Kvarn. Words & picture by Nick Small.

“Although the waters of Järvträsk are ultimately bound for the Baltic to the East, they take a perverse route westwards to meet the Skelleftea River. The lake decants itself via a narrow channel through an extensive swamp, where Great Northern Divers call ludicrously, and leggy elk wade amongst darting dragonflies, wearing halos of back-lit mosquitoes. Emerging from the swamp, the water is detained by the small sluice of an ancient mill, forming this still pool. Here the water takes a final breather before hurrying on its way to the sea.

Although the tranquility comes with the gushing accompaniment of the mill race, this is always a place I love to stand and stare. Sometimes it’s into the impenetrable forest, and on other occasions, it’s the changing sky, given a mesmeric, kaleidoscopic wonder by the glassy water. But mostly, I’m looking to the margins, seeing through the surface, and counting with my minds eye, the hundreds of monstrous pike that I know are poised, motionless in the reeds….waiting to strike”.