Wednesday Walk Challenge : Steamships once transported people and livestock down the river to Kristiansand, Norway

Today I want to take you with me on a hike along the Topdalselva / Topdal River. I took the bus to Tveit, which is about 18 kilometers from Kristiansand city center. Then I walked a short distance on the left side of the river, before crossing via footbridge to the opposite side. Here I partly followed the path and the road. The weather is beautiful and the autumn colors are possibly at their most beautiful right now.

Tveit is very rural. There are several farms here and the buildings are scattered. Many of the locally grown vegetables come from Tveit. The area is especially known for all its strawberry growers. As you see, I met a couple of friendly sheep as well.

After walking along the road for a while I made a stop when I saw this sign and read the headline:
The old steamship pier in Knarestad. The place is clearly called Knarestad. But I have never known about the steamship pier. The artist behind the painting is Arvid Bergstøl. He wants show how he has imagined an ordinary day on the pier, around 1900.

I read that in the years between 1856 and 1937 Knarestad was a place of importance. During this period several steamships ran a regular route between Kristiansand and Knarestad. It wasn't just people who were transported back and forth. The boat carried animals, mail, supplies and milk. On the way from here to the city the steamship had several "milk docks" where it had to make stops. That tells me a little about how important agriculture has been, and still is.

The steamship left early in the morning and was back at the pier in the afternoon. The little red house may have been a place to stay for the those travelers who came from far away. It functioned as an inn. The old building behind must have been where they stored food. Before the invention of the refrigerator, people used to store food in this type of building. It is built above the ground so that animals such as rats and mice would not get to the food.

But the pier itself was owned by the Kjevik family and not by the municipality or the village museum. However, the pier needed renovation and in the fall of 2020 the project started with the help of many volunteers. The village museum paid for the renovation, in exchange for the Kjevik family allowing the public free access to the pier, both from land and water. Everyone is welcome here.

Right behind the store house, I saw a sign that said "river path". Instead of continuing on the road, I chose to follow the river for some time until I came to a sign telling me I sood soon be passing Boen Gård / Boen Mansion. A mansion with a long history. Visited by kings, English lords and wealthy people who came here for sociability and, not least, salmon fishing. Next week I will tell you about the beautiful mansion.