Cultural walk in Skrova

You are now standing next to the statue of the “Fisher women“ by the artist Per Ung. It represents the many strong womenfolk who lived along the coast. The men in the community were mostly away at sea, so the women were used to carrying the main responsibilites for the household, the children and possibly a smallholding as well. Many men were lost at sea and without a main breadwinner the reality was that the family would not be far away from poverty. History tells us little of how it was for the widows that remained after the countless shipwrecks. Many remarried or had to enter the service of others, their children either followed their mother or were sent away to foster homes. Before the advent of the welfare state in the 60s single women in Skrova could earn a few kroner by cleaning or carrying water for people. Skrova had no fishing owners (apart from a rich man who owned the fish farm and pretty much everything else as well). The residents of Skrova were known for being headstrong and there is a story which illustrates this: In the middle of the fourteenth century a bailiff and his entourage were killed in Skrova and as a result the authorities punished the people hard with a brutal attack. There is no reliable source of how the executions were carried out or just how many were killed during the attack. In recent times the bones of men, women and children have been discovered in a mass grave in a garden in Skrova. The bones tossed on top of each other, unlike a normal burial. At the time of the find, they unfortunately did not have the equipment to determine the age of the bones. The black death is known to have hit around the 1350s so the bones in the mass grave could also be those of plague victims.

The history of the Ellingsen trading company goes right back to the end of the 1700s when the sales clerk Andreas Ellingsen married the widow of a Skrova merchant. It was he who built the main farm where you are now standing. The yellow house to the left belonged to the farm and a third building which is long since demolished constituted the second wing of the U form that you can see. After his death in 1847, three of Ellingsens’ children took over and ran the firm for a further 50 years. A fourth daughter got married in Trondheim, but none of the siblings in Skrova married. Therefore the firm was inherited by the son of the daughter in Trondheim, Martin Hoff Ekroll. He was a spoilt son of a rich man and squandered the family fortune on polar expeditions and world travels. He was also the first to climb Vågakallen, Lofoten‘s most famous mountain which towers between Kabelvåg and Henningsvær. Ekroll‘s lack of business acumen was not the only reason that the firm filed for bankruptcy in 1908 as Lofoten fishing was also facing a serious crisis at that time. The house’s beautiful contents were sold, some pieces ending up in London but most of the beautiful furniture were sold to Svolvær. Christopher Ellingsen in a letter to a friend in 1909 wrote “I ask you to take note of the pedigree of the Ellingsen lineage, which on my death will die out, there will be noone left of the Ellingsen family which has been in Skraven from 1795 to the present day, that is for 114 years“. However, that was not quite true, one of the brothers Johan had had 2 sons with Anna Sypike the farm‘s maid. The boys were allowed to take thier father‘s surname, but were not seen as being worthy of being taken into the family. Their mother died in childbirth during the birth of the youngest son and both boys were sent away. One of them, Almar Ellingsen grew up with marine navigators in Været and trained as a ships pilot. Almar was an enterprising chap and eventually became a fishbuyer. He is the Grandfather of those who built up Ellingsen Seafood AS which today makes Skrova a vibrant fishing village. A few years ago the circle was closed when Almar Ellingson‘s grandson Ulf bought the main farm and restored it to its former splendour.

