The Gibraltar Magazine February 2004

inside this issue:

Tercentenary celebrations

Manchester's little black cat

Pfesident Grant's tipple too far

New challenges for Clive music feature & more

J'

A fresh look at Blands

Blands Travel has delivered a world-class travel service from Gibraltar since 1810 and we are now delighted to unveil a corporate image that reflects the modern approach of a travel company which never stands still in seeking out the best value for our customers.

Travel

Adventure, exotic locations, luxury cruises and long haul holidays are provided by Blands Travel through its team of dedicated and, above all, highly experienced travel professionals whose world-wide contacts mean you need look no further when you want something out of the ordinary - something to remember for ever. Take the first step by contacting us at Cloister Building in Irish Town.

SBLANEIS Corporate

Email and video conferencing aren't always adequate, and busy executives frequently have to pack travel into their already tight schedules. Cut the stress - delegate alt the arrangements to Blands Corporate, the fastmoving business travel specialists. For the best-priced business fares, hotels, car hireand anything else you might need, wherever you must go - touch base with us on the third floor at Cloister Building in Irish Town.

For great breaks that won't break the bank, Blands Express is the short cut to all European holidays, flights and tours. From a weekend on the Costa del Sol to a fortnight in the Scottish Highlands, for romance in Paris. Prague, or Rome, we'll make your capital go further when you visit us at 220 Main Street.

a. Wage Packaging

b. Payment of Wages/Salaries

c. Collection Agents

d. Delivery of Wages/Salaries to on site Employees

We already provide these services to:

a. Gibraltar Government

b. Elderly Care Agency

c. Savignon Financial Services (Clerical Medical Insurance/Norwich Union Insurance)

d. ABN Amro Bank

Head Office: Eaton Park, 1 Devil's Tower Road, Gibraltar Tel: 44999 Fax: 44888 E-mail: securex@gibnet.gl

Wage Packaging

a. Collection of an amount of money from your Bank or Offices and transfer it in our GIT Armoured Vehicles to Security Express Central Offices

b. Count amount of money

c. Packaging of individual wages in accordance with your instructions

d. Overnight Vaulting of money if required

Payment of Salaries

a. Payment of Wages/Salaries at Security Express Offices or.

b. Delivery and distribution of Wages/Salaries on site

c. Wages/Salaries to be signed by employee on receipt

d. Arrangements for future payment to employees not meeting pay time slot

Collection Agents

At Security Express central Offices we have ample computer data base, regularly serviced and maintained by MCS,for cash, cheque and direct debit payments paid by the client. Our offices are sited out of town area but easily accessible to pedestrians and vehicles alike and open to the public between 0930hrs and 1600hrs daily Monday to Fri day.

Collection Procedures

a. Database set up and installed at Security Express Central Offices

b. Additions, deletions or alterations may be made as required

c. Client pays instalment and given receipt

d. All daily transactions by money, cheque and direct debit recorded and submitted to Bank Account or other Service

Insurance Insurance cover for monies carried or handled may be through your own Insurance Company or through Security Express,

Travel is all about change,and with that in mind the Bland Group has launched Its brand new look.

Founded in 1810, ihe Bland Group will now be known as Elands followed by one of three designations — Travel, Express and Corporate. The changes will be emphasised by the visual im pact of redesigned shop fronts,of fices, logo, corporate stationery and — possibly the most eye catching — the fleet of Elands' buses.

The buses, formerly having lit tle distinction in their ubiquitous manufacturer's white, will now be instantly recognisable in a blue and rich red livery, colours that they will share with the frontage

scheme at Elands Express at 220 Main Street.This branch has an ex tensive choice of European holi days that covers the continent, with breaks to suit just aboutevery taste. All of these have been care fully selected to give the best value at the lowest available prices.

The third segment of the new look is Elands Corporate,formerly known as Bland Business House. This is the sober side of travel, its conservative dependability re flected in the new matt grey styl ing, because Elands Corporate is for business trips — although if you want to mix a little pleasure

The Blands Travel division is represented by red as a colour of excitement

of Blands Travel at the Cloister Building on Irish Town.

The Elands Travel division is represented by red as a colour of excitement, this being the section of Elands that will specialise in ad venture, exotic locations, luxury cruises and long-haul holidays anything out of the ordinary. If lu nar or interstellar holidays ever become available, this would be the part of Elands to make your booWng.

For the more usual breaks,from a weekend on the Costa to a fort night (or more) at any resort or capital city within Europe,just fol low the new Green for Go colour

with your corporate affairs this de partment has the contacts to streamline that in with your main requirements as well. Blands are more than aware that travelling business people want the quality but without any excess cost, and this is where the experienced ex perts at Cloister Building will skil fully arrange the flights as well as the hotels, the car hire, the theatre tickets — whatever the busv ex ecutive has to have — and quickly.

The new look at Blands has been brought in by James Gaggero, Deputy Chairman of the Bland Group and Chairman ofBland Ltd. and Joss Kent, who has been Re-

gional Managing Director of the Bland Group in the Western Meditteranean for around a year. New distribution channels have also been explored with the inno vative Weekly Travel Offer board which will be sited at Safeway's store in view of the checkouts.This board will, as its name clearly im plies,feature holiday special offers, often at last minute prices, and is expected to be popular with the shopping public. It could be the start of a new route from checkout to check-in.

Tower Mint

Appointed Official Mint for Gibraltar

Tower Mint has been ap pointed as the Official mint to the Government of Gibraltar, and The Westminster Collection is to be offical distributors for the Government's commemo rative coin issues.

