Friends & Neighbours

OK people… Here’s a crash course on Norway brought to you by Skogstad:

If you haven’t visited Norway, you should. Click here to see what you are missing.

If you think you haven‘t heard Norwegian music, you probably have in this case.  You might not realise that what you heard was originally Norwegian.  

If you haven’t eaten Lutefisk, well done. It’s rough. 

If you haven’t seen how Norwegians relax, you should. 

If you haven’t seen the Fjord, where have you been hiding? 

If you haven’t tried Speed Skating, don’t be put off by the suits.

If you haven’t seen the Northern Lights, you have to be lucky to do so.

If you haven’t seen the Midnight Sun, it will BLOW.YOUR.MIND.

If you haven’t seen a time-lapse video of the Norwegian Countryside, now you have.

Norway and the UK

We are going to get a little geeky here but we wanted to take a moment to explain a bit about the history between the UK and Norway.

First of all, we have to forgive them for all of that Viking nonsense. It was a long time ago and they were just a bit bored. Anyway, most of the Vikings came from Denmark. We should be blaming those dastardly Danish.  Ignoring all of the village sackings that took place a long time ago, the relationship between Norway and Britain has been close for more than a century. Britain and Norway are like brothers.

During World War II, London was host to the Norwegian Royal Family and Government, who lived in exile there during the German occupation of Norway. From London they were able to coordinate with the Norwegian resistance, which also received numerous supply drops from the RAF. Many Norwegian sailors who participated in the war effort were based in Britain, mainly sailing with the supply convoys between Britain and the US. If you haven’t seen the film Max Manus – Man At War we recommend it highly!

Every Christmas a tree is given to London from Norway in thanks for the help the British Government and people gave to Norwegian people.  After the war, trade relations between the countries were close. When the EEC was being founded, and Britain decided not to join, Norway followed Britain in forming the European Free Trade Association; and when Britain later applied for EEC membership, Norway followed suit. In 2011, our relationship is as close as ever. Norway provides the UK with energy and the UK is one of Norway’s biggest trade partners.

Norwegian people enjoy the company of British people. We have an affinity that is born out of respect for each other’s values and way of life.