June newsletter

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Around the valle june 2016 Issue no. 6

Chairmans report by carol caldwell Hello to everyone welcome to the June edition of the El Valle Newsletter .

Someone has turned the oven on quite hot for May but very nice. All the flowers are out in the garden looking very colourful my favourite is the Jacaranda tree with its beautiful blue flowers

Very impressive when there is an avenue of them.

Myself and Ben and 48 members went to Cadiz last week we had a great time with good company The bus company booked the Hotel very nice with a great breakfast in the morning and they put together the itinerary

very pleased with everything Sue is going to thank them on behalf of us all.

Alan Impey is doing a write up and photos of the event We have been busy organising events for the remainder of the year so don't forget to look in the Newsletter to see what's happening.

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contents CHAIRMANS REPORT MAY MEETING & MAY WALK BUEN CAMINO

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FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS & WALK SCHEDULE

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NEWS FROM SAT.CO & NEWSFLASH QUAD REPORT

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COMMITTEEE

may meeting report by alan impey

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Monday 9th May 2016, a week late due to May Day Celebrations in Spain but the El-Valle monthly meeting went ahead.

A disappointing 37 members attended and the meeting was opened at 19:45 by Carol who then handed over to Jane for a run through of coming social events including on July 4th, a Ho-Down!!!!

Sue, El-Valle newsletter editor also took the mike to inform us that she had the ability to see how many members opened

May walk

the monthly on line newsletter and how many chose to visit the web-site.

A surprising statistic was revealed that 5% of people who used the web-site were actually in the Ukraine. It seems that ElValle fame is spreading!!!!!

The nights entertainment was a music quiz hosted

by David Lawrie and after re-charging our glasses we were split into teams of 5 and a very entertaining quiz unfolded and obviously a lot of work had gone into the

preparation and we should thank David for his efforts.

The eventual winners had a score of 67.

It was now time for the Cash Box which stood at €285.00 but there were no winners and the prize rolls over.

by jane johnston

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After a week of 'inclement' weather it seemed unlikely that the walk planned from La Viñuela on Thursday 12 May would take place.

Accordingly, arrangements were made to walk if dry at 11am or meet for lunch at 1:30 by prior booking with the walk organisers Jane and Douglas Johnston.

It was dry at 11 am but threatening rain so the seven members who arrived (photo) walked upwards through the village for coffee at Restaurante Viñuela.

As coffee was consumed we were given a 'virtual walk' of the planned route.

After this and some convivial chat the 'walkers' descended through the village to the lunch spot at Venta La Viña for a refreshment before the arrival of the 'lunchers' who brought our total to sixteen.

A delicious menú del día and more refreshments (sorry no photo) followed and it was agreed that this walk had been very enjoyable. It was good to be indoors as the rain lashed windows and ran down the street!

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Buen Camino Amigos! By Alice Venus evergreen variety. Closer inspection of the dense vegetation through rain-spattered specs revealed ferns, heather, foxgloves, broom and shrubs of all shapes and sizes. Galicia is known as the "country of the thousand rivers" and the sound of running water was never far away.

In early May eight El Valle members and two friends from the UK set off to walk the 90-kilometre stretch of the Camino from Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre. During our seven-day trip (four days of which were walking) we had lots of laughter, fun, aches and blisters as we explored the other end of Spain, discovered new tastes in food, and drank far too much of the excellent local wine. Here are some highlights of our trip to inspire any potential pilgrims: THE TRAIL - Most of the trail was rural through countryside and small villages but there was the occasional main road to contend with. There was no need for a map as the route was clearly marked with distinctive scallop shell signs (the scallop shell being the most iconic symbol of the Camino) at every turn. On major highways there were white lines indicating where pilgrims should walk. As most Galician drivers seem to be in training to take over from Alonso when he retires we were very glad to be separated from the traffic!

Our stretch of the Camino was the least busy and we often went for hours without seeing any other walkers. When we did come across people, ‘Buen Camino’ was the standard greeting. The locals, themselves few and far between, greeted us cheerfully as we passed them.

When we paused to check our route at the crossroads of a remote one-horse hamlet the entire population of three turned out to wave us on in the right direction.

Just follow the shell!

WEATHER - Galicia is the wettest part of Spain, with (many!) more than 200 rainy days a year.

Typical rainfall for May is 80 millimetres and most of them conspired to fall on day three of our trip. Clad head to toe in ill-fitting, one-sizefits-all plastic macs, waterproof leggings and flappy ponchos we kept our spirits up by discussing what we planned to eat that evening and taking pictures of each other. Promises not to publish the most unflattering photos on Facebook were instantly broken! No one dared mention the ‘B’ word (blisters!) but sales of Compeed must have gone up as we were all using them.

