Searching for Valme Lake in the pages of history

Publicēts: 15.07.2019

Lake Valme is the only natural lake in the territory of the city of Gulbene, the area of the mirror is 2 ha, it borders the nature reserve “Krapas gārša”. However, many Gulbenes are unaware of this. And no wonder, because the lake is located in a swampy place, it is difficult and even dangerous to access, but the desire to make this swamp lake available to the public has long been.

In 1957, the newspaper "Sarkanais stars" (No. 90, 01.08.1957) read A. Tīrums' proposal to connect the lake with Krustalīci, raising the water level in the territory of Ievugrava by one meter and creating a bathing place.

In 1966, during the zonal meeting of the party's district organization, Inspector D. Ginzburg expressed the following vision for the development of the lake: " - read in the newspaper "Dzirkstele" (No. 95, 06.08.1966).

In 1968, an offer for the improvement of the lake itself appeared: “In order to create more favorable conditions for the recreation of the population in summer, the sludge should be cleaned on the same shore of Lake Valme with a vacuum cleaner. At the same time, it would be a good fertilizer for the surrounding fields. The lake bed could be strengthened by placing gravel on the ice. As a result, a good resting place for residents and a swimming pool for athletes would be obtained in the vicinity of Gulbene. - S. Molotanov, “Spark” (No. 34, March 19, 1968).

Currently, the lake is not used for recreation or economic activities. At one time, 30 ha of marsh meadows were mown in the vicinity of the hay with hand-carved ones. The 1952 edition of the Fight (No. 295, December 16, 1952) reads a very resourceful acquisition of the lake's resources: . This is a fairly easy task. When the steep Lake Valme is covered with ice, four kolkhoz members start harvesting the water roses. The work is simple. Two people will cut long cracks in the ice about 60 cm wide, the third will pull out the roots of water lilies in a 6-meter-wide strip without any difficulty and the fourth will lead them to a cattle farm. As the farmers of the kolkhoz "Kopdarbība" proved last winter, in this way they will be able to supply the cattle with about 3 tons of this juicy feed per day. "

It has even been planned to establish a small garden cooperative: “It is planned that the gardens will be allocated three places: at Lake Valme, at the end of Viestura Street and near the Gulbene milk processing plant. Once the members who join the cooperative are known, they will decide on the distribution of land, the installation of roads, water supply, electricity and the construction of garden houses. (Spark No. 132, November 4, 1978)

Legends are associated with Lake Valme that it once spread across the entire Krapa River to Vecgulbene, and the swans living in its waters have given the city its name that it has a double bottom, where the once drowned horse was in Lake Stāmeriena. Related to this is the tragic event of 1941, when Arturs Līdums, a young militiaman who became a hero of the local propaganda after his death, died in the battle between Soviet and German troops. A group of pioneers of Ozolkalns school was named after him and excursions to the memorial place of A.Līdums were organized.

The people of modern Gulbene do not skimp on fantastic suggestions, in the Internet forum of the newspaper "Dzirkstele" in 2012, a reader asks: "Who knows how to access Lake Valme? I recently wanted to go swimming, but there is a dead end everywhere. As far as I've heard, it's a clean lake! ” To which the following answer is also received: “Gulbene is in the wrong place. What about a city that doesn't even have its own reservoir - next to a river or lake, where to swim and fish? That is why the air in this city is so strange, because there is a lack of H2O freshness. There are two options - either to eliminate Gulbeni as a class, or to transfer this pile of accidents to a real river or a real lake ”.

Valme manor used to be one of the half-manors of Vecgulbene. In 1583 it was an independent manor, owned by Jürgen Valme, who went to war for life. In 1631 it belonged to Nikolai Taube - at that time it was called Taube manor. In 1802 Valme became the property of Baron Wolf of Gulbene. To this day, little has survived from Valme manor.

Although swampy and difficult to access, Gulbene has its own, very real lake, rich in sapropel, stories and secrets. What decisions should be made and what resources should be invested to make the H2O of Lake Valme available to the public, or to leave Valmi swamp alone? While wonders think, you can go to the 102nd kilometer of the former Gulbene - Ieriķi railway line and watch the blue valme of Valme through the trees.

See how librarians went to search for Lake Valme HERE with like-minded people.

Herta, Inese, Gulbene district library