Det første man ser når man ankommer Rena, er vanligvis den lokale jernbanestasjonen!Perhaps it’s not considered very nice to say that there is nothing special about the place called ‘Rena’? No doubt, the people, whom have chosen to live there, thrive?!
And when I, living far away, still chose to present you with pictures from just the settlement of Rena, it’s for a reason: I’ve lived there! Ages ago!
When I first time arrived at the Rena Railwaystation I was a desperately frightend
little boy 5 years old! Refugee in my own country! The year was 1942 and Norway was occupied by German forces!
The first one normally see arriving Rena is the railwaystation.Så langt jeg kan erindre var det ingen tyske soldater å se i noen retning da jeg (og andre)m ble stablet inn i noen gamle lastebiler og kjørt opp i åsene rundt Rena. Det skulle gå mange år før jeg igjen kunne ta toget hjem!

As far as I recall, there were no German soldiers to be seen upon my arrival, and we were loaded upon some old lorries and brought up into the hills surrounding ‘Rena’. There would be many years before I once more could take the train home!Idag nærmet jeg meg Rena nordfra og stoppet kort på ‘Østerdalen Hotell’ som ligger bare en snau kilometer utenfor Rena.

Today I was approaching the settlement of ‘Rena’ from the North and made a short stop at the Oesterdalen Hotell which is located only a ‘small mile’ North of ‘Rena’.Her ankommer jeg fra nord på ‘Koppangveien’ som her skifter navn til ‘Tollef Kildes gt’ og blir samtidig hovedgaten gjennom Rena Sentrum.
Rena er forøvrig administrassjonssenteret i Åmot kommune og man regner at det i selve tettstedet ‘Rena’ bor ca 2 200 mennesker!

Here I’m arriving from the North on the ‘Koppang Rd.’ which, by the way, here changes name to ‘Tollef Kildes street’ and becomes the main road through the settlement of ‘Rena’. Rena is, by the way. the administration center of the municipality of Aamot, and the population of ‘Rema’ itself is approximately 2 200 people.Siden jeg sist var på Rena har man bygget en ganske stor Teknisk Høyskole på bredden av Prestsjøen!
Since I visited Rena last time, there has been built a Techical College on the banks of
‘Lake Prestjoen’!Her et lite panoramabilde utover Prestsjøen. Her er det også et visst badeliv gjennom sommeren.

And what do you know! Here is my old school from 1943/44 – still in active use 72 years later! If I remember the name of my teacher? I’m sorry, but no! My memory isn’t what it once used to be! (Sorry!)Tvers over veien er det bygget moderne forretningsbygg, men spør meg ikke hva som engang lå der. Det husker ikke en gammel mann!

Perhaps someone is wondering where all the people and cars are? And ‘yes’ it’s incredibly quiet here! The explanation was that this was the afternoon before the start of the annual event: ‘Birkebeiner’n’!
‘Birkebeiner’n’ is a real challenge where most everybody have the chance to prove their physical strength and endurance. On mountain bikes this year 9000 people started out across the mountain on a gruelling trip of 86 km (It used to be 92 km) and an accumulated elevation/meters of 1450 metres arriving at the Haakons Hall at the City of Lillehammer in the valley of Gudbrandsdal. some 3 hours later!Som dere ser befinner jeg meg omtrent der løpet skal starte imorgen?! Over hustaket ser dere et kirkspir? Jeg nevner dette spesielt fordi denne kirken ligger ganske sentralt i sentrum av Rena og dukker dermed opp på mange bilder etter hvert. Det gjør det mulig å orientere seg litt bedre?

As you may see, I’m just about where they’ll be starting tomorrow? Please observe the church in the back. This church is centrally located in Rena, thus it’s goin to be visible on a number of pictures and will provide you with a position that will make it a bit easier to understand where you are.Lenger nede i gaten ser dere en bensinstasjon, men hvis dere tror man selger bensin på Rena for 2 – 4 kroner literen, så tar dere feil! Faktum er at prisene var kr 12,90 og kr 14,70 🙂 Det er bare slik at teknologien som viser priser egentlig skifter kontinuerlig, men så raskt at det menneskelige øye aldri oppdager det. Men mitt kamera er altså enda raskere!

