MAY 2013

Monday 1st April saw the usual monthly meeting of the El-Valle Asociacion but this was also the date of the Annual General Meeting where the whole com-mittee stood down, the yearly accounts were offered for ap-proval and a new Chairperson and Committee elected. Sixty members were present for this auspicious event. The current Chairperson, Lynd-sey, opened the meeting and immediately handed over to the Treasurer, Terry, to present the accounts. Terry started by saying that the budget approved for 2012 had included a key element of making a loss of €1,000.00 to reduce the cash held by the Aso-ciacion. This budget had failed and the Asociacion now held almost another E500.00 than in 2011. (Full account details are available on the web-site) (note to all EU Finance Ministers, "The El-Valle committee are prepared to offer guidance and advice on formulation of sustainable budg-ets") joking aside, the new com-mittee, when elected, are to look at ways to reduce the cash surplus. The accounts were approved and accepted and Terry handed over to Jane, Social Chair, who gave the usual overview of all forthcoming events details on web, in newsletter and at con-tact point at the Friday Market.

The retiring chair, Lyndsey, in her last address congratulated two members, Don and Amelia on celebrating 54 years of wed-ded bliss!!!!!!! and then went on to thank all her committee members for their support over the last twelve months with thanks also to Christine Gore-ham, (almoner) myself and all the members of the Asocia-cion. She gave special thanks to Eddie for the way he man-aged, in a thoroughly profes-sional and competent manner, the affairs of the cash box. (More Later) The microphone was then handed over to the incoming Chair, Anne Dibden. Many of us know that the Asociacion will be in safe hands as Anne is no stranger to the Asociacion and has held the reins of previous occasions. Details of all the newly elected committee members are to be found on the web-site and in the news-letter. The business of the AGM hav-ing been completed it was time for the quiz!!!!!!!!, run by Phil Dodds, which consisted of two parts, twenty "spot the logo" pictures and thirty questions. There should have been teams of six, BUT, a team of nine was spotted and a team of five!!! On completion of the quiz two teams tied on 41 points and a

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A R O U N D T H E V A L L E Y

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Chairmans Report &

April Meeting Notes

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Walking Group &

News Item

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Newsbites

Photographic Group &

Drama Group

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Tapas & Film Night

Theft

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Whats on—

Forthcoming Events

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4 Day Donana Trip 7 &

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Committee 9

APRIL MEETING REPORTCONTROVERSY & CONTENTION at El-Valle A.G.M. By Alan Impey

Hopefully Spring has at last arrived, looking forward to the warm sunny weather. The el valle has already been busy with events since the AGM. The supper evening with a film was well attended and the new venue seemed to work really well. thanks to everyone who worked so hard on the food and putting on the film. The trip to Doñana seemed to be enjoyed by everyone who went and I´ve had very positive reports on the hotel and despite a very full itinerary it seemed to go down well. We´ll have to start looking for the next one!! The committee have already got lots of ideas for future events so don´t forget to check out the details in the newsletter or come along to the Friday market for a chat. The ´Midsummer Madness' to be held at hotel Vinuela on 20th June is now on sale and should be a great night so don´t forget to get it booked. I look forward to meeting and getting to know more of you over the next couple of months.

CHAIRMANS REPORT By Anne Dibden

tie break question revealed the winning team to be Anne (new chair) Jane, (vice-chair, social chair) Linda, (committee) and finally Don & Amelia (54 years wed.) An independent scruti-niser was brought in to verify the result (ME) and all was found to be above board. Easter eggs went to the winners and the team with the lowest score were also rewarded. It was now time for "THE BOX" and all eyes turned to our ac-complished and professional Eddie, custodian of the keys. OOPS, it seems the keys were at Eddies home!!!!! He did how-ever cover the return trip, home and back, in record time and one person in particular is glad he did. When ticket number 410 was called, Judy Maycock stepped forward and drew the correct key so opening the box and col-lecting an agreeable €378.00. Of course Judy couldn't be a new committee member could she!!!! Of course she was!!!!!!!! Once again, joking aside, there was no controversy/contention and it was an enjoyable evening and we wish all the new com-mittee all the best for the forth-coming year and hopefully the membership will continue to

give their support.