Skrova is in close proximity to excellent fishing grounds, which is what attracted people to live here, as the earth is not suitable for planting and there is little water. In fact, the first traces of settlements in Skrova date back to the 1200s. In 1614 fishermen in Skrova paid a fish tax ‘fisketiende’ of 3,4 tons of dried fish to church and crown. This accounted for 45% of the total amount of ‘fisketiende’ paid in Lofoten and Vesterålen, as at the beginning of the 1600s Skrova was the fishing village that caught the most Atlantic cod. By 1935 there were over 3000 fishermen who used Skrova for their base, most of them travelling fishermen. At the height of Lofoten fishing there were 22 fish processing plants on the island. Today there are few fishing boats left and they are only used for a couple of months during winter fishing. Point 4 b) The importance of Lofoten fishing for Norway Lofoten fishing is the oldest and biggest fishing ground in Norway and also represented Norway’s first significant export commodity in terms of volume and financial benefit. This export business was probably established at the end of the Viking age around the year 1000, when there was a growing market for dried fish in the United Kingdom and on the continent. Historians have pointed out that Lofoten fishing and the broader dry fish trade were the basis for the formation of the state and the growth of the church’s power in Norway throughout the Middle Ages. The income from the fishing taxes allowed the church to build the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. A coastal community has contact with many different cultures through trade and they often show a great ability to adapt to changing times. Here in Skrova that trade started with Atlantic cod and other white fish in the 1200s and goes right through to the present time. Whaling also became an important industry from the 1930s until the turn of the millennium. Salmon farming on the other hand did not start until the 1970s but is now the driving force behind this island community. The company Ellingsen Seafood (AS) produce salmon but also have a great sense of social responsibility for Skrova. They are working hard to encourage more young families to move here and are fighting hard to maintain the ferry route to Svolvær.

In days gone by the conditions for visiting fisherman were miserable. The following is an extract from a report by a fishing doctor about the sanitation conditions for the fisherman in 1930 “Fishermen who have a rorbua to lie in are lucky as they have not been subjected to the so called ‘unloading boats’. The lack of space, filth and stench that you encounter there is beyond description.” At its peak in 1935 there were 3142 fishermen registered in Lofoten under Lofoten fishing. Of course, there were not enough beds for so many men. Many had to sleep in outhouses or under boats that were dragged on to the land. The lack of toilets and washing facilities was awful and at the end of the 1940s the state built fishermen’s huts to improve the conditions of the fishermen. Martin ‘with the hook’ Martin Normann Nilsen Dølvik was a local fisherman. His hand was deformed when his mitten got stuck in a mechanical winch which twisted his arm around and crushed it. His hand was amputated and replaced with a hook; but that was not the end of his fishing career. Just a year later he was fishing in Finnmark, steering the boat with a wheel he had developed which allowed him to operate with just one hand. He later trawled for prawns alone and made a prototype drum to pull the nets in on. Martin always looked on the bright side of life. Hope it is going to be a good year for cooks. During Lofoten fishing the demand for cooks to cater for all the rorbua was huge. The cooks were often visiting young girls and many of them went on to establish families and remained in Skrova. It is said that many of the menfolk were more occupied by it being a good year for cooks rather than a good year for Atlantic cod. On the big liquor day of the 25th March youngsters in Skrova were not permitted to go outside. The fishermen would party all day and it was tradition that young fishermen experiencing thier first Lofoten fishing season were treated to drams by their boat crews. Right until the beginning of the 1900s it was legal to sell liquor in Skrova and the sale of liquor was controlled by the Ellingsen family. The spirit was not always paid for in cash, when the fishermen came ashore from the fishing grounds they would take a fish with them to the bar. They would leave the fish in a box on the way in and receive a dram for the fish, which became known as ‘dram fish’.

Vestfjord youth team was founded in 1909 and the youth centre was finished in the autumn of 1918. During the war the youth centre was used to house Russian prisoners of war, before they were transferred to prison camps. Infamous fighters The fishingboat ‘family‘ from Lurøy were renowned fighters. It was Saturday and the committee had fired up the stove in the corner of the dance hall so that it was warm for when the guests arrived. The atmosphere was good and there were lots of guests. Then the boys from the ‘family’ arrived, refused to pay the entrance fee and strolled right in and urinated on the stove causing a terrible stink in the room. Then the fighting started, they fought on the stage and all over the dance hall. Luckily the fishing supervisors soon arrived and restored order. “People queued to become members of the youth team, you had to be 15 and have attended 3 meetings before you could be accepted” - Jann Einar Olsen ‘’The youth centre was fantastic in the winter; there was a movie nearly every day and a dance every weekend. Fairs with air rifle shooting and plays’’ - Tore Krane “There was an African guy who lived at home with us. He was going to perform at the youth centre; he danced barefoot on broken glass” - Arne Hemmingsen “The youth centre was the most important meeting place for the community. Many romances began at the “centre”. Weddings, 17th May celebrations and school exhibitions were all held here and the centre was also the gym hall and the meeting point for all the associations on the island. The residents association held their public meetings here when they worked to be an effective pressure group against the local authority to gain support for a ferry quay, water infrastructure and a bridge to Kuholmen. Today the centre is used for weddings, graduations, 17th May celebrations and parties. The centre has been undergone considerable upgrading and maintenance in recent years.

