June 17th - The history bit
Good breakfast this morning and the best stolen lunch sandwich yet: ham, salami, cheese, beetroot and coleslaw. The view of the ski slopes was not pretty as I left town but look at the sky. And that is how it stayed all day.
I was soon into the familiar ascent then out on to the fells, or fjells as we say here. You can just see the western edge of the Hardangervidda in the distance.
There really is very little traffic on the roads. I saw three cars a lorry and three bikes in the first 60 miles this morning. I am avoiding main roads but it is such a beautifully empty country. It makes you realise how crowded our little island is.
There was a lovely, twisty, long descent down a wooded valley following the river
until I got to the shores of the lake I was looking for
In particular, this bit
because beneath this bit lies the wreck of the Hydro
And that is important because it was vital piece of sabotage which helped incapacitate the German push to build an atom bomb before the Americans.
It took some finding because it is not sign posted, but there is a memorial plaque on a lump of granite by the side of the road
Then I had to backtrack to to find this
Rjukan is the town from which the ferry left
They are not in good condition but it looks like they are working on restoration of the two remaining railway ferries
The wagons are a reminder that the saltpetre was a major product of the area
Then I followed the line up the valley to the Vermork power plant which was the target of the SOE raids in 1942 and '43 because it was being used to produce heavy water, a vital component in the development of the atomic bomb. You can see from this photo taken further up the valley why it was so hard to attack
the bridge crosses a steep gorge and is the only way in.
It is a handsome building and now houses a museum including an exhibit on the raids
And some fine windows
the problem for me was that the parking was down by the bridge
which was over a very steep gorge
The one successful sabotage raid, which destroyed the stocks and stopped production for six months, got round the problem of the heavily guarded bridge by climbing down into the gorge and back up the other side in the dark in winter after hiking/skiing across the Hardangervidda. Then they escaped the same way. I just walked up the path from the bridge and I couldn't have fought anybody by the time I got to the top!
Inside there is an exhibit on the various sabotage attempts. This is one of the only two barrels which have been recovered from the wreck of the Hydro.
The exhibit was quite confusing because it tries to tell the story of the raids and the development of atomic weapons side by side. If you don't know the story I think you would be confused. There were some good artifacts
and reproductions of documents though. Like this one reporting the outcome of the failed glider attack to Churchill
And this one confirming the order to sink the Hydro even if there would be civilian repercussions.
The turbines in the main hall are massive
I was interested to learn that the commercial success of the plant, and why it was built, was achieved through using the electricity to extract nitrogen from air to make fertiliser. There was no real demand for electricity for in homes and factories. Tucked in a corner with no information was this little gem.
No doubt somebody who knows about these things will tell us about it.
There is a good memorial to the saboteurs outside the museum
Then I pointed the bike west and headed for the coast until I found a campsite and that's where I am now. I am going to have to buy some food; I am down to my last Bombay Bad Boy and a tube of Tomato soup. It's lasted well though. Apart from included breakfasts and some supermarket supplies, I've not bought a meal in Norway. I am heading for Stavanger tomorrow. I've booked a hotel for two nights to give me a day in the city. That will be different. I want to see the cathedral and the old town. It's costing a fortune so it had better be worth it.
i enjoyed a lot 
)
Thanks for that Grizzly. It prompted a bit of googling. I didn't realise I was eating history! 