A P R I L W A L K I N G G R O U P B y A l a n I m p e y

Facts and Figures; Walk Distance 9.01kms Start Height 740mtrs Highest Point 880mtrs Walk length 2hrs 33mins. Thanks to Terry and Jane for their efforts both in recce'ing the walk first, then leading it and arranging the meal later. The walk for May will be led by Martyn and Rebecca and will start at the Radio Mast above Alcaucin at 11.00am on Thursday 9th May. Directions are as you head towards Alcaucin by the Km 3 sign there is a turn to the right before a large recycling bin, signed to the kitchen ware-house, take this turn and keep going right at each junction and right up the hill to the mast. We park there. See you all there. Stewart

.Summer has arrived at last and in perfect timing for the monthly El-Valle walk which this month was routed and led by Terry and Jane. We met at Guaro Pueblo above Periana at 11am in perfect sunny weather. Terry and Jane had been a little concerned that the tracks would not have dried out but their concerns were unjustified as the conditions were perfect in every respect. Thirty three of us left Guaro shortly after 11am and made our way down the road (south) that we had arrived on. In no time at all it was time to turn left (south east) and begin to

climb again but only gradually all the time heading south/south west and after almost one hour another turn left (north) we continued climbing to eventually meet the Periana-Zafarraya rail track which we fol-lowed north/north east. All the hard work had been done now and we followed the railway until Guaro came into view down to our left and we did eventually turn left to de-scend back into Guaro. A meal had been organised at the restaurant in Guaro and 25 walkers took advantage of the menu del dia. Unfortunately I was unable to stay for the meal but I have eaten there in the past and I have no reason to doubt that the quality and value will have changed. The views from the whole of the walk were superb and the wild flowers were a picture. Whilst it may not have seemed so whilst walking we only climbed 140 metres during the walk but we did have many descents and assents throughout the walk and so it seemed that we climbed a lot.

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The Guardia Civil have run to ground a group of thieves that have allegedly been tar-geting farms and country dwellings in the Axarquía area. Aptly named, Operación Apero, rounded up six suspects and charged two more as the band behind 74 cases of burglary and theft. The word apero means ‘country store shed,’ and it has been using the excuse of build-ing an apero that many locals and foreign residents built themselves country dwellings, more in line with a cortijo. Using search warrants, the Guardia Civil searched the homes of those involved and came up with a variety of stolen goods, which are being identified and returned to their rightful owners. Not all of those arrested actually carried out the burglaries and thefts as two of them had the task of receiving the stolen items and moving them on to Morocco for sale there, where controls are not so tight… to put it euphemistically. According to the Guardia Civil, the police investigation began after a series of break-ins during last August around Torrox, Algarrobo, Nerja and Frigiliana. The thieves did not content themselves with just stealing money, jewellery and valuable decorations, but also went so far as to rip out bathroom fittings and strip electrical installations for the copper. The Mayor of Vélez-Málaga, Francisco Delgado, will propose before the Town Council a petition to have the Penal Law Code modified so that petty larceny carried out in the countryside should be considered a crime rather than a misdemeanor. From Costa Tropical Gazette Online

News Item

Our challenge in March was to take photographs “in the style of Rodney Smith”, surprisingly we had more entries than expected as it was a difficult and zany chal-lenge to interpret, these photos are two of the twenty one en-tered. Album link: http://tinyurl.com/d258xde