The Tower Mint, established in 1974 by Raphael Maklouf,is perhaps best known for the Queen Elizabeth II effigy on British coinage between 1985 and 2000. Commenting on the appointment, Mr Maklouf stated:'With the 300th anniver sary of British Gibraltar this year, we are particularly excited to be involved in Gibraltar's new coinage. We are looking forward to producing some very special issues for this year'simportant Tercentenary."

Distribution of commemora tive coins will be handled by the Westminster Collection, who will supply new Gibraltar commemoratives to UK collec tors as well as on a wholesale basis to UK and international coin dealers. Managing direc tor, Ian Glen commented:"We are delighted to be working with Tower Mint and the Gov ernment of Gibraltar and look forward to successfully bring ing new commemorative coins to the widest base of collectors possible both in the UK and overseas."

Barclays: SECURING I.T.

In the modern world of Cyberspace where even some of the'most closely guarded secrets of the Pentagon have proved vulnerable to determined hackers, security of financial Information can prove a nightmare to Institutions such as banks, according to Gibraltarborn Keith Pratts, the computer wizard who is IT operations manager for Barclays Bank.

couraging," he adds.

Keith joined the Bank's foreign ex change section 1987 on leaving Bayside School — where in his early 'teens he was among the first of the pupils to opt to study the re cently-introduced computer science as a subject. He took to computers as the proverbial duck to water, enjoying its "analytical com plexities" even as a youngster.

Gibraltar's first dual-currency au tomatic teller(ATM)network and the following year was responsi ble for setting up the bank's IT system linking it to Jersey-sup ported operations.

"Security is fast becoming a full-time role in itself and it's a bit of a monster really—notonly in terms of our IT systems, but in other areas.

As well as the hackers, who constantly attempt to outwit the protective programmes the in dustry develops, there are the scavengers. Like any other finan cial institutions banks generate a considerable amount of paper work — all of which is important and some of which contains sen sitive information — so that maintaining security also in volves social engineering, in the sense that staff have to be edu cated about the need to shred documents," he explains.

But this is all grist to the mill of a man who became fascinated by computers as a 13-year-old schoolboy and today — heading a seven-strong team of similarly dedicated enthusiasts — holds down a job that is not only "im mensely satisfying" but is"mix ing what you like doing with something that brings benefits to both the bank and its custom ers."

"That's gratifying — and en

"I enjoyed com puters, but hadn't seen IT as a career," he says."Gibraltar's finance sector was beginning to take off and banking was clearly going to be a growth point... the place to be." His switch to IT was fortuitous and fol lowed the arrival at Barclays of its first computer — an NCR main frame and architecture — "in a box that looked rather like a washing

After that the string of suc cesses and innovations parallels the revolution in global banking! In 1992 he was at the It helm for the introduction of the Visa Gate way services; two years later came the Novell Cashier FOS;in 1996 the setting up of the state ment enquiry terminal as part of the self-service banking initiative; and — with more innovations along the line—headed the team that handled the introduction of off-site ATMs at Shell and Safeway in 2001.

This also proved a watershed year with the formation of the Barclays Private Client conglom erate with its own IT section where there is a global sharing of "best practices" among the vari ous teams and in which Keithe re ports directly to the bank's IT di rector in London.

"It's a high pressure environ ment which serves the local busi ness teams and strives to deliver a world class service and solu tions," Keith says.

"An within the bank it also cre ates a wonderful window for Gi braltar and what we on the Rock can achieve.All our initiatives are designed with a view to enhance the Barclays customer experience and to be receptive to local requirements...which,of course, also needs intimate local knowl edge."

machine."

"Staff members were asked whether anyone knew anything about computers and was inter ested in IT and I volunteered... It was as simple as that."

Though he did not anticipate it at the time, the move presaged what was to become a significant area of expansion in the banking industry and as it mushroomed,so Keith's experience and knowledge grew with it. By 1991 he wasthe key player in Barclays' introduction of

Married and with two young sons (the elder, four-year-old Jack,"has already taken his first steps in PC world")Keith admits that when he gets home — often after long and late hours in the bank — the last thing he wants do "is to think about IT and com puters... but it's sometimes hard to switch off."

"There's always a new chal lenge,for solving IT problems is noting short of an analytical sci ence," he says. "But I enjoy the challenge of finding a solution and that is the ultimate satisfac tion."

"It's a high pres sure environment which serves the [ocai business teams and strives to deliver a world class service and solutions"

As the euro seems set to continue its rise to historically high levels against the American dollar, and with no sign that either the US Federal Reserve Bank nor the European Central Bank are likely to intervene to support the greenback, Gibraltar's traders — and local shoppers could face a tougher climate in the next few months. For though,for the time being, the pound is holding its own against the euro at levels of around 69p to 70p Foreign Exchange experts predict that it will soon run out of steam making goods purchased in the common currency considerably more expensive than they are at present.

The only Gibraltarians likely to emerge smiling from any fray be tween sterling and the euro are lo cal bar and restaurant owners who fix their own rates of exchange for the common currency at a consid erably lower level than that of the banks and cambios. When the pound starts to drop against the euro — and Forex pundits antici-

and if the euro is strong we feel the crunch."

While some foreign exchange analysts suggest that the pound could climb as high as $2 this month as Asian banks continue their aggressive buying of sterling, it is unlikely to hold its own against the euro for much longer — unless the ECB cuts interest rates, which

pate that the slide could begin by the middle of this month — shop pers crossing the border will find that their sterling does not stretch as far as it does at present. Similarly, many local importers who are forced to rely on suppliers within the EU — even for some British products — find that as the euro rises against the pound, their goods become dearer.

