Svinkløv Badehotel, North Jutland

A Taste of Denmark.



Svinkløv Badehotel (Seaside Hotel) is one of the country's few intact relics from the fashionable seaside- and holiday life which became a must around the year 1900. The hotel is looking exactly like it was then, and the pretty main building is one of Denmark's biggest preserved wooden houses.

 



The position of the hotel is unique in a large preserved area and a beautiful nature far away from other habitation and less than 200 m from the North Sea.



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All rooms are in light colours and Scandinavian interior  - and furthermore smokeless zones. The hotel is marked by alternative arts and crafts exhibitions. Svinkløv is famous for its excellent food, the cuisine has a very high standard with new menues and specialities every day.


photo: grethe bachmann

Nørre Vorupør, Fishing and Surfing Village in Thy, Northwest Coast of Jutland.

 

Nørre Vorupør( daily called  Vorupør) is a coastal town and a fishing village in the western part of Thy, close to the North Sea and 22 km northwest of the town Thisted. The place is known for its fishing , here is (like at Thorup strand) still some commercial fishing with boats on the open beach, being pulled ashore with a winch. Vorupør is a part of Nationalpark Thy.  In Nørre Vorupør is a Fiskeri- og Redningsmuseet, Nordsø Akvariet and Vorupør Museum.

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The nearest villages are Stenbjerg 4 km to the south, Hundborg 8 km to the east and Klitmøller 15 km to the north. Like Klitmøller is Vorupør a place for the surfers. It is one of five best windsurfing posts in Europe. Vorupør is today one of few places in Denmark from where is still coastal fishing. The boats are pulled ashore with a hydraulic winch. On the beach lies a restored ship Thabor, where you can go onboard and feel the daily life of a fisherman.
Violent sand drifts ravaged the district in the Middle Ages and large dunes drifted over the land. The sand drifts destroyed the fertile fields and forced the inhabitants to move to other places and find livelihood elsewhere. That's why the fishing villages along the coast were established.

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The place by Vorupør is mentioned the first time in 1689 in a lawsuit. Vorupør is also called Klitten at that time (= the Dune). In 1664 and 1668 were mentioned 7-8 houses in the dune, probably only small huts. In april 1680 came the Sandflugtskommissionen (sand drain commission) to Hundborg parish and reported about the conditons in a very disheartening way that some farms were ravaged by sand drift. "The sand flies across the fields, and the meadows are destroyed by sea water and sand". In 1793 was established the first experiments with planting to restrict the sand drift, and in 1820 was Tvorup Klitplantage laid out.

fisherman's old house

Nørre Vorupør started as a town to which people moved from Stenbjerg and Sønder Vorupør. During the 1800s was Vorupør not in good conditions. People said: "Rich Jannerup, Proud Hundborg and Poor Vorupør". The informations about the fisher population describe in a simple way how poor they were. There was no opportunity to do farming, so the fishing was the only  way to earn a living. At that time the fishermen did the fishing from barges, open three-men-boats - this was riscy and dangerous and without any big earnings. The catch of fish was sold on the beach, or the fisherman went with a basket to buyers at farms inside the country. The sight of the poor fishermen often led to derision and mockery from the prosperous farmers. In 1851 had Vorupør its first rescue station.

You don't have to buy fish! I don't like fish!

In the second half of the 1800s began a more organized fishing trade from Nørre Vorupør, and when the Thy-railway was inaugurated in 1882,  they began to export fish to Germany. Still in 1882 are the fisher population in Nørre Vorupør mentioned as poor people, living in old houses with no curtains in the small and few windows. In the 1870s came the inner Mission-revival to Vorupør. The combination of the dangerous life on the sea and the snaps had opened up a new way of life. There were some tragic drowning accidents which caused prosperity for the inner Mission. A mission house was built and the revivalism got a good hold in the fisher population. In 1982 were experiments made with new and larger boats, but in 1893 drowned 49 fishermen on the west coast of Jutland. The catastrophe meant a new prosperity for  inner Mission and a large polarization between "the saints and the unbelievers". Later was built new and safer boats.

rescue station

Today is the coastal fishing in Vorupør still visible although it in a degree happens like in a living museum. The reason is that the young fishermen have not continued the fishing tradition. It is not possible to do full-time fishing anymore.

photo Nørre Vorupør June 2011: grethe bachmann

Klitmøller , "The Cold Hawaii" at the North Sea.

Welcome to a tour around Klitmøller and Thy!



Klitmøller is a town and an earlier landing place in Thy about 10 km southwest of Hanstholm and 17 km northwest of Thisted, with ab. 825 inhabitants, the number increases in the summer season with many guests in the holiday houses and on the camping sites. There is a varied range of shops and boutiques.

The town lies in the northwestern part of Jutland with the waters of Limfjorden to the east, the North Sea to the west, Hanstholm to the north and the National Park Thy to the south. Here is an experience of the great force of the North Sea, when the strong Atlantic swell from Iceland and the Faroes drifts against the coast. Here is fresh air, clean bathing water and large areas of virgin nature.


The large reserve - the distance from where he walks and further into the area is much, much longer than you imagine, and the moist terrain makes a heavy walk.......


a lake with no name in the dunes, here might be cranes, but they were out visiting somewhere that morning.....

