Moesgård Park and Skovmøllen...........

south wing corner of Moesgård.

The large area around Moesgård and Skovmøllen is one of the most popular places to go in the Århus district. Here is the high beech forest, the beach, the park with lots of birds, here is the popular prehistoric museum.  They are now building a new museum upon a piece of land north of the old buildings. They need more space.

old avenue

The park is still the same with the same lovely old trees, the small lakes, the birds, the old houses, the old orchards.  It's a place where I have come very often. This day was a rather cold day, the warmth from last week had disappeared to a place I don't know where, and the north wind was sweeping around the face and through the bones. The winter clothes were in use again.

When we came to the old avenue in the park, two great tits were fighting violently, while a third was watching them. It really looked serious. They can kill each other, but when we approached they discovered us and flew up in the tree tops. I hope they forgot what they were doing and didn't start the fight again.

This is the time for frogs. In one of the small lakes were lots of frogs, and this was the common frog. (European Common Frog). They make a strange sound, such a deep roar - first I thought it was a faraway train I could hear, but it was the frogs. All those thousands of eggs! When the tadpoles come out most of them are eaten by fish, dragonfly larvae and birds, so most tadpoles will disappear I guess - or else the park would be swarming with frogs in summer! The number of frogs are being kept at a level, they are eaten by birds of prey, crows, ducks, herons etc.. Nature is smart.

frog eggs

bark of the biggest oak

At the corner just before we reach the Iron Age house are a couple of old oaks, one of the side-branches has been cut off, probably because it was broken by itself, and we counted the year rings. 150 years. The trunk itself is much thicker. The trees are probably 3-400 years old. Lovely old trees. Their old trunk is like stone. 

The Iron Age house lies on the socalled prehistoric hiking path, which is a part of the prehistoric museum of Moesgård. I usually don't think much about it, I have been here so often, but it's actually a 4 km hiking path, which tells a lot about prehistoric history. I'm sure you know this. If you live in a place with something special, it has become just a part of what you see.

The hiking path goes through the manor park, down across open pastures, through a high forest and swamps along the river Giberå down to Moesgård beach and back to the manor Moesgård through an evocative forest. On the path people will be passing  Skovmøllen, and some reconstructed prehistoric houses, memorials and dolmens. The tour ends at the reconstructed Viking church.

And here is the Iron Age house, which is reconstructed from a settlement in southern Schleswig. The house shows how people and cattle lived under the same roof. In the west-end lived the family around the fire place, and the east-end was for the livestock, they stood in boxes divided by intertwined walls. During the excavation of the house in Schleswig was found a wooden trough with the skeleton of a 10 months old baby. The settlement in Schleswig was developed ab. 100 A.C. and inhabited through 4-500 years.   

Opposite is a field I call  "Hestemarken",  the horse field, there are always some sweet Icelandic ponies here,  they are so friendly, and they love a little talk. I only saw two horses today, and they were in the other part of the field. It's freezing cold, but they've got a thick woolen fur, those cute Icelanders. Nature is smart!! ´ )

The Giberå river runs through the forest on this part of the hiking path, and here lies Skovmøllen, also a popular place for people to go. Here's a cosy restaurant decorated with old Danish antiques, and I love to go here and have hot cocoa and buns with butter. What you see on the photo is the mill itself, where we can buy flour. The restaurant is to the left and behind.

old orchard

I was not interested in walking further down to the beach, it was so cold, and my left knee was feeling bad.  So we turned and went back up along the road to the park, beside the park is a big field with lots of sheep. They looked like they had a conference on top of the hill. In the park is an old orchard from the time when a family lived on the manor. Still apples in autumn, they are sour, but they can be used in an apple cake with extra sugar! In a fine glade with a flowering mirabelle stands the pretty Thai house.

The rests of trees and branches are left all over the park, they form good places for birds, insects and reptiles.

   

The Thai house came to Denmark as a gift from the Thailand state in 1975 in connection to a great exhibition about Thailand. It's about 100 years old and stood originally in Siam's old capital Ayutthaya ab. 200 km north of Bangkok. You'll enter the house by using a staircase up to the veranda in front of the house. The inhabitants probably used a ladder, which could be drawn up at night and prevent intruders from entering. Upon the veranda was kitchen and fireplace, and the family stayed here most of the time. The higher placed main room with sleeping places, storage furniture and altar was their private area.

Under the house the family stored various large tools like plough, rice grinder and fish traps. There was a fireplace too, and the place was especially used as a workshop. But when the monsun rain came from July till September, they had to clear the place and move the things elsewhere. 

Too cold for comfort. I feel like an icicle. Now it's back home................

the narrow road...

Spring signs:

buds on chestnut

yellow anemones

forsythia

photo Moesgård 31 March 2012: grethe bachmann