"In the old days we were able to buy directly from British manufac turers and suppliers where,because the Gibraltar and British pounds are on a par, currency fluctuations didn't affect the prices we paid," a leading Main Street trader explains.

"Alternatively, we could shop around for goods in Europe when the euro was weak against sterling.

"But quite a number of British manufacturers and suppliers now have set agreements with their Eu ropean agents and stockists under which Gibraltar is lumped in with Spain and Portugal as part of an Iberian 'market' for which the agents have exclusive rights.So we are forced to buy through them

is unlikely.

In the final days of last year, the US dollar's fall drove the euro tea record high, and above the key $1.25 level for the first time since the introduction of the common currency, and its climb continues.

And while most European bank ers regard an exchange rate of about $1.35 to the euro as the"pain threshold" for the Eurozone, at which level the ECB could be ex pected to act — either buying dol lars to support the American cur rency or by cutting the base inter est rate by half a percentage point or more from its present 2 per cent. But the bank's new president JeanClaude Trichet appears as opposed to interest rate hikes as his pred ecessor "Dim" Wim Duisenbreg. Indeed last month Trichet indicated that the ECB has no plans to inter cede and halt the dollar's fall.

Nevertheless, the ECB is clearly uneasy that the continuing strength of the euro could undermine Eurozone recovery and require an interest rate cut in the next few months, a senior ECB official has

Some foreign exchange analysts suggest that the pound could climb as high as $2

been quoted as saying

The present low levels of the dollar have al ready begun to hit Euroland exports to the States... and as things stand ex ports are the only force driving the weak economic re covery in the 12-nation bloc.

While Trichet ap pears sanguine about the state of the common currency, the rapid rise of ''.I the euro —which by midJanuary had gained 15 per cent against the dollar since Sep tember — is worrying ECB analysts and senior officials at the bank where a range of options for tack ling the currenc\' surge are under discussion, according to recent press reports.

"The rapid rise ofthe euro brings an element of uncertainty into our forecasts," a senior ECB official told the Financial Times last month."We have warned for some time about the risks to growth posed by eco nomic imbalances in other regions (particularly the US budget and current account deficits). Those risks are now materialising," he added.

Should the ECB decide to act it has two practical options. It could

bank did last year when it bought $100 million to ease pressures on the ven.

America is probably content to let the dollar continue to ease against both the euro and sterling. The Bush administration is prepar ing for an election year in which George Junior is attempting to win the second term of office which his father failed to achieve.

He and his advisors will not have forgotten that the poor perform ance of the US economy in the months leading up to that election cost George Bush Senior his return to the White House.

The rapid rise of the euro is worrying ECB analysts and senior officials at the bank

cut Eurozone interest rates to di minish the attraction of euro versus US assets.(Inward investment into the United States has virtually dried up in the prolonged climate of low interest rates which the Fed has maintained.) Alternatively it could sell euros and buy dollars on the foreign exchange markets to stem the rise of the common cur rency — as the Japanese Central

The weak dollar has given a sub stantial boost to US exporters, in turn strengthening a recovery in America's manufacturing sectors. This,along with last year's substan tial tax introduced by the Bush ad ministration contributes a useful plank for Bush's "economic" re election platform... Which, what ever economists may say, is what the "weak" dollar is all about.

PC CLINIC EXPANDS

The PC Clinic has mm'moved to larger premises at 17 Convent Place where. <js well as the established services ofsupport contracts, network installation, web design,PC repairsi construction and maintenance, there is afull Internet Cafefor downloading e-mails or searching the net. Tel: 49991 or visit wzcnv.pc-clinic-gib.com for further information on the services on offer.

Walk into our Gibraltar br^ch and you will find we are on first name terms with many of our customers. Not only do we have excellent local knowledge, we can provide a wide range of services.

So, if you are looking for a mutually beneficial relationship, with a personal touch, we can help.

At Norwich and

we are committed to providing a very personal service .. . . it's in our mutual Interest.

IWIWWIHIHl

12/13 Block 5 Watergardcns, I'O Box 417, Gibraltar Tel: 78440 / 77154 Fax: 74710

To ndi>ertisc in the business section of The Gibraltar Magazine contact 77748

Mediterranean Computer Services

Suite 1 Shell House, Line Wall Road, Gibraltar Tel: 42131 Fax: 42104

IM11 1 icilitib in DiKunvni Cl ti.igingand Filing Systems, RI Microfilm Bureau Sitvm es, OB infnrmaiion Mdndgemeni and iinsullanrv,

BUSINESS SYSTEMS

^shni:

The Rock's Youngest Branch Manager

Vivacious and bubbling with enthusiasm, Amanda Eccleston is a far cry from the usual image of a bank manager... her appearance suggests that of a jolly and much-loved school principal or of the air stewardess which, as a teenage Westside schoolgirl, she dreamt of becoming. Yet the 32-year-old mother of three young children has a steely determination and a strong strain of self-belief that has taken her rapidly up the rungs of the Gibraltar banking ladder to become the Rock's youngest — and first female — branch manager of a leading retail bank.

Her appointment as head of re tail banking at NatWest last year — as part of the lengthy local re structuring which followed the bank's takeover by the Royal Bank of Scotland — came in the face of fierce competition.Others, more senior, had applied for the post when It was advertised in ternally.

"Banking is about people as much as it is about managing money," she says firmly.