Lake Viñuela Photographic Club

We have recently enjoyed a trip to Loja area and the wild flowers were once again wonderful. We saw wild tulips, with tiny pointed heads when closed, for the first time and three different orchids, as well as the mountain violas and hedgehog broom, both spe-cific to that area and one other. What a privilege it is to be taken out by a specialist (Mick Richard-son <lojawildlife@gmail.com>)! He was leading the Andalucia Bird Society on a birding trip and before we left, after a really in-teresting but tiring day, we saw the Eagle Owl sitting guarding his nest. In the morning it was dis-turbed by rock climbers and Mick did say that if they got too close they would lose their lives, as happened north of Ronda three years ago. We had another flora specialist with us, Brenda Jones, who sent me the following web-site for recognition purposes: http://www.florasilvestre.es/mediterranea/index.htm. As we have visitors still, I have yet to use this but did find some of the flowerers from the Alcaucin area

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in my book of Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean. Our roadsides have given a wonderful show of colour after all the rain but the grapes seem to be slow to flower so we really need more sunshine.

The FHT Axarquia Therapist’s Sup-port Group will meet again on Wednesday 29th May at 7.30pm at the Camping Bar Restaurant, Vinuela when I will talk about Reiki and the Chakras. We will discuss the versatility of Reiki, how it varies, and how occasionally it is rejected, and then do some work on one an-other. We will also talk about the Chakras and do a cleansing exercise to finish. Further information can be obtained from

jennywright04@gmail.com

tel: 951321613 or 633 75 99 88. All are welcome to join us, whether you are a Therapist or just interested in this particular subject.

A Healing Fair is being organised for Saturday November 23rd 10.30am -2.30pm at Bar El Trapiche, near

Velez Malaga and further details can be obtained from Janet Vassie : janetvassie@yahoo.co.uk .

A R O U N D T H E V A L L E Y

Newsbites By Jenny Wright

April’s challenge is a technical one, taking photographs with shallow depth of field, which is to focus on a subject with the unnecessary background blurred and out of focus. May’s challenge will be the pho-tographers own interpretation of

The next performances will be Thursday 6th and Friday 7th June at 'El Trapiche' commencing at 7.30pm. There will be two short plays each evening - these are 'Mystery at the Manor' and 'Drama at the Village Hall'. Each performance will take approximately half an hour and there will be a short interval in between. Tickets will be on sale from the first of May. The plays are very funny and we are confident tickets will sell quickly. We now have quite a few new members inc two young teenagers who are very keen. Also our website is now on line..... www.elvalledramagroup.com

EL VALLE DRAMA GROUP

By Jenny Woodhead

“A line from a Poem” a challenge that covers a multitude of subjects. During the month we intend to visit Castillar de la Frontera, an historic village to the north of Gibralter and toward the end of the month we’re looking to hold our annual exhibition of photos taken during the last twelve months, keep an eye out for details nearer the time. Blog: http://lvpc2012.blogspot.com.es/ For those of you thinking about joining us,

why not turn up at one of our meetings.

Apart from the occasional month when we

have to make alternative arrangements, we

usually meet on the first Thursday of the

month at 10.30am in the restaurant area of

Chiringuito Antonio, Puente Don Manuel.

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ning for 143 minutes. I have al-ready mentioned most of the com-mittee who worked hard to make a success of the night but not Stewart who, as is normally the case, prepared the room, seating, blackout and sound so that we could all enjoy the night. Thanks to all.

