Herning, Jutland: Town and countryside
Walking on business
Herning
Finding Knudmosen
Information about Knudmosen
A short circular walk at Knudmosen
Don't take afence - how to make sure the gate closes!
Walking into the centre of Herning
Business people often find themselves in towns and cities for conferences and meetings, stuck in a centrally located hotel spending most of the time in meeting rooms. The only experience of the town tends to be a walk to a restaurant or bar in the evening. However if you can grab a spare hour before breakfast or dinner it's great to get out into the fresh air and see something of the surroundings on foot.
Herning is a fine example of this. It's a medium-sized town with 44,000 inhabitants and the biggest settlement in central Jutland. Once an old industrial town, business services has become the main economic activity. There's a modern convention centre well equipped to take large meetings of all types, linked by the main pedestrian street with the heart of the town, a few hundred metres north of the train and bus stations. The south-western edge of the town is the venue for trade exhibitions, and the airports at Billund and Karup connect Herning with Copenhagen and the rest of Europe.
I had found myself there in June for an international conference bringing together delegates from countries around the North Sea. Having spent several summers working in Jutland as a student it was a pleasure to go back there. We had the opportunity to take a study tour on the second afternoon, but otherwise the agenda was busy with meetings. Luckily there was an hour's break on the first evening before returning to the convention centre for dinner, providing the opportunity for this walk (actually taken as a run).
The Scandic Hotel where I was staying, down beside the rail and bus stations, had given me a town plan which showed a large area of green just to the south. That was where I headed. (It's well worth picking up one of these free maps when you arrive, from your hotel or the information centre on the Torvet, the main square halfway along the pedestrian street).
Naively I turned right from the front of the hotel, down Fonnesbechsgade, expecting to be able to find a way across the Dronningens Boulevard dual carriageway which runs between the hotel and the railway station. However there was no pavement and cars were hooting at me, so I turned back and went along the other side of the hotel on the Sølvgade. This took me through the bus station. There was a pedestrian overbridge which seemed to be heading towards the railway station but it wasn't very clear how to get up onto it. The map seemed to show a pedestrian route to the dual carriageway, but I couldn't see that either [but there IS an underpass, behind a tall black monumental column at the west side of the bus station, which I found on the way back].
I continued further along onto Dalgasgade and at the junction with the Bryggergade (up to the right), hidden away on the left at the end of a cul-de-sac in what looked like a small car park, was the start of a circular ramp leading up onto a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. Easy to miss!
On the other side of the bridge another ramp curved down to the quiet street on the other side, right in front of the fine-looking Herning Museum. According to the VisitHerning brochure it "portrays the development of the region from prehistoric time to the cultivation of the moor." Just to the right was the smaller Danmarks Fotomuseum which explains the development of the camera. I didn't have time to visit them, but did see an opening round to the left of the Herning Museum leading into a grassy area with old rural thatched farmhouses. Presumably these had been moved there from their original locations as at Den Gamle By (the Old Town) in Århus.
After getting a couple of photos of the farmhouses I went along the Museumsgade in a southeasterly direction past attractive detached houses. A couple of hundred metres further and I reached a junction with a wider road, the Gl Vejlevej. [If I turned sharp left here the continuation of this street would lead to the underpass near the bus station mentioned above - so that's a more direct way to get to the start of the woodland, just 5 minutes' walk from the Scandic Hotel or 10 minutes from the Convention Centre.]
The other side of the street was all woodland, stretching away down to the south. Crossing over at the lights, there was an entrance into the park. A little further down the street to the right was a car park with an information board showing the layout of the Knudmosen, with information and routes. These are also situated at other carparks and junctions of several paths around the Knudmosen, and one can be seen in larger format in the Gallery.
The information board is all in Danish, but the paths are colour coded so it's not too difficult to work out where you are going. Maybe the tourist information centre has a more detailed information leaflet. In any case, the main tracks are shown on the town map, which I used to find my way around.
Knudmosen is not strictly speaking a park, but an area of reclaimed land which is now being managed to promote biodiversity. According to the information board it was heathland with thick deposits of peat which were dug in relatively small quantities for use as fuel, before it was transformed into an area of industrial-scale extraction by the Nazis during the 2nd World War. Now it's an extensive haven of natural environment easily reached from the town centre.
