Gibraltar Insight™ December 2018

DECEMBER 2018

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GIBRALTAR INSIGHT THE ROCK’S LONGEST RUNNING MAGAZINE

Jingle Bells The end of every year is always a cause for reflection and also to look forward to what lies ahead come January. For everyone in Gibraltar it’s been another 12 months of anticipation of what lies ahead as we leave the EU with the UK. And yet, the spirit of National Day once again showed how together Gibraltarians are. Fiercely loyal to one another and our Rock. In many ways, our Rock *is* our rock... a daily reminder of community, steadfastness and loyalty.

For Insight, our magazine has continued its evolution and experienced a redesign. This couldn’t have been made possible without such a wonderful and tight team: Jean, Rose & Billy - thank you. The feedback has been heartening, and testament to all the work everyone put in to make it a success. Sincere thanks also to Jo Ward, Jackie Anderson, Richard Cartwright, Ben Lewis, Charles Bosano, Joe Adamberry, Elena Scialtiel and Liam Beglan.

And thanks - of course - to each and every one of our advertisers, too.

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During this Festive Period, I hope everyone manages to take some time out and spend it with family and friends, wherever that may be. And here’s to a prosperous 2019.

Do dheagh shlainte Ross

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D E CE M B E R ISSUE 31

Contents

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28

Business Insight

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Features

12 BUSINESS NEWS

17 2019 – THE YEAR AHEAD

14 BREXIT – EVEN A WEEKEND CAN BE A LONG TIME IN POLITICS

19 LITERARY LEGENDS & STORYTELLING SUPERSTARS

Sports Insight

25 MARKS & SPENCER – CELEBRATING 50 YEARS IN GIBRALTAR 34 INSPIRATIONAL GIBRALTARIANS – GABRIEL MORENO 38 JO WARD CHATS TO SHEILA HANCOCK

28 SPORTS REVIEW OF THE YEAR

40 LUXURY CRUISES WITH CUNARD AND MH BLAND

30 KING GEORGE SAVED BY CHRISTMAS

42 THERE’S ROYALTY ON THE WAY

31 GOLF NEWS

48 ELIOTT HOWE CAPTURES GIBRALTAR

Culture Insight 61 CLAPTON’S BLUESY CHRISTMAS ALBUM

History Insight 44 THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

52 BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED 66 10 OF THE BEST GADGETS THIS CHRISTMAS 70 ACT LOCAL 73 GAME OF THRONES

Regular Features

56 HECTOR’S CHRISTMAS

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

62 WHEN LOCAL BANDS ‘POPPED’ ON BOARD, AS WELL AS ON ‘TERRA FIRMA’

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HOROSCOPES

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ON THE SPOT: JOE ADAMBERY

Gibraltar Insight Magazine July 2018. Editor: R Ford. Printed & published by GBZ Media Limited, Suite 1, 77 Main Street, Gibraltar GX11 1AA. +350 200 40913. hello@ gibraltarinsight.com Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. The names Gibraltar Insight, Bermuda Insight & GBZ Media are marks of GBZ Media Limited. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Gibraltar Insight places great importance on the accuracy of the information contained within this publication, but cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Views expressed by contributors and correspondents do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. Gibraltar Insight or GBZ Media Limited are not responsible for any claims made, or material used in advertisements. Deposito Legal CA-955/07

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HEALTH & WELLBEING INSIGHT

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MUM ON THE ROCK

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WEDDING INSIGHT

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THE CELLAR CROSSWORD

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

ROCK-SOLID SUPPORT FROM UK ARMED FORCES MINISTER Armed Forces Minister and Westminster MP for Milton Keynes North, Mark Lancaster, reaffirmed the strategic importance of Gibraltar during his recent visit to attend a signing ceremony for the Armed Forces (Gibraltar) Act, onboard HMS Diamond.

to load humanitarian aid and disaster relief for Caribbean Islands affected by Hurricane Irma; as well as welcoming future flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, this year whilst on sea trials.

While onboard HMS Diamond, Mark Lancaster also met Commanding Officer, Commander Ben Keith, and his crew. The Portsmouth-based Type 45 warship and her 200 crew have been tested by fighter jets including Tornados, Typhoons and F16s, plus E3 surveillance aircraft and Voyager transporters in the skies above and around Cyprus, as well as training in anti-submarine warfare.

The Armed Forces (Gibraltar) Act marks an important milestone for both the UK and Gibraltar, plus will ensure the relationship between Service Police on The Rock and the Royal Gibraltar Police goes from strength to strength.

The Armed Forces Minister said: “Gibraltar is of vital importance to the UK Armed Forces and our allies. Whilst our relationship with the EU is changing, our commitment to European prosperity and security remains steadfast and our duty to support Gibraltar, its people and its economy is resolute.”

The Minister also took the opportunity to catch up with a number of units within British Forces Gibraltar. A visit to the Spyglass and Rockgun Battery’s was followed by a visit to the Gibraltar Defence Police Headquarters. He then met with UK Armed Forces service personnel stationed at RAF Gibraltar and got the chance to see the Airfield Fire and Rescue Service’s new fire vehicles, which have been procured through joint funding between MOD and HMGoG.

Mark Lancaster also met Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and discussed the strategic importance of Gibraltar, recently demonstrated by the support delivered to HMS Ocean when she docked

REMEMBERING THE US NAVY IN GIBRALTAR DURING WW1

History at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

The original work was written by the commander of US Naval Forces stationed at Gibraltar at that time, Vice Admiral Albert P Niblack. That typescript was discovered by Professor Hattendorf who edited it, and added an introduction.

It is perhaps fitting that in the year marking 100 years since the start of the First World War, that a book has been published chronicling and exploring an aspect of Gibraltar’s contribution and interaction with the conflict.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia helped launch the book, “Putting Cargoes Through: The US Navy at Gibraltar During the First World War 1917-1919”, at the John Mackintosh Hall in the presence of Professor John B Hattendorf, who is Professor Emeritus of Maritime

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Dr Garcia said that the timing of the launch could not have been more relevant.

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COMMUNITY INSIGHT

End of an era Much-loved Europa Thrift Shop has made sure its legacy is remembered by distributing its final monies to five worthwhile charities. It marks the end of an era that started over 30 years ago. Originally on the RAF base at Gibraltar’s North Front, it moved location several times, before settling in the South District. There, it evolved into a very special and much loved part of both the military and local communities’ lives. With the imminent move of the Forces families from Europa to Four Corners, it closed in July 2018.

Selling a whole range of second hand goods including clothing, shoes, toys, household goods, handbags and books, it was a place for people to easily recycle their unwanted items, make a little pocket money and hopefully bag a bargain at the same time!

Generations of the same families shopped there over time and often reminisced about bringing not only their children into the shop but also many years later their grandchildren too. This lifelong support from the local people married beautifully with the many new faces that arrived through the constant cycle of military family life, continuously fostering that purely Gibraltarian spirit of community along the way.

The Thrift Shop was run solely by a small team of volunteers, mostly made up of military spouses from both the Europa and Four Corners estates. Its longevity and success was testament to all of those who volunteered over the years and gave up their own time to keep the Thrift Shop doors open. It also functioned as The Rock’s tea-driven “social network” - providing

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From the Rock to the City

company and a friendly ear to anyone who passed through its doors.

With its great success, the Thrift Shop was able to make regular donations from the charity sales it made. Thanks to the support and generosity of its loyal customer base, in the last 8 years alone, it had donated over £20,000 to many deserving causes.

Where possible, it also worked in conjunction with local and military charities to raise extra funds, and this year helped both the SSAFA Armed Forces Charity and Lions Club International Gibraltar. The items that did not sell were still put to good use, especially clothing and toys which were regularly donated to those that could benefit - such as the Woman’s Refuge in Gibraltar plus several orphanages in Tangier.

It is fitting therefore that in its final year, the Thrift Shop was most lucrative in terms of charity monies raised. A final amount of £4500 has been divided between five very deserving charities: Red Cross Gibraltar, Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park, Childline Gibraltar, Gibraltar Alzheimers and Dementia Society and the RAF 100 Appeal, all of which were overwhelmed by the amount donated. This is an amazing legacy for the Thrift Shop to leave and whilst edged with sadness because of its closure, it closes out on a high note.

EUROPA THRIFT SHOP, WE SALUTE YOU.

DECEMBER 2018

Local artists Paul Cosquieri and Karl Ullger exhibited their works in the City of London. The exhibition featured the works of four artists. Titled ‘From the Rock to the City’ it brought together two of Gibraltar’s Fine Arts Association members together with Phillipa Beale and Les Williams from the Lloyd’s Art Group.

The exhibition at the offices of firm EC3 Legal, was officially opened by the Minister of Culture, Steven Linares. He commented,

“it is a great honour to see locals exhibiting in the UK. Gibraltar has loads to offer in talent and it’s important that we export our work and art outside the country. We will continue to work hard to ensure we export our art abroad.”

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BUSINESS INSIGHT

ROCK BLOCK

Local firm Hassans has advised on the first regulated Gibraltar Experienced Investor Crypto Fund. RockCyph3r Fund PCC Limited is the Rock’s first Experienced Investor Fund (EIF), whose aim is a multi-strategy focus on cryptocurrencies. The creation of the fund was led by Hassans’ Partner and FinTech specialist, Aaron Payas.

It comes swiftly after the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) approved it as an authorised EIF, and the launch of the world’s first Code of Conduct for Crypto Funds by the Gibraltar Funds & Investments Association (GFIA), of which Hassans is a founding member.

Reflecting on this milestone for both Gibraltar as a FinTech destination, and

Hassans as an advising partner, Payas commented: “The team at Hassans has worked exceptionally hard to create a structure that is robust whilst retaining the flexibility to allow the fund manager to implement the investment strategies effectively. Crypto funds come with their own specific issues including problems with safekeeping, security, transmission

and valuation of the crypto assets. We have successfully created policies to mitigate all these risks taking into account the expectations of the GFSC and the issues highlighted in GFIA’s Code of Conduct for Crypto Funds.”

It’s expected to be followed by more Crypto EIFs, as Gibraltar gains traction as one of the premier destinations for this new, specialised industry.

NATWEST INTERNATIONAL’S LINE WALL ROAD BRANCH TRANSFORMED In its 30th year of being in Gibraltar, it seemed only fitting that the then Chief Minister, The Hon Sir Joe Bossano MP, re-opened NatWest’s Line Wall Road branch after a £1.1m transformation.

He was accompanied by James Levy QC CBE - one of the bank’s first customers when it first opened on The Rock.

In its 30th year of being in Gibraltar, it seemed only fitting that the then Chief Minister, The Hon Sir Joe Bossano MP, re-opened NatWest’s Line Wall Road branch after a £1.1m transformation.

He was accompanied by James Levy QC CBE - one of the bank’s first customers when it first opened on The Rock.

The ethos behind the new design reflects the numerous contemporary ways in which customers now do their banking. This blend of old and new means both members of staff are available, plus self-service can be achieved with ease - be it using an iPad station for online tasks or state-of-the-art cash machines for the more routine. Both personal and business customers have access to quick deposit points, plus there’s a coin-in machine to transform pennies into pounds.

Alan Weir, Head of Retail Banking, said the objective had been to cut down waiting times and queues, and also to create a more modern atmosphere for the branch. He added: “We’re delighted to say that we now offer customers a wider range of ways to bank with us. This gives them quicker and more efficient ways to do their everyday transactions when they visit our branch whilst continuing to offer the opportunity to sit down with our Customer Service Officers to have more detailed discussions about their financial needs and objectives.”

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BUSINESS INSIGHT

EVEN JUST A WEEKEND CAN BE A LONG TIME IN POLITICS On the eve of UK Prime Minister heading to Brussels to sign off on the initial stage of Brexit with the EU27, 20 months of work was in danger of being forfeited by Spain, once again, bringing up the issue of Gibraltar. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, facing regional elections in Andalucia, decided to use this moment to speak in a more aggressive tone than has been apparent of late, to talk of how Spain would like to exert more influence over The Rock.

It was explained by commentators and “off-the-record” EU-sources as a side effect of EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier creating what he termed “a tunnel”. To get the initial withdrawal agreement over the line, the EU interest would have primacy over those of individual EU27 states. For example, the Netherlands, Denmark and France were also making political and media noise regarding the common fisheries policy and how that would apply to UK waters post-Brexit.

What was unhelpful was how large parts of the British press began to spin Spain’s grievance as a front-page deal-breaker. Put simply, this was “fake news” as both Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and UK PM Theresa May reiterated through various outlets, the CM even making a special TV broadcast to say so. In addition, the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union, Ambassador Sir Tim Barrow, wrote to the Secretaries General of the Council and Commission of the European Union to further clarify the situation, including a timely reminder of Gibraltar’s “double-lock” on sovereignty.

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Chief Minister Picardo commented: “I am very happy to see this very specific statement by the United Kingdom Government in relation to the matters that have been raised by Spain in the last 72 hours. This communication from the UK directly counters and knocks on the head any idea that the United Kingdom might in any way have agreed any aspect of the statement from the EU27 about Gibraltar’s future status. Additionally, the letter from the UK counters any kills dead any suggestion that the UK might have accepted any part of the Spanish attempt to exclude Gibraltar from the negotiations of the future UK/EU agreements. These letters set out the position of the United Kingdom clearly and unequivocally and they will be delivered to the Spanish Government. They put on the diplomatic record the position already clearly and unequivocally set out by the Prime Minister herself in all her public statements on the subject. On behalf of the people of Gibraltar I want to thank Mrs May for her stalwart and unflinching defence of Gibraltar, our British sovereignty and our economic interests. The Withdrawal Agreement she has achieved today protects all of those interests and is the best way for the United Kingdom and Gibraltar to leave behind us 46 years of membership of the European Union in a managed and orderly fashion. It also prepares the ground for a negotiation about the future relationship between the EU and the whole of the UK family.

I look forward to those negotiations and to the work we will do with the UK in respect of trade deals to be done with the wider world, in particular the Commonwealth.”

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FEATURE

2019 THE YEAR AHEAD

GIBTALKS 2019 Saturday 2nd February 2019 Featuring playwright, actor, director, and teacher, Julian Felice John Mackintosh Hall

62ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE THREE KINGS CAVALCADE Friday 4th January 2019 Casemates Square from 7:30pm CHRISTMAS FUN FAIR ATTRACTIONS Ends Monday 14th January 2019 John Mackintosh Square

GIBRALTAR INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL 2019 Thursday 21st Saturday 23rd February 2019 The event is now in its 17th year John Mackintosh Hall

WORLD BOOK DAY 2019 Thursday 7th March 2019 Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world John Mackintosh Hall from 10am

YOUNG ART COMPETITION 2019 Tuesday 26th February Friday 8th March 2019 The annual art Competition for young, local artists John Mackintosh Hall from 9am

DRAMA FESTIVAL 2019 Monday 18th MarchSaturday 23rd March 2019 Open to any drama group is of a competitive nature, with adjudication. Featuring a main prize with a trophy of £1,000 for Best Play. Additional awards include: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director Ince’s Hall Theatre from 8pm

MISS GIBRALTAR 2019 Saturday 1st June The winner gets to represent Gibraltar at Miss World ... before a television audience of over one billion!

Details TBC

MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS Wednesday 1st May 2019 Casemates Square from 10am SPRING ZARZUELA 2019 Wednesday 8th May Thursday 9th May 2019 John Mackintosh Hall from 8pm NATIONAL DAY 2019 Tuesday 10th September 2019 The day commemorates Gibraltar’s famous first referendum of 1967 Casemates Square from 10am

For more information, check culture.gi/events GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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FEATURE

literary legends & STORYTELLING SUPERSTARS

Spanning four days of fascinating talks and an exciting line-up of authors, writers and celebrities, with book-signings galore, Jo Ward soaked up the sixth edition of the Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival held in November and takes a look at some of her personal highlights of this annual event which just keeps getting better.