The red building is today known as the prayer house and is in the main used for religious services, christenings, confirmations, weddings and funerals. There are also five bedrooms on the first floor which are rented out. It was originally built by volunteers from the travelling fisherman community and local residents in the 1880s as welfare house for fishermen. Edifying sermons by travelling preachers were held here and a cafeteria was in operation during the fishing season with music and songs. For those fishermen who had nowhere else to stay but under a boat, the fisherman’s house was a welcome place to visit. Eventually the fisherman’s house was given as a gift to the inner seaman’s mission and was last used as a welfare house for fishermen around 2005. Today it is the resident’s association that owns the building and it has been consecrated as a chapel. Allegedly, the first floor is haunted, many have reported strange occurrences. It is said that guests have moved out in the middle of the night after a visit from a ghost! The church warden has on many occasions heard noises of people on the first floor while they have been working completely alone in the building.

The mortuary was built by the Skrova sanitation association in 1935 and was in use until 1980. Skrova resident Jann Einar remembers back to when he was a child “When the white curtains were pulled across the windows, then we would bow outside the house, because we knew that someone was lying at rest inside”. The funeral would take place in the prayer house and after being stored in the mortuary the deceased would be transported to Kabelvåg by boat. As the boat passed along the coast, people would stand on the quay and wave white handkerchiefs. Today the building is used to house snow scooters and other equipment. Directly behind the mortuary is the fishing hospital which was used during Lofoten fishing. At that time conditions were really miserable for many of the visiting fishermen to Lofoten. To try to improve the situation, in the middle of the 1800s a doctor was employed and a hospital set up in the fishing district. Similarly, Kabelvåg and Svolvær also had their own fishing hospitals. After a while the hospitals took on other functions, such as chemists, telegram offices and houses. The original building that was here was demolished in 1968.

The fight for fresh water Fresh water was scarce in Skrova right up until the 1980s. In Heimskrova in the olden days they only had a couple of wells to manage with. In the 50s they began to store rain water, one of the island’s elders remembers that they used to let the rain wash the rooves a little first to get rid of any seagull poo or other dirt before they would open the water tanks. Eventually a water pipe was installed from Storemolla, but neither the amount of water nor the water pressure was good enough. The water rights belonged to the Brettesnes herring oil factory on Storemolla and when they needed more water for their fish production or for their own power station there would only be a trickle coming out of the taps in Skrova. An extract from the Lofoten post from 1981 describes the situation for the residents of Skrova; “Every Saturday in Skrova is like the 17th May celebration and Christmas rolled into one. Because that is when the fish factory is closed and then we have water…then we can wash clothes, dishes and ourselves”. Better access to water was the first of many battles for the Skrova residents association, which was founded in 1976. The association pressured the municipality and eventually they reached a settlement with the herring oil factory. A large intake pipe and a powerful pump station were installed so finally the people of Skrova could wash every day. Today Skrova has good water, actually the best in the country according to a competition between Norwegian waterworks in 2019.

