Redningsvejen

An example of a cultural environment in Thisted Municipality

Redningsvejen runs parallel to the Danish West Coast, a few hundred meters inland, behind the dunes, from Agger Tange in the south to Bulbjerg in the north. Redningsvejen passes both small and large working fishing communities and landing sites as well as the lighthouse Lodbjerg Fyr.

Today, Redningsvejen is part of Thy National Park and can be accessed from the fishing communities and the roads crossing it that lead to the West Coast.

Redningsvejen, Thisted Municipality

Narrative

Redningsvejen is located in isolation in the middle of Thy National Park. Here it runs like a red thread through the coastal settlements along the West Coast, connecting these settlements. Its course through the isolated and unapproachable landscape thus constitutes a strong cultural and historical narrative of life on the coast.

Redningsvejen – literally: ‘the rescue road’ – was established to provide access for the rescue service in case of shipwrecks and groundings. Today, the role of the road has changed from being a vital component of life along the coast to being a setting for hikes and nature tourism.

Principal conservation values

The principal conservation values relate to the visible and readable cultural and historical traces of the road’s former function as a ‘rescue road’, including the fishing communities and landing sites located along the road and the lighthouse Lodbjerg Fyr. The road’s route is experienced particularly strongly in the small fishing community of Lyngby, where the road is flanked by a rescue station and its boathouse.

Current status

In the municipal development plan, the Lodbjerg-Lyngby-Stenbjerg stretch of the road is emphasised, but an extension of the cultural environment to include larger coastal towns, such as e.g. Klitmøller, may be considered. If overnight accommodations are established in connection with hiking routes and other adventure tourism, it is important to safeguard visible cultural and historical traces, as this would strengthen the narrative concerning the conditions for settling in this rugged natural environment.