From broadcasting veteran and true showbiz legend Nicholas Parsons CBE, still going strong at 95, to a newbie to the festival Sheila Hancock, and from Simon Weston CBE, a veteran of the British Army who is known for his charity work, to Dr. Brian Klaas who told us of the threat that Donald Trump poses to global democracy, audiences were entertained and delighted by a full programme of over sixty world class speakers talking on a diverse range of subjects. There was a discernible buzz in town, with literary festival participants walking down Main Street being warmly greeted by passers-by! “Hi, how are you?” they shouted, “welcome to Gibraltar.”

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FEATURE The initial highpoint was the Opening Dinner presented by the Oxford Cultural Collective held at the Caleta Hotel where sponsors, speakers and guests mingled over drinks before sitting down to a dinner prepared by Matt Tebbutt, the hugely popular presenter of BBC 1’s Saturday Kitchen.

Matt looked a little bit flustered as he took to the microphone during the speeches to tell us that the prep had been a bit more challenging than he had expected, with only one of the catering team speaking English. Despite the language problems, the food was absolutely delicious and the lucky people in the kitchen benefitted from a masterclass from a master chef.

Local authors were strongly represented at the festival. Mindset expert Michele Attias talked about her twenty years in personal development, coaching professionals, and told us how we could find our ‘inner self’. Her explained how her own journey started when she read Watership Down and The Hobbit as a child, two books that influenced the rest of her life. “What if I could create a book that was as good as Watership Down,” she said, and the result is ‘Look Inside: Stop Seeking Start Living’, a book on self-development based on storytelling.

Gibraltar born Fenardo Peire was in conversation with Donald Sloan about his beautifully designed part history, part recipe book ‘The Ivy Now’ that chronicles the history of London’s legendary restaurant, which turns 100 this year, peppered with anecdotes from some of its many celebrity-customers. Fernando, also known as the star of Channel’s 5 The Restaurant Inspector, related some great stories about his rise from Senior Maître d’ to Director and dished up some secrets from behind the scenes (not printable here)!

“Most of our regulars are not famous people. We just treat them all like stars,” he said, “but when celebs come in who may be hit on by other customers, you protect them.” However, if you want a table - don’t try and book one for a Saturday in the foreseeable future if you are not famous or very well-connected, and if you do manage to make a booking, don’t push your luck in arguing for a better table, or trying to take a snap of a celebrity.

“What really annoys me is when people say it’s my daughter’s 21st birthday and I’d like to have a cake and light candles and sing Happy Birthday, and we say, ‘You’re bringing her to the Ivy. Isn’t that special enough?’ he laughed.

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Clockwise from top left: Michelle Attias, Stephen Dixon, Guillem Balague, Fernando Peire, Diana Henry, Pooky Knightsmith and Christopher Lloyd.

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FEATURE

There were some new performance events this year, the most memorable in my view held in the very apt surroundings of The Convent on the opening day when actors Caroline Langrishe and Adrian Lukis transported us to the Regency era performing a series of duologues and passages from some of Jane Austen’s many books, accompanied by harpist Mary Reid and the spectacular voice of soprano Rosie Lomas. Performed over two and a half hours with a half hour refreshment break, we were amused and delighted by their ability to capture a range of Austen’s characters so perfectly, ranging from Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, not forgetting a brief recital of some of Mr. Wickham’s lines! We learnt that feminists today hail Jane Austen as an early champion of women’s rights and also that Winston Churchill commented on having Pride and Prejudice read to him when he was ill with pneumonia: ‘What calm lives they had, those people! No worries about the French Revolution, or the crashing struggle of the Napoleonic Wars.’ Interesting that Austen’s writing made no mention of the volatile and dangerous times in which she lived.

Amongst the huge range of inspiring talks was Dr. Pooky Knightsmith, a passionate ambassador for mental health awareness who has lived through her own experiences of anorexia, self-harm, anxiety and depression. She talked to a room full of secondary school students at the John Mackintosh Hall about how she became an accidental poet and explored with them how to use poetry as a tool for talking and healing. “Through poetry I found ways to explain what had felt inexplicable,” she told them.

see him present The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare and my knowledge of this subject has been vastly improved.

The ever popular ‘Just A Minute’ chaired by Nicholas Parsons together with a panel of favourites including Felix Francis, Robert Daws and newcomers to the Rock, Jan Ravens and Sheila Hancock, provided jam-packed laughs for the audience.

The Guardian’s sketch writer John Crace, who coined the satirical term ‘Maybot’, commented on Theresa May’s robotic rise and fall as featured in his book ‘I, Maybot’, a pertinent topic on Saturday 17th November when May was still in office, if not in power, although this may have changed since then. Crace told a packed room at The Garrison Library that ‘good satire speaks truth to power’.

Food for thought indeed, as was the closing dinner prepared by food writer Diana Henry with the Bistro Point team at the University of Gibraltar where Festival Director Nicky Guerrero and his happy band of organisers and volunteers from the Gibraltar Tourist Board were able to relax and mingle with speakers after all their hard work. “It is the best literary festival in the world,” said Nicholas Parsons to rapturous applause, something that was echoed by the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

The only problem with the festival is, as happens every year, that there are too many talks that coincide with the same time slot as others, so picking and choosing who to see is an increasingly difficult task. Roll on next year and another brilliant line-up of speakers.

Talking about poetry… and the fact that medical research has shown that a poem a day keeps the doctor away – Nicholas Parsons astounded the audience with his phenomenal recitals of a number of Edward Lear’s nonsense rhymes. An inspiration to all of us who find that we can’t even remember the smallest of details, let alone one of Lear’s limericks! Another festival favourite with a mine of endless information is the writer Christopher Lloyd, a keen advocate of connected learning who inspires and educates children who suddenly realise that learning can be fun. His talks attracted hordes of school kids who eagerly walked in long crocodile lines towards the John Mackintosh Hall. I was lucky enough to

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FEATURE

CELEBRATING

50 YEARS IN GIBRALTAR

It started off as an unlikely pairing in 1884. Michael Marks - a Polish Jew - met Thomas Spencer, a book-keeper from North Yorkshire, and set upon the steps to friendship and later business partnership. Marks established his Penny Bazaar and eventually invited Spencer to be his business partner.

The St Michael brand was conceived in 1927 and named in honour of Michael Marks by his son, Simon, when he became involved in the business. It lived on as the principle moniker of M&S until 2000, and featured heavily in the branding of the Gib store until it was rebranded solely as Marks and Spencer.

Today, Marks and Spencer - or Marks and Sparks as it’s sometimes affectionately called - can be found all over the world, including, of course, right here in Gibraltar.

And this year, M&S is celebrating its 50th anniversary on The Rock

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SPORTS INSIGHT 2018 DELIVERED A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST OF TOP-CLASS SPORT; THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES FROM AUSTRALIA, THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES FROM SOUTH KOREA AND, UNFORGETTABLY, THE FIFA WORLD CUP, A FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE EXTRAVAGANZA THAT ENCHANTED THE ENTIRE PLANET. SADLY, WE SAID GOODBYE TO A NUMBER OF SPORT LEGENDS, IMMORTAL IN MEMORY, INDESTRUCTIBLE IN THEIR PRIME, BUT NOW CLAIMED BY OLD FATHER TIME.

JANUARY

overwhelming Italy 46-15 the following day in Rome.

We didn’t have long to wait for the first surprise of 2018 when England’s Rob Cross won the PDC World Darts Championship on New Year’s Day, less than a year after turning professional. The 28-year-old from Pembury, Kent, easily beat the legendary Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor 7-2 at London’s Alexander Palace, after upsetting Dutch master ‘Mighty’ Michael van Gerwen 6-5 in an epic semi-final. The less prestigious BDO version was won by Middlesbrough’s Glen Durrant, when he retained the title two weeks later at the Lakeside Country Club, Frimley Green, Surrey.

The XXIII Olympic Winter Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from 8-25th February, with Norway netting most medals, amassing a total of 39. I’ve got to admit that winter sports leave me a little bit cold, but what I found heart warming was that North Korea not alone entered a team, but that these implacable enemies, North and South, agreed to field a unified women’s ice-hockey side. A welcome example of Sport trumping Politics in these troubled times.

In cricket, Australia regained the Ashes, walloping England by an innings and 123 runs in the Fifth Test at SCG, Sydney, 4-8th January, to complete an embarrassingly easy 4-0 series win.

Tennis superstar Roger Federer won the first Grand Slam of 2018 when successfully defending the Australian Open, the ultra suave Swiss heartthrob, the object of so many female fantasies, beating Croatia’s Marin Cilic in a five-set final. Roger has recently revealed that he never sleeps apart from his wife Mirka, even during tournaments, stylishly defrocking the myth beloved of trainers and managers, that abstinence from the delights of the boudoir is vital in the pursuit of sporting excellence. In the women’s event, unluckyin-love Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki took advantage of Serena Williams’s absence to gain her first slam, beating Romania’s Simona Halep in a three-set final.

Boxing saw Anthony Joshua add the WBO belt to his IBF, WBA and IBO titles, when the Watford man gained an impressive unanimous points decision over New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, in front of 78,000 spectators at the Principality Stadium Cardiff, on 31st March.

The athletics world bade farewell to Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute mile barrier, who died on 4th March, aged 88.

APRIL

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF 2018

FEBRUARY

Rugby Union’s Six Nations Championship kicked off on 3rd February, with Wales routing Scotland 34-7 in Cardiff, Ireland pipping France 15-13 in Paris, and England

In Rugby Union, the Six Nations Championship was claimed by Ireland, with the Men in Green adding the Triple Crown and Grand Slam when they beat England 24-15 at Twickenham on 17th March, St Patrick’s Day.

The Formula One motor racing season roared off with the Australian Grand Prix on 25th March, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel first past the chequered flag.

Sadly, football lost two stalwarts, much loved and respected journalist and pundit, Jimmy Armfield of England and Blackpool fame, who passed away on 22nd January, aged 82, as well as West Brom legend Cyrille Regis, who succumbed to a heart attack on 14th January, at age 59.

Super Bowl 2017/18 saw Philadelphia Eagles defeat defending champions New England Patriots 41-33 at Minneapolis, Minnesota on 4th February. The highlight for me of this seemingly interminable bore-fest was Justin Timberlake’s half-time entertainment.

on the Tuesday, was won by the 4/6 favourite Buveur D’air, ridden by Barry Geraghty, and the Gold Cup, run on the Friday, went to Native River, ridden by Richard Johnson, at odds of 5/1

MARCH FOR four glorious days in March, Tuesday 13th to Friday 16th, Cheltenham was invaded as up to 70,000 National Hunt racegoers from all over the British Isles and beyond, descended daily on the Cotswolds town to celebrate the crème de la crème of Jumps racing. The Champion Hurdle, run

THE XXI Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 4th to 15th April dominated the month, with over 4,500 athletes representing 71 nations competing. For the first time ever in a major Games tournament, there were an equal number of events for men and women. Host country Australia comfortably topped the honours table with 80 gold medals, almost double the tally of second-placed England, who won 45. Gibraltar sent a team of 22 athletes who competed in seven sports, sadly without hitting the medal table.

The 2018 Grand National, run at Aintree on Saturday 14th April, was won by the smallest horse in the race, Tiger Roll. Trained in Ireland and ridden by Davy Russell, tiny Tiger won the race and the hearts of an estimated global TV audience of 600 million, at odds of 10/1.

Death claimed two of sport’s most charismatic characters on successive days this month, with the sudden demise of football great, the elegant England and Chelsea legend Ray ‘Butch’ Wilkins who died on 4th April, aged just 61, followed a day later by the passing of darts superstar Eric ‘The Crafty Cockney’ Bristow, who left us far too early, at age 60.

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Speedway lost its greatest ever exponent with the death of New Zealand’s Ivan Mauger on 16th April, aged 78.

MAY Snooker’s 2018 World Championship witnessed the resurgence of Welshman Mark Williams as he rolled back the years to recapture the title he last held 15 years previously. At the home of snooker, the Crucible Theatre Sheffield on 7th May, 43-year-old Williams overcame Scotland’s John Higgins 18-16 in the final to win his third world title.

In Rugby Union Leinster won their fourth European Champions Cup, beating Racing 92 of France 15-12 in the final played at Bilbao, Spain on 12th May. The Premier League concluded on 13th May, with Manchester City winning their third PL title, finishing a record 19 points clear of second-placed neighbours Man United.

In Formula One, Lewis Hamilton triumphed in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on 13th May. Two weeks later, on the 27th, the Briton had to be content with a third place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix, behind Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

Spanish capital Madrid had double cause for celebration this month, with Atletico winning their third Europa League title and Real triumphing in the Champions League.

Atletico beat Marseille 3-0 in Lyon on 16th May, while Real retained the trophy, overcoming Liverpool 3-1 in the final played in Kiev ten days later on 26th May. This was the third year in a row Real Madrid have won the Champions League and their fourth of the last five years.

Horseracing’s first two classics of the Flat season, both run at Newmarket, saw Saxon Warrior, trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by his son Donnacha, win the Two Thousand Guineas at odds of 4/1 on 5th May, while the following day Billesdon Brook, ridden by Sean Levey, caused a massive shock when claiming the One Thousand Guineas at 50/1.

Ray Wilson, who played at left back in England’s World Cup winning side of 1966, sadly passed on 15th May, aged 83.

JUNE Horseracing took centre stage on the opening two days of June with the running of two more classics at Epsom – The Oaks and The Derby. On 1st June, Always Together, trained by Aidan O’Brien and again ridden by Donnacha, won the fillies classic, the Oaks, at odds of 7/1.The following day, Masar, trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, won the Derby at odds of 16/1. In winning the race, Masar netted connections a first prize of £920,000, but this amount will appear as just loose change when the triumphant beast is retired to the delights

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of the stud farm, with assignations strictly limited to only the most talented and fragrant fillies, at a mouth-watering fee of at least £100k a date.

preme Alan Gilzean of Tottenham and Scotland, passed away on 8th July, aged 79, and England and Leeds United legend, Paul Madeley who died on 23rd July, aged 73.

Played over 14-17th June, American golfer Bruce Koepka won the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, Long Island, retaining the trophy he had claimed the previous year.

AUGUST

The F1 Canadian Grand Prix was won by Sebastian Vettel in Montreal on 10th June.

In what proved to be a simply magical tournament, the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia on 14th June, with 32 nations competing in the group stages, with every team intent on making Moscow for the 15th July final. England, for once unburdened by the weight of unrealistic public expectation, surprised many by reaching the semi-final, where they were put to the sword by Croatia. In the other semi-final France narrowly overcame neighbours Belgium, so all was set for a Les Bleus versus Croatia final.

JULY Dutchman Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix on the opening day of the month. Seven days later on the 8th, Sebastian Vettel wins the British GP and Lewis Hamilton’s drivers championship defence looked in jeopardy. However, lionhearted Lewis roared back into the lead with victories in the German GP on the 22nd and a week later in the Hungarian version on the 29th, establishing a lead the Briton would not relinquish, as he comfortably retained the championship.

The legendary Tour de France, cycling’s iconic event that features large in the dreams of every bicycle-owning schoolboy the world over, sped off on the first leg of the 3,351 m three-week endurance marathon on 7th July, and when the race concluded on Sunday 29th on the Champs Elysees in Paris, the proud wearer of the Yellow Jersey was Welshman Geraint Thomas of Team Sky. This victory was the sixth by a Briton in the previous seven Tours de France, following the four triumphs of Chris Froome and the 2012 success of Sir Bradley Wiggins.

The FIFA 2018 World Cup was won

by France who beat Croatia 4-2 in the high-scoring and entertaining final played in Moscow on 15th July, a fitting climax to what had proved to be an absolutely outstanding tournament. In the third-place play-off Belgium beat England 2-0.

Two of football’s greats, goal-poacher su-

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Still breathless after Moscow 2018, the new football season burst back into life – the Premier League, the world’s most watched and lucrative tournament, kicked off on the weekend of 10-12th August.

