Both rivers are good fishing places, but what is especially interesting about Lindenborg river are at least 16 spring-areas in a stretch of about 15 km along the river. Two of these springs are Lille Blåkilde and Blåhøl, the water-richest springs in North Europe - they both give 150 liter pr.second. The reason for the many springs is the chalk just below the surface. The rain water seeps down through cracks in the chalk, from where it gradually is being pressured from the chalk above. Upon weak spots like in river brinks is the water pressed out like a spring. Even in the hardest winter has the water a temperature all year of 7-9 degrees Celsius, the plants grow along the springs and the water is clean and drinkable.
Lindenborg river vally is a part of the designated Natura 2000 area nr. 18 (with Rold skov, Lindenborg river valley and Madum lake), and Habitat-area dn bird-protection-area, total 8.748 hectare.
Lille Blåkilde is an impressive spring, it has three types of springs. They run together into a large brook, which gives 150 liter water pr second. By the help of radiotopic isotopes was measured that the water from the brink fell like rain about 50 years ago.
Everywhere in this large calcareous area in Himmerland is an important and interesting flora. The orchids love this calcareous soil, and there are many rare orchids like the rare lady-slipper in Rold forest - and on the cliffs and banks along the river is a flora worth a study for an avid botanist. There is also a rich bird-life, and the clean, fresh water is a fine habitat for a rich, varied macro-invertebrate community. (An invertebrate that is large enough to be seen without the use of a microscope).
Yellow bedstraw/ Gul Snerre ( Galium verum) is also named Virgin Mary's bedstraw. In the old days, before the Catholic church had changed the heathen plant names, it was called Freja's bedstraw. Before Christianity was it considered sacred and dedicated to Freja, who was the goddess of love, marriage and home. Therefore was the flowers put in the bed under women giving birth. After Virgin Mary took over the name, people believed that she had plucked the soft flowers for the baby Jesus to put in his crip.
But in daily life was the plant also put among the bedstraw in order get rid of fleas. The house wife hang it in the ceiling of the living room, partly as a decoration, since its yellow colour stays firm like an Eternelle, and partly for its spicy scent. When children had scabies they were given a bath with a decoct of yellow bedstraw. The plant was also used earlier for spicing beer. It contains an enzym, which makes milk run together. The Latin word verum means milk-running herb. The root was used for dyeing linen krap-red, and the flower tops to dye a yellow and olive green.
The cyclist lady by the bridge told us that a cat had come down to her and her husband in the morning when they passed the brink by the river and placed a dead mouse in front of her as a gift.
Spiked Speedwell/Aks Ærenpris (Veronica spicata) grows in Scandinavia and across Middle and South Europe to Asia Minor and East Asia. It grows in dry calcareous soil, often on cliffs, hills, pastures and often along the coast. In Denmark it grows here and there along the coast of Limfjorden and Kattegat and at the island of Bornholm, but it is rare in other parts of Denmark. It is a popular cultivated plant in the garden.
It has been cultivated for several thousand years in Central- and South Europe and was an important part of everyday food. In Denmark was parsnip known since the Middle Ages, where it was used in medicine. The parshnip is somewhat similar to Hamburg parsley, but is larger and coarser. The parsnip, which grows wild, is not the same as the well-known parsnip roots we cultivate for food. The wild parsnip has a lesser root, but it is not edible. The parsnip contains a vegetable poison, named psoralen, the same as in Giant Hogweed, but it is not as strong in parsnip. The sap can in combination with sunlight give blisters and wounds of the skin, which remind about burns.
Wild Mignonette/Gul Reseda (Reseda lutea) is a species of fragrant herbaceous plant. Its roots have been used to make a yellow dye called "weld" since the first millenium BC, although the related plant Reseda luteola was more widely used for that purpose. The wild Mignonette grows in dry calcareous soil and is much visited by bees. It is rare to see other insects than honeybees in wild Mignonette, which is rare in other plants.
Sct. John's Wort/Prikbladet Perikon (Hypericum perforatum) grows wild everywhere in Denmark. It grows in a dry and poor soil, where it is doing well among grass and other plants. The plant contains substances, which have inhibitory effects on depression. It is valuable a valuable bee-plant. The blooming buds are fine for a pretty and well-tasting snaps. The plant is used in herbal medicine as an adjunct or replacement for Prozac. Use of Sct. John's Wort can make the skin sensitive to sunlight.
