From Häyrylänranta, church boats once departed towards the mother parish of Rautalampi, and the shore served as a natural gateway to water routes well into the early 20th century. Families from Hänniskylä, Hytölä and Pukara kept their church boats here, and the last shared church journey was rowed in July 1920 for the consecration of Konnevesi parish cemetery.

Later, wooden shelters known as “venekopelit” were built along the shoreline to protect boats and fishing gear. Today there are three gable-roofed buildings with a total of 29 individual sheds. The sheds preserve the spirit of a time when the lake was the road, the marketplace and the workplace – and the shore was where people set out together for Sunday service, the fishing grounds or the next village.