"So, though I was as nervous as a girl on her first date, when I went into the interview I got up and showed them my true colours — I'm essentially a 'people per son' and 1 suppose that rang through in my presentation... When I was told that i got the job, 1 shed a few tears — a mixture of relief and exultation, I suppose... and not the sort of thing you ex pect a banker to do," she adds with a smile.

Amanda admits to being competitive and has always been a determined "achiever",but was also spurred by a motivational "personal excellence programme" which she attended while a rela- I tionship manager for premium| banking with NIatWest. It proved a watershed in her career. Al though she was working only part-time, having just had her sec ond child, Amanda "came back from that course with my heart set on climbing the banking ladder." I

In fact, she has never lacked drive or the motivation which has seen her career .see-saw between NatWest and RBS (then two sepa rate and competing banks) as she climbed the rungs of promotion. And there was early evidence of her determination to succeed when, after joining NatWest straight from school and working"through every role in the bank", she became the youngest staff member appointed Grade III.

The banking bug had bitten her and — after meeting her future hus band Steve who was serving with the RAF in Gibraltar — when she

February 2004

accompanied him back to England, where they married, Amanda joined the Allied Irish & Midland Bank. She had been offered a back-

Amanda

ness and effortless charm is well suited! — so opted for the Allied Irish post.

When the couple returned to Gi

pendent financial advisor! —be fore returning to NatWest three years later, joining its expatriate banking department.

"Banking is 80 per cent about people and 20 per cent about business so I found work with ex patriate customers particularly rewarding, though — with two small children — it was taxing to be traveling up and down the Costas on a regular basis to liaise with clients,"she says."But it was both satisfying and rewarding to build up a portfolio of custom ers... many of whom also became friends."

But the rungs of the banking ladder beckoned and Amanda switched back to RBS to head the bank's team handling expatriate customer services in her penulti mate move before gaining her present position — which she sees as essentially motivational.

"As well as keeping my fingers on the pulse of the business side at NatWest and ensuring that we keep our customers happy, 1 also want a happy and well-motivated staff... and that comes not only from encouragement but through example."

in fact, along with her drive and ambition, happiness features strongly in Amanda's life and was a consideration in her deci sion to apply for her present job.

"As a mother I had to think re ally hard about priorities and what was best for the family," she admits, "i decided that if 1 didn't go for promotion — in spite of the added work-load and responsibili ties this would involve — I would not only regret it for the rest of my life but would be unhappy not to have taken up the challenge.And a 'happy' mother would be better for everyone."

office job with NatWesl but, along with the "banking bug" she had developed what she describes as a "love of dealing with the public" something to which her friendli

braltar Amanda applied for, and obtained, a post as relationship manager on the premium banking team at RBS — where husband Steve is now employed as an inde-

And so it has proved. The time which she spends at home — "I shed the bank's cares as soon as I cross the threshold," she says — is "quality time" and everyone is happy with the arrangements.

Amanda Eccleston

admits to being competitive and has always been a determined "achiever"

move up new opportunities at Queensway Quay Resales

RAGGED STAFF

Superb 2 bedroom apartment on first floor. Good condition, covered and open terrace directly overlooking the marina. £300,000.

CORMORANT WHARF

Magnificent 3 bedroom apartment, on the first floor with views over the pool, gardens and marina. 151 sqm plus 50 sqm terrace. Use of pool, gardens and fitness centre. £495,000

ORDNANCE WHARF

Brand new 3 bedroom apartment having superb direct marina facing views. Air-conditioned, 129 sqm with 13 sqm terrace, Use of pool and fitness centre. Underground parking.

£425,000

DEXTEROUS HOUSE

3 bedroom duplex in Ordnance Wharf. Large master bedroom with own terrace, superb marina views, air conditioning, use of pool and fitness centre, 120 sqm, 17 sqm terrace.

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CORMORANT WHARF

Superb 2 bedroom apartment, fourth floor. South and West facing aspect. 121 sqm plus 13 sqm terrace. Airconditioned, use of pool, gardens and fitness centre. Allocated parking. £397,000

i Queensway Quay

I Sales & Information Centre

•• Queensway Quay

^ Gibraltar.

! Tel: 40550 Fax: 75529

email: gibmag@taywood.gi

Taylor Woodrow

K G K w

As the international accountancy giants tighten their procedures — and in many instances set about dismantling the huge, non-accounting "empires" they have built in recent years to accommodate the needs of their clients — over the next 18 months Gibraltar is likely to see a string of local company mergers similar to the recent union of Baker Tilly and KPMG.

The trust and funds management operations of some of our smaller inde pendent companies may also soon find that they have to merge to attain the "critical mass" that will allow them to remain economi cally viable and meet the high over heads that a raft of regulations have brought about.

Pressure for such changes are part of the global ripple ef fect that followed the Enron and WorldCom corpo rate scandals which rocked America's boardrooms — and led to the introduc tion of tougher leg islation — in 2002.

And these pressures have been intensi fied by the collapse of Farmalat, the Italian corporate giant where in December the au thorities uncovered a multi-million dollar "black hole" in its finances — a gap which allegedly was not disclosed by outside auditors from one of the leading international ac countancy groups.

Italian prosecutors are investigat ing some $4 billion (£2.8 billion) that disappeared from a Cayman Is lands finance subsidiary of the con glomerate, and on New Year's Eve its former chief executive Calisto Tanzi was arrested following a magistrate's order accusing him of misappropriating $800 million from the dairy giant over the past ten years.

