Sunde

In 1852 Haktor Thorsen erected two large warehouses on one of his farms in Sunde and started trading and salting herring. This was the start of an industrial adventure that made Sunde into one of the first industrial communities in Kvinnherad.

Kongstun

In the Middle Ages the farmers were under obligation to transport state officials. The bishops were entitled to 18 horses when they travelled about on visitations, and the king could requisition free transport.

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.

Rubbestadneset

Kyrping

The trading post down by the fjord at Kyrping does not belong to the oldest group of trading posts from the 1600s and 1700s. It was only after the liberalisation of the trading legislation that trade was established here.

Skånevik- the trading post

There are only two buildings left of the old trading and guesthouse settlement in Skånevik. They are in the centre, close to the main road passing through the settlement. The other buildings that belonged to the place, the lodging house (“Holteriet”), the bakery, the courthouse, the boathouse and the sea house with the store, were pulled down in the last century.

Engesund

For more than 350 years Engesund has been a place for hostelries and trading in the Fitjar islands. The place is centrally placed in the shipping lane, with a sheltered harbour close to the exposed Selbjørnsfjorden. Engesund was once part of the great network of historical stopover places on the coast.

Sagvåg

The pit saw on the property of the farm Valvatna, is the origin of the name Sagvåg. The sawmill is mentioned as early as 1564. The name of the place at that time was Fuglesalt, but soon there is only talk of Saugvog.

Godøysund

The old hostelry centres were strategically placed with good harbours and anchoring conditions where people travelled. GODØYSUND, or Gøysundet, as it was called, was in the middle of Tysnes Parish, with easy access from the sea, also for the local population. Gøysundet is amongst the oldest hostelries in Sunnhordland.

Klinkholmen

Kubbervik, or Vikjo as it was known colloquially, must have been established as a trading post under the farm of Håland some time around 1600. The reason for this was probably the thriving trade on Scotland. Every year ships from the islands in the west came to buy lumber in Bårsund. Vikjo was the harbour in use, as the place is ideally situated on the route through Bårsund, the sound between Reksteren and Tysnesøy.