Trails under gnarled pineTrails under gnarled pine

Salty, dry and wet

In Kronoskogen you will encounter a changing landscape. The undulating dunes, called dunes, characterize the entire shoreline and are shaped by the wind into hills and hollows. Among other things, sand starlings, blue monks and yellow terns thrive here, as well as the endangered species field lark and sea murabi. Between the dunes and inland, the gnarled pines take over. The dry pine forest is crossed by swampy ditches, which periodically overflow and make the paths wet. Here you come across tits, woodpeckers, magpies and wood pigeons as well as nightjars. In Nybroskogen along Rönne å, the landscape changes character, with mighty elms, beeches and crooked alders. And on the island of Rönneholm, a wild and difficult-to-access natural forest has been formed, classified as a key biotope. Thorslundskogen is more like a well-grown park with tall, slender trees.

Sand dunes known as Skåne's Sahara

When the great land ice left Skåne, 13,000 years ago, the Ängelholm plain was under water. Large amounts of fine sand came rushing with the meltwater, sank and settled on the bottom. When the land was then raised, the seabed became solid ground and the entire plain was covered with sand. Plants and trees took root and kept the sand at bay. Closer to the coast, however, the wind took hold of the sand and formed huge dunes. During the Middle Ages, most of the forest in the area was cut down and the fugitive sand spread all over the city. During the 18th century, protection planting was therefore started and sand dunes were built to deal with the flying sand. Today, these long, high and wooded dunes remain with names such as Landshövdingeryggen, Näbbryggen and Luntertunryggen.

Bath then and now

Kronoskogen's long, white sandy beach has attracted bathers for several decades. Around the turn of the century in 1900, Engelholm's Brunns- och badanstalt was a popular destination. Here people lived luxuriously in villas, drank from the well, took tub baths in the hot bath house, strolled to music from the chapel and took invigorating sea baths. A pavilion in the community park and a simple spring next to the river are the only visible remains of the bathing facility. Just over a hundred years later, the beach is filled in summer with thousands of visitors eager to swim.

Popular place in the past

Proximity to water has always been important when choosing a place to live. People have wanted to live along Rönneå for many centuries. Right next to the outlet to Skälderviken, for example, a fishing village grew up in the Middle Ages, which later received city rights and became a central place for trade. The city was named Luntertun. The heyday of Luntertun was short. When a new town, Ängelholm, was built some distance away in the 16th century, the inhabitants of Luntertun were forced to move there. A few years later, it was decided that Landskorna would be developed into a trade center and all citizens were asked to move there. In 1767, two hundred years later, Ängelholm got its city rights back.

A river with a pulse

Just over a hundred years ago, the activity around Rönne å was intense. On the paths that today run along the river's edge, men struggled to pull barges with ropes by hand. Factories lined the river and here, among other things, paper was produced and leather was tanned and dyed. Washing shoes lay at the river's edge and steam sloops with expectant bathers passed on towards the coast. On the overgrown island of Rönneholm, there was already a castle in the Middle Ages, Ryghnaeholm, where King Magnus Eriksson's chief confidant Bengt Algotsson is said to have lived. The remains of the castle can be seen as a steep hill on the island. During the late 1800s, the island was a popular dancing place, where people went by steamboat. On the island there was dancing, skittles and food in the inn.

Ownership and management responsibility

In western Kronoskogen is the nature reserve Ängelholm beach forest, which we Stiftelsen Skånska Landskap manage. The remaining land is owned by Ängelholm municipality. Questions go via Ängelholm municipality's customer service: 0431-87 000

Sandlife

Within the framework of the EU project SandLife, measures have been taken to preserve and recreate the unique sandy soils in parts of the area. By, for example, thinning out pine forests and removing alien species such as heather and mountain pine, overgrown sandy environments are made more open. There are signs in the area that tell more about the project. The work has been a major commitment for us, Stiftelsen Skånska Landskap. More information at sandlife.se