At the heart of the changes and separation of operations by the big international accountants is the conflict of interest which many face in relation to their globally — op erating clients. Over the years they have found opportunities to ex pand their roles as accountants and auditors into providing financial advisory services, acting as gobetweens in mergers and acquisi tions, or even advising on the pro-

vision of IT services.

At least one of the "big four" even set up its own engineering consultancy — staffed by engineers rather than accountants — to pro vide a service to a major client.And in m_any instances the fees earned by these ancillary services were larger than those derived from ac-

Pressures have been intensified by the collapse of Parmalat

counting and auditing. But against this background, audit and ac countancy firms have found their independence increasingly ques tioned.

And in response to the abuses that have surfaced — Enron was a classic example of this — financial regulators and the professional ac countancy bodies have tightened their controls.

Because offshore jurisdictions

were often chosen to set up the sub sidiaries which handled some of the ancillary serv ices — which though legal have raised official eye brows — these ju risdictions have again come under the critical spot light. Add to all this the ever tougher compli ance require ments demanded of them (by the OECD and EU among others), and the pressures on firms in juris dictions such as Gibraltar, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have been intensified.

But even before the Enron and Andersen ac counting scandals led major ac countancy groups to review their strategies, KPMG was one of the first of the big international play ers to recognize that the risk man agement of its practice had to be en hanced. As a step towards this, it decided to shed fiduciary services from its business, Emilio Gomez senior partnet of KPMG(Gibraltar) told me, when his firm's proposed marger with Baker Tilly (Gibraltar)

was announced.

"All franchised firms were asked to run these down as well as to adopt new sets ofcompliance rules, t and though we had no problems with the latter— and can fully un derstand KPMG's requirements in terms ofits global clients — the bas ket of demands created a lot of new costs, too large for relatively small firms to bear.

"Our merger with Baker Tilly cre ates the correct critical mass which will allow us to continue to provide and expand our fiduciary services and give all types of clients the range of services and expertise that the regulations demand. Between us we will have people who spe-

cialise in, and are conversant with, all aspects of global regulations and the FSC's compliance require ments."

"The decision — to merge and which becomes effective from July — comes after months of private negotiations among the partners of both practices following our iden tification that we both shared simi lar goals, values and attitude to serving our clients and that these could be enhanced by working to gether," Ken Robinson of Baker Ully added.

"Over recent years doing busi ness has become more complex with the advent of regulation and globally driven initiatives that im pact on us in Gibraltar. Our local and global clients are, accordingly, demanding a level of sophistication that requires us to specialise," ho added.

Last month (January) BDO Fidecs — with a staff of more than 60, one of the Rock's biggest play ers in the accountancy/trust man agement field - took the first step in what is likely to become a wide

spread process, disentangling its core accountancy, audit and taxa tion services from all its other serv ices. While the "core" operations will continue under the BDO Fidecs banner,all other services will come under another, separate "Fidecs" umbrella.

"These services, particularly where we act as principals -either as company secretaries,directors or managers — or where we control a client's funds or assets have been rebranded," BDO Fidecs chairman Tim Revill explains.

And though ownership of the two operations remains unchanged and "under one roof", Revill be lieves that within three or four years the big accountancy firms and the regulators — will insist on the functions of auditing, account ing and taxation being split from all other activities.

Which raises the prospect of more mergers — because Gibraltar just does not have enough of the "core" business to support more than a handful of accountancy firms.

Tercentenary Events

Monday 2nd February

Tercentenary Postcard Exhibition

-13 days to Saturday 14th Febru ary. An exhibition of Gibraltar picture postcards. A collection of Gibraltar silk postcards, which will be bequeathed to Gib by a UK collector will also be on dis play. Venue: Casemates Exhibi tion Hall.

Thursday 12th February

Heritage Talk 3 - "The Changing Face of the City of Gibraltar". Speaker: Richard Garcia. Venue:

John Mackintosh Hall.

Thursday 26lh February

Heritage Talk 4 — "Gibraltar and Archaeology". Speaker: Claire Valarino. Venue: John Mackin tosh Hall.

Saturday 28th February

Heritage Walk 1 — "Places of Worship". The first in a series of 7 walks to places of historical or heritage interest, organised by the Heritage Trust and offered to the general public,free of charge.

Polar Bears Take to the Water

Chiu-les A.Gomez's law office has

over 20 years experience in house and property transactions in Gibral tar. If you want to know more about buy ing or selling property ask for our free printed,"Guide to House Sales"or phone for a free consultation. After hours appoint ments available.

Call our conveyancing department on phone 74998 now. That is 74998. Charles

PO Box 659. 5. Secretary's Lane, Gibraltar Tel;(+350)74998/73316

Fax:(+350)73074

E-mail: carlawtSgibnet.gi

www.gomezco.gi

The annual Polar Bearsioim which took place at Catalan Bay on Boxing Day xoas,once again,a big success with manyofthe more hardy residents ofthe Rock raising cashfor charities.

Signs to City Centre Accommodation

City centre holiday apartments with full internet facilities in the reception? That's the novel — and popular — combination at GibC.

'I run the business on behalf of my father;' said Clive Martinez; 'he's mainly based in Brazil.'

Well,that wasinteresting in itself, but I was just as interested to learn that there are economical fullyequipped self-catering apartments available in Governor's Street,just a couple of minutes from Main Street — and that Clive also max imises the use of their large recep tion area to provide a host of other services.

'We're in our third year now' Clive continued,'and we have cus tomers who have stayed here every year so far.' He explained that most of the guests at the spacious apart ments come from the UK, but also from South Africa and Australia as well as many other parts of the globe.