Skrova was a big player in whaling from 1933 right up to the 2000s. For the most part 70% of all Minke whales caught were brought to land in Skrova. The first whale caught and brought ashore to Skrova was in 1933, it was towed into the harbour and was flanged at low tide. This was the only way that they could handle the large animals. The fishing boats were small, often between 25 and 50 foot and they could not manage to get the whales on board. In 1937 Skrova man Jakob Jakobsen devised a way to get the whales onto the boat, he rigged an outrigger on the port side and the whale was then laid across the boats. The tail of the whale was pulled in on the starboard side, across the entire width of the boat and out to the end of the outrigger. This way the whale lay safely across the boats and could be flayed onboard. Therefore, they could catch more whales on each trip instead of having to come back to harbour after every catch. Skrova grew as a whaling station, in 1983 there were over 100 people working at the 5 whale production plants and youngsters worked there assembling the boxes that the whale meat would be packed in. The season began in April and ran until the end of the summer and once the school holidays had begun a stream of youngsters from other parts of Lofoten would arrive because they knew they would find summer jobs in Skrova. If you were willing there was a lot of money to be made. People from Vågan who were youngsters in the 80s have many good memories of the whaling season in Skrova. Flirting and working went hand in hand with payday and dancing at the pub. However, in 1987 there was a ban on commercial whaling which was in place until 1992. In 1993 Skrova was open again for whaling and Greenpeace took action against 3 whaling vessels in Skrova. They chained themselves to the whaling harpoons on the boats Skagnes, Risholm and Rango. Whaler Åsmund Pedersen recounts the story: “I got a call telling me that there were people on board Rango, I went down to the boat and was greeted by 3 lovely young ladies who were chained to the whale harpoon”. They were from Belgium and the Netherlands. I proceeded to apologise for my English and that I had not been there to meet them. I hurried in to the galley to put coffee on the stove and started to think, what do I do now? There were 3 activists a lot of media and many onlookers beginning to gather. I served them dried fish, cookies and strong coffee, with the hope that they would start to need the toilet. A large marzipan cake was ordered from the town with the inscription “Save Greenpeace Hunt Whales” there was enough cake for everyone. And I continued to serve them coffee. They were completely confused by this reception; they had expected a confrontation with a barbarian but instead were greeted as good friends. A little more coffee? They must surely need the bathroom soon! But no, they continued to sit there. Radio 1 called from Oslo “What are you going to do?” I responded “we will take care of our guests”, “you are not going whaling?” I replied “No, as long as we have guests we are not going anywhere”. I chatted a lot with the Dutch girl and she seemed uncomfortable, because this was totally not what she had expected. She actually said “I hope my Mother does not see this. That her daughter is trying to mess up the work for such nice people”. She also told me that they were all wearing a lot of nappies, so she could take one more cup of coffee…. In 1993 a harpoon with a grenade was developed so that the kill was quicker and more humane. Rango and Skagenes stopped whaling in 2009. But there continues to be a little whale meat processed in Skrova at Ellingsen Seafood AS.

New Year’s Eve between 2001 and 2001 a fire started in a large fish factory; Arntzenbruket in Ura just to the right of where you are standing. The fish factory spanned from the neighbouring white house right past the four red fishermen’s huts. That night there was a storm blowing in from the South West and the flames and smoke turned inwards towards the centre of Skrova. There was a real danger that it would spread, and if the fire took hold of the neighbouring house then half of the buildings in Skrova would have burnt to the ground. The fire service from Svolvær came in the lifeboat, but it was such bad weather that two of the crew were sick on the way over and a further two threw up on arrival at the quay. Skrova voluntary fire service was already in the process of trying to extinguish the fire and the lifeboat hosed from the sea side to ensure that the blaze didn’t spread further along the quayside. The Svolvær fire service worked tirelessly to stop the fire before it reached the Krane pier, as if the fire spread further then that it would become very serious. The Krane pier had itself burnt down in 1985 and at that time the owners Tore and Ernst Krane said “This will never happen again we will build the pier in concrete and steel plates”. And so it was that the pier of concrete and steel plates saved half of Skrova’s buildings on that terrible night.

