Holiday apartment in Robertsfors – nature and industrial heritage

Robertsfors combines traces of industrialisation with river landscapes, the coast and historic sites. The Robertsfors Bruk Museum presents the development of industrialisation from 1758 to the mid-20th century. Its collections include objects from the everyday and working life of the works as well as objects and history from Robertsfors’ diamond era.

Culture and history

An important chapter in the history of the works is told by the Bruksjärnvägen railway: it was electrified in 1900 and was the northernmost electrified narrow-gauge railway in the world at the time. Its gauge is 750 millimetres. Around 700 metres of track remain today at the Robertsfors Bruk Museum; restored locomotives and carriages are displayed in a restored engine shed. Robertsfors Bruk also preserves older industrial buildings as well as remains of the narrow-gauge railway that transported goods between the works site and the port of Sikeå.

Ratan, too, tells of changing historical eras. The exhibition at Kulturrum Ratan is organised around three themes: land uplift, the harbour era and the events of the 1809 war. After the abolition of the Gulf of Bothnia trade regulations in 1765, Ratan was a staple port on the Gulf of Bothnia and remained a functioning port until the mid-20th century. Local handicrafts are displayed and sold in an old harbour warehouse on the quay; from there, visitors can look out over the sea and Rataskär. Café Malin i Ratan serves homemade bread with vegetarian spreads and cookies. The ingredients used are plant-based and organic, and are also used in soap making.

The church setting of Bygdeå has been classified as being of particular cultural and historical importance and comprises a late medieval grey-stone church, a cemetery and a bell tower. Nysätra Church is a characteristic wooden church from the early 18th century with a freestanding bell tower and a cruciform floor plan that was unusual for its time; it, too, has been classified as being of particular cultural and historical importance. Dalkarlså Herrgård preserves a historic manor estate setting. The oldest manor house contains a museum of rural trade and several period-furnished living rooms.

In Ånäset, Osthyveln is a striking work of public art: two seven-metre-high cheese slicers, each weighing one tonne and turned on a lathe, prominently displayed beside the E4. The Barnens Bruk playground is located directly next to the museum at Robertsfors Bruk. Its design was inspired by the surroundings and the history of the works.

Nature

Klubben Nature Reserve is located at the mouth of the Rickleån. The Nettingforsen rapids are situated there near the river mouth; they are an unusual feature that has remained untouched by log-driving clearance. In the reserve, all stages of development of the forests created by land uplift can be observed.

Åströmsforsen Nature Reserve preserves a section of the Rickleån that has not been altered by log-driving clearance, with alternating rapids and calmer stretches of river. This habitat is home to sea trout, salmon, bullheads and otters. It is also home to a rare natural site of the yellow iris in Upper Norrland.

Activities

The Flottarstigen hiking trail leads from Överklinten to Robertsfors Bruk. Along the way, the route includes, among other things, architecturally designed wind shelters in Åknät and Räveln. Ratan has several short hiking trails. The municipality of Robertsfors also has almost 300 kilometres of groomed and signposted snowmobile trails; rest huts and several barbecue areas are located along the routes.

For winter sports, Hedlunda Husky offers guided dog-sledding tours. You can also learn to drive a dog sled yourself through snowy forests and landscapes in the Rickleå Valley. On the water, options range from sea-trout fishing in the Rickleån to fly-fishing in the varied flowing-water environment, for which the Rickleån is well suited.

Hakatjärn is an eight-hectare forest lake stocked with rainbow trout. It has barbecue areas, toilets, casting jetties and an accessible jetty near the car park. At Jomarkstjärn, there is a barbecue shelter, two wind shelters, an accessible jetty, several casting jetties and an accessible toilet.

Storsand havsbad in Ratan is a sandy beach with changing rooms, toilets and barbecue areas. Ratan’s guest harbour has a 95-metre-long and 4.5-metre-wide jetty, intended mainly for leisure boats. There are also two small jetties with rowing boats that can be rented.

Getting there

Buses operated by the regional public transport service run from Umeå to Robertsfors on routes 12, 17 and 20.

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More location pages: Robertsfors, Djäkneboda, Flarken, Robertsfors Ö, Dorotea and Bjurholm.

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