'The apartments each occupy a whole floor of the building,' Clive told me,'and they can sleep up to three adults and two children com pletely self-sufficiently.'The rate for each apartmentis £55 per night, but that is regardless of how many peo ple sleep there.

Each flat consists of a bedroom, with a double and a single bed,and a lounge which has a bed settee that converts into two single beds. Each apartment has its own bathroom/ shower and there is an alcove for using the iron and ironing board and for hanging up washing.

Basically the apartments have everything — satellite TV, linen, fridge/freezer, cooker/oven, mi crowave,electric kettle, iron, wash ing machine, toaster and all the cut lery and other bits asnd pieces you would require — a true home from home.

The price is fully-inclusive of electricity and water,and,ofcourse, there is no VAT or any other hid den charge.'We provide fresh tow els and bed linen on arrival,' Clive clarified,'but after that the guests do their own laundry, as is normal in self-catering accommodation.' The holidaymakers are also free to come and go at any time they wish as they are provided with as many sets of keys as they require.

That's the top three floors at 36 Governor's Street. The full ground

12 gibraltar

i\H'W

floor is where vou check in, but Clive makes the maximum use of the space by providing a general range of internet and other services and has also expanded into sign writing.

VThere are ten computers for pub lic use, all on Broadband/ADSL, the fastest connection available, and the price for using them is just £3 an hour. Clive told me that this price is the cheapest in Gibraltar, and he has kept it fixed since open ing the business almost three years ago. There were half a dozen peo ple at the machines when 1 arrived, including a mother with two young children, and a UK junior who had been on attachment to St Bernard's Hospital.

'We get a lot of pensioners as well,' Clive told me.'Quite a few come in and ask me for advice on how to get free email, and then I show them how to use it. They pick it up surprisingly quickly' Clive also provides his internet custom ers with a free scanning service,fax service, public phone, laminating and photocopying form the rest of the bureau services,and then there is the up-and-coming sign writing service.

Clive's skills (and some toprange equipment) have lead to a growing popularity for this part of the business. He's already doing a lot of cars, bikes and surfboards as well as commercial work for shops such as Out of Africa and Bliss Beauty. He is also doing attractive lines in engraved name plates for business and home use. And the good news is that, as he says,'Be cause this is an addition to the ex isting services I provide, there are no additional overheads to carry which means 1 can literally carry out quality work at prices that are lower than anyone else's.'

GibC is at 36 Governor's Street, opposite Saverland. Open from 10 to 7 Monday to Friday and 10 to 1 on Saturdays, the telephone number for all.services is 44277,fax 79992, email gibc®'gibnect.gi. Full information on the apartments can be viewed at www.gibc.gi and for the sign writing go to www.qualitystickers.com.

'The apartments each occupy a whole floor of the building, and they can sleep up to three adults and two children completely self-sufficiently.'

Rock's Masters Chess Tournament 2004

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By the time you read this, the 2nd Gibraltar Chess Congress,sponsored by Gibleiecom, should be under way. The Masters Tournament runs from 27th January to 5th February and, again. The Caleta Hotel is the host. Games will be played during the afternoons and early evenings.

Results in the Masters Tourna ment count towards international rankings and there are generous cash prizes, which will attract, as last year, many International Grandmasters, Masters and other players.

In addition, there are 2 Amateur Tournaments running from 27- 31 January and 1-5 February and played during the mornings. By running two tournaments for the Amateurs the organisers have tried to maintain interest for those who may start off badly. This year, you can start again af ter 5 days!

On Saturday 31 January, there is a series of junior tournaments, with age limita tions which, hopefully, will at tract a host of local players who benefited from coaching during last year's tournament and during the course of the year.

Chess, of course, as a spectator sport, is a game for players. At times, slow motion replays would actually be faster than "live action". Some players appear to be asleep for lengthy periods before a lazy hand reaches out and movesa piece one square, following which the player retreats to his position on his chair, like a tortoise re-entering his shell.

PO Box515,Suite B, Ground Floor, Regal House, Queensway, Gibraltar

Tel: +350 46830 Fax: +350 46840

Email: globaladv@gibnynex.gi

players will opt to play in the Amateur ments

Most loc tourna

Mostlocal players will,no doubt, opt to play in the Amateur tourna ments, thus avoiding the strongest players whilst being able to watch the Grandmasters later in the day. Manolo Matto will, presumably,be the exception as his addiction to playing will encourage him to en ter the Masters and Amateur Tour naments.

Indeed,only a decade or two will prevent him from entering the Jun ior tournaments.

To players, the game is exciting, full of tactics and tricks. All games are written down using a variety of codes so that players, and others, can play through the sequence of moves later on and analyse where a player went wrong or missed the best opportunity.

In 1895, a strong tournament was inaugu rated at Hastings and,despite prob lems with sponsors from time to time, recently finished its 2004 ver sion. Except for a few War years, it has been an annual event for 109 years!

Dare one hope that,from Stewart Rueben's,(the organiser), idea and efforts ofthe early 21st.century,will result in a Gibraltar tournament in 108 years time?

And during that period, perhaps, Gibraltar, which, in other spheres, has produced sportsmen and enter tainers who are internationally re spected might supply a champion.

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ROCK on the EDGE

So how does a photograph of Gibraltar come to feature on the cover of a thriller novel set in the USA and Colombia, written by an American TV presenter and published in New Orleans?

