Kjelstraumen

If you take the sea route north you have several options. The various routes have been dealt with in history, and through the Middle Ages the traffic increased as well as the trading with Nordland in fish and herring, feather and down. One of the central routes passes through Kjelstraumen, in the sound between Ulvøy and Bakkøy. This has been a place for a guesthouse since 1610, with Royal Letter of Privilege, part of the large network of trading post and guesthouse locations along the coast.

Kjelstraumen is mentioned in the time of king Sverre. The Birkebeiner men caught up with two of the Baglar ships on the way to Bergen in 1260. It came to blows in Kjelstraumen. One of the ships hit a rock and became an easy target for the earl. The other ship got away to Bergen and gave notice that the enemy was close. History also tells us that there has been a falconry centre in Kjelstraumen in the Middle Ages. The hunting falcon had great value, it was presented as a gift to kings and earls.

The first lodging houses mentioned in Hordaland is Salhus north of Bergen and Kvalvågen in Austrheim. But in 1610 the guesthouse locality was moved to Kjelstraumen, which was church estate. In 1610 the Lindås priest Hans Nilssøn Hess, applied to the king for confirmation, after the law officer at Bergenhus, Lauritz Kruse, had granted permission to erect a house in Kjelstraumen for the benefit and help for travellers.

In Norrigis Bescrifuelse (Description of Norway) Peder Claussøn Friis tells us that there is a hidden rock in Kjelstraumen. In 1632 seven sloops from North Norway hit this rock and sank. In 1877 it was dynamited away.

Financially the guesthouse location must have been a boon. When the first poor law was put into practice for old Lindås parish in 1756, there was only one man in Lindås who was counted among the distinguished: the landlord in Kjelstraumen, Ole Lagesen. He was obliged to contribute Rdl. (Riksdaler – the currency at the time) to the poor commission. In 1799 Christopher Kahrs bought the guesthouse. His son Christ Kahrs, obtained a certificate as tradesman in 1812, and it was a fixed court location for many years, spring and autumn. Here was also steamship port, and the first post office in Austrheim was opened here in 1870.

Den 12. august 1733 var eit kongeleg følgje på veg sørover; Christian VI på Noregsferd. Dei fekk middag på prestegarden i Eivindvik, og om ettermiddagen drog dei til Kjelstraumen.

Her fekk dei nye roarar. Det var nok ei ære for bøndene å få skyssa dei kongelege, men det var ikkje alltid slik stas. Bøndene på gardane kringom hadde skyssplikt. Frå gammalt var det såkalla «Tilsigelsesskifte» her; embetsmenn og andre i offentleg ærend hadde rett til å krevja skyss for å koma til neste skifte. Den som var skyssskaffar, hadde plikt til å skaffa forsvarleg skyss. Husmenn og gardbrukarar måtte stilla med båt og rorskarar på «Tilsigelse». Skyssplikta var eit slit og betalinga skral.

I dagboka si fortel Fredrik Meltzer om turen som eidsvollsmennene frå Bergen hadde til Riksforsamlinga i 1814:

«Den 28. mars. Satte ud fra Fløtmandsbryggen i Dreggen i hofagent Jansons store vengebaad med 2 Tienere, 10 Rorskarer og en Styrmand. Vi ere 5 Reisende: Motzfeldt, Christie, Rein og Rolfsen som ere Representanter fra Bergen By til Rigsforsamlingen på Eidsvold. Dertil kommer jeg ..... Kom til Alverstrømmen kl 3. Drak The og spaserede til RemeEiendommen, til fru Kahrs og spiste Aftens, og gik til sengs kl 10.30 ....»

Morgonen etter åt dei frukost kl 3.30 og reiste nordover. Truleg skifte dei skyss i Kjelstraumen og kom ut på dagen til Skjerjehamn, der dei overnatta, før dei neste dag heldt fram inn Sognefjorden.

«Tilsigelsesskiftet» i Kjelstraumen stod ved lag fram til 1924.