Espevær- the Trading Post
In the sea west of Bømlo lies Espevær, half an hour’s rowing trip across the sound from Vespestadvågen. This is a well-run and well-maintained local community, established on the back of the rich herring fisheries in the 1850s. It is fishermen, skippers and the tradesmen who have made their mark on the culture in Espevær, with their contacts to the south towards Haugesund and across the North Sea to the British Isles.
Espevær-The UFO-Ring
In Svartaneset on the west side of Espevær in October of 1975, a large oval imprint was discovered in an undulating field, where the grass had been flattened in the same direction all the way around the whole ring. The imprint resembled a 40 centimetre wide path, and the earth was depressed by about 10 centimetres. The ring had a diameter of 64 metres, a length of 26 metres and was 16 metres wide at its widest point. The ring is still clearly visible in the terrain. But what was it?
Hisøya
"I am going to prove to you that I am right". That is what the idealist and county doctor Christian Heitmann is supposed to have said in the early 1890s. He sat together with the parish priest, Kullmann, at Heitmann's home in Stord and discussed whether the islands in western Norway could have been forested or not. The priest thought that the area was too barren and weather-beaten for forest to have been able to grow so far out in the sea. But, Heitmann was sure he was right. He challenged the scepticism and set off to work.