Feeding the ducks

A new urban runoff is under construction here near the old farm Mellanberg. The rainwater will run through Mellanberg and down to this dam at Dammträsk. There will also be a bike path and a promenade here that will connect Vega, Kvarntorp, and Kolartorp. The woman feeding the ducks from the new pier comes here every now and with her dog.

Urban Runoff

With all the new houses in Vegastaden a new urban runoff is being created at Dammträsk. Water will run down the meandering stream into a pond at Mellanberg before continuing through to two ponds at Dammträsk. A new walkway/bike path will also be built here connecting Kvarntorp with Mellanberg and Vega in Handen. The new wooden deck here will probably be a popular meeting spot in the near future.

Money well spent

Believe it or not, the municipality paid 31 000 000 SEK for the Mellanberg property earlier this year. It is situated at Kolartorp in Handen where a new "city" called Vegastaden is currently under construction. No word yet what they plan to do with it. It was once a farm and a laundry. More photos from Mellanberg in my set.

Abandoned car

The Mellanberg farm in Handen was bought by the municipality recently. By then it had been closed for many years, but the last owner still lived at the farm. The farm dates back to around 1770 and has had a lot of inhabitants during the last two hundred years. If you understand the local lingo you can read an article about those people at Haninge.org. I am not sure what will happen to all the old buildings now so I have decided to photograph them whenever I am in the area so that is what I did yesterday I found this old car behind the big barn. I have an album with Mellanberg photos at flickr and I will add more photos there in the days to come.

Decaying Farm Buildings

Always a bit sad to see abandoned farms where the buildings are slowly decaying. This is a former dairy farm and laundry business in Handen. Known as Mellanberg. A few hundred years ago there was only a small cottage here where different handymen lived over the years. Later the land was owned by the large estate Söderby. A farmer then bought Mellanberg in the 1920s. He built a farm house,a big barn and a number of other buildings. Up until the 1940s you could buy fresh milk directly from the farmer. Not sure when the dairy farm closed, but the laundry was closed in 1976. The municipality wants to save Mellanberg as it shows a lot about local history. The photographer in the photo is my buddy Jim.

Mellanberg

Just a km from Handen City Centre this is rural Mellanberg. The farm, house and laundry barns are from 1920, but the farm itself dates back 300 years. Up until 1940 you could by milk directly from the farmer. The laundry closed in 1976. Today a privatly owned property, but there's a bike path going through here, open for everyone. A small stream runs nearby. Just a few hundred meters to the left from here, an area called Kolartorp with some 60 houses are being developed and soon a few hundred houses will be found in this area.