American Bruce Koepka notched his second golf major of the year when he won the USPGA Championship, played at Bellerive Country Club, Missouri over 9-12th August.

The UEFA Super Cup 2018 was an all Madrid affair, with Atletico beating city neighbours Real 4-2 after extra time, in Tallinn, Estonia on 15th August.

The US Open Tennis Championship, played in New York over 27th August to 9th September, saw Novak Djokovic continue his resurgence by winning his third title, defeating Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets in the final.

In the women’s event, Naomi Osaka became a national heroine in Japan after winning her country’s first Grand Slam singles event, causing a massive upset when beating Serena Williams in the final.

SEPTEMBER September saw the birth of UEFA Nations League, a new tournament designed to replace meaningless friendlies with competitive fixtures, involving promotion and relegation among the 55 member nations.

In the top league, England continued their World Cup progress by topping a tough group containing Spain and Croatia, qualifying for the knockout semi-finals scheduled to be played in Portugal next June.

The other three qualifiers for the semis are The Netherlands, who knocked out world champions France and Germany, Switzerland who also caused something of a surprise by putting the brakes on Belgium’s qualification and Portugal, whose chances of outright victory will be enhanced by having home advantage for the finals.

Anthony Joshua added to his unbeaten CV with an emphatic 7th round KO of Russian Alexander Povetkin, at Wembley Stadium on 22nd September.

Golf provided the highlight of the month, when Team Europe spanked the Yanks 17.5 to 10.5 points in Paris to regain the Ryder Cup. Such was the measure of the European superiority, I must confess to enjoying a bit of a buzz witnessing

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SPORTS INSIGHT Uncle Sam’s boys squabble and fight amongst themselves, naughty yes, but understandable when recalling the arrogant, boorish behaviour of some American players and supporters in previous tournaments.

The St Leger, horseracing’s oldest and final classic of the season, run at Doncaster on 15th September, was won by Kew Gardens, trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden

by Ryan Moore, at odds of 5/2.

Kevin Beattie, of the ‘Tractor Boys’ of Ipswich and England international, died suddenly on 16th September, aged 64.

OCTOBER Enable, the odds-on favourite, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, won Europe’s richest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the second year in a row, at Longchamp, Paris. This was the first occasion the Arc has been won twice by a horse trained in Britain.

NOVEMBER The Melbourne Cup, ‘The Race That Stops a Nation’, was won by the British-trained Cross Counter, netting connections the first prize of four million Aussie dollars. The first three horses home were all trained in Britain. In recent years, Australia’s racing authorities have been actively encouraging British and Irish trainers to send runners for their great race, but after this year’s clean sweep by the Brits, following last year’s 1-2-3 for the Irish, local trainers have been a bit miffed that perhaps the invaders have been a tad too successful.

hope of European success in pursuit of the Webb Ellis Trophy in Japan next year.

DECEMBER At the time of writing, I will be watching with interest the result of the muchhyped heavyweight clash between unbeaten pair, American Deontay Wilder and Britain’s troubled Tyson Fury, in Los Angeles on 1st December, the winner of which will put themselves first in line for what would be a mega collision with Anthony Joshua next year.

The Autumn Internationals saw the All Blacks travel to test themselves against Europe’s best, with next year’s World Cup very much in mind. The Kiwis were fortunate to beat England at Twickenham, the English having what would have been a match-winning try harshly ruled out by the TMO. A week later in Dublin, Ireland comfortably overcame the southern hemisphere giants, a result that gives

KING GEORGE SAVED MY CHRISTMAS BOXING DAY dawns at last – it’s time for The Great Escape! I refer not to the epic Steve McQueen film of that name, beloved of festive TV schedulers, but rather my escape from dark days of involuntary incarceration, cooped up in claustrophobic proximity to long lost and scarcely remembered relatives, a brandy-fuelled bonhomie, presided over by a disapproving and sometime menacing mother-in-law - a domestic hell from which escape was paramount, and then.... salvation!

- in my desperate hours King George gallops to the rescue.

The King George on Boxing Day has always been at the top of my list of favourite races - it’s been such a privilege to witness the wonderful array of equine superstars this iconic race has produced

over the years. Who could forget Desert Orchid strutting his stuff at his favourite venue when winning the race four times, the magnificent grey almost bursting out of his skin, such was his enthusiasm each time he returned to defend his title.

Beautiful, wonderful, tear-jerking memories.

Memories of my betting on the race are also tear-inducing but, alas, for entirely different reasons, as the result of the King George of 1994 still stresses my slumber, almost a quarter of a century later. For weeks I had been placing bets at various prices on Barton Bank, the previous year’s winner – a fiver here, ten quid there, a score elsewhere – it all added up, and when I did the sums on Xmas night, I was surprised to see that when Barton Bank won – as surely the beast would – I would be collecting the princely sum of £975. Wow! In keeping with the racing theme, it was off to the Black Horse in Ilford, East London, to watch the race, betting slips neatly audited and pocketed, having been successfully hidden for weeks from the prying eyes of ‘Er Indoors’. The race was going like a dream, Barton Bank had jumped 17 of the 18 fences, and as he approached the final obstacle, he

was 15 lengths clear of his nearest pursuer and going further ahead, and then it happened.....! Barton hit the fence hard and Adrian Maguire, the jockey, was catapulted out of the saddle. The picture froze, it felt like my stomach had fallen to my knees, and from somewhere I heard an anguished wail. I turned to see who was the wretched soul in such agony, only to discover that everyone in the pub was staring at me - the source of the heart-rending, unearthly howl. Reason gone, I stared at the TV screen desperately hoping the replay would show it had all been a terrible mistake, but Maguire was still torpedoed to the turf and my pile of betting slips were worthless.

The jockey was crying and I felt like doing the same.

There is a similar scenario in this year’s renewal on Boxing Day – the engagingly named MIGHT BITE won the 2017 King George and, having apparently learnt nothing from the nightmare of 1994, I’m lumbering the beast with my 20 quid to be first past the post once again.

Moral of the story - Be nice to the mother-in-law this Christmas, don’t upset her – she might bite!

Good luck whatever you back

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GOLF

NEWS

THE FAMOUS GROUSE TROPHY The 2018-19 Med Golf season moved on to the second event at Almena on Sunday 7th October 2018. The Famous Grouse Trophy was played on the Los Alcornoques and Los Lagos courses, two of the three sets of nine holes designed by Dave Thomas at Almenara and opened in 1998,

Broderick with a combined score of 71 points. Sam went on to become the Category 2 winner with 35 points.

The best gross score of 83 was posted

by Matthew Bruce-Smith who was also the Category 1 runner up with a score of 29 points. Matthew had the best gross score on the Par 3 holes of one over par.

After a delicious breakfast of egg and bacon wrap with coffee, 47 players a set out at 9 a.m. on a warm morning with virtually no wind, a rare treat for October and ideal conditions for golf. The course was in good condition and set up to create a real challenge with some “interesting” pin positions that, not only put a premium on approach shots to the greens, but also demanded good putting skills to find the hole.

Nearest the pin winners were: Mike Cowburn, Tim Mitchell, Keith Johnson and Sam Broderick. Matthew Charlesworth was nearest the pin in 2 on a par 4 and Steve Stonefield was winner of nearest the pin in 3 on a par 5.

The early prizes were presented by Med Golf’s Camille Benezrah and the Category prizes were presented by Carsten Hjort-Hensen of Jyske Bank.

Matthew Heath, a golf professional working in the local area set up a “Pro-Challenge” on Hole 5 on Los Alcornoques. Every player had a chance of a prize by hitting the ball nearer to the pin than his ball.

Paul Nash had the longest drive and the best senior was Andrew Licudi with a score of 33 points.

The champion of the day, winner of the Famous Grouse Trophy and a round of golf for two on the San Roque Club Old Course, courtesy of Jyske Bank, was Alex Ashmore with 36 Stableford points in just his second event with Med Golf. Alex also won the best team prize with his playing partner Sam

Category 1 (handicaps 0 to 12): The runner up with a score of 29 points was Matthew Bruce-Smith and the winner with 30 points was Mike Cowburn.

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Category 3 (handicap 23 and above): Lee Scares took the runner up prize with 30 points and the winner with 35 points was Nicholas Farr.

Our handicap category prizes were won as follows:

Category 2 (handicaps 13 to 22): Alistair Knight was runner up with 35 points the winner on handicap also with 35 points was Sam Broderick.

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Guests are made very welcome at all events and are encouraged to join us and enjoy a great day out. While they are not eligible to win the trophy or category prizes, they can win the many mini-competition prizes and even a best guest prize if warranted by numbers, and of course the scorecard draw at the end of the prize presentation.

INVITATION Our next event is the Hunter Properties Trophy tournament at Estepona on Sunday 11th November 2018. Why not get your name down now to play in the event?

Details can be found on our website: medgolfmembers.com

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CASINO ADMIRAL GALA NIGHT

Casino Admiral held a fabulous Gala Night Thursday 8th November at The Sunborn Gibraltar yacht hotel. Entertainment was provided by the talented magician Jamie Zammitt as well as a wonderful modern jazz trio. Photos by JK.

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Gabriel

© Claudia Quintana

FEATURE FEATURE

WORDS BY JOE ADAMBERY 34

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Moreno

INSPIRATIONAL GIBRALTARIANS

DANCING ON WORDS THAT LINGER

Sometimes in the arts you discover someone because they come recommended and, before you know it, something resonates with you and you want to know more about the person and their work which has already struck a chord with you. If you meet early on, perhaps you can claim their friendship and better understand the artist.

I was fortunate to come across Gabriel Moreno when 3 years ago I was asked to review his first CD album ‘Love and Decadence.’ I have since seen him perform music and poetry at ‘Calentita Night,’ later on I saw him perform at GMF 2015, then followed a couple of intimate recitals here. I always read his poems on Facebook and comment on his considerable skills and imagery. We struck a virtual friendship through light hearted poetic banter and I dipped into his books and music, reading and writing reviews.

I was further hooked when last year he released a second CD Album ‘Farewell Belief’ which featured an excellent collection of poetry songs with a band called ‘The Quivering Poets’ whom I saw here with Gabriel fronting them when promoting the album. His music performances/recitals have always left a mark and his written work which now encompasses 10 books have consecrated him as a bilingual published poet. He is a force and is forging a career performing in the London poetry circuit, writing, embracing fatherhood and honing his art. He holds a Doctorate in Hispanic studies and is in the process of embarking on a second Doctorate.

“In 1995 my romance with Latin America started. I was doing Hispanic studies in Hull and I grabbed the opportunity to go to Chile on a student exchange. I had already started to write songs in English but I wanted to enrich my bilingual skills as I was already drawn to Lorca and beyond. I didn’t really fall in love with poetry until I went to Chile and realised that their poets could describe reality better than anyone who appealed to me at the time. My first window into descriptive poetry opened when I saw the beauty and vastness of the Atacama Desert and I realised that I had no words within myself to describe what I was seeing. I started to mimic the poetry using Neruda, Mistral, Parra and others as models. All my first attempts at poetry were based on nature, like the mountains of Cuzco where I tried to portray a vision of what I saw as a more profound conversation.”

Barcelona 2001 and Gabriel realises that he needs to write more and he embarked on a doctorate in Hispanic literature.

He found other poets with similar sensibilities and for the first time shared his poetry. A few years later (2007) good fortune favoured him when he scribbled a poem for a lady in a bar who, as it turned out, was in publishing. Another chance encounter with her and a publisher at a Tango concert resulted in a book deal which would see him publish a book per year for the next five years. An opening existed for an ‘Anglophile’ poet who was writing English meters into Spanish Poetry. Naturally his circle of friends and poets were jealous of him as he had ‘not yet paid his dues’ nor seen any publisher rejections and was now in print. From a chance meeting to print and bookshelves in three months, fortune favours the brave no doubt.

“For five years I was teaching English in Barcelona and writing poetry in Spanish, an interesting dichotomy in my brain but that’s who we are as Llanitos. In 2011 I moved to London where I started to write poetry in English. I first published a pamphlet called ‘Nights in Mesogeios’ which was very nicely reviewed by Owen Vince, followed by a book called ‘The

Hollow Tortoise’ and later on another called ‘The Moon and the Sparrow.’ What brings me here now is the local launch of my latest book ‘The Passer-By’ which is bilingual and also called ‘El Transeunte’.”

“There have already been two launches in London and happily the first edition of ‘El Transeunte/ The Passer By has sold out so I am fortunate for that, being the first faithful transference of my identity, it has been translated by an expert team. I absorbed myself into creating the characters and writing them up in English but I could not accurately translate my own poems into the meters of another language and hope for them to work”.

“Every language has its own vision of reality and my vision in English is not the same as in Spanish. Poetry is more than a language, it’s the essence of a culture and I was lucky to be able to assemble a team which included novelist Maria Hernandez and three established poets Enrique Zattara, Pablo Yupton (his guitarist in The Quivering Poets) and Manuel Perez Subirana. I am very happy with their contribution.”

My conversation turned to his excellent band, all accomplished poets and artists, as I wondered how he managed to keep his work as a front man and avoid the inevitable clash of egos. “The first eighteen months in ‘The Quivering Poets’ was a magical experience and flowed spotlessly but then egos take over, however I’m so proud of all of us because we managed to work through our problems as mature and intelligent sentient beings and we all know our place in the band as we each have our own projects”.

“The beautiful thing about ‘The Quivering Poets’ is that it’s a fluid project for all of us and in my view, my own trajectory has been growing with them and the fact that I can now make a living doing this and not have to work as a teacher means that I can work exclusively in the arts. I believe we all have a mission to bring emotions, to bring solidarity, to bring another form of expressing music and poetry and not simply an excursion into validation as artists. Poetry brings redemption to people who have lost hope and the more people we can reach, the better, and that is why we sell books and get our music and poetry out there”.

“I sell more books than poets who are better known because I sell them at our concerts. More people go to concerts than poetry readings in London and consequently the first edition of ‘The Passer-By’ has sold out as we did two launches there. We are not talking huge numbers but I thought that the first run would be sold by January and

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DECEMBER 2018

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INSPIRATIONAL GIBRALTARIANS here we are looking at a second run now.” I ask him about his ‘soldier poems’ which I found reminded me of WW1 poetry so relevant in this 100th anniversary year. “Yes they were inspired

by Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon and other war poets.

Obviously I have never been to a war but I tried to think of war as a metaphor for the lives we are living, and I tried to bring in loyalty and friendship and also the proximity of death. I was grieving for my father at the time and coming to terms with the end of the flesh. Those soldier conversations took me longer to write”.

the biggest pitfall is falling into delusion. The beauty of art is its uncertainty and then he quoted Dylan who said ‘outside of the stage you’re just another beast and on stage you are a God.’ “I’m proud that we as The Quivering Poets have done things our way because we know that adulation alone does not pay the rent, we need people to buy our CD and our books to enable us to eat and belong to the poetry circle”.

“I was putting an imposition on myself, so I now dedicate only one day per week for that (Wednesdays) and I sometimes have to force myself to produce. I always try to become the best version of myself for Angelo and I find that a lot of my poems and letters are directed to the future person that I hope he becomes.”

I give him a surfer scenario and paint the picture of him on the shore looking out for the big wave which may never come on that day, or maybe he misses it altogether when it does. How does he see his ride, has the big wave come for him? He warms to that instantly.”When I did the book launch in Surbiton very few people came, but it was a truly magical evening compared to London where there were lots more people. I got home after the gig and there was this surge of satisfaction, those are the waves, with only 25 people attending and two coming up to you afterwards. One saying that after an emotional split-up their week suddenly got better after they saw you, or another saying that they had a disabled child and needed fresh hope and ‘you took us to a different place’. If I can transmit what I got from the poets who inspired me then I’m surfing my wave.”