A change of venue but another good film night. The choice of venue for El-Valles latest film offer-ing was the "Church Room" located under Maroma Estates the large glass fronted estate agents at the Periana crossroads. Friday 5th April was "SKYFALL" night, the latest James Bond film. Thirty-six seats had been sold for the showing which was to include a tapas meal provided by your com-mittee. There were two no-shows. As the audience started to arrive it was pointed out that the bar next door, "Bar Rinconcillo" was operating a "Happy Hour" stretching from 6.30pm to 8.00pm with half priced drinks. Several of us took advan-tage of this unexpected facility!!! Before the film the tapas was pre-pared and served by Linda, Kim, Anne, Sue and Elaine and our plates contained albondigas, Serrano ham, York ham, cheese and bread. The portions were gen-erous and the albondigas piping hot, something that I have found is a rarity most times!!. After eating ,coffee orders were taken, and the film started. The opening sequence of the film lasted some 15 minutes and saw the apparent demise of the hero James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, but we were not fooled!!!. As the film credits then started Stewart paused the showing whilst coffees and mini magnums were served. I should also mention that generous supplies of crisps/peanuts had also been provided!! After coffee back to the film which, as is the usual case, was a fast ac-tion thriller where good overcame evil but saw at the very end the death of "M", Bonds boss, played by Judi Dench. We were intro-duced though to the new "M", played by Ralph Fiennes and the new Moneypenny, played by Naomie Harris. The film seemed to be enjoyed by everyone and was quite long run-

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TAPAS & FILM NIGHT By Alan Impey

Casa Veronica (Located within Divas boutique) ,

El Cruce de Periana, Puente don Manuel, Alcaucin 29711,

Malaga, tlf 638766829

Wine Tasting with Tapas Thursday 9th. May at 6:00pm

cost per person 10€

An evening of delicious wines accompanied with Tapas in conjunction with Vinomar Torre del Mar. All the

wines originate from the Monasterio de la Oliva established in 1124 at the request of the Navarran King

Sancho Ramirez. Tickets can be purchased at Casa Veronica.

Upon arrival, you will be served a welcome glass of Cava and Canapés then the representative from the

vineyard will present each wine and describe its characteristics.

There is no obligation to purchase on the night however all wines are available from Carmen’s extensive

collection in Vinomar at promotional prices

Wine

All from ABADIA DE LA OLIVA

Garnacha Blanca

Tempranillo Joven

Cosecha Magna

Cabernet, Merlot y Tempranillo

Oración

Garnacha

(as served at Midnight Mass in the Vatican)

Tapa

Trout with Horseradish Sauce

Scotch Quails Eggs

Individual Yorkshire puddings with beef and blue

cheese

Desserts

THEFT Alan Impey

Was in Aldi today 11am and my wallet was lifted from my man bag. I realised almost straight away and went to Police Staion to report it. From the police station went to nearest Cajamar bank to cancel debit card and found it had already been used twice. Rang to can-cel my debit and credit card with Nationwide whilst in the Cajamar bank and they too had been used, all within one and a half hours. Problem was I had photo ID in wallet, my driving licence, which made it easy for them. The money is bad enough but the replacing of everything is as bad.

ALL MEETINGS START PROMPTLY AT 7:30 pm

MONDAY 6TH MAY, A TALK BY JOAN FALLON ABOUT THE LIFE OF WOMEN IN SPAIN IN FRANCOS TIME

MONDAY 3RD JUNE, TALK BY JOHN POVEY ABOUT LIFE IN THE “PRETTY THINGS”

MONDAY 1ST JULY, MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT BY `ALEGRIA’

AUGUST NO MEETING

MAY 24TH SKITTLES

AT ATILA BAR

15:00 for skittles; approx 19:00 for food

€8 Members: €10 Non Members

MIDSUMMER MADNESS DANCE @ THE HOTEL VINUELA

THURSDAY, 20TH JUNE 2013 19:00

3 Course meal in the beautiful Hotel Gardens, includes wine, cava, Beer and soft drinks during the meal.

Live Music by the Honky Tonk Cats, Dancing till Late

Members: €35 Non Members: €40

THIS EVENT IS BEING HEAVILY SUBSIDISED BY THE EL VALLE.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH

TRIP TO ALMUÑECAR FIREWORKS

€6 Members €8 Non Members

Leave Hotel Romero 6pm, leave Almuñecar 1 am

Enjoy an excellent night, find your own restaurant, or take a

Picnic on the beach.

Fireworks to music.