It all goes back to 1995, or even 1965. In that year I acquired an American pen pal,Gay Averill, who became a life-long friend. We first met face to face when she and her sister visited England in 1979, but in spite of making many promises and several abortive plans to repav the compliment, it was not until 1995 that I was finally able to do so. By then we had both married and had children, I had moved to Gi braltar, and she had moved from California to He returne her hus

band's home town of Ba ton Rouge, Louisiana. I wanted to make the trip to celebrate our thirty years of friendship, and although the anniversary fell in September, Gay,now Gay Smith,convinced my wife and I that it would be better to visit in February so that we could experience Mardi Gras in New Or leans — just an hour or so's drive away.

warm mem

Rock, and incongruitv he wanted the cover o

OVER THE

on the show.

1 was not happy. I didn't think there was anything in our story to interest the public, and I had no wish to meetany American TV pre senters. I saw them all as brash,in sincere tooth-flashers — all mouth and very loose trousers.

But when Leo arrived at Gay's house to do the interview, my opin ion rapidly changed. He turned out to be a genuinely nice man — muy simpatko,as the Spanish would say — and at that moment an unlikely and enduring friendship began.

In the early 1990s, Leo had inter viewed a remarkable character. Outwardly a respectable and rather ordinary family man, he had for years been leading a double life as an importer and distributor of drugs throughout Louisiana. When finally arrested, he agreed to act as a double agent for the CIA,and had been directly responsible for the ar rest and imprisonment of several other dealers.

By the time that Leo interviewed him,he knew that he was a marked man,and shortly ricans, he

Her first words on our arrival were alarming. "Dave", she said, "we're gonna be on television."

Several months earlier, while working out at a local gym, Gay had spotted a familiar face among the patrons. Not a friend,but a man she saw every morning on TV;Leo Honeycutt, presenter of the show lune In, which was broadcast every weekday morning across Louisi ana. Gay approached him and said, "I know you — you're Leo Honeycutt". Leo, who was used to this sort of thing, and rather tired of it, gave his standard response, "No, ma'am,I'm Filthy McNasty". And that, for the time being, was that.

A couple of months later, while attending a hot air balloon festival. Gay ran into Leo again. To her sur prise, he remembered her,and was the first to say hello. Finally, at Christmas 1994,they met by chance at a theatre during the performance of a seasonal play, and during the brief conversation that followed; Gay mentioned that her pen friend of^irty years was planning to visit for Mardi Gras in February. Leo

A Novel

By Leo Honeycutt

smiled politely,but appeared to pay little attention. After all, why should he?

Leo was an experienced TV pre senter who had worked for both CBS and ABC in New York and Los Angeles, before taking on 2une In in Baton Rouge. Over the years he had interviewed everyone from Kris Kristofferson to Bob Hope to orbiting shuttle astronauts. He was the first TV journalist to be granted an Oval Office inter\'iew with the newly elected president Ronald Reagan,and in a faux pasfor which he would kick himself for years af terwards, he came within an ace of becoming the manager of Britney Spears.Britney, who was bom close to Baton Rouge,was only fourteen years old,and desperate to make it

in show biz, when she appeared twice on Leo's show. After her sec ond appearance, her mother tel ephoned and asked if he could do anything to help. Leo was im pressed with the girl, and briefly considered offering to act as her agent, but he was a busy man. He passed on a couple of likely names and forgot about it, until suddenly, a few years later...

So there was no reason for Leo to be interested in a humdrum story of two people who had been writ ing letters to each other for thirty years. But a few days before Mardi gras, Gay received a phone call. It was from Leo, and he wanted to know if her friend was still plan ning to visit. When she said he was, Leo said he wanted to do a feature

s the size dkerchlef

after the inter view he was murdered. Leo was fasci nated by the con trast between the man's outward respectability, and his seedy secret life, and used the idea in a novel, which he called Over The Edge. It was set for publication in 1999, but before that, Leo and his wife,Jackie, planned to spend a few weeks in Europe, and decided that they wanted to visit Gibraltar, about which we had told them so much.

There was a problem. Leo's visit was primarily to France. Like many Americans, he assumed Europe was the size of a pocket-handker chief,and that popping over to Gi braltar from Paris was the work of an afternoon. He considered hiring a car and driving down,but when I said that would be a two-day drive, he changed his mind and asked the price of a ticket on "the bullet train". I broke it to him gen tly that there was no "bullet train" service between the French capital and the Rock.He didn't understand why he couldn't take a flight from Le Bourget to Gib, but by now he

Like many Ame assumed Europe Wi of a pocket-hai

was fired up and determined to gel here one way or another. He and Jackie finally decided to fly to Malaga,from where we could col lect them.

They planned to stay for four days, but when we were halfu'ay to Malaga airport our mobile phone rang. It was Leo, fed up, spitting fire, and ready to scream. Their at tempt to leave Paris had been thwarted by a wildcat strike. They couldn't fly out until the following day. We turned around and drove home, returning 24 hours later to collect a thoroughly disheartened couple whose holiday was rapidly turning into a nightmare.

But Gibraltar worked its magic. Within hours of their arrival, they were calm, and soaking up the re laxed atmosphere.

With their visit cut unexpectedly

to three days, there was little time to spare, but one morning Leo and I strolled along the beach in La Linea, and he asked me to take a photograph of him with Gibraltar in the background.

He returned home with warm memories of the Rock,and despite its incongruity, he decided that he wanted the photograph on the cover of his hook.

