Cotton Mill Museum (Rydal)

 
This cotton mill at Rydal (Västergötland, Sweden) was built in 1853, along the river Viskan - the same river that also flows through the town of Borås (where I live). This is also where the first hydro-electric power station in Sweden was built; and this mill was the first building in Sweden to have indoor electric lighting. 

"Due to the well preserved remains of an old industrial community, this factory, along with several other buildings, have been declared historical monuments. They tell the story of how the Borås region became the textile epicenter of Sweden."

https://digitaltmuseum.se/021015654584/arbetarbostader-i-rydal

A whole community grew up around the cotton mill, with the workers all living in (wooden) apartment buildings along the road nearby. Whole families would work at the mill - also young children, back in the early days. Some people lived their whole life here, in a very closed community.

Inside the mill, the huge machine hall is also preserved pretty much as it was when production stopped. We were able to join a guided tour, with a guide telling us about the history of the place, and demonstrating how the various machines worked, and what they were for - following the process from raw material (imported cotton) to finished product (yarn). 

"The spinning machines in the old spinning hall... represent the production of a novelty yarn that became the main product of the company in the 1920's. It was used in the weaving of rugs, furniture fabrics and as knitting yarn. Production ceased in 2004 [but a few machines are still run for public displays]"

 

The guide only turned on one machine at a time, for a very short while - but that still gave an idea of what an infernal noise all of them going at once must have made together... All day long...!

 

 

An old manual spinning wheel on display, hanging from the roof.
(My paternal grandmother had one like it, but painted green, I never saw her use it but I think it had belonged to her mother, from when they lived on a farm, and had sheep, and spun their own wool.) 

Some old enamelled kitchen items - I remember similar ones in that combination of beige and green from my grandmother's kitchen as well. 

Small Town Charm

 (Tuesday 6 August)

The last full day that my brother was here, we made a somewhat shorter day trip. I had in memory an outing several years ago with my aunt and uncle + a friend of my aunt's. That time we visited an old cotton spinning mill that is nowadays a museum; and afterwards drove on to a small town not too far from there for lunch.

This time, with my brother, we started by driving to the small town (Kinna) for lunch at the same café (I had checked online that they were still in business); and visisted the museum on our way back.

We parked the car behind Kinna Church, and walked across the churchyard to the café, which (as I recalled) was across the street from the church tower.

 

(This church was not open for tourists either. I checked on the way back...)

Another charming old house ▲ close to the charming café ▼

The café, Skrädderiet (Tailor's Workshop), still looked very much like I remembered it. Inside, it's a bit like a 'tardis', with a number of rooms with individual decor - and in summer, they also make good use of their garden at the back. As did we, this time!

 

Checking my blog, I find that the last time I visited this place was 12 years ago, in June 2012. And memory served me right: The place really hasn't changed much since then. If you like, you can check out my old post here. 

(I'll save my new photos from the cotton mill museum for a separate post.)

 

Another Church with an Impressive Gate

 (Monday, 5 August, cont.)

On our way back from the coast we also made a short stop at another church, in Sätila - not all that far from the one at Hyssna (previous post), where we had stopped on the way down the same morning. The church at Sätila too has a similar portal leading into the churchyard as the old church at Hyssna (but somewhat bigger). 

Via a Swedish Wikipedia article I found my way to an English one on the same topic, giving me the English name for it: lychgate. The English article points out that "Lychgates served to differentiate consecrated and unconsecrated space" and adds that stone lychgates might also enhance the sensation of entering another space by actually changing how you perceived sound inside vs outside that gate. The English article also mentions the gate being important in funeral rituals; while the Swedish one stresses that in medeival times, the churchyard and church was sacred ground, where people could seek refuge/sanctuary. So these gates served more than just an ornamental purpose.

The church at Sätila is situated on a hill, overlooking a lake.

Outside that church, there are also two large stone tablets with inscriptions to do with the church's history. The first one is in memory of the church being extended in 1725. The second one in memory of renovations done in 1900-1901 (and naming a lot of people involved, from the king and the bishop and the vicar, to architects and painters...).

 

These records literally "written in stone" also reminded me of the stone with a much shorter message of similar kind that we found at the church at Vänga. So maybe raising memorials to major changes of church buildings was a common tradition in this part of Sweden as well (even if I can't recall having come across a whole lot of them, and especially not placed outside the church rather than within).

Hyssna Old Church

 

 

 

Every now and then on our car trips, we stop for a while at some old church - sometimes just because they tend to have free parking convenient for a stop when one wants to check the map... But it's often also a good place to get out and stretch one's legs a bit. 

Alas, none of the churches we happened to find on our outings this year were open to look into. So I just took photos from outside, and looked up some info afterwards.  

The oldest parts of the old church at Hyssna date back to the 12th century. It's appearance now goes back to renovations made in 1728. In 1907 a new church was built in another spot. This old one was abandoned and started to decay; but in 1922-23 it was restored to how it was before it was abandoned in 1910. Nowadays it's used mostly for special occasions like weddings and christenings. (Source: Swedish Wikipedia article.)

A Place by the Sea

 (Monday 5 August, cont.)

Although Tjolöholm Castle (previous post) is situated on the coast, while we were there we did not really get a sense of being at the seaside. So before we turned back home, I said I also wanted to go to some place where one did get that feeling. 

So we drove on a little bit further south, and found a place called Gårda Brygga ('brygga' is the Swedish word for 'jetty'). Besides a jetty for small boats, it turned out to also offer smooth rocks with a good view towards the open sea, and even a small beach with a small kiosk/café where we could buy something to drink, and sit for a while to absorb that seaside feeling...