Randabygd church is a wooden longchurch situated a short distance up from the quay in the village of Randabygda. The church has a seating capacity of 240, and was consecrated on 29 August, 1916, by the bishop Peter Hognestad. The architect Jens Sølvberg from Bryggja in Nordfjord made the designs. For along time the church only had a status as a chapel under Utvik ¿sokn" in the Innvik parish, and from 1967 under Hornindal. However, since 1 January, 1981, the church has served as a ¿sokn" church for the Randabygd ¿sokn" in Hornindal parish.
Claus Frimann, born 1746, was vicar at Davik for 42 years. He is known as the poet vicar in Nordfjord, best known perhaps for his book "Almuens sanger" (Songs for the Common People), and in particular, the song "Den norske fisker" (The Norwegian Fisherman). In 1936, the congregation of Davik church erected a memorial dedicated to their famous poet vicar.
The archipelago of Solund was brutal for sailing vessels in strong westerly winds. But motor vessels went wrong as well, with tragic consequences. Around the islands are many wrecks, several of them are today tempting objects for divers.
In 1942, the landowner of Gottraneset had to move from his farm to Berle. The following year the Germans moved their guns from Berle out to new positions at Gottraneset.
With the steamship quays, the communities got a new look. In the 1920s, after years of hazardous toil in boarding boats, the first quays in Solund at long last were in place. Not even Bergen had a commercial terminal when Fylkesbaatane (steamship company) started scheduled traffic in 1858.
The missionary bishop Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder (1817-1882), born in Sogndal, was the first Norwegian missionary in Africa. He started his missionary work in Zululand in 1850, working with the Zulu people until his death in 1882. In the autumn of 1915, a monument was erected on his grave in Untunjambili. The monument was consecrated the following year.
State road 609 connects the Askvoll peninsula with Førde through Stongfjorden without ferry. The 16-kilometre-long section from Øygard in Førde to Selvik in Askvoll was built in the years 1975-1980, and was given the name of "Folkelånsvegen". The reason for the name is that the road was paid in part by a "public shareholding company". People from all over the Sunnfjord district bought shares. Without this great interest it is doubtful if the road would have been built.
In the pitch-dark night in December 1944, a German convoy is sailing north across the waters of Sognesjøen. No lighthouses are lit, yet the leader boat is able to find the entrance to the strait of Krakhellesundet. So far, no enemy has been observed.
The river of Nærøydalselvi has not always been as big as it is today. Throughout the last few ice ages it has stolen many tributary rivers which previously ran westward in the direction of Voss. On the map we can find the oldest water divide between Sogn and Voss in the mountains above Bakka in the Nærøyfjord. Now it has moved all the way to Haugsvik at the eastern end of the lake Oppheimsvatnet. The traces of this "theft" are still clearly visible in the terrain, especially in the municipality of Voss.
On each of the three churchyards in Solund, there is a memorial stone with the names of the 16 from Solund who were victims of the Second World War. Two of them belonged to Hersvik parish. The monuments are exactly identical and were erected simultaneously.
In 1905, Norway became a completely free and independent country. The union with Sweden was dissolved by the Norwegian Storting's resolution of 7 June. This article deals with the events of 1905 in the municipality of Gulen.
Hans Dahl from Granvin in Hardanger, built a summer resort in Balestrand in 1893. From 1919 he lived in Balestrand all year round. Dahl painted the spectacular scenery of the western part of Norway - vestlandet - and often put beautiful, blond girls in national costumes in his paintings. Dahl was well known abroad; he was a close friend of the German emperor and was well liked in the village.
Many churches have portraits of their own previous vicars going back many centuries. However, no church can match the Undredal church in this respect. The people of Undredal can boast of having a "picture" of one of their vicars from the 14th century in the form of a sculpture in the "Nidarosdomen" cathedral in Trondheim. Pål Bårdsson was no ordinary vicar. For some years he was given the income of the Undredal church.