The use of Hypericum is not a proven treatment for depression. If the depression is not treated correctly and enough, then the state of the disease might worsen. Combined with certain antidepressants hypericum can worsen side-effects like nausea, anxiety, headache and confusion.
The name Sct. John's Wort origins from the Middle Ages, where the tradition was to burn the flowers of the herb on Midnight's Eve (Sct. Johns day = 24 June). The superstition said that itiwas possible to drive away evil demons ( insanity) from the family, if they burnt the flowers of Sct. John's Wort. Later was it known that brandy with Hypericum was good for depressed persons.
Small Burnet/Salad Burnet/ Blodstillende Bibernelle (Sanguisorba minor) . The Latin sanguis means blood and sorbeo means absorb, referring to the wound-healing and blood-purifying properties of the plant. It was used to heal many diseases in the old days, like the dried root was used against cancer. The Small burnet grows in dry, grassy soil, often on limestone soil. The leaves have a fine taste like cucumber and can be used in salads, soups, drinks etc. The young leaves are considered interchangeable to mint leaves in drinks. The plant has a respectable shistory, it was called a favorite herb by Francis Bacon and was brought to the New World with the first English colonists.
photo June 2011 and June 2010: grethe bachmann (please enlarge the small photos)
Nørre Vorupør( daily called Vorupør) is a coastal town and a fishing village in the western part of Thy, close to the North Sea and 22 km northwest of the town Thisted. The place is known for its fishing , here is (like at Thorup strand) still some commercial fishing with boats on the open beach, being pulled ashore with a winch. Vorupør is a part of Nationalpark Thy. In Nørre Vorupør is a Fiskeri- og Redningsmuseet, Nordsø Akvariet and Vorupør Museum.
The nearest villages are Stenbjerg 4 km to the south, Hundborg 8 km to the east and Klitmøller 15 km to the north. Like Klitmøller is Vorupør a place for the surfers. It is one of five best windsurfing posts in Europe. Vorupør is today one of few places in Denmark from where is still coastal fishing. The boats are pulled ashore with a hydraulic winch. On the beach lies a restored ship Thabor, where you can go onboard and feel the daily life of a fisherman.
The place by Vorupør is mentioned the first time in 1689 in a lawsuit. Vorupør is also called Klitten at that time (= the Dune). In 1664 and 1668 were mentioned 7-8 houses in the dune, probably only small huts. In april 1680 came theSandflugtskommissionen (sand drain commission) to Hundborg parish and reported about the conditons in a very disheartening way that some farms were ravaged by sand drift. "The sand flies across the fields, and the meadows are destroyed by sea water and sand". In 1793 was established the first experiments with planting to restrict the sand drift, and in 1820 was Tvorup Klitplantage laid out.
Nørre Vorupør started as a town to which people moved from Stenbjerg and Sønder Vorupør. During the 1800s was Vorupør not in good conditions. People said: "Rich Jannerup, Proud Hundborg and Poor Vorupør". The informations about the fisher population describe in a simple way how poor they were. There was no opportunity to do farming, so the fishing was the only way to earn a living. At that time the fishermen did the fishing from barges, open three-men-boats - this was riscy and dangerous and without any big earnings. The catch of fish was sold on the beach, or the fisherman went with a basket to buyers at farms inside the country. The sight of the poor fishermen often led to derision and mockery from the prosperous farmers. In 1851 had Vorupør its first rescue station.
In the second half of the 1800s began a more organized fishing trade from Nørre Vorupør, and when the Thy-railway was inaugurated in 1882, they began to export fish to Germany. Still in 1882 are the fisher population in Nørre Vorupør mentioned as poor people, living in old houses with no curtains in the small and few windows. In the 1870s came the inner Mission-revival to Vorupør. The combination of the dangerous life on the sea and the snaps had opened up a new way of life. There were some tragic drowning accidents which caused prosperity for the inner Mission. A mission house was built and the revivalism got a good hold in the fisher population. In 1982 were experiments made with new and larger boats, but in 1893 drowned 49 fishermen on the west coast of Jutland. The catastrophe meant a new prosperity for inner Mission and a large polarization between "the saints and the unbelievers". Later was built new and safer boats.
Today is the coastal fishing in Vorupør still visible although it in a degree happens like in a living museum. The reason is that the young fishermen have not continued the fishing tradition. It is not possible to do full-time fishing anymore.
photo Nørre Vorupør June 2011: grethe bachmann
