Penåsa Ödeby

Ödebyn The village originated as a new settlement in 1779. It consisted of two farms of 3/32 of a mantal together, which means that the farms were very small. The stone walls that we see around the village today are the first to be built out here on Alvaret. Today, the foundations of a residential house consisting of one room and a large kitchen remain. There are also fruit trees, berry bushes and the ruins of a stone cellar and a well. Where the forest grows today, traces of cultivated land and farming pits can be seen. The houses built on the alvar at this time were mostly made of limestone, as the supply of this building material was unlimited. Only the door of the house was made of wood. The roof was often covered with straw or seaweed instead of the bark of the mainland. In 1844 the village ceased to be a homestead, the last farmers in Penåsa being Israel Olofsson and Jonas Andersson. The farms were sold to the villagers of Bjärby and Kastlösa. When the alvar villages were abandoned and grazing ceased, parts of Alvaret began to grow again.

Penåsa rest area At Penåsa there is an equipped rest area for those who want to take a break or stay overnight. The rest area is built at a former railway guard's cottage, and here you can see the remains of the house foundation, stone cellars and a well with a wellspout. It was moved from the site to the village of Lilla Dalby in 1915. There are toilets, several benches, fireplaces with access to firewood during the summer, dustbins, two shelters and the possibility to pump bicycle tyres at the permanent bicycle pump.

Nature at Penåsa The Penåsa forest consists of older pine trees, including black pine, together with sparse stands of younger deciduous trees and a lush undergrowth. The surrounding alvar varies between scrubby and open areas in a mosaic of dry to wet soils. This diversity of biotopes supports a wide variety of bird species such as the common chiffchaff, thornbill, tufted tit, stonechat, whinchat, warbler, blackcap, blackbird and black tit. Occasionally, summer warbler, collared flycatcher, lesser flycatcher and common warbler have also been recorded. There are calcareous dry meadows, dry meadows, sandy railway embankment, gravel meadows, crevice meadows and a water channel. Special species are the true finch, the large sand lily and the white aphid. In the woods there are blue, white and yellow poplars, cornflower, leafy spurge and carnation root.

The trail starts at the Penåsa parking lot, which you reach from Kastlösa village. There are seats, a disabled toilet and information boards. In Kastlösa on road 136, 2.6 km from Penåsa parking, there is a bus stop (Kastlösa). At Penåsa there is also a nice rest area. From the car park, walk east to the Penåsa rest area.