WHAT’S ON—FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

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Monday 15th April 2013 was the first day of the el-Valle Asociación trip to the Doñana National Park which is situated on the right bank of the River Guadalquivir in its estuary to the Atlantic Ocean. The Park covers 543 square kms. and is one of Europe’s largest wetland reserves. Our trip started at 8am when the 35 members/non members met at Hotel Romero, Puente de Don Manuel to meet the coach that would be taking us away for four days of exploration/relaxation. Our driver, Leonardo, arrived on time as did all the passengers and we were on our way right on time. We travelled up by the lake to eventually join the A92 that runs be-tween Granada and Sevilla where we would then join the E5/A4 to Cadiz and Huelva. After one and a half hours we stopped for breakfast and when suitably refreshed we set off again. 11 o'clock saw us passing through Sevilla after a pleasant journey and although the trip was along main roads the scenery was very good and all along the roads the hedgerows were in full bloom with wild flowers. It was 12.15 when we arrived at our first destination El Rocio, and everyone made their own way round the pueblo and to take lunch before our trip around sections

The Church at El Rocio of the park in specialist vehicles. El Rocio is renowned for its location and that it has wide sandy streets, no paved roads at all and the horse plays a very im-portant part in the lives of most of the 2,000 permanent residents. It also plays host to a very important pilgrimage.

The El Rocío pilgrimage is the most fa-mous in the region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalucia and the entire country, and beyond. Every Andalucian city, town and village has its own version of pilgrimages but the El Rocio has cult status, and is the most important and most colourful. This cult dates back to the 13th century, when a hunter from the village of Villamanrique discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary in a tree trunk and a chapel was built where the tree stood, and it became a place of pilgrimage. Devotion to this particular version of the Virgin was initially a local affair. Then, by the 17th century,hermandades (brotherhoods) were making the trip from nearby towns at Pentecost; by the 19th century, they came from all over Huelva, Cadiz and Seville, on a journey taking up to four days. Over the next cen-tury, the cult of the Virgin del Rocio be-came more and more widespread, and these days participants come from as far away as Barcelona and the Canary Islands - not to mention tourists who travel from abroad, around Europe and even further afield. As we made our way round the Park our guides pointed out the wildlife that was prolific and frequent stops were made for photographs.

We left the park at 7pm to make our way to our hotel at Punta Umbria, arriving at 8.20pm. Check-in went smoothly and we all gathered in the dining room to take dinner before the dining room closed at 10.00pm. The hotel was living up to its 4 star rating and I was not aware of any complaints from anyone. On Tuesday morning, after break-fast, we left on the coach, at 9am, to travel to Rabida and our visit to the Monastery where Columbus stayed for three months before starting his voyage to America. The monastery is seven kilome-ters south of Huelva city where the Tinto and Odiel rivers meet and dates from the 15th century. La Rábida was damaged by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 and was left derelict in 1835 only to be restored a few decades later. It reopened in 1856 when it was declared a national monument. In 1920 Franciscan monks returned to the convent and monks con-tinue to live there today.

HUELVA The monastery, surrounded by magnificent botanical gardens full of exotic plants, is worth visiting for its museum detailing the dis-covery of the New World and Columbus's life. Also worth seeing are the murals in one of the mon-astery's rooms that depict Colum-bus's life, which were painted by a local artist Daniel Vásquez Díaz in the 1930s. In the chapel is an alabaster statue of the Virgen de los Milagros (Virgin of Miracles), to which Columbus and his crew are said to have prayed.

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FOUR DAY TRIP TO DONANA By Alan Impey

After our visit we had a couple of hours strolling round the nearby town of Huelva prior to our visit to the rep-lica ships used by Columbus in his travels.