Jim models his innovative new rain gear LANDSCAPE – you’ve guessed it – green! A glance out of the plane window as we landed in Santiago made me wonder if we’d been rerouted to the UK. There were lush green fields, gently rolling hills and trees galore of the deciduous and

Water, water everywhere… are we really in Spain?!

AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY – Galicia’s economy is based on fishing, farming and agriculture. We saw maize, wheat, rye, potatoes, turnips and cabbages along with orchards of apples and pears and vineyards. Endless plantations of eucalyptus along the Camino tracks are grown to provide wood for paper pulp. Every farm or smallholding seems to have least one ‘hórreo’, a rectangular-shaped stone granary, raised from the ground by ‘mushroom’ stones to stop rats and mice getting in. The grain is ventilated through gaps in the stones.

Galicia produces about one third of Spain’s milk as evidenced by Friesians grazing the fields, continuous mooing noises from milking sheds and massive milk tankers attempting three-point turns in ten-footwide lanes. Many old and abandoned houses have been turned into farm buildings or makeshift cow sheds. Inquisitive bovine heads

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kept appearing in the windows as we walked by.

Renewable energy is a growing industry in the area and Galicia is apparently Spain’s leading producer of wind power. On many higher points of the Camino dozens of tall white windmills snaked off into the distance like Martian fighting machines, some with moving sails and some ominously still. Listening to me tunelessly singing ‘War of the Worlds’ must have driven the others to distraction after a couple of hours but they were too polite to say so.

Traditional stone granary ACCOMMODATION - Some pilgrims en route to or from Santiago stay in ‘hostals’ (2 star hotels), where you get a basic room with en-suite. Another option is the ‘ albergues’ (hostels or refuges) where you quickly make lots of new friends in mixed dorms, although some albergues also offer private rooms. Most places had already turned the heating off but because of the unseasonably cold weather we asked for it to be turned back on to keep us warm or dry our washing. At one hostal (Galicia’s equivalent of Fawlty Towers) I got on the wrong side of ‘Mrs Basil’ by asking for a quiet room. We were allocated the smallest room in the place with a bathroom the size of a broom cupboard. I didn’t dare ask for the heating to be turned on – just went to bed in all my clothes!

Four drinks, four tapas Cosy sleeping arrangements in an albergue FOOD - To-die-for delicious and plenty of it! From Caldo Gallego, a white bean soup with potato, cabbage and local chorizo to massive beef chops the size of a family joint, huge clams, mussels, octopus and squid to name but a few, everything served with large chunks of ‘pan gallego’. On the sweet side the local ‘ Torta de Santiago’, a rich almond cake, often decorated with the sword of St James, was most people’s favourite dessert.

Many albergues and hostals serve ‘pilgrim meals’ (basically a three course menu del dia) for around €10. Although limited in choice, the meals are designed to power up pilgrims for the 20-30 kilometre hike next day so are extremely filling. In bars the drinks are always served with large portions of tapas that are a small meal in themselves.

One local delicacy that captured the imagination was the local ‘tetilla’ cheese (see photo) – yes, that is what it means! We didn’t try any .

Some people wanted to bring them back as gifts but the fairly hefty price tag meant their friends got almond cake instead!

WINE - The local wine tasted great and was always in plentiful supply at pilgrim meals. We soon discovered why when we visited the supermarket – at a cost of less than €2 a bottle the restaurants could afford to be generous! For the discerning drinkers amongst us , more expensive, but still reasonably priced, ‘cottage industry’ wines went down a treat.

Interestingly shaped local cheeses!

Tarta de Santiago with the sword of St James

Beef chops & Shellfish

VERDICT - A great experience!

Can’t wait to walk another part of the Camino soon.

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FORTHCOMING MEETINGS JUNE 6th

Talk by Adrian Woodward on THE HISTORY OF AMATEUR THEATRE

JULY 4TH

American Independence Day!!! We are having a Hoe Down!!!

AUGUST

NO MEETING

SEPTEMBER 5TH

June 16

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visit to parque la paloma Benalmadena with return to malaga port by ferry Leave mis tapitas at 11:30 Leave the park at 16:00 Free time in the marina until we catch the ferry for malaga at 18:00 The ferry journey takes approx. 1 hour which will then give us free time in malaga until 21:30 €18 members

€22.50 non members

July 20 2016 th

7:30 for 8 Picnic in the park Bring your own wine/drinks Music, salsa and games €9 members €12 non members At vinuela picnic ground near the footall field

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Visit to antequerra & el torcal 30 september th

Leave for antequerra at 9:00, leave el torcal at 18:30 €14 members €18 non members Includes an english guide A date for your diary November 28

