One of my hobbies is to visit local farms. One reason for that is that they are disappearing one by one so they need to be documented. This is rural Skarplöt near Fors in Västerhaninge where a new residential area with 600 houses is under construction. The farm dates back to at least 1724. It is today owned by Nils Pettersson and his wife Anna-Britta, whose family have lived here since 1734. I took my bike down to Skarplöt a while back and knocked on their door. They invited me in, and Anna-Britta gave me a tour of their house. It was like stepping back in time some 70 years or so. The couple bought Skarplöt in 1962 from Anna-Britta's father. He was a local politician, just like my grandfather. Anna-Britta told me that she had a few photos of my grandparents. A friend from the historical association has promised to get me some copies of those photos later. Eleven years after buying Skarplöt Nils and his wife were full time farmers with 25 to 30 dairy cattle. Nils retired from farming in 2002 when he was 79 years old. Most of the buildings here are from the turn of the last century. After our chat I went for a photo stroll around the farm. If you understand Swedish you can read an interview with Nils here.
9 comments:
I love what your eye chooses for us.
Is this farm going to disappear with the new 600-house development? I hope not. But even if it stays, its environment will be altered forever...
What a great idea to document these old farms. I really enjoyed the full slide show.
I loved your slide show.
I love, love those old red buildings!
Anne and I went to a black tie, Svenska Sallskapet summer party dinner in Minneapolis last night! Skal!
Elle est magnifique, c'est amusant elle pourrait faire penser a une petite eglise
That is so sad to see such great buildings under threat! Farming is in a terrible way in many places. Very few want to do it and those that do work so hard for very little return. My brother in law is a dairy farmer and it is a tough life.
catching up on what i've missed over the past week. you've had a spectacular week of images, steffe!
I am glad that you are documenting them, but saddened by the trends working against such quaint farms.
I don't know if you typically catch Kate's Visual St. Paul (Minnesota) Daily Photo site, but her post today reminds me of the genre in which you excel and are the unqualified leader.
That is a good question Nathalie. I know that Nils and Anna-Britts next door neighbour is one of their two sons. He wasn't interested in a life as a farmer. I think that the fields around the farm are now used by the nearby agricultural college. I reckon it is a very tough life being a dairy farmer, bur I also know that Nils and Anna-Britta loved every minute of it.
Thanks Brattcat.
I will have a look at Kate's post for today, thanks Dave.
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