These ships are life-size and named Nina, Pinta and The Santa Maria and are moored on the Rio Tinto Estuary in the Muelle de las Carabelas which translates to Harbour of the Caravels, the ship type used. It seems a little unbelievable that three small ships carrying in total just 90 men could begin the colonization of an entire country. Today was relatively short and by 3pm we were back at our hotel in Punta Umbria where some of us chose to stroll along the sea front and take lunch in one of the chiringuitos. Dinner that evening was very good and by virtue of being at the hotel for the start of service ensured that we had the pick of the freshest food. The next morning, Wednesday, was another early start with our leaving the hotel at 9am for a trip up to the Rio Tinto Mine Park. Although the mine is no longer in production the whole plant has been turned into a museum detailing the mines history and was a fascinating visit which cul-minated in a one and a half hour rail trip on a narrow gauge railway follow-ing the Rio Tinto with its orange/brown water flow, a legacy of the mine workings.

Rio Tinto

For 12 years now there have been plans to try to re-open the mine which is said to have a further possible life of 25 years and would make a vast difference to the local unemployment figure of 50% Fol-lowing the mine visit we moved on to Aracena pueblo for our visit to the cave system there. Before entering the caves there was time to explore Aracena and take some lunch. These caves, Gruta de las Maravillas are truly spectacular and although I am a big fan of the cave system at Maro, Nerja, I have to concede that Aracena’s caves are better. We were reminded on numerous occasions that no photography in the caves was allowed. (Enjoy your pho-tos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Arecena Caves

After leaving the caves, we made our way to the Museo de Jamon for an interesting and informative visit and tasting covering the production of the Jamon legs seen hanging everywhere. It was now back to the hotel after a long and tiring day but also a very enjoyable one and after another good dinner sev-eral of us retired to the bar as it would be our last night at the hotel. Thursday gave us a lie in as we were not intending to start our return journey, via Sevilla, until 10am. This was well received by all!!!!!!!!! We reached Sevilla by 11.30 and were told we were not expected back at the coach until 4pm. This allowed us four and a half hours to see some of the main fea-tures of Sevilla although to be fair you need several days to take it all in. The party I was attached to was fortunate to include Trevor and Mo who had a good knowledge of Sevilla and which ensured we made the most of our time there and included a trip round the centre in a horse and carriage. Our journey home was completed very comfortably and we arrived back at

Puente de Don Manuel shortly after 7pm after a trip that is to be well recommended. No mention so far of the com-mittee members also taking the trip so that will be rectified now!!! Chief guide/translator was Terry Frost and he did a great job with the coach microphone to keep us all informed of where we were going, how long we had, what to expect and so forth. This was all delivered in Terry’s usual re-laxed/laid back style which serves him well and which is ap-preciated by all. Also there were Stewart and Elaine and along with Carol they all worked well to make the trip enjoyable. A big thank you to them for all their efforts. Before closing, thanks also to Josephine who assisted in the translation in the cave system when our group had to be strung out in a line. PHOTOGRAPHS. Hopefully an agreement struck with Elaine Edwards during the trip will result in some very good photographs to accompany this report and also to be posted on the web site. OVER TO YOU, ELAINE.

ASOCIACIÓN EL VALLE DEL EMBALSE COMMITTEE

2012-13

Chair: Anne Dibden - 605826358 Vice Chair & Head of Social : - Jane Harris - 633615154 Treasurer: Terry Frost - 697569141 Secretary: Stewart Common - 647076177 MEMBERS

Linda Kemp: - 951167088 Elaine Edwards: - 647076177 Lyndsey Padley: - 628655801 Carol Jackson: - 635291532 Kim Rogerson: - 696126204 Judy Maycock:- 673847608

Editor: Susan Jones - 680407894 Almoner: Christine Goreham – 635361233 INFORMATION.

NEWSLETTER EDITOR newslettereditor2012@gmail.com WEBSITE - www.el-valle-asociacion.com

A representative of the committee is usually on duty between 11am – 12.30pm at Mis Tapas (“BILLY’S BAR”) during Friday Market - Chiringuito Antonio

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