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A winter ball will be held at the nerja caves There will be A bus, provided we have sufficient numbers Cost €27 members €30 non members Bus €8 members €10 non members Tickets will go on sale in july WALKS SCHEDULE JUNE 9th

Led by Martyn and Rebecca Higgins. Start at the multistory car park at the entrance to Canillas de Aceituno at 11:00. After at La Maroma restaurant

JULY 14th

Led by Anne Dibden. Start TBA at 19:00

AUGUST 11th

Led by Stewart & Elaine. Start TBA at 19:00

SEPTEMBER 8th

Led by Stewart & Elaine. Start TBA at 11:00

OCTOBER 13th

Led by Ian & Barbaran Taylor. Start TBA at 11:00

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News from sat.co

by dick atterbury

Many of you will be aware that BT Sports 1 has left us and gone to the UK spot beam so not available here in this part of Europe.

Well if you are missing all that Football we have a solution. For a small upgrade at a small price we can recover a channel called BE IN SPORT. This gives you lots of live games plus a lot more other sports and film channels. Call us and we will explain in more detail. For those of you on contract for a monthly fee using the Technomate series of boxes there is no increase in the monthly fees.

Racing UK has now opened up a new HD channel and for those of you that love the horses this is the channel to watch.

More and more people are asking about the modern Television sets. Well there is so much to explain in a few sentences so we run our weekly demonstrations to let you see it for yourselves.

The latest idea is Super High Definition or sometimes called Ultra High Definition.

But don’t waste your money buying the wrong TV. Come and see our no Obligation Demonstration and ask questions, Play with our TVs and see for yourself. We will give you lots of Free advice and hope you end up with something really nice.

The main advantage of all the new TVs is the low power consumption. On average a tenth of the power of old sets, less power than a domestic Light bulb.

For those of you that have Spanish TV installed some channels are about to go Interactive. If you are not already watching in English remember with the new digital systems the language options are available.

If you are missing a few of the channels that have moved go to the Installation menu using your TV Remote and carry out a retune. This should restore the missing channels. Not sure what to do give us a call.

Finally every week we hear of people paying monthly fees for basic TV channels. There is no need to do this. Many TV channels are free to air once the system is installed. Talk to us for advice.

Newsflash from the editor We at the El Valle are finally joining the 21st Century!!!

We now have a Facebook page you can find us at www.facebook.com El Valle Asociacion in Axarquia Please like and share our page and also let us know if there is anything you would like to see posted on this site.

Although we have a thriving membership it is always nice to welcome new members and we hope this can be another way to attract new faces.

CADIZ TRIP Unfortunately I don’t have Alans report at time of going to print but it will be ready for the next edition.

Could I ask, if anyone has photographs of the trip and

would like to share them with the members, to send them to me at newslettereditor2012@gm ail.com Thank you in anticipation.

You can also use this address to send any comments you might have on the newsletter, I am always open to new ideas.

Sue

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QUAD REPORT BY ROGER & JACKIE FREWIN This month many of our trips were cancelled owing to a variety of reasons e.g. waiting for spare parts to resolve quad issues, heavy rain, other commitments, holidays and trips back to the UK. That said, we personally participated in three excellent rides out so I shall limit my report to just those three.

One Wednesday just two quads got together at Trops and decided to head for the coast, where the weather was predicted to be just a bit warmer than in the mountains. It wasn’t a particularly cold day but it was cool and rather overcast. Leaving the bar Roger headed in the direction of Velez-Malaga, with Helen following. We took a now familiar route up along the Arroyo de Mineral towards the radio masts but by-passed them and went over the ridge to join the track that would take us to the Arenas road, just a couple of kilometres outside of the village. We stopped in Arenas for refreshments but used a different bar from the norm. It often looks very popular when we pass-by and our experience that day confirmed why. The service there was a vast improvement on our regular venue. We must remember to try that one again in the future.

We left Arenas by taking the track towards Castillo de Bentomiz and once we’d passed the ruin, at the top of the hill, continued down the other side to join the road near Algarrobo pueblo and followed that down into Algarrobo Costa. Once again we enjoyed a very nice meal at Restaurante Pippo, where the weather was pleasantly warm, though still very cloudy.

After taking our fill we returned via the same route until we reached the track for the Rio Seco, which winds its way down through fields and orchards before emerging onto a narrow concrete track where water constantly flows down into the river a km or two further along. A short distance after crossing the river we arrived at the road that marks south-eastern edge of Velez-Malaga where we parted to each make our own way home.

