University of Bergen
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.
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?
Finnås
At Flintaneset by Finnåsvika, in the centre of the municipality, we find the most beautiful and best preserved igneous rocks in western Norway. We must go to Hawaii or Island to find as fine structures as at Bømlo.
