Nov 2014copy

El Valle Newsletter Page 1

YOUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

ISSUE 09 November 2014


ContentsChairmansreport &OctoberMeeting

2

WalkingTreasureHunt

3

What’s On 4

Forthcoming events& MonthlyWalks

5

Photo Club 6

Sat.Co

Info fromthe townHall

OctoberWalk

7

Diary ofPilgrimsJourney toSantiagodeCompostela

8&9

Quad Diary 10&

11Committee 12

Chairman’s report by stewart common

october meeting report by alan impey

Welcome to the NovemberNewsletter. Unfortunately ourchairman, Jane is away in the UKand unable to complete herreport this month, so thismonth’s report comes from yoursecretary Stewart Common.Following the record breakinghot September (the hottest inMalaga Province since recordsbegan in 1942) we have somelong awaited rain and now somenice sunny days. A couple ofdays ago Elaine and I left thelake area at 35 deg C, then aswe passed Velez Malaga itincreased to 37 deg C, all thiswith the hot winds from inlandand then onto Torre del Mar anddown to 28deg C, with coolerwinds from the Mediterranean .

This is unheard of duringOctober. I sure I speak for all,that we still enjoy the goodwarm weather we are getting.Some news. Sadly one of ourmembers, John Bezer passedaway this month, his smiling facewill be missed at all of oureventsAs my position also includes thatof the Membership Secretary, Icannot let this opportunity passof reminding you all that yourmemberships will need to berenewed on Jan 1�� for themembership year 2015. We cando this at any of the club nightsor at the Friday markets inPuente Don Manuel.Your committee are currentlyworking hard to plan many new

ideas for club nights and for tripsand events for 2015 and needyour support to make thesesuccessful. We will be having theEl-Valle clubs AGM in April andwill be looking for new bloodand people with ideas andenergy for the next year’scommittee. We, the committeealways welcome suggestions andof course help with organisingand running any of our events orclub nights.

I look forward to seeing as manyof you as possible at our nextclub meeting which will be onMonday 3�� November.

My best regards to you all.

After being absent (with leave)last month your worst fears arerealised and I am back!!!!! Manythanks to Alice, for stepping in forme and covering the Septembermeeting.A slightly disappointing 50 mem-bers turned up at The CampingBar for the October meeting andat 7.40pm Jane opened proceed-ings with the usual overview ofcoming events and also a requestfor people to step up and assistwith the running of The El-Valle.It does not run itself and the usualstalwarts could use help in shar-ing the load.The night’s main event, (no notthe Cash Box) was to be Martyn's(not forgetting Rebecca's) Quizwith a numbers theme; simplyput every answer would be anumber. It sounds simple even forthe El-Valle membership. (MoreLater)Jane announced a break for drinksto be replenished prior to thequiz.At 8.00 pm Jane formally intro-duced our quiz master and hisGlamorous Assistant, Rebecca!!!!As I mentioned earlier Martyn re-peated that every answer wouldbe a number and so off we went.

Partly into the quiz our very ownJeanette got to her feet and an-nounced, "Martyn, I think I amlosing the plot"!!!!! Martyn quick-ly set her right and off we wentagain.There were 30 questions and at8.50 the final question was asked,answer sheets were exchangedfor marking and the winning teamscored a creditable 20 points. Ilike to think I played a small partin their success as I marked theiranswer sheet, (contributions willbe accepted)

It was now time forthe Cash Box, whichstood at €800.00, aprize worth win-

ning!!!!! but unfortunately therewas no winner and it rolls over tonext month.The meeting was closedat 9.15pm and it goes withoutsaying (but I will anyway) thankstoJane/Ian, Stewart/Elaine,Christine/Peter, Sue, and Chris fortheir efforts. (I don't think Imissed anyone, but if I did myapologies!!!)


More than 40 people turned up forPeter and Stewart’s treasure huntwhich took place on a sunny autumnmorning, starting in Parque Andalucianext to the car park – the Amivel guysmust have tripled their takings thatday!

P and S had put together 40 questionsfor us to find answers to (clues weregrid reference and street names) andanother 10 pictures of buildings, stat-ues and signs for us to locate duringthe treasure hunt – these had no gridreference.