Down the street you may see a gasoline station, but – don’t for a moment believe that gasoline is sold at Rena for 2 – 4 kroner /litres. You’d be mistaken! The fact is that our gasoline prices for the day was NOK 12,90 and NOK 14,70 !
The explantation is that the technology showing prices kind of flutters, but so fast that the human eye can’t catch on. My camera, however, is far quicker yet!Dette er altså Åmot Kirke i Rena sentrum! Og i 1943/43 besøkte jeg denne kirken i forbindelse med julehelgen. Noen glimt har øyensynlig festet seg for jeg kunne ikke påvise særlige forandringer. Kirken ble bygget i tømmer i 1901 og har plass til 600 mennesker!

This is the Aamot Church in the centrum of the settlement of Rena! I used to visit this church in connection with Christmas celebrations in 1942-44 and some impressions must have stuck with me? I couldn’t see much changes today?!
The church was built in timber back in 1901 and seats 600 people!En takk til Else Berit som åpnet noen dører som ellers hadde forblitt lukket!
A ‘thank you’ to Else Berit who saw to it that doors were opened that would otherwise remained closed.

A local artist and wood carver – Ragnar Nysaether – had a smal exhibition in the church.
I recommend that you click the picture into full screen and study the details of his work!Dette er brannstasjonen! Nja, ikke dagens, naturligvis, men den fungerte faktisk i 1943!!!
This is the Firestation! Well, not of today, of course, but it did serve as a firestation back in 1943!Dette er en relativt ny forretningsgård i dagens ‘Rena’.
This is a relatively new business building in Rena of today.Og her ligger det lokale trenings-senteret.
And here is the local fitness center.

En hyllest til ‘Birkebeineren’ som også gjennomføres på ski hver vinter!
A tribute to the event ‘Birkebeineren’ which is also an arrangement on skies every
winter.

Another relatively new business building. Actually there aren’t too many buildings that may be dated back to the 40thies, but there are some . . .Her er kontorene til den lokale Sparebank 1 i Hedmark.
Here is the office of the local bank: Sparebank 1 in Hedmark.Dette er det nye kultur-senteret i Rena!
This is the new cultural center in Rena.Litt tilbaketrukket fra det daglige trafikkbildet finner vi Ryslingmoen Alders- og Sykehjem.

Then there was the gasoline station again, but this time from an all together different angle, and this time my camera has frozen the prices at the exact correct time.I gamle dager var dette en av stedets ‘nøkkelbedrifter’: ‘Rena Carton AS’ ble startet tidlig på 1900-tallet, men ble permanent nedlagt i 1998 etter nesten 100 års drift!

In the old days this used top be one of Renas ‘corner stone businesses’: Rena Carton Ltd.
It was initiated very early in the 1900’s and permanently closed down nearly a hundred years later in 1998!Hvor det en gang var store fabrikkbygninger, skyter det i dag opp moderne boligblokker med utsikt mot elven ‘Glomma’.

All that is left from the old industry site is the tall chimney which may be seen at a long distance away.Hvis jeg husker korrekt så rommer disse husene såkalte ‘student-hybler’?
If I remember correctly, this building include so called ‘studenet dwellings’?Et gatebilde fra Rena –
A street picture from Rena –Og ett til!
And another!Rampa Pub, Rena. Jeg tror dette er ett av de eldre husene i Rena som engang hadde en helt annen funksjon?

The Rampa Pub, Rena. I believe this is one of the old houses that once had an all together different function in this society?

This is an apartment building – relatively new at Rena, but – we are also very close to the railway station where our trip started out, but I gues tghat most of you by now has a solid impression of Rena as a settlement? So I’ll conclude and just thank you for your company.
(Compliments of SRB)

Well, as you might imagine: Not the busiest place on ‘Mother Earth’! 🙂
After all, there are only approximately 2 200 people living in Rena itself and during daytime most people are at school or tending to a job.