It was over a week before we embarked on our next trip but it was worth the wait. For me personally this was the highlight of the month. With more quaddies now back in Spain 6 quads met up at Mis Tapitas that Sunday and Mike L devised a long route that would take us eventually to Benamargosa, a favourite venue for Americano sandwiches. It was a cool and cloudy day but we did see the occasional burst of sunshine. We headed for Vinuela and took the narrow street, which runs from near Venta la Viña, along the southern perimeter of the village then out to the west to cross under the main road and arrive at the lake, adjacent to the picnic area by the football ground. The concrete track that heads north from there eventually arrives at the hotel where we turned left to take us onto the dirt track that meanders close to the shores of the lake. Following the recent heavy precipitation the track inevitably had not completely dried out and was dotted with large muddy puddles while ruts, gouged out of the softer soil, provided evidence of the torrents of rain water that had been flowing here. After several kms we eventually reached a new obstacle. There is often a short steep rise here but today the running water had cut out a large deep channel, in front of the slope, which would have been virtually impossible to cross. As luck would have it Mike determined that from a small crossing, about twenty metres away, there was just enough room to ride the quads along the bank on the other side before the climb up to the higher level. Roger volunteered to try out the planned detour, without me on the back I hasten to add, and as the pictures show he succeeded and the others then followed.

The feeling of elation at having conquered said obstruction was soon destroyed when we reached the river Guaro by the northern picnic area. The river was considerably wider than usual but it had also become much deeper owing to a row of large stones that appeared to have been laid to form a small dam. The group deliberated for some time before deciding that it just wasn’t worth risking the crossing so, rather than back track, we continued along the narrow path at the end of the picnic area that ended in an olive grove and we ascended through there to join the higher track that led to a bridge up-river.

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Having crossed the river there we were soon back on track and continued on to bar Ortega, where we discussed our plight over refreshments. Once back on the road we set off for Los Hijanos and crossed the rickety old bridge there and followed the track that climbed up to Comares, with spectacular views of the countryside and of the northern side of the mountain-top village itself.

We took the main road then to descend down the southern side of Comares, heading east towards Benamargosa. The rugged scenery along this route was as spectacular as ever, despite the gloomy weather. As usual we turned onto the rugged track that winds very steeply down from the road and completed the last part of the journey in the river bed. There wasn’t too much water in the river so this stretch of the journey presented no issues. The bar was particularly busy so there was quite a long wait for our sandwiches but they were all the more enjoyable when they did finally arrive. The return trip, along normal roads, was far less adventurous but it had been a long and quite arduous trek and this suited us all just fine. A slight technical problem meant that Ted’s quad was stuck in 4 wheel drive for the majority of this trip.. He promptly took it to the garage the next day and that is where it remained for the rest of the month, waiting for a spare part.

On the final Wednesday of the month 4 quads met up at Trops and having decided to go to Canillas de Albaida for lunch, we planned a route accordingly. This took us up along the Arroyo de Mineral to the radio masts, where we stopped for a short while to admire the wonderful views. From there we went over the ridge and initially joined the same track that we took to Arenas earlier in the month but turned left at the crossroads, to take us to the wooden house, and then right onto the Camino de Muñana. The river Rubite, which we cross twice along this route, was considerably wider and deeper than we normally see it but it did not present any problems. Neither did the higher reaches of this track, where we have encountered problems in the past following heavy rain. On this beautiful warm and sunny day we were able to take in the fabulous views of La Maroma and the Sierra de Tejeda as we traversed the ridge approaching our destination. The menu del dia was most enjoyable and excellent value for money. From Canillas de Albaida we took tracks to Salares, followed the main road for a few kms then took the Valverde track to take us back home.

Stop Press.

We have just returned from an amazing reccie of a new route plotted by Mike G. More about this next month.

Are you interested in joining our friendly group? It’s a really fun way to explore and appreciate the area. You’ll find more information and contact details on the El Valle web page at http://www.el-valle-asociacion.com/the-quaddies/.

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Asociacion el valle del embalse Committee 2016/2017

David Evans Tel: 622690581

Chair : Tel: Carol Caldwell 635291532

Treasurer: Chris Wishart Tel: 609952926

Almoner: Christine Goreham Tel: 635361233

Newsletter Editor Sue Jones Tel: 680407894

Head of Social Jane Harris Tel: 633615154

MEMBERS

Elaine Edwards Tel: 647076177

Barbara Jenkinson Tel: 616264067

Pauline Ward Tel: 665886471

Dorothy Girvan Tel: 676320615

Peter Girvan Tel: 676320615

INFORMATION NEWSLETTER EDITOR newslettereditor2012@gmail.com WEBSITE - www.el-valle-asociacion.com A REPRESENTTIVE OF THE COMMITTEE WILL BE ON DUTY EVERY FRIDAY BETWEEN 11:30 AND 12:30 AT MESON SARA