Kaldakvísl River, Mosfellssveit, Iceland

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Artist Anna Joelsdottir visits her childhood home.

“I found a peace of an old sheet of mine and tore off a piece where my initials still are! Found it in my mother’s storage. She never throws out anything. This little river Kaldakvisl runs right by the old house I grew up in and my mother still lives in. This was my play grounhd growing up.”

Mosfellssveit is now Mosfellsbaer and the rivers of Mosfellsbær are numerous: Leirvogsá, Kaldakvísl which flows into Suðurá, and Varmá, which was formerly harnessed to power the Álafoss woollen mills. The mouth of the Varmá river is a conservation area, due to the presence of a very rare plant species, the saltmarsh rush (Juncus gerardi), and the whole of the Varmá river, classified as an area of natural beauty, is one of the attractions of the district. The river boasts two picturesque waterfalls, Reykjafoss and Álafoss. More history