That is the magic of poetry. It’s an inspirational language, a conversation with the heart that engages other hearts. In the hands of Gabriel Moreno, our inspirational poet, that dialogue is supremely evident in his performances which mix the poetic fantasy, the intimacy of his thoughts, with music that you may think is especially for you – it is, and you are drawn into the notion that you are in the presence of someone artistic and special. My good friend David Bentata said at Gabriel’s recent book launch “poetry recitals can be black and white and the guitar always makes them technicolour”. The magic of a guitar should never be underestimated I always say.

We move on to what inspires Gabriel but I didn’t want him to dwell on it and be contrived in reply. He’s quick off the mark.”I think we’re all inspired by a sense of ourselves when we were younger and needed to prove something, in my case to my dad who’s not here, I always wanted to show him that there was another way. That is my engine, when I imagine I would have made my dad proud and indeed make the people I love proud too. Obviously the heroes would be Lorca and Cohen and Dylan, for me they are part of the same being, Cohen was so inspired

by Lorca. Dylan has curated his character so well that it’s impossible to feel as close to him as the other two.”

“I’m fortunate that I learnt from two cultures and I started to write poetry in Spanish first. Now at forty one I couldn’t have done it, but I have struggled to reclaim back my English meter and now that I have found my voice I want to share it in my first language too. Why would we deny the language of our grandparents? Our uniqueness is our dual culture and we should embrace it”.

© Norbert van Toth

Life as a troubadour/poet does not translate to an easy family life and I remind Gabriel of the challenges that could stifle his creativity as reality bites in the struggle to pay rent and being a good father while not devoting as much time as he would like to writing. “Before Angelo was born last year I thought my career would soon be over, but actually the contrary has happened. He has given me a new strength. I remember when Bex got pregnant I went out and worked extra hard and made more money than ever in my life. I was giving classes, concerts and hosting poetry events while still trying to save three days a week for reading and writing, but it didn’t work”.

“I’m so honoured to belong to this underground scene now. If it becomes mainstream maybe commerciality will kill it. Isn’t the troubadour like the bard who would learn his craft and go from village to village? Isn’t that the origin of performance poetry?

Poets can be social metronomes, the beating heart of society putting into words what is wrong and also what is beautiful, I think that is coming back”.

“I curate poetry nights in London at The Poetry Brothel and allow between three and five minutes for each poet, but in ‘The Quivering Poets’ we are a musical performance band and rarely do spoken poems. We are going into recording in a few weeks for our third album and that will bring touring to promote the CD and sell it at venues.”

“Poetry is not for acclaim, nor for validation or ego. It’s a beautiful way to conceive reality for you and for others and to perhaps find a new way of expressing things. It cannot really be taught because it’s about defining your essence in the world.

You can learn techniques but it has to be your dream. If I can inspire someone it would be to define yourself as you see things through your art and not as John Lennon or Kurt Cobain or, as they tell you, the American dream should be. It will then be your dream and your journey and that is beautiful isn’t it?”

I commend this man to you as an inspirational Gibraltarian because he transmits his beautiful essence in the written word, in the troubadour songs and also infecting a growing number of discerning fans into the realm of his honest fantasies, suspending belief by the power of his own inspiration. That too is beautiful isn’t it? You have to check him out while he’s on the crest of the wave.

Chronology of published poetry Londres y el susurro de las amapolas Omicron 2007 Voices from the Blue Omicron 2007 Cartas a Miranda Omicron 2008 La Barca Enterrada Omicron 2009

I try to rein in our wonderful conversation by asking Gabriel if he measures his progress by looking back and then planning to go forward - how does he adjust his orbit, and he says that GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

DECEMBER 2018

Los Arboles Plateados Omicron 2009

Identidad y Deseo Omicron, 2010 Nights in Mesogeios Annexe, 2012 The Hollow Tortoise Orion Contemporary 2012 The Moon and The Sparrow Omicron 2015 The Passer-By Ojo de la Cultura, 2018

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FEATURE

JO WARD CHATS WITH

SHEILA

HANCOCK AFTER HER APPEARANCE AT THE GIBUNCO GIBRALTAR LITERARY FESTIVAL

Referred to as ‘West End royalty’ and ‘an undisputed national treasure’ in the introduction to An Evening with Sheila Hancock, it was a real delight to see this veteran of stage and screen in conversation with Nick Higham in what turned out to be a ‘no holds barred’ hour about her life and career.

well as going to the gym and lifting weights.” Sheila believes staying active when older is a question of mind over matter. “If you can only overcome fear, you can almost overcome anything,” she says. Sheila still keeps fit and goes to the gym. “I am on a vegan diet,” she tells us, “it’s boring, but I must do it.”

The tall, slender 85 year old actress bounced onto the stage and radiated health and vitality. Having just starred in the film Edie about a widow who rebuilds her life after the death of her controlling husband, Sheila told the audience how she had to get fit to prepare for the task of scaling a mountain in the Scottish Highlands.

“When you get to my age, the first thing you do is look at the end of a script, and usually I either die or I go senile,” she comments. “I couldn’t understand why I was being offered this part until I realised that they actually wanted me to climb the mountain and that I was one of the only actresses mad enough to do it!” she laughs.

Describing one of her worst moments in the film, she says: “I’d done a really big emotional scene and I was absolutely exhausted and they had told me that there was a path that I had to go across, and there was a sheer drop either side.” Sheila says that she whimpered a lot, until motivation came from an unexpected place. “There was a ghillie that was leading me, showing me where to put my feet, and he said, ‘I’ll go a quarter of the way across and then if you make it, I’ll give you a Jelly Baby’.” She starts to chuckle at the memory and tells the audience that

“You need to take risks,’ she insists.

“I did some intense training, working out with a trainer every other day as

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he kept her going with Jelly Babies as the incentive. Someone asks if she still liked Jelly Babies and she admits that she has some in her bag at the moment.

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FEATURE

In 1974 Sheila married the actor John Thaw with whom she shared a working-class background and a RADA education. After his death in 2002, Sheila was consumed with grief. She received an avalanche of letters from people who she said were ‘mourning Morse’.

They were not about John at all. More alarmingly, she received a proposal for a ‘warts and all’ biography to go ahead without her approval, if necessary. “I decided to write my own book, an emotional tell-all memoir of my life with John, chronicling his alcoholism and depression.”

Sheila was already the star of the TV series The Rag Trade when she met John, “a comedy that broke a lot of barriers” Nick Higham states. “We had an amazing cast of women,” Sheila agrees, “but I was classified as a ditzy blonde in those days.”

Asked about her friendship with Kenneth Williams with whom she appeared in Carry on Cleo in 1964, Sheila says that she adored him. “He was wicked and difficult and mad, but I loved him,” she tells me. “He asked me to marry him once, but I was married at the time - so he was fairly safe on that - but I was

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allowed into his flat which hardly anybody was.”

Nowadays Sheila supports young actors and comics and is involved with the comedian, Bridget Christie. “These stand-up kids are brilliant,” she states.

“There is a whole new breed doing it differently, but they are just as driven and just as original as we were, and they write the stuff themselves, whereas we would have depended on writers for our material, so I am full of admiration for the younger generation of comics.”

At some point in their career, parts dry up for actors, but not for Sheila. What is her advice for actors today? “Stick to the theatre,” she exclaims. “Theatre audiences are extremely loyal.”

Sheila is a Quaker, something that she turned to after she had breast cancer in 1987. I ask her why she became a Quaker. “I went through lots of religions in my life and in fact I went to a Catholic convent when I was young, but then I lost my faith after the death of my mother and my first husband and I just thought that religion was a waste of time,” she explains. “I became a humanist for a while, but I felt a lack of spiritual dimension in my life and somebody

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introduced me to Quakerism.” Sheila went away to a retreat for a weekend and felt so at home there that she embraced the faith. “They are pacifists and have a quiet acceptance of life, but funnily enough I haven’t been able to go to meetings for ages because I am so angry about everything – and I am feeling so un-Quakerly that I can’t cope with that.”

One of the things that Sheila is angry about at the moment is Brexit, which was evident in her passionate defence of the EU during her talk. “All the problems we have can only be solved by being united,” she says. “There have been some terrible lies told in the badly run campaign and we need to have a united front of people who believe in good, kindness and equality.”

“Being British doesn’t stop us being European, and I think that as a result of the UK and Brexit, Europe will probably collapse.”

At the end of our chat I ask Sheila if she has any regrets in life.

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Luxury Cruises with Cunard and M H Bland Experience cruising the royal way aboard the Queen Victoria, bedecked in regal black, white and red, it is one of Cunard’s trio of ocean going queens.

Jo Ward was privileged to enjoy an opportunity to take a short cruise and explore the recently refurbished and refreshed ship.

Experience cruising the royal way aboard the Queen Victoria, bedecked in regal black, white and red, it is one of Cunard’s trio of ocean going queens. Jo Ward was privileged to enjoy an opportunity to take a short cruise and explore the recently refurbished and refreshed ship.

Built in 2007, at 90,000 tons Victoria is one of the world’s bigger passenger ships. When full she has a population of 2,969, comprising around 2,000 passengers and an international crew of approximately 900 dedicated to looking after your every need.

The décor of the ship reflects Cunard’s British heritage, noticeable in the art deco interior with hints of art nouveau and Victorian influences, offering a sense of traditional elegance and grandeur befitting a bygone age including glittering chandeliers and a dramatic three-deck atrium with sweeping staircases.

But although Cunard is the epitome of the style and sophistication favoured by discerning customers who expect a high level of service in exquisite surroundings, there is also a fantastic array of entertainment that will appeal to people of all ages. Each morning, passengers on Queen Victoria receive a programme listing the daily activities ranging from their lecture programme with fascinating talks delivered by expert speakers and musical concerts to Zumba, bridge and art classes, and much more.

We had a perfect start to our voyage as we joined in the party atmosphere at the Great British Rock ‘N’ Roll Sailaway on the aft deck, waving our flags and dancing to the live music. Our stateroom was comfortable and cosy, with everything you could want from a hotel room, including a flat screen TV and tea and coffee making facilities, a recent addition in the refurbishment and one that we learnt from fellow cruisers was much appreciated.

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The showpiece of the ship is the 830-seat, three-deck Royal Court Theatre, swathed in red velvet with the distinction of being the first theatre at sea with private boxes. This is truly a grand venue in the style of London’s West End and the quality of the productions is on a par with anything you could see in cities worldwide. We watched two shows featuring the talented singers and dancers of the Royal Court Theatre Company and orchestra playing songs from Hollywood musicals whilst we sipped drinks served by waiters. During the day, usually at 2 pm, the Royal Court turns into a cinema showing the latest releases and blockbuster films, and in our case we settled down in the plush seats to view The Greatest Showman.

When it comes to dining, there is no shortage of possibilities to indulge in with a variety of different cuisines and one thing is for certain, you will never go hungry or thirsty. Passengers who have booked Cunard’s top priced Princess and Queen Grills cabins have their own exclusive dining rooms, but the majority of guests dine in the grand Britannia Restaurant and this is where we had an allocated table for the duration of the voyage. Set over two floors and linked by a sweeping staircase, the Britannia’s art deco inspired room features dark wood and a rotating 10-foot-tall illuminated world globe. Each table is allocated two waiters; ours were Edwin and Gilbert, and a wine sommelier, all providing exquisite and efficient White Star service. We asked about the ratio of staff to guests and the Maître d’ explained that five tables, seating up to twenty people, are served by a designated team.

Without doubt, one of the highlights of our voyage was a Galley Tour, a behind the scenes look with the Executive Chef at just part of the huge labyrinth of catering areas filled with gleaming stainless steel, and the spotless prep areas and plating benches.

Cunard passengers like to dress up and take every opportunity to do so, especially on Gala Night when ladies dress to impress and delight in wearing glamorous dresses, long or cocktail, and men are required to wear a dinner or tuxedo jacket with a bow tie or tie being compulsory. The recently updated dress code now states that on ‘informal’ nights, passengers must wear smart attire in most of the bars, restaurants and entertainment venues. However, there are areas where passengers who prefer to dress casually can visit.

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There are a host of other lounges and pubs, including the Golden Lion which offers traditional English pub grub, including beer battered fish and chips, pub quizzes and karaoke. The Lido, the ship’s buffet restaurant, is open nearly all day from 5 am for Continental breakfast to 2 am for lighter bites and late night snacks.

The famous quintessentially British Afternoon Tea ritual is served in the Queen’s Room Ballroom by white gloved waiters who march in and line-up before returning with pots of tea and silver platters with sandwiches, scones and cakes.

We treated ourselves to cocktails in the nautical-styled Chart Room and pre-dinner drinks in the Commodore Club, overlooking the bow of the Queen Victoria

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with its nautical décor and plush leather sofas, where we listened to live music from a saxophonist. Most evenings were rounded off by a boogie in The Yacht Club to international party band Changez or to tunes played by the resident DJ. There is far too much that is worth a mention, but the library with its spiral staircase and large selection of books has to be a must-see. The Winter Garden, with a real tree planted in the middle of the glass conservatory, is where we relaxed and took part in a music quiz and this area opens onto one of the two onboard pools.

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From the branded pillows on our bed to the folder of menus presented to us at the end of our voyage, every little detail made us feel part of an elite group of Cunard cruisers. Talking to our fellow passengers, it is clear that once you start cruising with Cunard, you can’t stop, and everyone we met seem to return time and again.

Sailing on a Cunard ship has to be at the top of everyone’s cruising list and local cruise experts MH Bland Travel Services are proud to be the only provider of Cunard cruises in Gibraltar.

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Theres royalty on the way In actual fact, they’re around the corner not far from Casemates where they’ll meet and head the fun parade up Main Street. Yes, it’ll be the eve of the Epiphany and the Three Kings Cavalcade will be entertaining the community once again!

Spirits are `up’ for the event, marking the end of the Christmas festivities as we break into another brand new year - 2019!

And judging by last year’s cavalcade success, the heightened mood is not surprising. There’ll be something in the region of 10 or 11 floats this time which will include some of the big boys once more like GJBS, the Gibraltar Electricity Authority (GEA) and other smaller entities and family groups which, as I write, will be busy putting the finishing touches to their `float ideas’. In some cases, keeping their themes secret may be a little tricky again this year as Government has allowed float building in a section of the Mid Town Coach Park.

Not having a suitable, covered place to construct floats has generally been a problem probably contributing to the lack of floats in the past. However, looking at it positively, it’s an area that offers plenty of space and is protected from the potential inclement weather. This year there will also be an extra band marching along Main Street: a group of former Royal Gibraltar Regiment bandsmen have come together to form The Gibraltar Band and Drums Association. They’ll be joining the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Band, Sea Scout Band, and GAMPA’s drum ensemble. Another innovation is a fleet of new Three Kings’ thrones and trailers built in Cordoba which will be – or already have been - transported down to the Rock. “What we need now is a permanent, dry storage area for these newly built thrones and trailers after the Cavalcade,” Eric Abudarham, Cavalcade Committee President, tells me.

“In the past, these carriages have been damaged to a great extent by having to keep them in damp areas within

the Rock.” As in other years, walking floats are also welcome and organisers have suggested they supply their own music and organise dance or choreographed routines to enhance their contribution. President Eric is quite happy with progress so far for this

year’s event, with interest to participate having been expressed very early this year via emails received at the beginning of January, and he hopes that some more firms, family groups and others will sign up for the New Year spectacle. With a little bit of effort, there’s still time to get an idea up

and running and ready for the highly anticipated social occasion. “This year, both categories – seniors and juniors – will receive £1,000 for the winning float, £500 for the second best, and £250 for the third. Grants and sponsors have been forthcoming once again and the committee is very grateful to Government, GBC and all the firms for their contributions and help which, not forgetting, includes the use of trailers and other vehicles.” The traditional supply of sweeties, Eric informs me, will be provided and delivered to the waiting crowds just ahead of the parade as has been the practice in recent times.

The standard of floats last year was a noticeable improvement on previous years’ presentations and this cavalcade won’t be any different, I’m sure. It would be great if the parade was allowed to proceed up the full length of Main Street to end at John Mackintosh Hall as in the past, as opposed to having to turn into Cathedral Square which can prove to be an awkward manoeuvre.

