. It was, no doubt, one of the seven or eight highlights of Norway. The next part of the excursion was unplanned apart from a decision taken to stay somewhere in the location of Rosendal! Arriving in Norway, there was an outline plan to travel in an anticlockwise direction around Southern Norway. The choice of Rosendal was taken before the decision to take in Bergen, but was seen as a place to stop overnight on the road south. Why Rosendal? Well with no prior knowledge whatsoever of Rosendal, but looking at an atlas map, the seaward end of the Hardanger Fjord, dominating Southern Norway, directed my eyes to this 150 mile long fjord, the longest in Scandinavia. No 'Cappelens Kart Stort Bilatlas Norge 1:325 000' able to be purchased in the UK before departure, I had to wait arrival in Oslo to purchase a Road Map of Norway and a Street Map of Oslo, essentials for the Geographer! However, with no accommodation booked in advance in Norway apart from Oslo and Geiranger, one keeps a look on the map to see where one may be at the end of the day even a few days ahead. So, with the knowledge of my first night stays in Norway, having arrived by ferry in Bergen from Newcastle, now no longer available, in 1971 and 1974, being Oystese and Voss respectively, I was now looking for a route other than the 7, the main direct road to Oslo. One reason was for a change and the other to avoid the heavy traffic on this road, and to avoid the preponderance of tunnels all morning. Having originally thought of going south via Stavanger it became clear that the journey would take much longer. Rosendal as being the place with a country hotel marked on the map became the goal. Bergen is not easily reached from the east as one has to go north or south to circumnavigate Ulriken to reach the urban heart, of the City. Similarly, leaving Grieg's House we were being signposted 580 and ended up well south of Bergen with directions to Odda where we eventually wanted to reach. Not having really consulted the map after having found the centre of Bergen, we followed the flow to Osoyro and realised there was a ferry from Hatvik across Fusafjorden, unknown territory, and once realising the implications found that we were indeed on the shortest route to Rosendal was just about 50 kilometres not 30 miles but with two ferry crossings. As experienced throughout this trip, the ferry crossings were highly efficient, never having to look up the time of the next ferry, nor having to worry how long to wait, as the ferries are extremely efficient and waiting times, wherever we have been, minimal! Route 552 took us to Eikelandsosen, and 48 east proved a pleasant journey with the second ferry crossing Hardanger from Gjermundshamn, and docking at Arsnes no more than eight kilometres (five miles) north of our chosen destination, Rosendal. A surprisingly easy journey! Reaching Rosendal we espied the Rosendal Tourist Hotel timbered black and white on entering the village and booked accommodation for the night, on the other side of the road from the jetty. The whole area was called Kvinnherad and lies on the eastern side of the Folgefonna Nasjonal Park, an ice cap of some miles in length from north to south. One more full day was available to enjoy in Norway after Rosendal with an early rising breakfast was taken at eight with bags packed and loaded beforehand. Enjoyed a typical Norwegian breakfast and had a stroll round the village to despatch postcards and browse in a couple of shops. Already there appeared to be two visits that attracted our interest a short distance inland from Rosendal. With no previous knowledge of the area the morning was taken up with two very different attractions. The first of these was the Steinparken – a Stone Park with a difference. This was an outdoor museum of wonderful examples of igneous and metamorphic rocks that had been brought to this spot that originated in the valley and elsewhere locally, displayed amongst the trees. There were about thirty to forty superb specimens and were displayed for all to see. Having spent a good hour examining each specimen the attention then turned to the second attraction in the same valley about two kilometres hence. This was the Baroniet Rosendal, the equivalent of a stately home in the UK, but these grand houses are few and far between in Norway. If there is no male heir the family would have to give the estate back to the King of Denmark in times past! The drive back through a tunnel used by a new road from Bergen. The greatest change I encountered in Norway was the tremendous increase in new roads and tunnels since I was there last. The route took arrived in Odda and post lunch there was a great excursion to Seggedal, high above the defunct Tyssedum Factory looking like, and known as the Cathedral. The rest of the day involved a longer journey through Telemark towards Oslo. However, after the busy traffic, Route 9, a turning south, provided accommodation for the night at the Revsnes Hotel in the woods and forests interlaced by numerous lakes and rivers following the Otra River and finally arriving in Kristiansand, our crossing to Denmark and a very pleasant couple of days based on Aalborg in North Jutland. The return to England was direct from Esbjerg, well known to Old Stationers who ever went over to play football against Struer Stats Gymnasia in the late fifties and early sixties and stayed with families in Struer and Holstebro! All those years ago! GP 43
Page 1 and 2: No 80 /February 2015 The Old Statio
Page 3 and 4: T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o
Page 17 and 18: 70th Anniversary of Operation Marke
Page 35 and 36: WHY WE SPEND NEARLY HALF THE YEAR I
Page 39 and 40: My first excursion to Norway was pr
Page 41: T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o
Page 45 and 46: PETER BULLEN 1927-2014 A Service of

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