If you drive north from Klitmøller, you arrive at the Hansted-Reserve, the largest nature reserve in Denmark. From 1. April till 15. July is here no access for the public because of the birds' breeding season. Inside a distance of 2 km are the prettiest dune plantations in the country and good possibilites for mushrooms experts and bikers. There are maps with informations about biking routes etc.

In 2007 was 244 km2 of the Thy-district appointed "Nationalpark Thy" - Denmark's first nationalpark. It stretches from a 12 km long belt along the North Sea coast from Hanstholm to the north and Agger Tange to the south. Here are the large dune-heaths and clean nutrient-poor lakes. The old fishing villages Klitmøller and Vorupør lie like small oases at the North Sea in the middle of the national park.

more info nationalparkthy


The Cold Hawaii
Klitmøller is famous for being a surfing paradise.

Klitmøller has a fine bathing beach and high white dunes. The western wind has formed small hollows in the sand creating lovely shelters on a sunny day. After special wind- and stream conditions you can find amber on the beach.

There are fine opportunities for bathing and surfing. The town is often mentioned as The Cold Hawaii, and it is especially in the discipline Waveperformance inside windsurfing and surfing that has exceptional conditions here. Klitmøller hosted the Danish masterships in waveperformance up through the 90s, EM in 1996 and WM in 1998. The relatively new sport kitesurfing has also attracted many practitioners from Denmark and abroad to Klitmøller with the strong wind and the large waves.

There are good overnight-possibilities, i.e. holiday houses, rooms and authorized camping sites, several restaurants, cafés and grillbars, mostly open in the summer season. Each year in the first week-end of June is the summer feast celebrated.




Earlier was Klitmøller a landing place for the coast fishing boats. The boats were pulled up and out with a winch. The landing place is still preserved and the fishing continues from small dinghys. Each day, when the weather allows it, the small boats come in with various fish, lobsters and crab's claws, the local delicatesse. For sports fishers are good opportunites for catching fish from the fishing cutters in Vorupør and Hanstholm or from the shelter-mole in Nørre Vorupør.



Nors Sø, a fine area with osprey and lots of geese and other birds and a varied flora.

The name Klitmøller origins from the 1600s, where 3 mills were placed close to the North Sea, surrounded by dunes. The mills were used for corn grinding, and the corn exported to Norway in special flat-bottomed boats, which could be drawn up on the sand. The boats came back with timber from Norway. At that time Klitmøller was the most important trading town in the area. Several boat captains grew immensely rich. Some of the success was caused by that Agger Tange was closed - it was impossible to sail into Limfjorden. This boat trade went on at several plaes along the north western coast of Jutland, but Klitmøller was the most important trading place. The town had its great period between 1600 and 1819, but it lost its central importance, when the North Sea broke through Agger Tange, making the passage free for sailing. The lifeboat station in Klitmøller was established in 1847 and abandoned in 1979. From 1852 till 1954 were 57 rescues and 543 people were saved.

In the sand dunes by town are i.e. lyme grass, heather, crowberry, sea holly and marsh-gentian, which is also found in the dune-heaths. Upon the heath breed i.e. the sandpiper and the crane. To the east are great coniferous plantations with two large lakes Vester Vandet Sø and Nors Sø.

new biking route

A photo collection from the area:

heather and honeysuckle (click to enlarge the small photos)

Lotus and bell heather with a red Admiral

Family at the beach and sweet gale

Kestrel and knotweed in a small lake with no name

Scabiosa and Peacock butterfly

Tømmerby church and a fishing village

chessboard Hillerslev church and forest after fire in dry summer

Common Blue and lovely horses

sea holly and small lake in the dunes

The nature in the nationalpark in Thy is so rich, and it is a joy just to take a walk there from one of the many parking places in the area. In many places are maps to inform people what is special exactly here as to flora and fauna, but also maps of biking and hiking routes etc.

Never give up without a fight!

It was exciting to see how the surfers fought the waves. I have never tried surfing, but it must be difficult just to get on the surfboard. This guy went on and on like the other surfers, and at last he succeeded in flying across the water. It looks so amazing - and it must be a wonderful feeling.

Hanstholm light tower

photos Thy August 2007: grethe bachmann

Thorup Strand, Jammerbugten, the North Sea

Traces from the boats

The fishing village Thorup Strand is situated in the southern part of Jammerbugten by the North Sea. (10 km northwest of Fjerritslev). There is no harbour and the fishing boats are drawn up on the beach after a day's fishing. Thorup stand is the largest coast landing place in Denmark with ab. 20 fishing cutters. Fresh fish can be bought and Fishing trips are offered.




Thorup Strand is surrounded by the North Sea and a beautiful nature area - and 6 km from the coastline is Lund fjord, which is a section of the large birds' sanctuary Vejlerne with a rich bird life - and by the coast west of Thorup is Bulbjerg, Denmark's only bird clif.

The fine bathing beach at Thorup turns north and has rough sand with few stones. It is sheltered by dunes grown with lyme grass. In Thorup plantation is a rich animal life. Here is also a fine nature-playground for the children.



Lifeboat Station

Svinkløv Plantation at Slettestrand has many good hiking paths and is a magnificent nature area with a rich flora and fauna and with the water stream Sletteå running through it.


Svinkløv Badehotel

In the area are fine camping places(i.e. Svinkløv Camping) and the exclusive Svinkløv beach hotel.

photo Thorup/Svinkløv 2006: grethe bachmann.