22 kmThe Ese Houses at Nymindegab
Small, tangible trace of fjord fishing and coastal work; can be visited as a historic stop
For the people of Skovlund, the North Sea was not just somewhere you could quickly drop by. In the old days, the trip often went to Vejers when people wanted to get out to the sand, the wind and the great expanse of water. The old images of beach life give the story a local angle: holidays and days off do not begin at the coast, but at home in a village inland.
Vejers Strand is located on the North Sea in Varde Municipality and is described as a wide sandy beach with fresh winds, roaring seawater, fine sand and white dunes. It is exactly the kind of coast that makes it easy to understand why a trip west could feel special before cars became commonplace.
Close to the beach is Vejers Plantage, where the landscape changes from coastal dunes in the west to marshes, plantation forest and dune heath further east. This combination of open coast and plantation gives Vejers more than just a beachfront.
Fanø appears as a related beach destination in the story. The island is located in Wadden Sea National Park, and the ferry between Esbjerg and Fanø takes around 12 minutes. At Fanø Bad, beach life, seaside hotels and later golf became part of the coastal culture. Seen from Skovlund, the sea meant both the dunes of Vejers and Fanø's bathing history.
The photo from Vejers Strand in the summer of 1936 shows how seaside outings also drew ordinary people from the surrounding area. Johannes Nielsen, a grocer in Skovlund, ran a grocery shop in Vejers during the summer months.
In the middle of the scene stands the shop; in front is a Chevrolet with a trailer resembling a rubber cart. Dinna Munch stands on the road between two women, with a textile shop to the left and a truck to the right — a small seasonal town in full swing.
The photo shows two girls from Skovlund on Fanø: Bodil Johanne Clausen in the bathing cabin on the right and probably Nelly Karoline Dejbjerg Kristensen on the left. Both were born in 1926.
Fanø was an obvious west coast destination from southwest Jutland, with a ferry from Esbjerg to Nordby. By the time the girls stood at the beach, Fanø Bad had already for decades been known for sea bathing, promenades, and summer stays — beach life with both sand and social choreography.
Around 1913, pupils from Skovlund School were ready for an excursion that required more than packed lunches and good weather. First, the trip went by horse-drawn carriage to Tistrup Station, then by train to Esbjerg and from there by ferry to Fanø.
The photo is the archive’s oldest school excursion photo from Skovlund. It shows a time when a trip to the beach was a small travel plan in itself – country road, railway and sailing in the same outing.
