Beauty Pageant 2022 – The Free Church receives the honorary award
A number of awards for tidiness were presented at a ceremony in Hafnarfjörður yesterday. Hafnarfjörður is a beautiful town with many beautiful gardens and tidy plots, and it is clear how many residents are diligent and keen to have a beautiful and tidy environment around them. Many tips were received from residents when a call for nominations for tidy and beautiful gardens was made earlier this summer.
The Most Beautiful Gardens, Neatest Businesses and Honour Awards 2022
A number of awards for tidiness were presented at a ceremony in Hafnarfjörður yesterday. Hafnarfjörður is a beautiful town with many beautiful gardens and tidy plots, and it is clear how many residents are diligent and keen to have a beautiful and tidy environment around them. Many tips were received from residents when a call for nominations for tidy and beautiful gardens was made earlier this summer. Nine gardens are being recognised for tidiness this year, as are two businesses: Andrea at 8 Vesturgata and HS Veitur at Selhella. The stately Fríkirkjan in Hafnarfjörður receives the 2022 Tidiness Honour Award.
The 2022 Honour Award for the Art of Beauty goes to Fríkirkjan in Hafnarfjörður.
Representatives of the Free Church receive awards from the hands of Guðbjörg Oddný, chair of the Environment and Operations Committee.
The Most Beautiful and Neatest Gardens 2022
High Bar 2 – This garden is very tidy and well-kept and catches the eye as you walk along the High Bank. The owner clearly has a passion for gardening and, not least, for growing vegetables, as beds were planted with potatoes, kale and other useful plants.
Einihlíð 8 – It is a great pleasure to drive up Einihlíðina and see this cheerful garden that warmly welcomes visitors to the street. The beautiful tobacco corners are in full swing in the summer, and the midday flowers are in full bloom. A beautiful greenhouse is home to many lovely plants, and there is a clear passion for cultivation that is infectious, providing inspiration and encouragement.
Furuvellir 21 – A very beautiful garden in Völlunum, with well-manicured lawns and a variety of shrubs and perennials in the flowerbeds. A pleasingly trimmed tree. It immediately caught the eye as you drove into Furuvellina.
Klettahraun 23 – A fine example of a garden that has become more magnificent with each passing year. The garden comes into view as you walk up the path from the lava field by Moonstone Path towards Klettahraun. Plenty of gravel to create a change in level. A beautiful sight when viewed from the car park towards the house. Nature and the magnificent view provide a lovely setting for this garden.
Móabarð 28 – Clearly a great and lively interest in plants and gardening, with every little detail having been lovingly tended to. A varied selection of perennials. The garden has been very well maintained and has previously received recognition.
Einihlíð 5 – A hidden treasure can be found here, and behind the house, a world of adventure awaits. Every single item is in its place, all the edges are neatly trimmed, and every little detail has been lovingly tended to. It was an experience to see the sheer variety and abundance of plant life in this garden. The pond was so beautiful, with the plants reflected in the water.
Lækjarhvammur 18 – Beautifully presented, exceptionally varied and tidy with a wide selection of plants. A small pond in the back garden with a great variety of vegetation, all the edges trimmed and cut, and the path swept. A keen interest in gardening.
Brekkuhlíð 20 – A magnificent garden where professionalism and a sense of form and space are evident. This small garden has an incredibly varied space, linked by steps that also serve as seating or create platforms for pots or planters. Here, utility and beauty come into their own, and the small greenhouse provides the perfect finishing touch.
Skipalón 10-12 and 14 – Many plots at Skipalónið are very tidy and beautiful. Skipalónið 5 has previously received an award, and now it is the cluster from numbers 10-14 that has received an award for a tidy back garden with a well-mown lawn and beautiful tree and shrub beds. The access from the car park is very attractive and tidy, with beautiful summer flowers in pots. There is a small play area with a swing. This block of flats is an example to others.
Photos from the awards ceremony
The Neatest Companies 2022
Andrea – Vesturgata 8
The owners of Artwerk and Andreu have renovated a beautiful house at 8 Vesturgata on the site of the Hafnarfjörður Folk Museum. It is safe to say that they have done a fine job. The plot is not large, but the shop and the house are a great adornment to the site and fit in well with the surrounding area.
