Railway Bridge comes to Life after 100 Years.

A very special project with the initiative from Horsens municipality has been carried through in 2014 near Vestbirk in East Jutland. 

A dam was built in 1929 in order to cover a railway-steel-bridge between  the town Vestbirk and Bryrup in connection to the necessary extension of the railway tracks. At that time it was decided to let the steel grid bridge be kept under the earth of the dam.  The bridge was a sleeping beauty for more than a hundred years, but now it is re-established. The project is economically supported by EU and by the Danish  ministeries of environment, food, agriculture and fishing.

The purpose of this  project is to create a free passage for fish in the river Gudenaa. In connection to the digging-work it has shown that the steel of the bridge is in a very good condition - and it is quite  unique that there is now a possibility to recreate the water flow conditions as they were in 1899.

The fish today - first of all the sea trout and the stalling -  have difficulties in passing the stretch at Vestbirk, but the problem is solved now by removing the dam and open the passage at the river Gudenaa . The water restoration is not only good for the fish - also for bats, insects, frogs etc.

The pretty red-painted railway bridge (a height of 15 meter)  is situated at the most beautiful railway stretch in Denmark and the place will probably be a great attraction to people in general - also in connection to the various nature paths in the area. The bridge can be used by pedestrians and bikers. It is about 50 meter long and can carry a weight of 50 tons.


Source  Horsens Kommune, Vibeke Juul

photo 2014: grethe bachmann 

The Days are short when you reach November.......

yes, the lyrics of the "September Song" can be changed like the weather.........

the fog has almost gone

What shall I take care of this winter in order to stay healthy? There are always so many warnings everywhere and it is so difficult to remember it all, isn't it?
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"Winter can have a pretty big impact on our physical health and emotional health,” said Dr. Conrad Iber, director of the Fairview sleep program at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

a low gravehill with trees.

farm in November sun

"Remember to drink lots of water, eat more whole grains and more vegetables and be physically active, your bedroom has to be cold, you'll become more grumpy, because there's less sunlight, it might be a good idea to get a sunlight lamp, do some exercise, socialize, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, rich in D- vitamin,  it's prime time for colds and flu, again remember a balanced diet, exercise, fresh air and adequate sleep. Get a flu shot. And then here's something I wasn't aware of:  your body adapts to the cold by shifting more blood flow to interior organs and away from your hands, feet and face. So that's what happens!.... again remember exercise and a good diet, wear layers, cover your wrists, ankels and head, when you're outside on cold days".

I promise I'll try to remember everything.
Btw: I have got a flu shot ...........

cattle enjoying still being out...

 oak with  leaves down to the ground, (enlarge).

When all this has been said I went out Saturday to see what was happening outside on a cold day in November. It was not very cold . The cold of winter will arrive on the last day of November, on Friday the 30. "Make no sorrow in advance" is an old saying. The weather people might be wrong. I'm not ready for snow.

well-dressed hunters

old kloster church, Tvilum

                                                                          


It was very foggy that morning, at least here in Århus and East Jutland. There was no sign of a blue heaven and I couldn't imagine it might be any better. It's actually a great help that we can look at the satelite on the net and see where to go. "There are no clouds to the north!"  So we took the north-road hoping for a little sunlight on this short afternoon. It took almost an hour before we were out of the fog, and the sun came through the haze and threw a golden light upon the landscape.

flowing lines

Gudenaa River Valley, at Sminge

Gudenaa River Valley, at Sminge

  

landscape with windmills, Tvilum

I always take some photos while we're driving, which probably is obvious but I use them anyway because they can tell a little about my country. All seasons have their charm. November is reflective, now the year has almost passed, and we are going into a long winter, summer feels far away now, and we'll have to wait almost half a year before we'll see it again. Although the days grow shorter, there is a special light in the day hours when the sun is low. It's this golden light we can see in summer on a late afternoon. I love that golden light. Hours like this makes me wish that I lived in a cosy house out in the country, where I could meet the nature from morning til noon. But I'm a city girl. The countryside is not always so romantic, muddy roads and smell from the swine farms ..........

now we're going back home....

 

 - but we were surprised by a strange change of weather, suddenly dark clouds came close to the ground and surrounded everything with a mysterious dark haze. We could see the lake, but it looked like something from the Arthurian saga, we'll go down and await the boat from Avalon.....

Well, let's go back to reality. What stuff are dreams made of anyway? 

Before reaching home we took a side-trip to a lake close by my home, where a rare bird has visited Denmark for some weeks. This bird has been in Denmark twice and in Europe five times, it comes from far away, from Asia. It's the Brown Shrike - and I'm sure this is now the most photographed "person" in Denmark beside Crownprincess Mary. The birdwatchers come from abroad too. I haven't got a photo yet. I've been promised one and I'll bring it on the blog for those who are interested. But I did see this little fine bird - eventually. First I was staring at a pole with a spot in the top. This was not the right pole, but then I saw the little famous star just before it jumped down into the grass.