Strangely the VisitHerning brochure doesn't mention Knudmosen, although it describes Søby about 20km to the south where the mining of brown coal was a major industry during the 2nd World War, and some areas of original heathland both to the south-east (Harrild Hede) and north-west (Trehøje Bakke) of Herning where hiking can be enjoyed. Probably the modified heathland of Knudmosen offers more varied scenery than either of these.
You can really pick a walk to suit yourself and the time available. The narrow entrance across the road at the lights, mentioned earlier, leads into an area of open grass with a duckpond where it would be pleasant just to sit and relax on a sunny day. While I was there the sun was appearing then disappearing behind clouds, but it burst through to give me a splendid view across the water towards a large inflatable construction of some sort on the far side of the lawn. There were ducklings swimming together, watched carefully by mother duck.
Just behind the duckpond, among the trees, there's a play area with various timber structures to clamber over or balance upon. Through on the other side are stables and paddocks for exercising horses (according to the brochure this is Herning RideKlub where visitors can take rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer).
A short circular walk in Knudmosen
If you walk from the pond through the trees towards the paddocks (or go there along the drive from the car park beside the road), take the path just to the right of the first paddock. It had been recently laid with wood chips when I was there, and runs along the side of the paddock fence with the woods to the right.
Once it gets beyond the paddock the path reaches a little wooden gate. Go through this and there's a path running to the right, back to the road. Don't take this - go left instead. The path is more uneven and bends into the woods ahead. There's a sign indicating (I think) that there are animals running freely in the woods. I didn't see anything fiercer than a rabbit.
About 100 metres along this track it reaches the edge of a large open area of grassland extending away to the right and left, with a shorter distance across to the trees on the far side. There's a route continuing south along through the trees on the edge of this open area, which links with other paths running away across the heathland. However I took the wide grassy path that had been cut across the open area. This was a beautiful wide open space, surrounded by trees on all sides, away in the distance. The path turned left then right then left again, reaching the trees on the other side where a gate leads up onto a wide straight vehicle track running north-south.
Again, there's a choice of routes here, where you could easily add a loop along winding tracks through the woods on the other side.
For a short and simple route, turn left on the broad track for a short distance across a drainage channel. On the other side a path cuts off diagonally to the left through the tall birch trees. This was a lovely stretch with the tall silvery trunks lining the winding path (see photo).
The path returns to the riding paddocks and it's a short walk back through to the duckpond and the road crossing.
Don't take afence - how to make sure the gate closes!
One interesting feature at Knudmosen was the design of the small gates for walkers through the fences. These were constructed at an angle away from the upright, so that the gates closed with gravity under their own weight. This seems a simple way to avoid gates being left open, contrasting with the stiles, kissing gates, latches and other mechanisms that are seen on different walking routes around the UK.
Walking into the centre of Herning
After crossing at the lights I ventured up the short cul-de-sac to the right and found the start of the underpass. You have to watch out as it's used by cyclists as well as pedestrians and is a bit gloomy. On the other side there are steps ahead for pedestrians, leading up into a car park. From the top of the steps veer to the left to rejoin the cycle path running up a ramp to the tall black monument.
I could have turned right and walked the short distance back to the hotel, but still had a bit of time left to visit the town centre. It was only about 150 metres straight ahead up the Sondergade to the corner of the Torvet (main square), next to the Eyde Hotel on the pedestrian street. Just across to the right was the fine-looking facade of what I assumed must be the old town hall. I couldn't see any signs to confirm this and it didn't seem to be mentioned in the tourist brochure, but it looked to me to be the most attractive building in town! I found the present town hall (Rådhus) halfway up Torvet - a big shiny new building. Looking down towards the square was Herning Kirke.
The pedestrian street runs west-east across the lower end of Torvet, lined by trees. On my first evening I'd arrived without my suitcase from the airport and fortunately had been able to find a large supermarket open until 8 p.m. along towards the western end of the street, with plenty of other shops closed for the night. Along to the east there are more shops as well as pubs and restaurants, with the pedestrian street finishing at the Convention Centre.
On our final evening we sat outside at one of the pubs which stocked a wide range of beers; it was fine early in the evening, but later on it got decidedly chilly and we were glad of the blankets provided by the pub!
You could easily start this walk from any of the points mentioned in the town - the Eyde Hotel, Torvet, the Convention Centre, the bus or train station, as well as the Scandic Hotel. The route described would take about an hour and a half at a steady pace, but you could easily extend this, or just head for the duckpond if time is short.
Contributed by Andrew Llanwarne, June 2008
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