After plotting what they hoped werethe most direct routes on the mapsprovided, 11 teams of four -or in afew cases five - set off to compete forthe €50 prize for the highest numberof correct answers. Some of the morecompetitive teams split into twogroups to maximize their coverageand increase their chance of winning.One team was spotted cheating byasking the locals for help. Our ownteam was disappointed to discoverthat the tourism lady in the town hallknew only two of the answers. Theroute took in parts of Velez many ofus had never visited – including the

football ground, wholesale fruit andveg market and bus station. Construc-tion works to the façade of a Chinesebazaar had hidden one of the cluesand a few others were later disputed– such as the number of fruits shownin the plaque pictured here (10, ap-parently).

Stewart and Peter snuck around townand popped up now and them to am-bush any teams who weren’t taking itseriously enough and dared to stopfor a sneaky coffee. Everyone sur-vived the experience and we allenjoyed a menu del dia afterwards.

So who were the winners?First prize went to the team led byCas Edwards, ably assisted by hus-band Ray and Janette and Chris Mogg.Team Cas scored 37 out of a maxi-mum of 51 points.Chris Wishart’s team came second,followed by teams led by Sheila Loft-house, Peter Baker and Peter Dibden.Paul Mitchell and Mike Venus came injoint 6��, Ian Taylor and Rod Martintied in 8�� place and Mike Watkins andteam came 10��. The booby prize waswon by Bob Ward, whose team in-cluded wife Pauline and Tim and VivKubran. The losers scored 26 pointsand received a consolation prize of€10.Thanks to Peter and Stewart for anexcellent treasure hunt. We’re look-ing forward to their next event!

Walking treasure hunt by Alice Venus


FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

November 3�� - Fun Night

December 1�� - Carols, Mince Pies & Wine with Allegria Choir

January 12�� - Royal Protection Service & It’s Breaches! By Alan Briggs PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE

February 2ⁿ� - Quiz by Ian Harris

SUPPER WITH A MOVIE

NOVEMBER 21�� 7 pm in Church room under La Maroma estate agents

Film is RED 2

Members €5 Non members €7

FULLY BOOKED

Christmas meal at

venta la vina

Friday 12th december

19:30 - 20:00

2 course meal

With music by the zimmers

Members €13:50 Non members €17:50

Book early to avoid disappointment


EL VALLE MONTHLY WALKS

NOVEMBER 13�� Led by Peter & Anne Dibden. Start at 11:00 a.m. At Km 29 on the A356 just up past Camping Bar towards Casabermeja

DECEMBER 11�� Led by Martyn & Rebecca Higgins. Start 11:00 a.m. In the bottom car park of Vinuela village. After at Venta la Vina, Vinuela.

JANUARY 8�� Led by Alan Clay. Start 11:00 am TBA

FEBRUARY 12�� Led by Doug & Jane Johnson. Start at 11:00 a.m. TBA

SUPPER WITH A MOVIE

JANUARY 16TH 7 p.m. In Church room under LaMaroma

Estate agents

FILM THE RAILWAY MAN

Members €5 Non members €7

POSSSIBLE TRIP TO CAR MUSEUM

FEBRUARY 27TH

DETAILS TO BE CONFIRMED


LAKE VINUELA PHOTOGRAPHIC CLUB By Doug Popplett

Our September challenge of “In the style of JackieRanken” was not so well supported with only 16images this month, including a couple of “wacky”attempts.All entries can be viewed via the club’s websitewww.lvphotoclub.com under the heading ofchallenges.

The challenge for October was “Artificial Light” a technical, wide open category as long as some form of artificiallight is used.Interested in photography? Why not come and join us, we are a friendly group of people of differing abilities fromnovice to the more proficient, it’s all about enjoying photography.We meet on the first Thursday of the month (10.30am), currently at restaurante La Era in Puente Don Manuel. If youare interested, contact us at [email protected] leaving your contact details.

http://www.lvphotoclub.com


NEWS FROM SATCO BY DICK ATTERBURY

There is a lot in the news about thecoming of the 4K or as it is knownUltra High Definition TV (UHDTV).Take some good advice about theseTVs if you are thinking of buying oneas their technology is quiteadvanced and you could make someerrors. We at Sat.Co have been do-ing our homework and as we alwayssay advice is free.