Just a handful of weeks to go now and once more we’ll be able to experience a great evening witnessing the first event of the year rooted in the Rock’s social calendar for the whole of the community to enjoy.

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HISTORY INSIGHT

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN THE STORY OF HMS GIBRALTAR THROUGH THE AGES

The Royal Navy records seven warships named Gibraltar; however, ten ships seem to have carried this name. The first was a 20-gun sixth-rate launched in 1711. She was rebuilt in 1727 to become a practically new ship.

A SIXTH RATE PRIOR TO 1727

On September 3rd 1742 under the command of Captain Thorpe Fawke, HMS Gibraltar was sent to Jamaica to bring Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth back to England in disgrace.

Admiral Edward Vernon was a lieutenant on HMS Barfleur under Admiral Cloudisley Shovell at the capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Velez Malaga. He transferred to HMS Britannia with Shovell, remaining in the Mediterranean, and in HMS Rye formed part of Shovell’s fleet in 1707 that was wrecked off the Scilly Isles; his ship survived.

In 1727, he was in Gibraltar for a short tour in the Mediterranean fleet. In 1739 Vernon was promoted to Vice Admiral and given a squadron of five ships in the West Indies in what came to be known as the “War of Jenkin’s Ear” against Spanish aggression towards British Traders

to join the main French fleet in Brest for the invasion. Not having any other port available, Boscawen came to Gibraltar to re-vital and water. While out on patrol in the Strait on August 17th, the Gibraltar sighted the French fleet of 15 warships off the coast of Morocco. She quickly returned to Gibraltar and Admiral Bascawen promptly put to sea with a fleet

of 29 ships.

Due to the weather, the English ships got spread out and many lost contact with each other; however, next day, eight of the fleet caught sight of the enemy and the signal made to “engage the enemy.” The Namur, Boscawen’s flagship, was severely damaged, which forced the Admiral to shift his flag to the 80-gun Newark. It is reported that as he was rowed across, a shot made a hole in the boat which he plugged with his wig. The French fleet made a run for Lagos bay in Portugal. The chase went on through the night.

Later, the Centaure, which was severely damaged during the battle, lowered her flag and was taken as a prize. On the 19th all but two of the remaining ships sought shelter in Lagos Bay. Many of the ships were in a bad shape, in fact, Admiral De La Clue’s flagship ran aground and the wounded Admiral surrendered.

in the Caribbean (sound familiar?). The task he was given verged on the impossible. It was obvious that he was the victim of political infighting. He was tasked to attack as many of the Spanish colonies as possible but it was hoped he would fail and return to London in disgrace.

He proved them wrong and returned having in triumph, having captured Puerto Bello.

He returned to the area in 1741 with a fleet of 186 sail and a military contingent of 27,000 men under Lieutenant General Wentworth. The operation was a fiasco. The superior British force was unable to overthrow the weak and incompetent Spanish garrison of 3500 men and six ships of the line, resulting in heavy losses and a defeat. Vernon and Wentworth returned to Jamaica. The two Officers were constantly at loggerheads and hence the recall to London.

Admiral John Byng was a lieutenant in 1723 at the age of 19 and then Captain of HMS Gibraltar at 23. He was executed under article 12 of the Articles of War for the loss of Minorca in 1757.

HMS Gibraltar was sold in 1748 for £340 (£17m today).

Gibraltar number two was a 20-gun sixth-rate frigate built at Beaulieu in 1756. She had a crew of 160. This same year saw the beginning of the Seven Year War, in which the French prepared to invade England.

In 1756 The Gibraltar captured a French gunship of 16 guns, the Gleneur, which was renamed the Gibraltar Prize. The following year she captured a 26-gun French privateer. Under the command of Captain William M’Cleverty, HMS Gibraltar was in Gibraltar as part of Admiral Boscawen’s fleet blockading the French fleet in Toulon. Under Admiral Jean-Francois de la Clue this fleet was anxious

THE BATTLE OF LAGOS BAY Despite the French being under the Portuguese batteries, the English ship attacked the remaining three ships, burning two and capturing the other one. One of the ships captured was the Temeraire; her namesake was the subject of a famous painting.

HMS Gibraltar was unable to catch up with the fleet but was given the task of taking the Flag Captain with the despatches to England. As was the custom, she received £500 from the King.

This action allowed the two British fleets to join, which was a major factor in the battle of Quiberon Bay, which finally put paid to French plans to invade England. Here again it was HMS Gibraltar that reported the departure of the French fleet from Brest to Admiral Hawke but she took no part in the subsequent battle. Boscawen was criticized for attacking the French fleet in a neutral port, but this did no harm to his career. Her career ended in 1773.

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The third HMS Gibraltar was the Gibraltar Prize already mentioned above. She was the French 16-gun Gleneur of 117 tons, with a crew of 50, and was a privateer, which was another name for a legal pirate. Purchased for £795 in 1757 and sold in 1761 for £135.

9th under Captain Pakenham the Gibraltar was part of a Neapolitan-British fleet which fought an action against the French fleet of Hyeres near Toulon.

In 1796 while anchored in Gibraltar a fierce gale came up. In those days the south mole was only 300 metres long and provided no shelter from the weather to ships anchored inside the bay.

The Courageux had already ended up on Pearl Rock at the entrance to the bay and was a write off. HMS Gibraltar found herself in dire straits.

She was forced to cut her anchor cable.

In 1781 an American 14-gun brig was captured. This 85-tonner with a crew of 45 was renamed HMS Gibraltar. As number four and under the command of Lieutenant Anderson she was captured by the Spanish in 1781 and renamed Salvador but was recaptured by HMS Anson in 1800.

At 9 pm she set her foresail and stay sails and Gibraltar number five was a ship captured by 9.30 pm the mainsails and main topsails were from the Spaniards. Fenix was an 80-gun also set in order to get past Cabrita Point. The THE SPANISH FENIX 80-GUN SHIP OF THE warship captured by Admiral George Rod- LINE, CAPTURED AND RENAMED GIBRALTAR main topsails split as soon as they were set and ney off Cape St Vincent. At 2184 tons, she at 10 pm the gale increased in violence, carrying was a force to be reckoned with. 174 ft long, she had been the away the fore topmast and splitting her foresail, mainsail, main flagship of Vice Admiral Juan de Langara. In this battle, Rodney topmast staysail and mizzen staysail. Having virtually nothing left was ill and spent the entire battle in his bunk. He was escorting a relief convoy for Gibraltar, where the situation was critical. The siege was in its second year and supplies were at rock bottom.

He saw that the Spanish ships were not part of a larger fleet, and by 2 pm he gave orders to pursue them. Langara made for Cadiz but Rodney cut off their retreat. The Spanish fleet consisted of 12 ships, ten were third-rate 74-gun, except Langara’s Fenix which carried 80, the rest were frigates of 34 guns. The British fleet consisted of one first-rate 100-gun, two second-rate 90-gun, 15 thirdrate 74-gun and six frigates of 32 and 24 guns. By 4 pm the first shots were fired. One of the Spanish ships blew up after receiving a broadside, another surrendered after an hour-long battle. By 6 pm it was getting dark but it was decided to continue the pursuit.

It was now dark and HMS Defence came into contact with the Fenix. HMS Prince George and Montague joined in the fight and Langara was wounded. The Fenix finally surrendered to HMS Bienfaisant, which came up late in the contest. There was however a problem; Bienfaisant had an outbreak of smallpox on board. The British captain explained the position to Langara and so as not BATTLE OF CUDDALORE to infect the Spanish crew by sending over a prize crew, it was agreed to put him and his crew on “Parole.” The British captured she ran over the Pearl Rocks. Fortunately, she was a sturdily built six ships. One of the prizes, the San Julian, was too damaged and ship and despite the grounding, took no water on. She hove to but was driven ashore. How many of the prizes reached Gibraltar is finally made it to Tangier, where she anchored with her remaining unclear as the Spanish claim that many were retaken and sailed anchor. Another account of the incident claims that the sails got to Cadiz. caught up, stopping them from setting the sails, and that after hitting the rocks, the crew were prepared to abandon ship but the When Rodney arrived in the Bay with the relief supplies, the SpanFirst Lieutenant found the rudder still free and as a wave washed ish blockading fleet retreated to Algeciras. Langara was taken to the ship off the rocks they made their way to Tangier. Which one Tangier and freed on parole with the other Spanish prisoners. The is the true story is anyone’s guess. The Gibraltar rejoined the fleet, Fenix was purchased for the Royal Navy and renamed Gibraltar. but it was decided she was too damaged and required to return to England to enter dry dock for repair. She did not sail for five weeks and was taken into docks at Plymouth on March 17th 1797 When examined in dock a large rock was found wedged into her hull. Had it fallen out during the return voyage she would probably have sunk.

ATTACK ON MARTINIQUE In April 1781 under Captain Knutchbull and flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Drake, she was part of Hood’s fleet in a fight with a French fleet off Martinique, suffering six dead and eight wounded.

In June 1783 she was again in action in the East Indies, flying the pennant of Commodore Bickerton in what became known as the Battle of Cuddalore. Unfortunately, this battle was fought after peace negotiations had commenced unbeknown to either party.

This time the toll was six killed and four wounded.

Her next recorded action was on May 5th 1794 off Ushant. The bad gunnery of the Gibraltar caused her shots to hit the Queen Charlotte. It appears that the captain missed a signal from the Flagship and ended up out of position, thereby missing most of the action. The toll was still two killed and 12 wounded. On July

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HMS GIBRALTAR, THIRD IN LINE, IN 1803 AS PART OF NELSON’S MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON

In 1801, commanded by Captain William Hancock Kelly, HMS Gibraltar was part of a squadron of nine ships that attacked the French batteries at Porto Ferrairo. In 1803, the ship’s company were near to mutiny, having been kept abroad long after the war had been concluded On March 17th 1809 under Captain Lidgbird Ball the Gibraltar was one of 60 ships commanded by Admiral Gambier that attacked the French fleet in the Basque Roads. Fireships were employed in

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the attack, one of which was commanded by Lieutenant Cookesley of the Gibraltar. She was broken up in 1836.

based in the Mediterranean. Among the ships accompanying HMS Gibraltar were the Renown and the Royal Oak.

Gibraltar number seven was a four-gun cutter known as “Fuerte de Gibraltar” and captured from the Spanish by HMS Mercury on February 4th 1805.

GRAMPION (EX GIBRALTAR) UNDER TOW

Number eight was a 101-ton screw ship launched in Davenport in 1860. This ship was converted to a training ship for Belfast and renamed Grampion in 1888.

HMS GIBRALTAR AS PART OF THE “SPECIAL SQUADRON”

In 1901, England was involved in a conflict with South Africa. The cruiser was made the flagship of Admiral Moore, who became Commander in Chief at the Cape of Good Hope. She made a Depot ship was in 1912 and sold in 1923.

HMS GIBRALTAR

It is interesting that HMS Gibraltar was armed with two 9.2 mark VI guns similar to those installed originally on the Rock. Although obsolete, she was a good sea boat and saw service in World War I as part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron. The First Sea Lord, J. Cunningham, served as a midshipman aboard Gibraltar. She was a depot ship for the cruiser squadron in the Shetland Islands from 1915.

GRAMPION (EX GIBRALTAR) UNDER TOW

It is important to note that the core of Mayoral Mace in the Greenwich City Council is made from part of the Grampion (Ex HMS Gibraltar).

The ninth was the first HMS Gibraltar without sails. Built in 1892, of 7700 tons and armed with 12 guns. An Edgar class cruiser, she was part of the “Particular Service Squadron.” This squadron was formed in January 1896 because of the threat of war with Germany.

In December 1895 the English were engaged in fighting in the Transvaal. The German emperor, Wilhelm II, declared his support for Paul Kruger, the leader of the Transvaal Republic. Jameson, a colonial statesman, used the police of Rhodesia and Bechuanaland in an attempt to generate an uprising, but failed. England became concerned about the German involvement so the “Particular Service Squadron” was renamed the “Flying Squadron” which was kept from January to November 1896, when it was disbanded when the threat of war evaporated. Half way through this period the squadron was

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The last HMS Gibraltar never made it to sea. She was planned, along with HMS Malta and New Zealand, as 45,000-ton aircraft carriers, Ordered from Vickers Armstrong in 1943, but cancelled in 1945.

ADMIRAL MOORE

Article supplied by History Society Gibraltar Email: historysocietygibraltar@hotmail.com

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FEATURE

Over the past year or so, Elliott Howe has been photographing and in many ways, showcasing Gibraltar in all its different and beautiful hues.

You can see all of these photos on instagram.com/gbzinsight and you can follow Elliott’s personal account instagram.com/ elliott.c.howe

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FEATURE

“I want some crackers And I want some candy; I think a box of chocolates Would come in handy; I don’t mind oranges, I do like nuts!

And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife That really cuts.

And, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all, Bring me a big, red India-rubber ball!”

Excerpt from King John’s Christmas by A.A. Milne

Batteries not included Walk down any main street, in any country and undoubtedly you’ll see people seemingly besotted with a small rectangular plastic, metal and glass device. It’s a behaviour that has worsened since 2007 with the introduction of various touch-screen smartphone devices. And it’s showing no signs of abating any time soon.

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On the face of it, it’s just a consequence of progress.

Phones used to be, well, just phones. And people actually used to use them to talk to one another when distance was involved. Even SMS messages weren’t the never-ending stream of notifications as they are now. It was hard to not be taken in and blown away by the convenience of having a “widescreen iPod with touch controls, revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communicator”. Emails in true rich text format, websites that actually rendered as they would on a desktop, a way to play ALL of your media (and from other places, too) ... and a phone.

This has resulted in a state which some commentators are calling “constant passive attention”. As an adult, the learning curve of enrichment on a personable and intellectual basis has already been accomplished. It’s a choice for adults to use such devices and in many cases it can be time-saving or life-enriching.

But what if we’re inadvertently causing problems for the generations growing up, who have only ever known smart devices and would have to Google what exactly a red India-rubber ball is?

This is especially pertinent for parents. Children look up to, and mimic, what they believe to be normal behaviours. Screen-time is undoubtedly a consequence of 21st Century life, but when it comes to enticing

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our children to soak up information, could the use of tablets and smartphones cause problems for their knowledge and behavioural development?

A study at Indiana University tracked the eye behaviours of 36 parents - all with one year-old children - using special cameras, and without telling the study subjects what they were looking for. It found - as you’d expect - that the longer a parent paid attention to something while playing, the child mimicked the behaviour and also continued to focus on the object, even long after the parent had stopped doing so.

It also found that when parents attempted to lead the play 100% of the time, those children showed less initiative to start and carry on with play themselves.

Plus, when both the parent and child paid attention to the toy, or object, there was a 72% increase in the child’s engagement in play. This is four times higher than children whose parents had stopped taking an interest.

So maybe it’s time to put away the smartphone and dig out the jigsaw from the toy chest or cupboard this Festive period.

