Every design for Hommelvik

Did you grow up by Hommelvika? Then you know the village at the end of the bay, off the Trondheimsfjord, where the river Homla runs north through the houses and into the sea, and where Hommelvik Church stands just south of the shoreline.

What sets Hommelvik apart is how hard it once worked. From the mid-nineteenth century it was a full-blown industrial village, with shipyards, a cotton mill, a vinegar works, a distillery, brickworks, an iron foundry and sawmills. When the Meråker line linked it to the Swedish railways, Swedish timber was shipped out from its quays and newcomers arrived, many of them from Sweden. More than a third of working people were in industry at a time when the national share was far lower, and the early twentieth century brought sharp class conflict, remembered locally as «Borgerkrigen». Today Nygaardsvoldsmuseet keeps part of that story.

Now most people commute to Trondheim or Stjørdal, with trains stopping at Hommelvik Station. But step off the train, walk down to Hommelvika past Kardusdammen and Saligberget, and you are home.