Upper Town

2017 Weekly photo challenge (week 12) Historical 

~ Making Stitches ~ 5 Comments

Gibraltar is steeped in history, where ever you go in this small but perfectly formed place you can see it to abundance. From the Tower of Homage, also know as Moorish Castle (you can see this above), which stands sentry above the old Upper Town, and the city walls and fortifications of the Northern Defences.

Around town we have lots of lovely old buildings including the beautifully restored King’s Bastion (below).

From the outside, you wouldn’t know behind these walls there is a ten pin bowling alley, cinema and ice skating rink would you?

If you are ever on Gibraltar’s Main Street on a Saturday lunchtime, you are sure to see some living history in action, when the historical reenactment society parades past in uniforms of years gone by. Each Saturday, the former soldiers reenact the Ceremony of the Keys to the delight of many passers by and tourists.

Wearing different uniforms for different occasions, they are photographed and watched on their trip down to Casemates Square and back again.

I’m joining with Nana Cathy and Wild Daffodil for this weekly photo challenge.

2017 Weekly photo challenge (week 3) Awkward

~ Making Stitches ~ 7 Comments

I say this with deep affection, but there are a few things about Gibraltar which are ‘awkward’:

Narrow steep roads with suspect parking to negotiate…

Just imagine that dreaded moment you have been trying to avoid when you realise there is no alternative but to drive your new (to you) car around Upper Town  – eek. Will you survive the experience intact or will you get home with new scratches and perhaps one less wing mirror.

How do you furnish such an ‘awkward’ shaped house? (See above)

Did I mention that we live on a great big Rock?? 

Awkward is carrying heavy bags up copious steps… for many residents there is no vehicular access to their homes. Imagine lugging the weekly shop up all these in the baking summer sun.

It may be awkward at times but I think that adds to the charm of the place. There are no call centres or online price comparison websites here so when you need to renew your insurance you actually have to visit the individual insurance companies or go to a broker in order to get quotes. Awkward and annoying.

However, the silver lining to this cloud is that you get no junk mail or annoying phone calls at dinner time trying to sell you mis-sold PPI compensation, double glazing, new roofing etc etc. So yes, for all it’s awkwardness Gibraltar really is a special place.

Remember that suspect parking I mentioned? I reckon it’ll be a bit ‘awkward’ getting out of these parking spaces don’t you? 

Driving in Gibraltar means you need to be good at hill starts, parallel parking and know how to move any motorbikes which have been deposited in your maneuvering space (a skill I’m yet to acquire).

I’m linking with Nana Cathy for this photo challenge. If you would like to join in, pop over to her blog for more information.

A stroll around Gibraltar No. 18 : Moorish Castle

~ Making Stitches ~ 15 Comments

After a long school holiday at home with the Little Postcards, I escaped for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon and headed out for a walk. Main Street was busy with bargain hunters hitting the sales so I decided to climb up out of the bustling town centre of Gibraltar and visit Moorish Castle.

The Tower of Homage, which can clearly be seen by visitors to Gibraltar as they approach from the airport is one of the last remaining buildings left by the Moors from when they controlled Gibraltar back in the 11th Century.

It’s a much visited destination on the usual Gibraltar tourist trail but, believe it or not, despite living here for so long, I haven’t been inside since our first ever visit to the Rock when we came for a look round and to find somewhere to live almost 8 years ago.

I climbed up higher and higher into the Upper Town leaving the shops and crowds enjoying the post Christmas sales on Main Street and found parts of Upper Town I’d never visited before. The street names refer to the Rock’s military past.

Wandering around the Moorish Castle Estate, I discovered great examples of community painting  projects from National Days gone-by.

I have to admit that I got lost a couple of times taking alleyways and paths assuming they would lead up to the castle and discovering dead ends! I have a feeling I will be visiting again soon as there are so many lovely examples of architecture which are crying out to be photographed… there are even headless men and children crossing the roads (see the sign below).

Never before have I seen such a festive washing line. I hope whoever the clean laundry belongs to doesn’t mind me sharing this, but wow what a lovely collection of Christmas table cloths, tea towels and aprons! Obviously being laundered to put away until next year!

As you walk up these roads and paths, you don’t realise how high you are climbing until you turn to look back at where you came from!