Batteries are not included nor required

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INSIGHT

HECTOR’S

CHRISTMAS As soon as this one is over, he’ll be heading towards his 97th Christmas celebration and getting closer to receiving Her Majesty’s Christmas card marking the 100th anniversary of the day he was born whilst reflecting on the occasion when ‘one other’ was born... on Christmas Day! They say nostalgia can be a wonderful thing and perhaps it’s just that in your mind everything seemed to be better when you were young and what, for you, were the `good memories’ of the past. But anyone over 50, or 55 and older, truly believes that Christmas has really lost its ambience, character, atmosphere, spirit or call it what you will. “The thing is you see we didn’t get very much for Christmas because our parents didn’t have very much. We were four children plus mum and dad, wages were low and there wasn’t a lot left to spend on Christmas presents. In our family we were a little better off than many others. My father ran a furniture business and did relatively well compared to others, but we certainly weren’t rich. I remember just getting a box of toy soldiers (one on horseback and four or five others and that was it), and then for Los Reyes Magos (Feast of the Epiphany) – my mother came from Ireland where the Twelfth Night is also celebrated – I received a wind-up tin boat which we would place in our zinc bathtub and watch it go!”, 96 year old Hector Cohen tells me. But Hector immediately stresses the point that the great feeling during the Christmas period had nothing to

do with only receiving one, two or no Christmas presents at all because “we didn’t know any better”, he declares, “and we were all in the same boat!” But as he recalls, the build up to Christmas time then was really wonderful. “For example, it was not unusual for many families to keep a live turkey in their patio or somewhere else which they would feed to fatten up as much as possible in preparation for Christmas Day. My mother would send me down to a place with a large oven further down from where we lived on Lower Caste Road to have it cooked, because we didn’t have an oven then. They’d also bake my mother’s `abuelas’ (flaky cakes) and `mantecados’ (little cakes or buns sometimes made with peanut butter and other ingredients) which were popular at Christmas. They were cheap to make and every home made them. Those and other treats were not allowed to be touched until my mother said, but we always used to try and pinch one or two before Christmas Day!” I remember Christmas Eve or Noche Buena was a night of celebration preparing for the big day. We’d eat ham, which had also gone down to the oven (al horno) to be cooked.

Some families would have fish and

seafood, polvorones, roscos de vino, almond cakes and sweet Malaga wine and we all enjoyed a good family meal.” Hector lived in a block of flats which housed a few families and the custom then was to visit each neighbour and enjoy a drink, a bite to eat and a chat. Next day they would come to yours and so on. “During the Christmas period my parents would take us to the Odd Fellows Club in Victualling Office Lane and several of us always went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve where the Spanish priests would give long, boring sermons – they were very right wing and I remember that in school some of those Spanish priests and the Christian Brothers weren’t even nice at Christmas. On Christmas Day we would take some cakes to those who couldn’t afford much for Christmas.” In those days - going back to the 30s, 40s and 50s - there would’ve been many households very much on the breadline for whom buying-in for Christmas as well as getting gifts for their kids would’ve been a struggle. Later that day, Hector’s dad would take him down to the race track - where the airfield now stands – to watch the Christmas Day horse races and in later years when Hector was

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allowed to wear long trousers at age 15 or 16 he would join his friends for a drink on the top floors of the Embassy, Cafe Royal and the Universal bars which navy and army officers of the visiting ships and regiments frequented. “Downstairs hundreds of soldiers and sailors would be drinking and enjoying the dancing girls in the large main bars, so we’d keep away from that area where the Naval Patrol and Military Police were kept busy.” It was the late 30s and Hector calls to mind he earned six shillings a week as an Electrical Fitter apprentice which later went up to nine shillings, so he and his friends couldn’t spend much. “At work we had a type of canteen where a Christmas lunch was prepared for the Dockyard workers. There was a fantastic atmosphere and a great time was had by all.”

Time moved on and World War II got underway and the evacuation of women and children to the UK and other places had begun, but the joy of Christmases spent there was maintained, despite being away and missing husbands and dads. “Many of the Gibraltarian families were in hotels and buildings living together, so they’d organise a big get-togeth-

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er on Christmas Day. I was in my 20s and the only women in Gibraltar were Spanish maids and cleaners who after work would go back to Spain in the afternoon and evening, so there wasn’t much contact there!”

Clearly, Hector remembers the very many happy Christmases he’s enjoyed at home and elsewhere where the spirit of Christmas was in the air and in the streets throughout the festive period. He doesn’t feel the same about how the event is celebrated today. The atmosphere, the ambience and the mood just don’t seem to be there anymore. The younger generations have their way of enjoying the event and no doubt have a good time.

Gifts for the kids are plentiful and only the best will do, and with many items given to them at other times during the year, the anticipation of receiving a gift or gifts on that special day is perhaps not so special, but I suppose it’s a case of, `that was then and this is now’. Times have changed!

Despite his 96 young years, Hector has kept himself busy, involved and in touch with the `Meaning of Christmas.’ He’s served in several different capacities as a staunch committee

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member of the Gibraltar Branch of the Lions Club and taken part in many Christmas activities, including visiting hospitals, helping Father Christmas in his Grotto and much more. The Feast of the Epiphany keeps him entertained, as does helping out with the Three King’s Cavalcade, albeit in the recent past taking it at a slower pace.

He’s also the Treasurer of the Gibraltar Diabetes Society and oh, reading in his spare time (which he doesn’t have much of, especially during Yuletide), keeps him fully occupied.

Well, Christmas time is here again Hector, time to reminisce perhaps? Raise your Malaga wine glass, or maybe a whisky would be more to your liking, and out with `el jamon y los polvorones’. The next one’s not far away: 2019 is about to make its entrance and then you’ll still only be 97, so drink and be merry and have a Happy Christmas!

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CULTURE INSIGHT

CLAPTON’S BLUESY CHRISTMAS ALBUM With the growth of Spotify it’s fair to say that not many will be flocking into record shops to gift music for Christmas. I have to say however that a special edition or collection of any artists’ work make wonderful presents, they are much more than stocking fillers.

Eric Clapton has given us wonderful music throughout many years ‘Tears in Heaven’ and ‘You look Wonderful Tonight’ to name but two significant Clapton songs that have now become standards. This year Eric has recorded a Christmas album but this one has a real difference shining through it. His mastery of guitar is acclaimed but his affinity and expertise at ‘Blues’ not so much.

Well uncle Joseph is about to put that right at least in local circles by recommending that Blues is good at Christmas.

I have seen the man live a few times and he has always surprised me when in the middle of a set he might for example, break into ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ and treat it with an excellent stylish vocal and melodic guitar lines. It came as no surprise then that in the autumn of his career he would turn to the established

Track listings from Amazon 1. White Christmas 2. Away In A Manger (Once In Royal David’s City) 3. For Love On Christmas Day 4. Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday 5. Christmas Tears 6. Home For The Holidays 7. Jingle Bells 8. Christmas In My Hometown 9. It’s Christmas 10. Sentimental Moments 11. Lonesome Christmas 12. Silent Night 13. Merry Christmas Baby 14. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas catalogue and give the classics his own twist. That he has chosen to do this whilst remaining anchored in the Blues genre is a master stroke.

This album has had me glued to my headphones more than the usual offerings of jazzed up, overdone, and sometimes pointless revisits to the Christmas catalogue. Eric Clapton’s ‘Happy Christmas’ has stylish and gutsy renditions of what we love in our seasonal goody bag. Check this on Spotify or Google it up and sample some of the tracks. Don’t take my word for it, check out why it is well reviewed and has 4 out of 5 stars.

As I said before if you want to be surprised Clapton is my go-to man who always brings something fresh to the table.

Have yourselves a wonderful festive season awash with blessings and good health and always leave room in your hearts for music because it will warm you up like a hug in a mug (since it’s Christmas you might wish to add some spirit to that mug- don’t drive if you drink and don’t fall asleep with your headphones on and upset anyone with festive snoring). Till the next time have a peaceful New Year too.

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HISTORY HISTORY INSIGHT INSIGHT The `Dunera,’ `Nevasa,’ and `Uganda’ were the visiting `British India’ Line (BI) cruise ships of the day, berthing alongside the North Mole, packed with teenagers on a seafaring educational school trip, with Gibraltar being a good port to visit and learn about. Local pop groups were invited on board to provide entertainment for the youngsters and other passengers. Many of the Rock’s male teenagers, of no musical persuasion in particular, hung around the road leading up to the port with a view to chatting up the girls coming ashore and perhaps escorting the young ladies into town to show them around and maybe, just maybe, strike up a friendship of some sort... and, as I was told by a fellow musician of mine just the other day as we reminisced, there were some steamy scenes around the place! “Some of the more adventurous types tried to get into the port to get closer to the ship,” he recalled, “and one actually stowed away all the way back to Southampton from where he was quickly sent packing up to London Airport and returned to the Rock!” On the musical entertainment side of things, groups like The V Brothers, The Wanderers, The Moonlight Son, The Odds, The Superbs and no doubt some other bands, and not forgetting Gibraltar’s first home grown pop group, The Diamond Boys - of which I was a member performed aboard the cruise ships to screaming girls and other more sedate paying passengers who equally enjoyed the music. There was great excitement as the groups played the hits of the day by The Beatles, The Searchers, The Kinks and many other 60s hit tunes and the musicians also chatted up the girls as they approached the band and asked for autographs. During a break in the entertainment, Gerry of the

WHEN LOCAL BANDS `POPPED’ ON BOARD, AS WELL AS ON `TERRA FIRMA’!

These days more local musical groups are playing abroad as well as locally, experiencing `the big professional set up’ performing alongside the world’s top acts at the newly named `MTV Gibraltar Calling’ concerts at Victoria Stadium. In the 60s small dance hall venues were the thing and female acclaim was restricted - in the main - to visiting `school cruise ships!’

Wanderers remembers going out on deck for a smoke, taking in the sights of the Rock from the Bay and as he rested his arms on the railings, a ring that held sentimental value belonging to his dad which was loose fitting, slipped off his finger into the sea below. That unfortunate event sticks in his mind to this day, as does going down a bomb on board the ship producing a great feeling of exhilaration as the `fans’ clapped and screamed at the end of each song, creating a sense of pop star status they were not accustomed to when playing at local venues. But it was The Diamond Boys who were in fact the first local group to play on board the `school ships.’ It was in 1961 on board the Dunera. The top tunes then were by Elvis, Bill Haley, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Bobby Vee, Del Shannon, Cliff Richard and other pre-Beatles hit makers which we performed.

On that day on board the Dunera, Albert Hammond `fell in love’! He wrote his first song called `Blue Boy’ which he composed for `Anne’ from Scotland whom he later met on the BBC’s `One Show,’ 50 odd years later! That song incidentally, he sold to a love stricken diner at a London West End restaurant he and I were playing at, scribbling the lyric on a paper napkin and receiving a cheque for £30!

Meanwhile, on dry land during the 50s 60s and 70s, dance halls in town were normally frequented by a mixed age group used to a more relaxed atmosphere, dancing to a diverse repertoire of songs which would include, cha cha chas, sambas, slow ballads in both English and Spanish and other rhythms as well as those hit, pop songs of the day. There were pop concerts organised on occasions, but the norm for the pop group/dance bands through that period was

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performing at dances held at places such as the CSCA, where the Gibraltar International Bank stands today, the DSA, which was a Nissen hut on Queensway, the Police Barracks patio (the whole building recently converted into luxury flats), Humphrey’s, the Yacht Club, The Mediterranean and Calpe Rowing Clubs, the football club premises and the Victoria Stadium Hall, all the military establishments and a number of other locations where an ‘evening of dance’ could be organised.

However, entertaining audiences aboard ships was also on the cards for some local bands apart from performing on the visiting educational cruise ships which regularly visited us with hundreds of girls, and boys.

Our very own ferry-across-the-Straits vessel held special trips where dinner/ dance functions were organised as it sailed across the Mediterranean to the Moroccan coast. The Mons Calpe was a very busy, mini liner ferrying passengers across this narrow stretch of Mediterranean water known as the Straits of Gibraltar on a daily basis, which hosted special events from time to time. The Diamond Boys performed on one such trip sailing across to the Bay of Ceuta where we anchored. Balladeer and big star of the 50s Dickie Valentine was the cabaret and guest star on that trip and we provided music for dancing. I recall it was a beautiful summer’s evening and the sea was very calm. That was circa 1960! In 1967, I was by then Los Cinco’s vocalist - Los Cinco were formerly Los Cinco Ricardos, G Boys and The Silhouettes - and we were on the P&O ship Ori-

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ana’ (not the present one) on a two week cruise of the Eastern Mediterranea sailing from Southampton and taking in Italy, Greece, Turkey – we were meant to have called at Beirut in Lebanon but there were troubles there so we went to Istanbul instead and visiting our home town, Gibraltar, on our way into the Med. That was a fantastic experience performing for first and second class passengers as it was in those days, consequently having to cart all our instruments, amplifiers and speakers from one location to another on board the ship on a daily basis. I remember being sick as we sailed, rocking-and-a-rolling – with plenty of rolling - through the Bay of Biscay. Evidently we must’ve gone down well with the passengers and we were also well appreciated by the Cruise Director, as we were invited to sail with the ship again on a World Cruise!! Yes, all the way around the globe visiting many ports and exotic countries as we sailed across the seven seas and oceans entertaining happy passengers. But, through personal reasons of my own... we never went! As a consequence, and clearly because of me, the boys in the band (me included) missed out on a great opportunity and it was a three month long cruise too. Sorry, my fault!

board cruise ships in the Caribbean.

Christian Santos had a long spell on Disney Cruise Ships a few years ago and a former GAMPA student, dancer Sarah-Anne Mclaren, is aboard a cruise ship now. Yes we’ve certainly kept the flag flying at sea. In the meantime back on land, local groups and singer/songwriters nowadays seem to be more concentrated on recording their original material at home or in a small studio somewhere and still, as in the past, venturing to leave our shores to try their luck, albeit on dry land, heading towards the major European cities.

But look, we have a healthy dose of cruise liners calling at Gibraltar today, so perhaps `playing aboard’ can return on a regular basis - organised by the Ministry of Tourism and the local cruise company agents - so that the more `mainstream’ bands can offer the thousands of visiting passengers some great entertainment on their luxurious floating hotels alongside the North Mole - but technically...at sea!

So that was then and this is now – all part of the fabulous swinging 60s! However, working on cruise ships was not laid to rest after that incredible decade. Local performers have continued to provide entertainment aboard cruise liners as singers and dancers including The Valerga brothers - Tito, Henry and Denis under the banner of `Los Tres Amigos’ – who spent quite a few months on

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FEATURE

of the GADGETS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS CHRISTMAS 1: PLAYSTATION CLASSIC BY SONY The PlayStation was originally conceived as a joint venture between Sony and Nintendo, so it’s fitting that this reincarnated console cribs from Ninty’s wildly popular NES and SNES Classic Mini devices of recent years. Featuring a full-sized recreation of that iconic DualShock controller and 20 vintage titles from that era – including Final Fantasy VII, Ridge Racer Type 4 and Tekken 3 – all you need for a dose of 32-bit nostalgia is to hook the thing up to your telly’s HDMI and USB slots.

2: RING VIDEO DOORBELL 2 Never Miss Another Visitor Watch over your home and answer the door from your phone, tablet and PC with next-gen security from Ring Video Doorbell 2. Ring sends you alerts when anyone comes to your door, so you can see, hear and speak to visitors from anywhere.

Works with Alexa to illuminate and send announcements to Echo devices when your doorbell is pressed or motion is detected, allowing you to hear and speak to visitors with two-way talk Lets you see, hear and speak to visitors from your phone, tablet and PC Sends alerts as soon as motion is detected or when visitors press the Doorbell Powered by the rechargeable battery pack or connects to doorbell wires for a constant charge Monitors your home in 1080HD video with infrared night vision Lets you check-in on your property at anytime with Live View on-demand video Includes Lifetime Theft Protection: If your Doorbell gets stolen, we’ll replace it for free

3: ROKU STREAMING STICK+ Vivid 4K, HDR, and HD picture. Exceptional wireless performance Start watching your favourites quickly and enjoy a smooth

streaming experience. Whether you’re streaming in your home, hotel or even in the backyard, the advanced wireless receiver gives you 4x the range and a stronger signal for streaming. This means you can stream in places that are ordinarily too far from the router.

Stream in brilliant 4K, HDR and HD. Experience the visual rush of 4K and vibrant HDR picture quality with the new powerful and portable streaming Stick Plus . plus, no more juggling remotes. Our new voice remote with buttons for TV Power and volume control makes it easy to control both your TV and streaming Stick Plus . Enjoy 500, 000 Plus movies and TV episodes across thousands of free or paid channels. You can even search by voice across top channels by actor, show and more.