HS Veitur – Selhellu
It is a particular pleasure to present awards for the landscaping of plots in commercial and industrial areas. This concerns a relatively new building in a commercial area, and the landscaping of the plot began immediately upon its construction. Here we see a good dialogue with the surroundings, with stone and natural turf, and staff facilities on a handsome, sun-facing deck. There are parking spaces for electric cars and bicycle parking.
Fjóluhlíð 5-17 and 6-18 is the 2022 star-gazing site.
A neat, beautiful street in Setbergshlíð with houses built between 1998 and 2000. This street has been beautiful for years, like so many streets in the Setbergshlíð area. The residents' community spirit is very evident, reflected in the clean and tidy gardens and the beautiful Christmas lights during Advent. The planting is varied and the whole street scene is really beautiful, with the good old hedges making a real statement. It is not a given that residents will stick together so well, and the residents deserve praise for their unity and for the encouragement they give one another.
The 2022 Honour Award for the Art of Beauty goes to Fríkirkjan in Hafnarfjörður.
The Free Church in Hafnarfjörður receives the Honourable Mention of the 2022 Beautification Award. The church is stately, standing high and towering over the town. It serves a multifaceted role, open to a wide range of cultural activities as well as being a sanctuary for those in need of presence, love, listening and understanding. The church is an important link in the community of Hafnarfjörður.
First Church of Hafnarfjörður
The Free Church congregation in Hafnarfjörður was founded on the first of May 1913, and its main aim was to build a church in Hafnarfjörður, which was then a growing town, as there had not been a church in the town for centuries. Until that time, the people of Hafnarfjörður had been part of the parish of Garðar on Álftanes, and many found it a long journey to attend church. In the summer of 1913, work began on building this first church for the people of Hafnarfjörður, and it progressed so well that the church was consecrated on 14 December of the same year. The first minister of the church was the Reverend Ólafur Ólafsson, who also served the Free Church in Reykjavík, and the first chairman of the parish council was Jóhannes Reykdal, a factory owner in Hafnarfjörður. The church was designed by master carpenter Davíð Kristjánsson, and the construction was carried out by the company Dvergur.
The church was renovated in 1998 and rededicated the same year.
In 1931, considerable renovations were carried out on the church. The church tower was enlarged and the choir was built on, giving it its present appearance. The drawings for the choir and tower were made by master carpenter Guðmundur Einarsson. In 1982, four extensions were built to the church: a vestry, an entrance hall by the back door, a waiting room, and a toilet in the narthex. The drawings were made by architect Óli G.H. Þórðarson. The most extensive renovations to the church then took place in the summer and autumn of 1998. At that time, the entire interior of the church was renewed. The church was re-panelled and the flooring was replaced, to name but a few of the changes. The alterations were overseen by architect Thorsteinn Gunnarsson and the engineering firm Línuhönnun. The contractor was the company Gamlhús. The church was reconsecrated by the Bishop of Iceland, the Right Reverend Karl Sigurbjörnsson, on 13 December 1998.
Women active in the congregation's work from the beginning
From the very beginning, women in the Free Church congregation were very active in the work of the congregation, but ten years passed before the Women's Association of the Free Church in Hafnarfjörður was formally established on 11 April 1923. The first formal request received by the women's association was a request from the church council to pay for the “lighting installation' in the church (i.e. the installation of lights). The motion was passed unanimously, and ever since, the women's association has been an invaluable support to the work of the congregation. In recent years, the association has both supported various projects in the church and at the parish centre, and has been the main backer of the children's work. The history of the Friðkirkjunnar Brotherhood can be traced back to 1930, when several men in the Free Church congregation founded the society for the purpose of supporting and strengthening congregational life, but the society's main objective was to build a rectory for the congregation's minister. This was achieved with great success, and when that house was subsequently sold in 1945, the proceeds were sufficient to pay off all the debts of both the society and the Free Church itself. The society's activities ceased from the mid-twentieth century, but it was revived at a formal re-establishment meeting on 16 November 2011 and has been an active organisation ever since.
Hafnarfjörður warmly congratulates all those who received an award, with great thanks for their contribution to beautification and tidiness.
A clean town, everyone's favourite!