In the Media II

Journalist Magne Lillegård from the local newspaper Driva visited Gulla on a cold November day. A few days later (20 November) Driva had a three page presentation of Gulla and the ongoing reconstruction of the farm. Copies of the article should be available from the newspaper at www.driva.no.

In the Media I

Morten Harangen published an article about Gulla Gaard in the Flyfishers Journal, Winter 2008. Copies of this article can be obtained from the Flyfishers' Club, 69 Brook Street, London W1K 4ER. This was the first English presentation of Gulla since Abel Chapman's book from 1897.

Inside pictures from Gulla

Pictures taken by Morten Harangen (www.harangenmedia.no).

Summer of 2009

It has been an interesting summer. The restoration of the main house is more or less completed, and the garden finally looks like a garden. We had our first guests at Gulla in August, 44 years after the last guests left the farm. Our neighbor, Bjørg, did a magnificent job as cook and waitor. I think we are all very pleased with the results.

Salmon in Galthølen pool at Gulla

John Søyseth's 10 kg salmon from 18 August 2009.

Ole Gunnar Halvorsen's 6.5 kg salmon.

Another trout from Galthølen

Morten Harangen (www.harangenmedia.com) posing with a 2.5 kg trout caught in Galthølen 5 August 2009.

Fishing at Gulla

Roy Darlington, Stewart Newell and Morten Harangen visited Gulla 3-6 August 2009. They ended up with five trouts, of which the two biggest were 2.5 kg each. Morten Harangen (www.harangenmedia.com) took this picture of Roy in the Galthølen pool.

First fish caught at new Gulla Gaard

3 August 2009 at 11.30: A sea trout is hooked and landed in Galthølen pool. Another trout was caught later the same night, and a huge 2.5 kg sea trout was landed the night after.

Book about Gulla Gaard released

Portvin og laks på Gulla Gaard (Port and Salmon at Gulla Gaard) was released last week. The book can be bought at local bookstores or directly from me. It is about 190 pages and includes 101 pictures from the 1890s till today.

New Entrance

The entrance of the director's house now looks more like the original house built in 1945. The green color is "lys mose".

Who is the man?

This picture was taken at Gulla in the 1950s.  The woman is Esther Nilsen, owner of Gulla Gaard, but we do not know who the man is.  If you recognize the man or his magnificent salmon, please leave us a note.

New Outside Table

Furniture from Residence Hotel, Trondheim

These days have been hectic.  After realizing that Residence Hotel in Trondheim is closing down, I managed to buy some of their furniture.  Now we have beds, tables, chairs, wardrobes, lamps,... all matching and in a style that fits the atmosphere at Gulla.  I can't believe how lucky we have been. 

If we could only buy their guests as well.  

Old guesthouse demolished

The old guesthouse was finally demolished.  This is where most of the guests - including King Haakon VII - stayed at Gulla.  It was also the oldest house left at the farm, with some parts more than 200 years old.  It was completed by Captain Matheson in the mid 19th century, though Fleetwood Sandeman built an additional veranda in the 1880s.

New table in kitchen

I spent the weekend building a working table for the kitchen.  Now I only need a good cook...

Book manuscript ready

"Portvin og laks på Gulla Gaard" manuscript completed.  The material is sent to the printing company today, and the book should be available in mid June.  

The book explains how this little farm in Surnadal was bought by British anglers and ended up as an internationally famous fishing lodge.  I have included around 100 pictures from the late 19th century till today. Let us hope that someone is interested in reading it.

Where is Gulla Gaard?

Gulla Gaard is about

• 120 km from Trondheim
• 80 km from Kristiansund
• 100 km from Molde

Gulla Gaard's blog

Gulla Gaard is an old fishing lodge on the Norwegian westcoast.  It was used by the British portwine family Sandeman 1878-1912 and later served as a hotel for salmon fishing enthusiasts until 1964.  It is located next to some of the best pools in the Surna river.

The farm is now under restoration.  It has been badly maintained for more than 50 years, and some of the houses have to be torn down.  We are not sure how much of the old fishing atmosphere can be restored, but we will do our best to reconstruct the farm and open it to the public.