Nestled in amongst the post war government housing estate is an ancient structure which has a sign detailing it’s past. This building with battlements is probably the oldest building in Gibraltar. It was the original gatehouse for Moorish Castle and was occupied successively by Moorish, Spanish and British troops for over eight hundred years.

Just a little further up hill and there was the Castle.

You can completely understand why it was built in this position, what a great vantage point to observe our neighbours to the north. And just check out that cannon with it’s sight firmly set.

It was time to go inside..

The sign above the door reads:

When the Moors recaptured Gibraltar from the Spaniards in 1333 they rebuilt an earlier tower, ruined in the fighting, into this solid Tower of Homage, which has since withstood ten sieges.

After making your way through a steel gate, you reach the inner stairwell. Modern stairs lead the way up and down the tower now, but it’s clear to see what’s left of the original Moorish stairwell with arched sections left on some of the walls. The tower you see today was built at the same time as the Alhambra in Granada.

The first part you come to is an original Moorish bath house. The interlinking rooms are cleaned back to the stone and the subtle lighting means you can see the lovely brick work and arches which feature so heavily in the design.

A much larger example of a Moorish bath house can be found in the basement of the Gibraltar Museum. That is a truly atmospheric place and well worth a visit if you are over here.

Back into the stair well and this tiny window gave a great view of the town below. I wonder how many soldiers have stood with their weapons pointed out of there over the centuries?

These walls have stood the test of time and many attacks, in addition to the many sieges, in 1540, hundreds of people headed to the castle to shelter safely while Turkish pirates attacked the Rock.

Don’t look down!

I headed on up the stair well and up out of a little door at the top…

…to the roof and the most amazing panoramic view.

The Union Jack flapped in the breeze as gusts blew the clouds across the moody sky. In 1704 Admiral Rooke hoisted the British flag at this spot when he captured Gibraltar, one has flown here ever since.

Here’s Gibraltar’s famous runway which is bisected by the only road off the Rock, the Spanish town of La Linea lies on the other side of the border. Despite the fact many people mistakenly think Gibraltar is an island, you can clearly see we are well and truly attached to the rest of mainland Europe!

Down below the castle you get a good view of Casemates Square (bottom centre of the photo). In it’s heyday the Moorish Castle complex stretched all the way down to where Casemates is today.

Immediately below the tower is the remains of the former Gibraltar Prison. The Prison was still in use here when we arrived to live on the Rock, but it has now relocated to a purpose-built facility above Europa Point.

It wasn’t just me and a handful of tourists who were taking a moment to appreciate the view up there.

Can you can see the old building with scaffolding around in the centre of the picture? That is the orginal gatehouse which I mentioned before – it’s hard to imagine now, but the castle must have covered a really large area.

In addition to the town below, you get a brilliant view of the sea and the coast further north. It was looking a bit blustery on the Mediterranean coast up towards Santa Margarita.

In the Bay of Gibraltar, it was more sheltered, but this small group of yachts was making the most of the breeze off the western end of the runway.

I enjoyed my visit to Moorish Castle, I’m so glad I decided to forgo the joys of Saturday afternoon sales shopping in town in favour of this.

Goodbye for now Moorish Castle, I promise I won’t leave it so long before visiting you again!

 

2017 Weekly photo challenge (week 1) Ceiling

~ Making Stitches ~ 13 Comments


This year, I thought I would join in with a weekly photo challenge with fellow blogger Nana Cathy. I have seen her photos each week for the past 12 months and enjoyed seeing how she interpreted the word prompt for each week.

The first word for 2017 is ‘ceiling’. There is one stand out ceiling for me in Gibraltar and that’s the beautifully painted ceiling in Sacred Heart Church. A deep midnight blue colour covered with golden stars. 

I wish I had a better photo – I have only been in for a couple of services and keep meaning to go in for a look when it’s open to the public so I can take some better shots. To my mind it is far and away the most beautiful church in Gibraltar, hidden away in Upper Town and off the beaten track. 

A stroll around Gibraltar No 4: Gardens 

~ Making Stitches ~ 18 Comments

  Convent Garden fountain

Space is at a premium here in Gibraltar so very few people are lucky enough to have gardens. Nevertheless, it would appear that for many, lack of space is not a problem for would-be gardeners. Whichever road or street you go down, you will find keen green-fingered Gibraltar residents making the most of the space we’ve got.   

 St Jago’s

Whether it’s a window box, a row of pots outside the front door or a verdant balcony or roof terrace, those of us who love plants will NOT be beaten! 

