Engevikhavn

The guesthouse activity in Engevik in the 1700s could not have been very extensive. But a hundred years later a trading and guesthouse centre developed on a piece of land called Engevikhavn. This is the place where Segelcke had obtained licence to operate an inn and guesthouse business in 1729.

Holsund

Halne

At Halnefjorden, a few hundred metres east of Halne mountain lodge, lie the remains of two stone sheds – Halnelægeret. Some generations ago the cattle drovers stopped here in the summer; they were the cowboys of their time. But Halnelægeret already had a long history before the cattle drovers came.

Nottveit

In one of the frame-built haysheds at Nottveit, at holding No. 3, we discover that several of the staves have a medieval look, with large dimensions and carefully rounded edges. According to tradition, it was the farms Nottveit and Mostraumen that supplied the timber for the stave church at Mo, and it is not unlikely that these farms received the old timber in return when the new church was erected there in 1593.

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.

Moster- The old church

Moster is mentioned as a church site already in the time of Olav Tryggvason. According to the sagas the king is supposed to have laid the foundations for the first church at Moster when he came there in 995. That building would have been a stave church - the church standing there today – a stone church with a nave and narrower, straight chancel – was probably founded around 1100. In 1874 a new church was built at Moster. Then the old church was bought by The Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments, which is still the owner.

Brandasund

On Gisøya Island, on the west side of Brandasund Sound, there is a very privileged trading post and traveller's Inn from the 1600s, with the North Sea as its nearest neighbour. In 1991 a road was built over Bømlo out to these islands, but for thousands of years the sheltered harbour here was a main stopping place along the outer coast. During the great herring period of the 1700s and 1800s, Brandasund was a centre for the herring fisheries on the Sørafeltet fishing grounds. Today, the area belongs to the municipality of Bømlo.

Eidfjord church

The old stone church at Eidfjord has an open position on the terrace at Lægreid. In a diploma from 1310 it transpires that Torgeir on Sponheim donated a gift for the erection of the church in Eidfjord. Thus we can assume that the church was under construction at the time. The elements in the style confirm such a dating.

Mosterhamn

Mosterhamn is one of the old privileged trading posts situated centrally in the shipping lane, whether the ships sailed on Langenuten, Nyeleia through Fitjar or into the Hardanger Fjord. From prehistoric times Bømlo and Moster were the first landing places when arriving from the west; a landscape with good harbours.

Eikelandsosen

"So many and such big potholes as are found at Eikelandsosen, we don't see other places in western Norway, and as beautifully polished as the mountainside is along the river up to Koldal , one would look a long time to see anywhere else. There is much to dazzle a geologist's eyes. If only these features could bring others the same joy!"