We are introducing the new TVs atour weekly Saturday afternoonDemonstrations so come and have alook.Some of the Spanish TV Stationshave had their licences renewed andare back some have moved channelso it is worth retuning your TV to getthem back. More and more channelsare now offering the EnglishLanguage option.

The most asked question at the mo-ment is can we still get the BBC andITV via satellite and the answer is abig YES.Please come and see us at theTuesday market or on Saturdays forour Demonstration.

INFO FROM MARIO AT ALCAUCIN TOWN HALL

BONFIRES 2014

Bonfires can be started from the 1��November. The licenses are validfor 1 year, therefore the majority ofthem will still be in vigor.

If your license is out of date, youwill need to apply for a new one.You don’t need an appointment.Just visit your Town Hall onWednesdays between 10:00 and

12:00. Ask for Jose Luis, the“Guardia Forestal”.

The petioner needs to provide thefollowing information:

1. Poligono and plot number whereyou want to burn the rest of thepruning, as well as the identificationof the owner of the plot (DNIorNIE).

2. Identification (DNI or NIE) of theperson who is actually going to dothe burning.

If you have problems with theidentification of the plot, you canconsult our catastral maps in theOffice of Urbanism.

It was a fine early October morningwith clear blue skies when twentyone of us met in the main car parkjust below Almáchar pueblo. Wethen travelled in five cars to theother side of the pueblo and parkedon the new bridge. Ian gave a briefresume and the usual disclaimer forthe walk and off we set. The walk iscalled the ´cerro patarra´, is justunder 7KM and is well sign posted.It climbs just over 300 metersreaching a maximum height of470meters above sea level. Westarted walking up an old mule trackwhich climbed steeply and steadilyfor just over 15 minutes, fortunatelywe were in the shade for most of thisas the temperature was soaring to

the high twenties low thirties. Theviews back down to the village wereimpressive.

We climbed for a further 45 minutes,stopping frequently to allow thebreeze to cool us. When we reachedthe ridge, we were well rewarded bystunning vistas all around us. Welooked back to the white villages ofPeriana and Comares; across toAlcaucin and Canillas with the everimpressive La Maroma as a backdrop;down to the villages of Iznate,Benamacarra, El Borge, Almach,Velez and Torre del Mar and beyondto the sparkling Mediterranean. Wewalked along the ridge, taking in thisspectacular view that surrounded us

then, and then began our descent ona concrete track thatmeandered back down to the bridge.

Following the walk, we all drove toBar Trapiche for a menu, good food,good drink, great company!! Agreat day.

OCTOBER WALK BY IAN TAYLOR

http://www.lvphotoclub.com


Thurs. 4�� September 23:30 Wewere collected at the Repsol garage &then after several more pick-ups thejourney started.Fri 5�� September We had 4stops in all and arrived in Orense at15:30. Thirty six people in all. We wereall very tired, but did venture out to explore. Dinner at 20:30, no choice, butquite o.k.Sat 6�� September Orense to SanCristovo de Cea 22kms – in truth actually25kms. Breakfast 07:30 – collect Compostela“Passports” started walking acrossOrense at 08:30.

Drizzle on and off all day. After walking6kms across the town we joined a pictur-esque “camino” through GREEN country-side. We were told we would be visitinga bakery, where we could buy lunch, wewere not told that this bakery was at theend of the walk. We were all hungry andvery tired! The “A” Team comprisingMike, Sue, Jan, Pamela, Jean, Rebecca &myself actually arrived first, others werealready there but had been collected inthe support vehicle.

Sunday 7�� September Cristovo deCea – Castro Dozón 19.7kms + 3.5 = 24.3kms. Quite heavy rain from the start –eased at about 15:00. The guide took us

the wrong way & the back track added3.5kms to the day. We went to theMonasterio de Oseira for a guided tour.

