Every design for Kleppestø

Until the Askøy Bridge opened, the ferries ran from Kleppestø straight to Sukkerhusbryggen in the centre of Bergen, and the old ferry quay is still the heart of the place. Kleppestø is the administrative centre of Askøy Municipality, with the town hall, the bus station, the Kleppestø Senter shopping centre and an express boat that still crosses to Bergen alongside the buses.

It sits on the southern coast of the island of Askøy, in Vestland county, with Florvåg just to the north and Strusshamn to the west. Together they make up the urban area of Askøy, which spreads over most of the island's southern part, while the bridge ties it to the city across the water. The ground here is steep and broken, so hilly that the centre has changed only a little at a time; Maltvikhaugen, the hill everyone called Ølhaugen, was blasted away to open the place up. Ingrid Espelid Hovig came from Kleppestø.

On the map, Brikafjellet and Dyrdalstoppen give the high ground, and along the water old defences such as Kvarven fort and Olsvik luftvernbatteri still stand guard over the approach. That is a map worth wearing for anyone who has waited for the boat at the quay below.