The Værret is the central place in a fishing village. There would have been shops, a shipping office, hotels as well as places where you could buy liquor and send telegrams. During the 1800s there were five trading houses in Skrova and people from Svolvær and surrounding areas came to Skrova to shop, due to the choice and high quality of the goods. There were three liquor sellers in Skrova and when the ban on the sale of liquor came in around 1900, Ellingsen who were the owners of the liquor outlets were given five years to sell off all their stock. Which says something about their inventory! People from Skrova have a reputation for being tough. Ole Tømmerås who owned the big white house in Havnevein was a good example of this. Born in 1876, at the age of five he had to have his foot amputated after complications from a broken bone. When a few years later his parents decided to emigrate to America, Ole was not permitted to go with them as the USA would not permit entry to people with a handicap. Ole was left with strangers, but he did not give up, he taught himself to fish and became so good that he advanced to headman/skipper of a fishing boat. He ended up running his own fish farm and traded in Bergen and according to history established a family with the village’s most beautiful girl. He refused to have a wooden leg as it got in the way on the boat, instead getting around with a crutch and a stick. Toiling at sea brought opportunities In times gone by, life as a fisherman was risky and exhausting, but with the toil at sea came opportunities that were not afforded to those who lived in small inland villages. A skilled and lucky fisherman could for the most part be the master of his own success whereas a small holder or tenant inland had little prospect of progression. The fishermen could reap the benefits of the resources according to their ability and skills regardless of how much land they owned. Skills at sea gave a man prestige and a good reputation. The telegram office was a little up to the left next to the mast with all the wires. The kiosk was in the middle of the picture. The timber framed building with the stairs to the right of the picture and the store that is there today is to the left. The hotel can be glimpsed between the store and the telegram office. This picture was taken during the war and you can see a German soldier in the middle of the picture. The hotel was in business from the 1920s up until the war when the Germans commandeered part of the hotel. After the war there was a café on the ground floor with a shop. For a while there was also a caviar factory in a building adjacent to the hotel and a library and a gallery which closed down in 2010. Since then the whole hotel has been a residential building.

The shipping office was built in 1875 and has since then dealt with passengers and goods right up to the present day it is run by the fourth generation of the Rishatt family. Skrova was an important trading location and in 1838 Skrova was the only port of call on the steamboat route between Trondheim and Tromsø. This was due to the fact that the steamboats could not cross Hølla, the stretch of sea between Skrova and Svolvær for fear that they would be shipwrecked on the rocks. The shipping office has had many tenants. The fisheries inspectorate was there during the time of Lofoten fishing and both the post office and Vågan Bank have had branches there. Today there is an office on the ground floor and housing on the first floor. It is also here that you can find the millionaires’ bench. Worn and weather beaten the old church bench was outside the shipping office one fine summer’s day in 1983 when a journalist from the magazine NÅ came ashore on the fast ferry. He had received information from a reliable source that there were between 10 and 20 millionaires amongst the 250 inhabitants of this little island in the western fjords. On this bench on the quayside he gathered some of the residents for a picture. He was not completely sure whether they were all millionaires, but a nice picture was taken on the bench outside the window of the shipping office. That addition of NÅ came out a few weeks later with the headline “Millionaires on every crag” and at the local store the magazine flew off the shelves. Thus the millionaires’ bench was established, Helge Rishatt painted it white and inscribed with “millionaires bench”. Today Skrova is a tightknit community with many activities. Ellingsen seafood is the cornerstone business, salmon is its main concern, but they also have a salmon hatching farm, a polystyrene factory, a live hauling boat under construction and invest in property. They are a successful business and are one of the biggest tax payers in the municipality. There is a school from 1st to 10th grade, a kindergarten, store, cafes, tourist businesses and a few fishing boats. The community also has a marching band, sports team, youth team, residents association, boat association and knitting club. As of 2021 there are around 200 inhabitants from many nations, everyone is well integrated and everyone thrives here. Skrova residents are often asked one special question and here is the answer to that question. “Yes, we do live here all year round!” Thank you for taking the time to take this tour around Skrova.