One of the Spanish men was trying to puthis trousers on with the ankle zipsclosed!! Rebecca was helping him. Hisshorts were sodden & she told him hewould be drier if he took the wet shortsoff. Anyway, after a struggle she & hebetween them got them on. When hetried to kiss her on both cheeks she al-most decapitated him with her visor,which she wears in all weathers. Wewere then hurried to continue to startthe last 11kms, but about half the groupwere bussed ahead and waited in a barfor about 3 hours. It was mixed terrain-lots of cobbled paths up & down, hardgoing, but pretty oak woods & greencountryside. This day has been quitehard going. During this walk, one of ournumber fell & broke their glasses & an-other stumbled & almost passed out – ahard day today.

Mon 8�� September Castro Dozón– A Laxe 19kms turned into 21.3 kms.Morning really sunny and bright – 2⅟2hours & 11kms became 3⅟2 hours &13kms before lunch. I walked 10kms &then got a lift to the lunch bar. I wasvery sick & the bar lady said “no agua”but gave me tonic water, it was very re-freshing, she would not let me pay – verykind. After lunch they all set off, I laid

out across the back seat of the coach.Unfortunately it rained really heavilyabout an hour before they all joined thecoach, I was told the countryside & thehouses were really beautiful.

Tues 9�� September A Laxe – Ban-deira 16k, actually 18k!! Why are we notsurprised!Breakfast 7:00am, cases packed & off t07:45 ready for the move to a hotel inSantiago. Really lovely green lanesthrough oak forest – with not much roadat all. We walked in sunshine past pigpens & cows – really English type coun-tryside. At 11:00 we stopped for coffee,which turned into much more, a lady wasboiling octopus in a large vat in the win-dow of the bar. She cut it up with scis-sors, it was served on wooden platterssoaked in olive oil, it was very popular.We “English” were last to leave, but wemade up the distance so hot I used mybody as a sunshade. We reached Ban-deira at 13:45, at one bar everyone whohad a drink was given a fried egg onbread as tapas – this included a Spanishcouple who were having double egg &chips!! We all left at 15:30 & weredriven 3k to a lane, we then walkeddown, down, down to the head of agorge. There was a fabulous waterfallabout 300ft high – really spectacular.

DIARY OF PILGRIMS JOURNEY TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA BY JEANETTE MOGG


Back to the bus & off to a new hotel. Wearrived at 18:00, a lovely room with afridge to keep the milk for our tea. Shat-

tered

but happy.

Wed 10�� September Bandeira –Outeiro16k –but was 18kForgot to say the Compostela Passportsneed to have three stamp each day,these can be collected at bars, shops &garages. We set off down leafy lanes &some roads, but quite easy walking. Wehad a coffee stop & Passoprts stampedat 9k, continued to lunch at 13.5k. Setoff again at 14:00 after some had eatenquite a substantial lunch. The laststretch, 5k, was all uphill, but not toobad. Today we crossed a large river, RioUlla & viewed a high speed railwaybridge from underneath as it spannedthe river. Really green and lush today,lots of hydrangeas, daliahs, roses and fu-sias.Thurs 11�� September Outiero – San-tiago de Compostela 16k – actually 17.7kStarted on a grassy track, coffee at 9kand then continued – a beautiful area.Nearing Santiago we pass a place wherethere was a serious train crash in July,still lots of mementoes secured to thefoot bridge.

We regrouped about 1k from the cathe-dral & then walked into the city together.

We toured the cathedral as a group, weall hugged the Saint & touched him threetimes with our forehead. At the “Peri-grine” (Pilgrims) office we got our finalstamp & collected our Certificado deCompostela. Back on the bus at 18:30,according to Mike’s gizmo we walked125k in 31 hours – not too bad at all.Fri 12�� September A lie in, break-fast at 08:30 & coach into Santiago at09:30. We got a 2ⁿ� Compostela at theFranciscan church which was celebratingits 800�� anniversary this year – lucky forus. We made our way to the cathedral &were seated at 10:50. The Pilgrims Massstarted at 12:00 ALL seats were taken by11:00. We sat and watched lots of peo-ple enquiring “is that seat taken?” Any-one keeping a seat had to guard it withtheir life! At 12:00 the mass began, thefemale singer had a beautiful voice, thepriest mentioned visitors who had comefrom all over the world and true PilgrimsMass Communion was followed with thelighting of the huge incense urn. It origi-nated because pilgrims slept in the eaves

