Places worth seeing.

Click on a name to see that place described in full.

The canoe trip

The trip down the Suså River and on the Tystrup and Bavelse Lakes is showing nature at its best. Once you are here, you will see that it that it was well worth you spending time planning your visit to Denmark, reading up about what to see and looking on a flight comparison site like Fly.com (http://www.fly.com/). The trip is like living in a storybook, while gliding through the country side and seeing the more populated areas around Skelby with the two churches, and Gunderslevholms barocco park setting. The large main building and the formal park to one side of the river and on the opposite side a nature setting of bush and native plants..

By choosing a departure point from one of two Canoe Outfitters northeast of Tystrup Lake, a family or a couple of older nature loving persons will be able to reach the Kongskilde Friluftsgård, an open air museum, in an afternoon.

They can then stay over for a night here, and continue on a leisurely trip to Skelby the next day, where you can stay overnight at “The Depot.” then continue to Næstved on the third day.

This is a weekend trip with secure and comfortable overnight stays. It also saves on a lot of planning of trying to stay in a tent and carry all the equipment needed. The Depot also stays open later in the fall to accommodate travelers after summer holidays, when the weather is nice in the daytime, but a bit cool during the night.

Fishing

The Tystrup Lake is an old lake stemming from the last ice age that is connected with Bavelse Lake. It is 6.6 square kilometers and an ideal place to get in a bit of fishing. You must obtain a fishing license at the Tourist Office in Næstved.

Biking.

The National bicycle route number 7 pass by Skelby just west of the bridge over the Suså River. “The Depot” is ideally situated for guests on bicycle trips too.

Riding.

In Holløse, south of Skelby, there are Norwegian and Icelandic horses. There is a small riding club, which may rent horses to tourist for short nature trips in the area.

Bird Watching.

All along the Suså River and the lakes, are rich bird habitats with many varied types of birds to be observed. A member of the Board of Directors for “The Friends Of The Depot”, Bent Møller Sørensen, has arranged bird watching excursions for thirty years. He and some likeminded friends have requested to use “the Depot” as a meeting place, and of course will be providing both brochures and other reading materials. If you choose to use “The Depot” as a base for your bird watching, you will be able to partake of these brochures and suggested tours to see the birds in the area.

Places to see and things to do.

Skelby.

In Skelby there are possibilities for shopping for foodstuffs and other items you forgot to bring with you. The place to go is called “SPAR”, which means “save” in English. If you go towards SPAR from the landings area at the Suså River, it is only about 200 meters. You pass “The Depot” on the way. Just up the Buen (“Bow”) as they call it, you can see the Skelby Church to the left. It was built around the year 1200 AD. You will note, that a lot of churches are as old or older in Denmark. This church is very simple and large. Inside are three beautiful painted Altar Figures. There is a special thing about the church tower. On one side there are only three indentations, but on the other side there are four. Nobody has been able to give a reason for this abnormality.

Between Næstved and Skelby via Ganges Bro you can still find traces of the old Barge Trails, where the horses walked and pulled the Barges. They are on both sides of “Den Danneskjolske Kanal” through which there from the beginning and to the middle of the nineteenth century, timber and building materials were brought from the areas of Tystrup-Bavelse Lakes

On the other side of the river, across the bridge and to the right, is the Gunderslev Church. (As a matter of fact, there are no other Country Churches in all of Denmark, which are this close together. This church was also built around 1200 AD. This church is full of carvings done by Abel Schrøder the Younger. The church is beautifully located high above the river.. This church was first a church for a small village, which has disappeared. Later on it was a church for the Gunderslevholms Estate. The Owner has sometimes opened the Estate to the public. Some of the trees along the alley to the estate were planted in the early 1700’s. It is said that even in the early Middle Ages, there was a castle located here, and some of the ruins can be found in the rushes and grass of the river.

If you carry on north along the road past the church, just past the beginning of the forest is a farm, where the original race of Nordic Goats still grace. For about 20 years ago, Ingrid Dam, who lives here, together with a few other people, began to gather the few remaining goats of the Danish Land Race. They were nearly extinct at this time. The flock of Ingrid Dam’s goats is the largest in the country.

Now if you turn left after the bridge, you will come to a small camping place. There have been talks about making a path for walking and bicycling along the river. Continuing south you will pass a large hill. This is a Dolmen or as they call it, a Stendysse. There is also a long Stendysse and closer to the farm is yet another Stendysse. Many places in Denmark you will find these hills, many of them with large stones on top. They were places of burials in the stone-age about 2500 b.c.

Borup Ris.

Here was an excavation done of a middle age village. Also signs of two farms were found, dating to about the year1200. Inside the forest you can find a large Dolmen, called Grundtvigsdyssen. It is a very large dolmen shaped like a large Viking ship, which inspired the Poet Grundtvig to write a large poem about the proud times of the old north.

If you are on bicycle, just follow the bicycle route no.7 to Borup Ris. From here you can then continue on to Hørhaven, where there is a beautiful view over lake and land. There is a public camping place near the Tystrup Lake, where you can stay for free overnight. There are both Toilet facilities and water and a place to have a campfire.

The two Farm Estates, Bavelse with a church, and Næsbyholm with a forest full of gravesites are worth a tour, but to get there, you must enter from north by Næsbyholm or from the main road from Bavelse. This area is fine for bird watching too.

There are also good possibilities for bird watching if you go east from Skelby. However you will not be able to bike the first part of this path. This is the old church path from Trælløse to Skelby Church. Some discussions with the township has been held regarding upgrading this path to be both for biking and walking. Especially the school children would use this path more than it is now. In the little Village of Trælløse you turn north towards Ravnstrup Lake, which is owned by the Danish OrnithologistSociety. This is a bird sanctuary and there viewing towers from which you can watch the birds.

Going northeast past yet another grave hill and through the small Village of Ulstrup, a road goes across Ulstrup Bog. It makes for a nice time to just enjoy the scenery before going on past Glumsø Lake to Glumsø Town.

If you go by bike the opposite way by Bicycle Route # 7, you can make a small detour to Holløse Mølle. This is an old water mill. Here are held both summer and Christmas markets. There is a bridge across the river here, so even without a canoe you can get close to the river.

When you are back on the bike route going towards Ladby you will see an old mill that the Millers Society has fixed up. It is used once a year to show how the old mills worked. In the little village there is an old Church Ruin, where there sometimes is held a Sunday Service. From here a path goes across some fields and through a forest to Herlufsholm near the Suså River at the edge of the Town of Næstved.

Music:

During a weekend at the end of August, a music festival is held at the Suså School Auditorium. This is for new Danish compositions arranged by the Arranger Hans Nordstrøm and his wife, School Superintendent Anne Kristine Schmith. The concerts are taped by the Danish Radio.

Open Air Theater:

On the 150^th anniversary of the Danish Constitution in 1999, a play was performed in Gunderslevholm Park by both professional and amateur actors. There were more than one hundred persons involved in both building the scenes and doing the play.

It is hoped to do another play again in a few years.

*1: In the area you can find carvings by Abel Scrøder the Younger, in the following churches:

(A name in bracket indicate that only a few of the artists works are in the room)

Vrangstrup, Vetterslev, Tyvelse, Sandby, Tybjerg, (Herlufmagle), Glumsø, and the two large churches in Næstved: St. Mortens and (St. Peder).

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