See you see soon again. I've been on Amled's Heath with Prince Hamlet's grave. I'll show you later.  

Looking for the Brown Shrike.

the bird is here - somewhere........

photo 24.November 2012: grethe bachmann 

Silkeborg - Art Center and Kongensbro

A Taste of Denmark

Winter

The countryside  was very winterly on this February day - and the air was freezing cold. We came from the east coast of Jutland and went to the town Silkeborg in the middle - and the difference in temperature was remarklable, from minus 9 Celsius at Århus till minus 15 Celsius by Silkeborg. The trees had been covered in frost in the morning, but the sun was shining most of the time and it has a little more power now than in the cold period before Christmas. I like the winter lanscape, the white of the snow highlights the blue shades in nature. It's very beautiful.    













I'm always counting buzzards on the fences in winter. They are watching the countryroad and the fields for prey. This was the third "fence-buzzard" that day,  a very light-coloured bird, but it turned its back to us. I'ts not easy to catch a photo of the buzzard from a car. On the motor road you must not stop or slow down, and if you roll down the window, the buzzard reacts at once and fly away.

Not far from the road a little village with a church. It's a suburb of Århus, but it's still a parish church, a Romanesque building with a tower from the Middle Ages. In the church is a very fine Romanesque granite baptismal font with double-lion figures and an old bible etc....but we're not talking churches today!

Framlev church and village

I don't know why I like old sheds. Here's a green one behind pretty trees. 













Our destination was Silkeborg Art Center with an exhibition of Danish and Chinese artists, and when we came to the parking place a fine little bird was singing in the top of a spruce. It was a Common Crossbill. This colourful little bird has eggs and baby birds in the midst of the dark cold winter - and the babies fly out in March as the earliest bird litter in the Danish bird fauna. The crossbill's food are spruce cones, which hold most seeds in January and February, and there are many cones this winter, so it might  be a good year for this pretty little bird.

At the main entrance

detail of painting

The Art Center Silkeborg Bad is placed in the outskirts of the town Silkeborg in a scenic area, close to a pretty lake Ørnsø and a sacred spring Arnakkekilden, surrounded by forest and a beautiful sculpture park. The place was a spa resort from 1883 till 1983. Today it has been transformed into a modern art center. All year are alternative exhibitions of primarily contemporary art from home and abroad.  The art works often appear together with the special physical possibilities of the place, and the park is on a regular basis involved as a part of the display area.The present exhibition  "Seeing Landscape" was an association of Danish and Chinese painters and sculptors, called Corner.

detail of painting

Above some examples from the exhibition.

In the sculpture park.

stable

Gern Å

A listed area with a water stream with good fishing of trouts and with hills and meadows is laid out as a regional nature area of geological and landscape interest with an important active for the outdoor life. It's not easy to see in winter, but there is public access to large sections of the listed area along foot paths, forest roads and some field paths with several recreational spaces, like in the beautiful hills, Gern Bakker with great views across the river valley of Gudenaa.
Along the hills is an old road called the "Trækstien"  which runs upon a dike from the 1800s, where the river Gudenå was an important trade route with an extensive barge navigation. "Trækstien" is today a popular hiking route, it's about 23 km and it connects Silkeborg to Kongensbro.

Buzzard in tree

cute horses

Gudenå at Svostrup

stubble field

Blue Skies

Gudenå at Kongensbro

Here at Kongensbro, where the country road between Århus and Viborg crosses the river Gudenå, was a landevejskro (guesthouse) siden 1663, when king Frederik 3. allowed Ebbe Gyldenstierne to run a guesthouse at the riverside of Gudenå. The present inn is from 1949 and is today run by Christian Andersen, who's the third generation Andersen at the place. His great-grandmother founded the tradition of good cooking on Kongensbro. She published no less than 8 cookbooks with dishes from the guesthouse and recipes from the district. Her good  traditions are now brought on in the third generation. Kongensbro Kro is today a modern inn, but in the old days it was known as the Pramdragerkroen, (barge transport inn). There were many of those guesthouses along the barge transport route, when the river Gudenå was the most important trade route through Mid Jutland. The transport was on big barges, being drawn by men and horses along the pramdragersti,  the path along the river("Trækstien").

you cannot go skating here..........

the geese are flying home - whereever that is.....

the light is fading... we're going home too..

photo Silkeborg district 4 february 2012: grethe bachmann

Canoeing in September

The canoers come from the lake ......


....at the old power station they'll have to move the boats
across land down to the river Gudenå, not a long distance,
but the boats are heavy with luggage for the holiday.......


First boat...............


good team-work


hold on........... he fell, but I did not take a photo, I'm
not a paparazzi!


..........now they are soon ready for the next etape of
Tour de Gudenå


good companions, no yelling, just taking it easy.....


second boat off............
they are lucky, it's fine weather today...


last boat off, now he's got time to lit his pipe...............

Have a nice trip!
photos in September: grethe bachmann