Hedeland

Hedeland is a 15-square-kilometre recreational area located between the towns of Hedehusene, Tune and Vindinge, some 20 km west of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The undulating landscape has emerged as a result of comprehensive extraction of gravel followed by environmental restoration since the late 1970s. The area is owned by a company, I/S Hedeland, which is owned by the municipalities of Høje-Taastrup, Greve and Roskilde.

The landscape consists of both woods and open land and has a varied flora and bird life. Many of the former gravel pits have been converted into lakes and ponds. Hedeland is also home to a wide selection of recreational facilities, including a golf course, a kart circuit, a vintage railway, equestrian centre, amphitheatre and fishing ponds.

The name has been created from the words hede, meaning heath. The flat and fertile moraine landscape between Roskilde, Køge and Copenhagen was from the Middle Ages known as Hedeboegnen or simply Heden ("The Heath").

Hedehusgården Equestrian Centre is located at Brandhøjgårdsvej 2 in the northeastern corner of Hedeland. Hedehusgården is an old farmhouse which in 1892 was purchased by an engineer wo wanted to extract gravel from its land. The exuestrian club traces its roots bck to 1946 but took over Hedehusgården in 1976.

Hedeland Vintage Railway is a 5.2 km narrow gauge railway operated by the Danish Industrial Railway Society. Built by members of thesociety, construction began in 1975 and the first short stretch was opened in 1977. It currently offers a 10 km return trip but plans exist to extend the railway all the way to Tune which will increase its length to 7 km. Service is both steam and diesel locos. Most of the tracks and rolling stock come from defunct industrial rail lines tat were used for transporting sugar beets on the island of Lolland.

Brandhøj Miniature Railway covers 18.000 m² and has a total length of more than 1,200 metre. Construction began in 1984.

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Wikipedia