4: PRITEK SMART IC 6 USB CHARGER STATION 6 Smart IC USB Ports - Intelligent identify different devices to detect and deliver optimal charging current, it can protect your devices from damage Individual LED Indicator Switch - Control the blue indicator on or off when charging. You can turn off the indicator in the night, so it won’t disturb your sleep when charging for your devices in your bedroom Comprehensive Protection - ETL/ FCC/CE listed, overcurrent/overcharge/over-discharge/short circuit/voltage protection, fireproof material, anti-slip pad on the bottom and surface Desktop Organizer - It can charge 6 devices simultaneously, and can be as a phone or tablet holder, manage your devices in order, save space and keep your desk tidy (short charging cables not included)

5: IPAD 9.7-INCH (2018) The latest Apple iPad is the best tablet in its price range by an overwhelming margin. Sleek, powerful, and well-priced, it now supports the Apple Pencil stylus. The latter

makes the tablet a great option for students and creative personalities.

Its key features include an accurate heart-rate tracker and the ability to deliver guided workouts.

Of course, the iPad offers access to well over a million high-quality apps, including augmented reality ones. There are three colors (silver, gold, and space grey) and two storage variants to pick from (32 and 128 GB). There’s also the option to pick a model with LTE connectivity. Starting price from £319

The device is fully waterproof, so you can go swimming with it. You can install apps on the smartwatch, make payments, and receive notifications from your smartphone as well. Fitbit offers a number of interchangeable bands for the Versa.

6: SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 9

The Logitech Harmony Elite is the best universal remote control available on the market. It can control just about every piece of electronics you own (it supports over 270,000 devices) in every room of your house or apartment, including TVs, gaming consoles, streaming devices, and sound systems, among others.

The Galaxy Note9 is the most advanced smartphone from Samsung to date. It features an eye-grabbing 6.4-inch Infinity display, an advanced camera setup with two optically stabilized sensors (a wide-angle one and a telephoto one), and built-in stereo speakers.

With an S Pen stylus on board, the phone is also more productive than any of its rivals.

Of course, the waterproof phone also comes with a long list of cutting-edge hardware specs, headed by a powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset with 6 GB of RAM, as well as a massive battery. The phone is available with up to 512 GB of expandable storage.

7: BEATS STUDIO3 WIRELESS HEADPHONES The latest variant of the Beats Studio3 Wireless celebrates the brand’s tenth anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Decade Collection comes in the black/red finish that made the Beats so popular, as well as a specially designed carrying case.

The headphones feature high-quality noise canceling, excellent sound quality, and the Apple’s W1 chip. The latter allows them to seamlessly connect with all of your Apple devices, as well as to offer superb battery life (up to 22 hours with noise cancelling on, and up to 40 hours with the feature switched off).

8: FITBIT VERSA SMARTWATCH The Fitbit Versa smartwatch is the company’s most polished product.

9: LOGITECH HARMONY ELITE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL

The device has Wi-Fi connectivity, a crisp colour touchscreen, and Amazon Alexa support. There’s also a free app that can turn your smartphone into a remote.

10: SPHERO STAR WARS R2-Q5 APP-ENABLED DROID Made from top imperial tech, this specialised drone comes from the Galactic Empire and is unlike any other Astromech Droid. Trusted to carry out Emperor Palpatine’s plans, the R2-Q5 will now become your child’s companion on their adventures. This droid is compatible via Bluetooth with Apple IOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Now they can explore holographic simulations from the Star Wars Galaxy. R2-Q5 will also react to your presence thanks to its sensors and fully functional and authentic front and rear LED lights. Included is the Watch With Me Feature that makes your droid react to certain scenes in the Star Wars saga.

Watch your Droids interact together and view films from the Star War saga with R2Q5, BB-8, BB-9E, and R2-D2 reacting by your side! Even if this droid is a villain by nature, you can’t help but fall in love with the little guy.

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Lorem ipsum

BY NATHAN GREEN, THE LIGHT AND POWER SHOP.

Yes it’s that time again, Christmas time to dig out your lights and decorations, spend hours getting them set out just right and finding a spare socket or two to plug them in. No easy task.

Let’s start with those lights: Firstly always buy lights that have a CE mark and a BS-EN number.

Make sure that they’re suitable for where you want to put them. Any mains voltage lights that you want to put outside must have an IP (Ingress Protection) rating of at least IP44.

Fortunately nowadays most Christmas lights are low voltage LEDs and are therefore intrinsically much safer, they’ll have a transformer to take the voltage down to as little as 5v, so if the light string will be OK outside, they’ll be safe. Remember that the plug will usually need to be inside the house though.

Now with the lights chosen and fixed where you want, you’ll need to get them powered up….

If you have European two pin plugs fitted to the lights you MUST NOT plug them directly in to a UK style

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socket - this is not safe and it will damage the socket, making it unsafe to use even with a UK plug.

that is long enough rather than plugging several together to get where you need to.

Always use the correct type of fused adaptor (with the correct size fuse fitted) or better still change the plug if possible. Earthed Schuko plugs MUST have an earthed adaptor, if not or if you decide to put these in a UK socket without an adaptor, your lights or appliance will not be earthed and it is extremely dangerous.

In general, extensions are not waterproof though enclosures are available to put them in that will keep them dry.

DO NOT rely on a plastic bag!

While it’s unlikely that even several sets of LED fairy lights will overload a 13A extension lead you must pay attention to the load you’re connecting to it. The most frequent problem is not having enough space on the extension for those bulky transformers to sit properly, or they’re too close together, which can cause them to overheat and fail or even worse!

Remember to switch off and unplug any extension lead when it’s not being used.

Now with plugs and adaptors in hand and no socket where you need one, let’s break out the extension leads.

It’s absolutely fine to use extension leads as a temporary solution to get power where you need it, you just have to be sensible about things.

If you’re unsure about anything regarding the suitability of your lights, plugs, adaptors, extension leads or how much load you have connected to an extension, you should speak to a competent electrician or your local specialist store who should be able to give you advice.

As with your lights only buy extension leads that are CE marked and get one

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FEATURE

ACT LOCAL! Brummie Richard Gosnay joins Gib’s amateur dramatics

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here is a new actor in town. And judging from his fizzling debut in the Trafalgar Theatre Group’s autumn production ‘Stupid Effing Bird’, audiences will see more of Richard Gosnay’s talent in the next months. Richard’s performance landed him a talent-scout-like call-back from drama guru Julian Felice, who cast him in one of his six short original plays to be performed at the Bayside Drama Studio in mid January, directed by guest directors. In ‘Zelda 3:16’. He plays Drake, a successful solicitor who is trying to get his client out of prison where he is charged with ecstasy possession, but in reality it is just ibuprofen – a standard case at first, that turns out to be of far more biblical proportions.

“I moved to Gibraltar just over one year ago, with my wife, and our daughters, a toddler and a baby, after I got a job in the IT department for a gaming company. I was looking for a social hobby to relax and unwind, and I got across the Trafalgar Theatre Group’s Facebook page, so I signed up for their auditions for that play,” Richard says. “I attended the read-through, sure it was just that, a read-through to get a taste of the play and get to know the potential cast, but at the end someone congratulated me for my great audition, and thus I realised what was really happening in that casual setting. And I got the part!”

crisis he is experiencing, as he is kind of ‘in-between wives’ after a string of failed marriages and cannot figure out how to move on.”

Richard related to Sorn under this aspect, but his main challenge in building up his characterisation was avoiding fashioning his stage persona simply after himself: “I have a sixteen-year old daughter from an early relationship, then three daughters from two former partners whom unfortunately I am not in speaking terms with, so I don’t get to see them as much as I would love to, and now two young daughters with my wife. In that sense, I have been in the place where Sorn is at the time of the play but, unlike him, I was able to move on. Yet, I could feel his strife.”

Sorn’s original upper-class accent was dropped after the director realised that Richard was struggling with its consistency without slipping into caricature: “My efforts made it unconvincing, so we decided I should just speak in my regular voice, given the accent was not pivotal to the action.” There is added depth to this small part, because Sorn is a doctor, and he is caught in the predicament of being able to heal everyone but himself.

Back in Birmingham, Richard participated in two musicals: ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ with the Coleshill Operatic Society and ‘Sister Act’ with the St. Augustine’s Musical Theatre Company. In the first, he landed a minor part on the board of governors, while in the second he was the gangster pursuing the protagonist - and he got to wear a bright red suit. “I am used to performing in musicals, so acting without jumping into song at any point is a new experience to me.”

He describes the part of Sorn as a relatively minor one, but still with a sizeable number of lines to learn, and significant stage time: “I wasn’t just playing the tree in the corner, I interacted with the protagonists and had a couple of monologues of my own.”

This supporting role was ideal for him to be introduced to the rest of cast and crew, who had worked with each other and the director in a number of plays before that one, and already jelled well, almost anticipating directions: “I had never had a prompt before,” Richard observes, “and never worried about blocking, for instance.

Daniel Strain-Webber’s directing style is different from my previous experiences: here, I was on stage from day one, scripts in hand, practicing moves alongside enunciation. The other actors were approachable and gave me advice. I didn’t feel like the new kid in town at all, and we forged friendships that are thriving outside theatre.”

In fact, he would love to be cast for musicals locally, and wouldn’t turn down an offer for lead singing in a band (but not heavy metal, as he is not up to growling vocals), or a tenor in the choir. “I love karaoke, I love standing up there and perform, not just by singing, but also telling jokes. My dad was a natural-born entertainer, the life of the party, so we ended up joining the Coleshill Operatic Society together.”

He continues: “My character is sixty-year old in the original script, but it was rewritten for me as a forty-year old. The character’s age is not really important, though. What matters is the middle-life

Richard, who picked music over drama as a highschool elective, and later regretted it because it was mainly historical while he’d preferred a hands-on approach, observes how ‘computer guys’ tend to be musical, and go for performing arts as a hobby. More than a hobby, actually, to let off steam: “I love my job, don’t get me wrong, computers will always be my first passion, but performing is my close second.”

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FEATURE

GAME OF THRONES HOW HISTORY IS ENCRYPTED IN THE FANTASY BLOCKBUSTER

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hat if you could learn actual history from an iconic TV show?

In her Literary Festival’s talk about her book ‘Winter is Coming: The medieval world of Game of Thrones’, Carolyne Larrington, English medieval literature professor at St. John’s College in Oxford, explored the historical canvas on which the fantasy seven kingdoms portrayed by American novelist George R. R. Martin in his planned heptalogy ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ is embroidered – and some of the significant differences with the hit series ‘Games of Thrones’.

Martin’s fictional society is significantly influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien’s opus magnum to the point he was hastily hailed

the American Tolkien, yet Larrington notes how Martin’s approach to the geopolitical landscape he concocted is more realistic than his literary mentor’s.

Martin lays down up a complex society, or better said an ensemble of complex societies, in which one wise ruler doesn’t necessarily suffice to guarantee peace and prosperity to his kingdom and vice versa. He researches the credibility of lifestyle in the subjects’ livelihood, whether their land allows for cultivars, or they are a raiding and pillaging culture testing the waters to evolve into mercantile structure – and, more interestingly, he also dedicates a chunk of his work to a banking system mirroring the Italian lenders trading in Lombardy Street in the very late medieval era, to finance war as well as public infrastructure.

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FEATURE In Martin’s parallel dimension however religion does not occupy the same privileged place that it did in late medieval Europe, when God’s existence was never questioned, but accepted matter-of-factly, ‘like today we acknowledge the existence of gravity pull that stops us from floating in the air’, as prof. Larrington explained. The books characters seem almost unfazed by the introduction of Sparrows, a formidable monastic order which bear similarities with both the Franciscans’ and the Inquisition, who are given more spotlight in the TV series.

The historical period on which the literary turmoil is based might as well be the War of the Roses and/or the Hundred Years’ War- minus the seeds of an undisputed rise of the bourgeoisie that in the fire and ice world fails to make a storyline changing appearance - and the geography is inspired by medieval maps and travel accounts, so that the readers may find themselves exploring not a pure fantasy world, but an alternative version of historical events, in which kingdoms are metaphors for the diverse societies of the past, from Romans to Anglo-Saxons to Vikings and even Mongols, and leading characters are disturbingly alike some of history’s toughest villains, especially queens and queen wannabes.

terranean-like shores live colourful civilisations, the shrewd historian will identify not only parallels to the Fourteenth or Fifteenth century’s intricate net of dynastic alliances and make-believe ethnography, but also subtle nods to contemporary politics – in fact, ‘Game of Thrones’ snippets are a staunch favourite source for memes on US President Donald Trump’s obsession with walls, or the tangled tug-of-war that Brexit is.

An expert in Norse mythology, Carolyne praises the plot role that Martin bestows on the people he fashioned after the Vikings, but she cannot light-heartedly condone his portrayal of the eastern dwellers as devious, cunning, sexually deviant and black-magic inclined, which used to be a common trait of classic and medieval travelling accounts, mainly because the chronicler wouldn’t fully understand their folklore, language and apparel, misrepresenting polygamy for debauchery and oriental medicine for witchcraft.

Here you might be forgiven for asking: so, binge-watching the seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ right down to the much awaited and expectedly controversial grand finale can be a suitable surrogate for history books towards passing your A levels with flying colours, as bright as the kingdoms’ ensigns? Afraid not, because without suitable knowledge of the real deal, you won’t appreciate the literary patina of fantasy which Martin is so acclaimed – and stashing handsome royalties – for.

In a land that resonates like England but it isn’t exactly England, protected from the barbaric hordes by a wall that isn’t exactly the Hadrian’s Wall and separated from the continent by the Narrow Sea on whose Medi-

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GIBRALTAR GUIDE

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 21) December is a month of great change for you Aries, and whole new lease of life. This will be on both personal and professional areas of your life.

Remember to practice daily gratitude.

Taurus TAKEAWAYS

(Apr 21 – May 21)

VEHICLE REPAIRS

Try to avoid being over impulsive this month, Taurus. . . no matter how tempting! Make decisions slowly as your boldness, if carefully channelled, can turn a negative into a positive.

Gemini (May 22 – June 22) So, as another festive period approaches, Gemini, you find yourself handed out all sorts of social invites … and accepting other! Wonderful way to end a good year!! Enjoy. ☺

Cancer (June 23 – July 22) Your sense of independence and individual freedom is paramount this month, Cancer. You really want to spread your wings, and so you must.

Give yourself permission to fly!

Leo (July 23 – Aug 23) If you feel a little lacking in focus this month, Leo, then it’s probably because you are! But this need not be a problem . . . make a list and just score out those things which you are not feeling good about!

Virgo (Aug 24 – Sep 23)

BARS / PUBS

You have indeed been working hard at manifesting your dreams, Virgo and this month you can ease up on yourself. Just a little . . . but do take time to acknowledge the fruits of your labours.

Libra (Sep 24 – Oct 23) You may not be aware of it, Libra, but others are finding you very inspiring at the moment. When someone seeks your advice . it is genuine so give it freely.

Scorpio (Oct 24 – Nov 22) Your innate sense of assertiveness is strong and to the fore this month, Scorpio. This will surprise some and impress others. Remember to be gentle!

Sagittarius (Nov 23 – Dec 21) The joys of reliving times gone by will be yours this month, Sagittarius. Old memories come flooding back as you burn the midnight oil with old friends and some newer ones too!

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

INDUSTRIAL

Your life feels organized comfortable this month, Capricorn, with certain issues firmly left in the past where they belong. A nice way to end the year!

Aquarius (Jan 21 – Feb 19) Do something different, fresh and new this December, Aquarius. This is also a good time for travel and meeting new people who will broaden your horizons.