of the cathedral & any unpleasantodours could be masked by the incense.It had been lowered to be lit, one monkset it swinging & then joined 5 others,and six ropes joined one main rope. Itwas raised slowly & then pulled veryhard again & again. This set it arcingright up into the eaves of the cathedral –spectacular to see.Eighteen people had been to the marketto buy marisco (shellfish), this wascooked at a pre-arranged restaurantwhere they all met up for lunch, I under-stand this is called Mariscarda. Some vis-ited museums & others went shopping –a good day. No rain and back to the ho-tel and on the coach at 18:30

Sat 13�� September Leavethe hotel at 07:30 for the long drivehome


Quad diary by roger and jackie frewin

October quad report by Jackie and Roger FrewinWith autumn creeping up we encountered some pleasant changes this month. After the rain in late September much of thedrab, arid landscape had started to turn green, the murky haze that had restricted views over the preceding 3 months hadstarted to clear, revealing those wonderful vivid views of the lake, sea and mountains and the wonderful aromas of wild herbsfilled the air as we traversed campo tracks, making the whole experience so much more enjoyable.

Our only trip to Alfarnetejo this month did not quite go according to plan. 3 quads and a trail bike left Billy’s Bar, via our normalroute, stopping at bar Ortega for refreshments but to our disappointment the restaurant in Alfanartejo was closed. Knowingthat the food at the other bar there bore no comparison we continued on to Alfarnate in the hope of finding something betterthere. We only saw one bar/restaurant en route and stopped there, hoping it might be a good substitute, but, although the foodwas cheap and tasted ok, the quality and quantity was not a patch on our usual venue. Better luck next time we hope. At leastwe were not so uncomfortably full of food on our journey home and were able to enjoy the spectacular views of the mountains,lake and sea on the winding road back down to Periana. The photo shows the high spot on that route, Puerto del Sol, 1085m.Our other trips this month were all familiar ones, visiting Arenas, taking muddy excursions through the river bed, etc but themost notable trip of the month (possibly the all-time best) was one we’ll definitely remember for a long time to come. Adelightfully warm day and a special trip, pre-planned and organised by Angelika and Klaus, attracted 7 quads and the buggy tomeet up at Billy’s bar an hour earlier than usual. The trip began through familiar territory, Venta Baja and Venta Alta then uponto the main road to drive through the Zafarraya pass and left towards Zafarraya village. From there we followed ruggedmountain tracks overlooking the Polje de Zafarraya, the large flat agricultural basin surrounded on all sides by a breathtakingrocky landscape.

But this awe-inspiring experience was just one of many pleasures that awaited us that day. As we continued on, in a northerlydirection, the greenery was gradually replaced by more and more stunning rock.


Then, as we climbed higher and higher into the sierra de Loja we eventually spotted the wind turbines that announced that wewere nearing our destination. Our first glimpse of Loja was a little disappointing because it was rather hazy there but themountain landscape continued to thrill and the experience of being above the clouds was exhilarating.

Then we started our descent, eventually passing through a small pine forest and crossed under the motorway to arrive at Lojawhere we enjoyed a very filling and scrumptious lunch. The route back was faster and smoother, the perfect end to anexhausting but truly awesome day.


ASOCIACIÓN EL VALLE DELEMBALSE COMMITTEE

2014-15

Chair: Jane Harris : - 633615154

Treasurer: Chris Wishart - 609952926

Secretary: Stewart Common - 647076177

MEMBERS

Elaine Edwards: - 647076177

Anne Dibden : - 605826358

Merryll Mitchell : - 664224062

Judy Maycock:- 673847608

Carol Caldwell : - 635291532

Editor: Susan Jones - 680407894

Almoner: Christine Goreham – 635361233

INFORMATION.

NEWSLETTER EDITOR [email protected] - www.el-valle-asociacion.com

A representative of the committee is usually on duty between 11:30 am – 12:30 pm at Friday Market - Chiringuito Antonio

COME AND FIND US - WE HAVE MOVED FROM Billie's Bar

Documents

Nov 2014copy