 Upper Town

Gibraltar has it’s own Horticultural Society – did you know that? It’s been running for over sixty years. It was founded by Lady MacMillan, the then Governor’s wife back in 1953. Two flower shows are held each year with categories including; balconies, patios, courtyards, terraces, gardens, schools, corridors and estates. So no matter how much or how little space you’ve got, you can still have a go – even if it’s a single geranium plant in a pot. 

 Upper Town

It would seem that the British love affair with gardening persists even in these sunbaked and at times, rather unforgiving climes. There’s a Facebook page for Gibraltar home gardeners which boasts nearly 300 members and is a forum for gardeners to share hints and tips as well as sharing pictures of their horticultural successes and failures. 

 Upper Town

Sourcing plants isn’t too much of a problem here thankfully as there is a (small) garden centre – possibly the smallest in the world! The supermarkets here also stock some plants, although we have found to our cost that a few of them are a bit too ‘British’ for the Gibraltar climate and haven’t necessarily done too well here like hydrangeas and raspberries. 

 Garrison Library garden

We are also lucky enough to have a few garden centres situated a short drive away in Spain, so if we can’t find what we’re looking for here, we don’t  have too far to go to get new stock. 

 Europa Point Lighthouse keepers cottage gardens

Also, in my experience, I have found Gibraltar’s gardeners very generous in parting with their plants. In the last year I’ve been gifted nasturtiums and two types of lily. I have also bought a few plants from the Convent Garden at it’s annual garden party. 

 Upper Town

For some people, of course, their gardens can’t be on ground level and a roof terrace is their only outside space. 

 Town centre roof terrace 

One of the greatest upheavals of moving to Gibraltar (apart from leaving friends and family) was leaving my garden. I was a keen gardener and an avid watcher of Gardener’s World. I attended Gardener’s World Live at the NEC in Birmingham twice and made a wonderful trip to the Chelsea Flower Show. We may not have a beautiful display of bulbs in Spring, a lush green lawn in Summer or a beautiful show in Autumn with our Acers in our old front garden, but in Gibraltar we can embrace a different form of gardening. 

 South District

One plant which has always failed for me after at least half a dozen attempts, both in the UK and here in Gibraltar is agapanthus. I would just love to have some in our patio and lust after these beauties in the Governor’s own back garden:   

 Convent Garden

We have, however, had great success with our geraniums and pelargoniums which we inherited when we moved into our place. I was, at first, filled with trepidation about becoming custodians of such mature plants, but  so far, we’ve succeeded :-), we haven’t lost one yet! They grow so big here as they don’t lie dormant long in the winter like they do back at home (or indeed get killed by frost), as long as they are regularly dead headed and have a bit of plant food every now and again, they give us a wonderful show. They look their absolute best at sunset after a sunny day as the just seem to glow!

  I do hope you’ve enjoyed this short stroll around Gibraltar’s ‘gardens’, please call in again soon as I’ll be heading out for another stroll next week!
 

A stroll around Gibraltar: No. 2 Steps, steps, steps…

~ Making Stitches ~ 28 Comments

  You may have noticed that recently steps have featured heavily in my posts, mainly because of my intention to compete in the Med Steps challenge coming up this spring. Well that got me thinking and do you know there are an awful lot of steps around Gibraltar? It might have something to do with the fact we live on a flipping great big rock and there is a lot of gradient going on! 

 Another reason for steps is that they take up a lot less space than roads and for many people they are the only way to access their homes, particularly in the pedestrian reliant narrow lanes and passages of town and upper town. 

 The steps here can be a real challenge, especially in the rain (which can make some of them very slippy) and in the hot summer when slow and steady is the order of the day. 

  If you are a visitor to Gibraltar, you don’t need to venture far from the main consumer attractions of Main Street to be faced with steps a plenty. 

 You might think, so what? What’s the big deal? A flight of steps is just that. But no, they come in so many shapes and sizes.

There are big ones… 

 

Small ones… 

 

Shallow ones… 

 

Steep ones… 

 

Unloved ones… 

 

Named ones… 

   

Anonymous ones… 

 

Ones with ramps to help us parents with prams… 

 

Floral ones… 

     

And colourful ones… 

 Yep there are definitely a lot of steps here, it’s a wonder folk round here join gyms to be honest! Right I’m off for a lie down after all that climbing ;-)!