Pisces (Feb 20 – Mar 20) Brainstorm some new ideas throughout December, Pisces, and this will take you forward on your path. Believe in yourself and get out there . . . don’t be shy!! (For your indepth weekly Horoscope call 8909) 78

For Private Readings TEL: (0034) 666 966 502 GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

DECEMBER 2018

Email: katemch@gmail.com Facebook Group: Horoscopes Gibraltar

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SUPERYACHT OWNERS’ GUIDE

OWNERS’ GUIDE

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NOW BOOKING FOR THE 2019 EDITION

THE DEFINITIVE LUXURY ANNUAL FEATURING THE BEST IN SUPERYACHT INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, DESIGN & ACCESSORIES. SOPHIE@GBZMEDIA.COM 80 DECEMBER 2018 GBZ MEDIA LIMITED BERMUDA | LONDON | GIBRALTAR | CAPE TOWN

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CLASSIFIED SERVICES CHARTERED SURVEYOR

HARDWARE

INDUSTRIAL

ESTATE AGENT

PAINTING & DECORATING

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ON THE SPOT

JOE ADAMBERY FORMER TV PRODUCER, LIFELONG MUSICIAN AND FREELANCE WRITER

Where did you first start your employment?

Science Lab assistant at old Technical School in 1961

How would you describe yourself?

Passionate about music and words /writing. A Guitar friendly dinosaur who’s also an idealist.

Which person has been the biggest influence in your life?

My parents and most of my teachers in that order.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ ‘Princess of Mars’ as I had a fascination with space fantasy. Serious voyages of exploration and epic expeditions come a close second.

Have you ever been given advice that you wished you had acted on?

What’s the best country you’ve ever visited and why?

Many times but I’m not a fast doer.

My last one was Poland this year and it’s up there with Italy.

What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?

You can’t do that - of course you can! But be realistic in your expectation.

What makes you laugh?

Stand-up comedy UK and our pets.

What keeps you awake at night?

Fear of not sleeping enough and lacking energy the next day.

Magical, musical, inspirational, love them adjectives, my reviewer’s hat I guess

Do you have any regrets?

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Winter cozy Netflix series binge watching with my other half and our dog and two cats…bliss.

Have you had any embarrassing moments?

Done a classic trip over low stool and split pants somewhere public. Don’t ask!

Loved languages and still do… who knows might take one on

What’s your greatest ambition?

To write good words when I get the chance to and to leave some good ones behind too.

What’s the best experience you’ve had in life so far?

Discovering music and the way it makes me feel that’s a constant for me.

If you didn’t live where you are currently located where would you like to Live (Money no object)?

What’s your favourite music track?

Cozy Mountain cottage with good access to breathtaking scenery and not too far from the Rock.

Probably Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ Majestic melodic Rock at its best.

What person historic or living would you most like to meet?

What’s your biggest fear?

Ghandi would be fascinating to meet and chat to.

The chisel of time toppling me over am too busy for getting old too soon!

If you could change one thing about Gibraltar what would it be?

If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?

The impending Brexit scenario but we can’t choose that one.

Possess the talent of John Lennon, looking like a younger Robert Redford and having a six figure bank balance would be nice too.

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Which word or phrases do you most overuse?

What is your favourite hobby or interest?

Fettling on guitars, writing and indulging my passion for music.

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FEATURE& HEALTH WELLBEING

ENJOY A

low Sugar

With the Christmas season now practically round the corner, and festive food and drink being high on our ‘to do’ list, now might be the right time to consider how too much sugar consumption can affect our health and how best to cut down on hidden sugars and still indulge in the festive spirit!

Health experts tell us that excessive sugar consumption can lead to health problems such as tooth decay, obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Our eating habits have changed over the years, and it is said that many of us have developed the habit of ‘grazers’, preferring to nosh up on snacks that are quick and comforting, but very often high in sugar and fat, like pastries, biscuits, cakes, bread and jam, and chocolate – just the stuff many of us may be over-indulging in this festive season!

For a healthy, balanced diet, we should be obtaining most of our calories from starchy foods (ideally wholegrain) and from fruit and vegetables, and try to avoid, or only consume occasionally, foods high in free sugars. Starchy foods, such as potatoes, rice, cereals and bread, are our main source of carbohydrates and are very important in ensuring a healthy diet. These should make up about a third of all the food we eat. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. Although one might think that starchy foods are fattening, the truth is that gram for gram, they contain less than half the calories of fat.

Although many of us are more or less aware that too much sugar is not good for our health, we might be surprised at how much sugar is actually included in the food and drink we habitually consume. The type of sugars most adults and children eat are those known as ‘free sugars’, like those added by the manufacturers to ‘foods’ such as sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and many breakfast cereals, as well as fizzy drinks. They also include sugars we may add to our food at home, or by the chef at a restaurant, as well as sugars in syrups, honey, nectars and unsweetened fruit juices, vegetable juices, smoothies and purees, even though they occur naturally. Sugar found naturally in milk, vegetables and fruit are not counted as ‘free sugars’.

FESTIVE SEASON

In the UK, NHS guidelines recommend that free sugars should not add up to more than 5% of the energy (calories) we obtain from our daily food and drink consumption. This translates to a limit of 30g (equivalent to 7 sugar cubes) a day for adults, 24g (6 sugar cubes) for children aged 7 to 10 and 19g (5 sugar cubes) for children aged 4 to 6. It’s recommended that children under the age of 4 should not consume sugar sweetened food and drinks. A can of cola can contain as much as 9 cubes of sugar – higher than the recommended daily limit for an adult! If, like me, you enjoy fizzy drinks, why not try diluting no-added-sugar squash with sparkling water.

Surprisingly though, 100% pure, unsweetened fruit juice is also high in the type of sugars we need to cut down on. This is because the juicing process releases the sugars contained in the fruit, which can damage our teeth. However fruit juice also contains essential vitamins and minerals, so to reduce tooth decay, best to enjoy your fruit juice at meal times and try to limit the amount you have to no more than 150ml a day. Eating fruit though, will not cause tooth decay as the sugar is contained within the fruit. However, if you are having problems with your teeth, best to consult with your dentist.

Children should swap sugary drinks for water or lower-fat milks and sugar free drinks.

Surprisingly perhaps, alcohol contains more calories than carbohydrates or protein - a standard glass of wine may contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate! So, watch out for those calories creeping in with your favourite tipple this festive season. Why not try lower-alcohol drinks, or choose a smaller bottle of beer instead of a can, and go for sugar-free mixers.

Sugar can also be found in large amounts in sauces, such as ketchup, salad cream, chutneys and stir-in sauces like sweet and sour sauce, as well as in some ready-made meals from the supermarket. Read the nutrition labels and ingredients list on the food packaging on the supermarket shelf to help you pick the foods that contain less added sugar, or go for the reduced or lower-sugar version. Choose unsweetened, wholegrain breakfast cereals that aren’t frosted or coated with honey or chocolate and add fresh, chopped fruit to add sweetness to it. Check out websites such as www.nhs.uk for more useful tips on how to reduce your sugar intake, as there are many ways you can still enjoy the bounty of great food and drink this festive season, without the need to indulge in unhealthy consumption of sugar, or fat… or even on alcohol for that matter!

Please note that this article is meant for information only, and should not replace medical care. Always consult your doctor if you have any concerns about your health.

The Chiro Manage m p to w ractic C ent and linic, ish a staff at a ver ll their e ICC, wo s u y Me rry C teemed p ld like Pros pero h a tient us an ristmas s a d He althy nd a 2019 !

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MUM ON THE ROCK

Survival GUIDE Christmas is coming and the excitement is building. Alright, I know it’s early, but twinkling lights are already evident in shopping centres and the sentimental adverts that cajole us into buying lots of Christmas goodies that we don’t really need have started to be shown on television.

So what is the secret to having a happy and stress free Christmas? It’s meant to be a time of good cheer, but for some it can be anything but merry!

Mum on the Rock has a few tips that may help.

Remember It’s only one day. Why do we all get ourselves so worked up over cooking the Christmas dinner when it’s really not much different to preparing a Sunday roast?

Presents Present buying can be stressful, especially for those of us on a budget. Teaching children to understand how fortunate they are that they receive lots of gifts is important, so a nice idea can be to also make Christmas about giving to others. Asking them to donate one of their presents to a charity of their choice will help them learn that not everybody is as lucky as they are.

Supermum is a myth!

“I did all my Christmas shopping four months ago,” she exclaims. Whilst it can be a good idea to pre-plan and look out for bargains, how many of us realistically buy next year’s Christmas presents in the January sales?

Make your freezer your friend Leaving everything until the last minute can be exhausting, so take advantage of your freezer and fridge and take the chaos out of Christmas. Most all your Christmas dinner dishes can be frozen or put in the fridge beforehand.

Lists Make a list – and check it twice! Well, maybe don’t do that, but definitely making a list will ensure that you don’t forget to buy a present for Auntie Sue or omit to buy the cranberry sauce.

Delegate Nobody can be expected to do everything, so divvy up the jobs. Get someone to lay the table the day before, get someone else to peel the potatoes and make sure that someone else is in charge of buying batteries. Toys without batteries on Christmas Day equals disaster, and nobody wants to make that trip to the garage to buy some.

WORDS BY JO WARD GIBRALTARINSIGHT.COM

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HEALTH & WELLBEING

ANTIBIOTICS HANDLE WITH CARE “One sometimes finds, what one is not looking for.

When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer.

But I suppose that was exactly what I did.”

T

Alexander Fleming

he antibiotic is one of the most versatile, useful and widely-used forms of medicine in the world.

It’s come a long way from being first isolated

by Alexander Fleming in 1928. He had been observing molds and the substances they secreted. He went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for these efforts, sharing it with two other scientists who mapped out the molecular structure of penicillin; the first modern antibiotic.

Fast-Forward to the 21st century and the humble antibiotic has perhaps become a victim of its own success. In essence, antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacteri-

al infections. Today, bugs and bacteria are developing resistance to this miracle drug. Over-prescribing of antibiotics has made this much more of a problem than it should be. Among the consequences of antibiotic resistance include increasing treatment failure for commonplace infections, such as chest infections, and diminished treatment options in cases where antibiotics are vital, such as during cancer treatment when patients are prone to infection. And this isn’t good.

The GHA and the World Health Organisation recently promoted World Antibiotics Awareness Week, and there are some simple steps everyone can follow. We all need to work together to retain the effectiveness of Fleming’s discovery.

Only use antibiotics prescribed by a certified health professional.

Never demand antibiotics if your health care professional advises against them.

Take your antibiotics as prescribed if you are given them, and complete the course.

Never share or use leftover antibiotics.

Prevent infections by regularly washing hands, preparing food hygienically, avoiding close contact with sick people where possible, practising safer sex, and keeping vaccinations up to date.

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uis

329c Main Street Gibraltar Tel: 200 50710 luisphoto@gibtelecom.net

PHOTOS Commercial Photographer Finest collection of old photographs on the Rock

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VISITING SPECIALISTS - DEC 2018 /JAN 2019 Rosmetics - Injectable aesthetic techniques

6th & 7th December

Alan Stone, Audiologist

18th & 19th December

Rebeca Eriksen, FODMAP Dietitian

17th December

Dr. Barry Monk, Dermatologist

10th December

Karrie-Jayne Salcedo, Injectable Aesthetic Techniques

12th December

Dr. Eva Carneiro, Sports and Exercise Medicine

14th December

Dr Waji Hassan, Rheumatologist

3rd January

REGULAR SURGICAL AND MEDICAL SPECIALISTS Mr David Deardon – General and Venous Surgeon

Wednesdays

Dr Robin Reyes – Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon

Alternate Tuesdays

Mr Thomas Boerger – Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon

Thursday and Friday evenings

Dr Ramin Pakzad – Obstetrician & Gynaecologist

Mondays and Thursdays

Dr Waqar Haider – Consultant General Physician / Respiratory Medicine.

Dr Francisca Dominguez – Paediatrician Dr Antonio Segovia - Psychiatrist

AT THE SPECIALIST MEDICAL CLINIC There are two types of endoscopy performed in the clinic: upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. An upper endoscopy allows examination of the oesophagus, stomach and small intestine, whilst a colonoscopy allows examination of the large intestine and rectum.

Tuesday evenings

Mon/ Tues/ Wed/Thurs/ Fri mornings, and Wednesday afternoons.

By prior appointment

Dr Pedro Aranda - Vascular Surgeon Dr Pietro Di Mauro - Aesthetic Surgeon

By prior arrangement By prior arrangement

GENERAL PRACTICE - FAMILY MEDICINE Dr Patrick Nerney – including Occupational Health Dr Monique Risso – including Naprotechnology

Emergency and routine appointments available every day

Dr Kate Roue Dr Maria Rosca

TRAVEL CLINIC - VACCINATION INCLUDING YELLOW FEVER Sr Susan Rhoda – Full travel needs assesments

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES Dr Chris Rodriguez – Consultant Radiologist

Ultrasound scanning, Xray and scan reporting Tuesday evenings.

ALLIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Kayron Pozo

Podiatry and Prolotherapy

Joyce Evans

Physiotherapy and Sports Injury

Frances May and Geraldine Canepa

Counselling and Psychotherapy

Pricilla Chelleram Jeffries

Osteopathy & Manipulation

Sr Susan Rhoda

Sclerotherapy and Nursing Services

Dr Karen Surridge

Clinical Psychologist

Sr Ros Bown

Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers

Alan Stone

Hearing and Audiology

Laura Sanchez Soiza

Nutritional Nurse

Krisanne Pozo & Delyse Crome

Cambridge Weight Plan

Susan’s Aesthetic Service-Skin Care

Injectables, Skin and Body treatments.

Juan Garcia

Cardiac Physiologist

Rebeca Eriksen

FODMAP Dietitian

Rebecca Ramirez

Women’s Health and Children’s Physiotherapy.

Why are these procedures performed?

An upper endoscopy may be performed as part of investigation in patients with symptoms such as: nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing and intestinal bleeding.

A colonoscopy may be performed as part of investigation in patients with symptoms such as: rectal bleeding, a change in bowel habit (diarrhoea or constipation), abdominal pain or other bowel symptoms. Regular colonoscopy may also be required in those with a history of polyps, or as part of the screening process in those with a family history of colorectal cancer.

What do the procedures involve?

Both procedures can be carried out at the Specialist Medical Clinic in Gibraltar. They are performed under light sedation (not general anaesthetic).

During upper endoscopy a long, thin flexible tube, with a light source and camera at the end, is passed through the mouth and down the throat, into the stomach and beyond.

During colonoscopy, a similar tube is passed through the back passage and is moved forward to view the large bowel.

In both investigations the images are transmitted to a screen, which is observed during the procedure. If required, small tissue samples can be taken at the time to send for further analysis (biopsies).

What preparation is required?

Prior to an upper endoscopy, a period of six hours without food or drink is required, so that the intestine can be seen clearly.

Prior to a colonoscopy the preparation is more complex, requiring a special diet and medication to ensure the large intestine is empty.

Prior to both procedures it is important that the doctor is made fully aware of any medication being taken, as this may need to be stopped or adjusted beforehand.

Following the investigation, patients are unable to drive or operate machinery for the rest of the day, and must be taken home by a friend or relative.

If you have been informed you require an endoscopy, or if you have any of the symptoms described above which are worrying you, please make an appointment to see our Consultant General Surgeon, Mr David Deardon, who holds clinics every Wednesday. To make an appointment, or request further information, please call the Specialist Medical Clinic on: 200 49999 or email: reception@smg.gi .

Unit F7, 1st Floor, ICC Building, Casemates Square, Gibraltar.

Tel: +350 200 49999. Fax: +350 200 68999. Find us on www.specialistmedicalclinic.com

Clinic times may be subject to change. Some appointments will be rescheduled by agreement.

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ENDOSCOPY

Direct billing arrangements with major insurers.

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Just Married on the Rock Natalie & Tobias married on 26th September 2018. Photo by Radka Horvath.

Ranye & Francis, married on 11th September 2018. Photo by Radka Horvath.

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Just Married on the Rock Mobile: 58897000 Email: nicholas64@gibtelecom.net

Helen Joyce & Neil Casey, married on 24th September 2018. Photo by Nicky Sanchez.

Nick Nelson & Holly Ashton, married on 20th September 2018. Photo by Nicky Sanchez.

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