A little while ago, I wrote about the iron manhole covers from Tierp. Since then, I’ve noticed a lot of them, dotted around the ground from each place we’ve been. Clearly, the iron foundry was very popular with people that order those kinds of thing. However, since arriving in Trosa, I’ve discovered a competing brand of iron cover.
Ulefos is, primarily, a Norwegian company that deals in all things metal and water related delivery systems. The company is also very old. The website company history claims it has been around, in one form or another, since 1657, five years after iron ore was discovered in Norway.
The company started making iron stoves and was very successful. Then, in 1952, they started making manhole covers.
At some point, Trosa kommun decided to switch its manhole cover suppliers from Tierp to Ulefos. Both companies cast the covers with the Trosa emblem of the moon over a boat, in the middle.
But, when a cover is replaced, in some delightful cases, the rim remains the same. This creates a sort of competing iron foundry situation.
By the way, the boat and the moon motif is the coat of arms of Trosa. This was awarded in 1611. The official logo was extensively redesigned in the 2010’s, borrowing heavily from the 1992 design. Anyone who can read Swedish is welcome to plough through this official design document.
