Trelde Næs, Vejle fjord

The eastern part of Jutland has many inlets where cities lie cosy and safe in the corners, like the cities Randers, Hobro, Horsens, Vejle, Kolding - these inlets have created some beautiful hilly landscapes around the cities and along the coasts. The nature in Jutland is very varied, here in East Jutland is a vigorous landscape, mild and soft. This day we were going to a hilly, forested landscape, to a a cape south of  Vejle fjord, called Trelde Næs*, which is now protected land.

( * Næs is an isthmus or a cape) 

At Trelde Næs lies the 30 meter high Trelde Klint*  -  and along the coast towards Lillebælt are until 20 meter high cliffs with significant slides. The hinterland is a forest, Østerskoven, with many rare plants. Lillebælt is the water between East Jutland and the island Funen, connected by the Lillebælt-Bridge. South of the cape lies the city Fredericia..

( *Klint is a cliff or a slope)

photo from Google Earth Map

one of the hiking paths

There is a considerable erosion on the entire Trelde Næs, and breakwaters lie along the coast, built in both granite boulders and poles. Big slides of clay occur at spring-thawing, especially on the south side. On the north side of the cape is a broad sandy beach with fine bathing conditions.

The plastic clay on Trelde Næs is a greasy red, green or grey clay, which is easy to shape. A clay like this was deposited in Paleogene about 54-38 million years ago, and plastic clay is in Denmark found upon Røsnæs, by and under Lillebælt, at Æbelø and in Mid Jutland. The plastic clay is among other things used for concrete tiles. In geotechnics the property of the clay is very significant, since the alternating water absorbtion and dessication can cause serious problems in buildings, which are founded on plastic clay.

Along the southeast coast with the especially large  slides, which face the city Fredericia, the beach is narrow and difficult to pass. Greasy clay lies like tongues along the edge of the beach and many dead trees block the way. In the early spring, where many slides occur, it's a riscy business to walk here. Waders are needed!

The cliffs towards Lillebælt are crowned with deciduous forest and some coniferous forest in the hinterland.


Flora and Fauna 

many benches like this  in the forest,

The animal life include gobies, shrimps and glass eel in spring, in summer are clouds of garfish- and herring fry and tobis. There are sand mussel and cockles, and in some places large banks of blue mussels. At the land spit called Kasser Odde, with stones along the beach, are seaweed forests of various seaweed species. In late summer and autumn are big heaps of blue mussel shells and shells from the red whelk and dwarf whelk.

blackberry with pink flowers in autumn.

Both on the beach and in the forest is a rich flora. On the beach is cakile, sea kale, saltbush, goosefoot and various grass species, and in the forest hawthorn, sloe, rosa canina, honeysuckle and fly honeysuckle, spindle, ivy, blackberry, holly, arum, etc. Upon the terasses, where the cliff has made slides, are rare orchids. They are protected and must not be plucked or digged up. Where the clay is free of water grow coltsfoot, European swamp thistle, marsh sow thistle, great horsetail and upon the dead beech tress on the beach a fungus called schizophyllum.

                                            


 Schizophyllum is probably the fungus which globally has the largest extent. It grows everywhere possible. It has been gathered worldwide and cultivated in laboratories and it is the same species everywhere. Research has shown that the fungus has at least 28.000 different sexes. Schizophyllum is common in rotting wood, but can also cause disease in humans. It has been known to cause a human myosis in just a few cases involving immunoincompetent people, especially children. In one case the fungus had grown through the soft palate of a child's mouth and was actually forming fruiting bodies (mushrooms) in her sinuses.

The Hunter

In several places in the high cliffs are colonies of sand martins, and the red-breasted merganser breeds behind the downfallen tree roots. Among the breeding birds of the forest are buzzard, sparrow hawk, kestrel, tawny owl, raven and green woodpecker - in the summer season cormorants are seen upon the fishing stakes, and all winter lie the tufted duck, greater scaup, swan and various ducks like eider and common scoter close to the coast. In spring is a fine migration of birds like lark, starling, jackdaw, crow and lapwing and large flocks of the meadow pipit, chaffinch and brambling. A migration of birds of prey is also seen in the area. Seals and porpoise are seen at Kasser Odde. (the land tip) 

At the beach called Bøgeskov Strand is a spring with angelica and marsh sow thistle.
In the slopes have been made unique finds of fossilized fish-skulls and swords from sword fish. There are good possibilities of finding fossiles in the dark clay layers, but the clay is oily and there are many slides, especially in spring.    

History

north side with fine autumn colours

here comes a horse who would not go into his waggon.

Troldehuset

one of the saw mill buildings

According to tradition the outlawed grev Trolle infested Trelde Næs in the early Middle Ages, he was called "Næssekongen", ("King of the Cape") -  in the 14-15th century the cape belonged to the Crown and since then there was an ongoing feud among several landowners about the rights of the area, especially the rights of the good herring fishing, which Trelde Næs was famous for. In the 1800s a ferry sailed between Trelde Næs and the north side of Vejle fjord, but it was given up because of low water. The propetry was in 1919 bought by Harald Plum who built a saw mill and several other buildings like the socalled "Troldehus" on the outmost tip which he used as a summer residence. Kulvig havn, a small harbour on the nortside of Trelde Næs ,was established in connection to the saw mill industry as a sawmill harbour by Harald Plum. A later owner was for several years Ane Rydholt, called "Næssedronningen", (Queen of the Cape), who kept the area closed to the public. She lived a withdrawn life and had a reputation of being a bit of an oddball. In 1966 the outmost part of Trelde Næs was bought by Fredericia Municipality with a support from the Culture-Ministery - and it is now protected land . Today there is public access to the baeautiful area , at the north side of the coast is a fine bathing beach  and there are 3 marked hiking paths. "Troldehuset" is now rebuilt into a cap school. The lighthouse is buiilt in steel grating, materials from a German canon foundation from WWII. Because of the slides in the coast the lighthouse was rebuilt three times and moved twice. Upon the næs have been found kitchen middens from Stone Age.

Trelde, in the village.




photo Trelde Næs 27 October 2012: grethe bachmann