Following yesterday’s million steps, it was decided that we’d do a bit of touring today. After waking up and getting out of the flat, we headed out. Mirinda had worked out a splendid itinerary of which I was unaware but pleasantly surprised. There was a church, an archaeological site, beer and, first up, a small railway museum.
By 1948, there were six railway companies on Gotland. A lot of them were transporting beets around the place. But, then, in 1960, the last railway line on Gotland closed. Perhaps there were no more beets. Subsequently, all the tracks were removed, and it was as if they never existed.
Then, in 1972 the Gotlandståget heritage railway was formed.
It took a while but, by 2015, the rails were replaced and a train was once more running between Hesselby and Roma, a distance of 6.5 kilometres. A bit like the Bluebell and Watercress lines in England, it is run by volunteers and runs heritage rolling stock. We watched as the one in the photo above pulled into the station.
It had been hired by a tour company so wasn’t going anywhere. The trains have quite a restricted timetable. They run on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays from late June to late August. So, not exactly a commuter service.
Funnily enough, when I was quite young, my entire family bought me a huge train set. It had everything a young boy could ever dream of and included a little red engine the likes of which I’d never seen before. Or since, to be honest. Well, apart from today. You see, the engine that pulled the carriages into the station today was exactly the same as my little red engine all those years ago. Coincidence? I think not.
We visited the sweet little railway museum before heading back to the car. We’d passed a very tall church on the way into the town and thought we’d better go and visit it.
Fortunately, it was open. Indeed, as we reached the church, a tour bus (probably the same people who had hired the train) pulled up and disgorged a load of non-excited people who were not exactly eagerly entering the church. Which was a bit odd because the church was probably one of the most amazing I’ve seen.
The church there now was built in the 13th and 14th centuries, by Cistercian monks from the nearby Roma Abbey. It was added and subtracted to and from like churches generally are but then, in 1899, a major restoration took place which completely changed the church.
Axel Herman Hägg, architect and artist, spent 15 years completing the frescoes on the walls as well as other artworks throughout the building. At the time, people loved the work, claiming he had created a “…national shrine for Gotland.” These days, however, his work is more frowned upon than applauded.
According to Anders Andren, professor of archaeology at Stockholm University, the church represents a “…harsh and loose reconstruction of the Middle Ages.”
That maybe so, but I thought it was absolutely stunning.
Mind you, I was somewhat taken aback by the lack of female saints depicted on the walls. Or anywhere else for that matter. It’s unusual and unexpected. Maybe Axel didn’t like women in church. Maybe he thought they were too clever to be fooled by the idea of organised religion. Or, maybe he thought there were no women in the Middle Ages.
The tour group was all crowded around the pulpit being lectured by their tour guide so we sat in one of the beautifully Arts and Crafts style box pews and waited for them to finish. It didn’t take long before we had the place to ourselves.
We had a good wander around before heading outside. We left the church just in time to see the next bus load of visitors arrive. They looked just as excited as the first lot.
We headed back to the car and set off for our next site.
Gålrum is a Bronze Age cemetery. As well as having burial mounds, it also has a number of so-called boat burials. These are comprised of large stones, placed around a bare patch of ground, in the shape of the hull of a boat. There are around 350 such graves on Gotland.
Mirinda told me about the boat burials after she returned from Gotland last year, so I was hoping I’d get to see at least one. Today I was very lucky and saw quite a few.
Apparently, the remains of the deceased were cremated and placed in a house shaped urn before being buried in or near the boat shaped grave. No-one knows why but, if you ask me, it sounds a bit like it was a form of transport to the next world. For island inhabitants, it makes sense that they’d supply their dead relatives with a boat. Even a metaphorical one.
The cemetery at Gålrum was used from around 1800 BCE until the year zero. And, as well as the boat burials, there are also a few burial mounds. One massive pile of rocks (we thought it was a quarry at first) is situated on the other side of the road. We accessed it by climbing over a rather high stile.
Jason doesn’t know what a stile is, so I’ve included a photo of one here in case there is anyone else who doesn’t know. I’m included for both scale and in order to show how they are used for climbing over fences.
You can see the big burial mound behind me on the right. It was very big and, I should think, denotes quite an important person. The cairn even has a name: Digerrojr. Unsurprisingly, the name means ‘giant cairn’. It measures 30 metres in diameter and four metres high and consists of an awful lot of stones. I can’t see a village creating such a behemoth for a lowly peasant.
We had the ancient site to ourselves, enjoying the mystery and solitude before heading back to the car. As we left, another couple arrived in the car park, no doubt about to enjoy the place as much as we had.
But we had other fish to fry, in Mirinda’s case, literally. We were headed for a pub by the sea called the Brown Door. Or Bruna Dorren to be more accurate. And what an amazing place to choose for lunch and a beer.
Divided into many different areas and littered with all manner of stuff, the place was a delight. And the pizza was pretty good too. And, of course, Mirinda had fish and chips which was also damned fine!
It’s a very popular spot and for very good reason. Highly recommended.
After filling ourselves, we drove back to the flat for a brief rest before heading out for our second night of jousting, tricks and archery.
Again, it was a splendid display of medieval tomfoolery and skill.
The walk back was once more lit by a gorgeous sunset.
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. I hope not.