It was published in November 1999,and I flew to Louisiana for the launch part)', held in the governor's mansion in Baton Rouge, and hosted by the governor, Mike Fos ter. More than 700 guests turned up, and the cover photograph was one of the chief topics of conversation. Suddenly,1 was Gibraltar's ambas sador to the court of Baton Rouge.

Life, as they never tire of telling us, is very strange.

Miss Shapes Hair Salon Opens

The Mtss Shapes

Miss Shapes ofCastle Street is the latest hair salon to open in Gibraltar. The salon uses L'Oreal Professional products and specialises in colouring and styling by stylists Joseph, Dawn and Romina. Owners Garren and Joseph are offering senior citizens a special 20% discount, and there are also special prices for kids. The salon is open 5 days a week (closed Sundays and Mondays)Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridaysfrom 9.30am - 7pm, Thursdays until 8pm and Saturdays until 4pm. Tel:52007.

Showrooni Expands at Bailoqui

Mano & Douglas in the showroom

An oasis...

...in a busy world!

Bedrooms

104 bedrooms and suites in a colonial style all with a sea view

Conference facilities

Pull upgraded conference facilities available for board meetings, training courses and presentations

Weddings

The Rock is an ideal wedding venue whether it be a small intimate wedding or large family gathering. Wc are also a recognised venue for civil marriages and ceremonies can now be conducted in various parts of the hotel.

Banqueting

Weddings, banqueting, private dining or office parties

Swimming Pool

Outdoor swimming pool with pool side bar and pool side menu We welcome private pool membership, our Lido Club, with private pool hire for parties and barbecues and children's parties

Restaurant

The restaurant has stunning views over the bay. Our "house" menu is excellent value for three courses including an aperitif Manzanilla, olives and coffee. A full a la carte menu along with a superb eclectic wine list is also available

Wisteria Terrace

The Wisteria Terrace for lunches, dinner, barbecues, afternoon teas, evening drinks and informal dining

Barbary Bar

Barbary Bar and terrace for a relaxing drink and, for the wine buff,a choice of nine wines by the glass

Lounges

Take a good old fashioned English tea in one ofthe spacious lounges turopa Road,(iihraltar

Tel:(+350)7.3000

MF Balloqui and Sons Upholstery and Carpet Shop, of 30-40 City Mill Lane, now has a much larger showroom zvith plenty ofspacefor a wider range ofcarpets, cleaning materials, carpet extras and awnings and blinds. The company is now also offering a custom-made soft furnishings for bedrooms service. Give Balloqui and Sons a call on 78105, or call in to the new enlarged showroom.

Fa*:(+350)73513

Kmail: rockbotclCffigibnynex.gi

www.rockhotclglbraltar.coin

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THE SILVER SHOP

The ROCK,PLATH & FAjNUGHT

The poet Ruth Fainlight was in Gibraltar in February 1963 with her husband, the writer Alan Sillltoe, when she heard the terrible news. The couple were living in Tangier but had been preparing to return to England when Ruth was to visit her good friend, the poet Sylvia Plath in Devon.

Last month in the Sunday Times Ruth related what happened next; "He arrived back with the previous Sunday papers — as usual, several days late. I snatched the Observer from the basket and turned to the review section. I could not under stand why there was a photograph of Sylvia surrounded by a heavy black line.

"It was hard to take in what I read, 1 had to go back to the begin ning two or three times until the fact that this was an announcement of Sylvia's death began to pen etrate. I burst into tears and flung myself into Fatima's(her Moroccan maid)comforting bosom.Alan hur ried in, alarmed by the sound of noisy weeping."

Sylvia Plath poet, and wife of Poet Laureate to be Ted Hughes, had committed suicide by gassing herself in a London flat.She had be come depressed after Ted had left her for another woman and told her

Alan Sillitoe

ary party where Sillitoe the current holder of the Hawthornden Award (*see below) was to present the prize to his successor Hughes. Be sides talented husbands the women had much in common; they had

Ruth and Sylvia met when both their husbands were successful young writers

Silver-plated peifume bottles celebrating the unique Gibraltar Campion &. the Dolphins of Gibraltar £20.00 Silver Jewellery (i Gifts from The Silver Shop. 9/13 Horse Barr/\ck Lane & Casemates Arcade

^ w 10pm and live# etertainment on Satur-S daynightsfrom 10pm un-R til late(watch this space for de-it tails of their Thursday night live enter^ tainmenti).

There is live music at Corks on Irish' Town every Friday from 9pm to late.

Live Music Venues

The Lord Nelson in Casemates has live music on Frldavand Saturday eve nings. Jam session on Sunday eve nings - all musicians welcome.

_ The Tunnel, also in Casemates, has f live music every Friday night from

The Three Owls on Irish Town has a jam session, hosted by Richard Cortes and STD, on Wednesday nights from B.30pm

The Rock Hotel. Europa Road, has regular entertainment from 4-6pm with guitarist Tito Valerga. and on &turday evenings with Masquerade. Thursday night is Jazz night at theEllott Hotel from 9pm,

that he had never wanted children — they had two,a daughter Frieda and a baby boy Nicholas.

Ruth and Sylvia met when both their husbands were successful young writers.They were at a liter-

been raised in America, were roughly the same age, both had or wanted children (Fainlight was pregnant when they met)and both were also writers, although Plath had been published(Colossus)but Fainlight had another three years to go-

At the time both couples lived in London,shared meals and outings and became friends. However,Ted said he wanted to live in the coun try and he, Sylvia and Frieda moved to Devon.Sylvia continued to correspond with Ruth and when she was in London would stay with her and Alan.

In April 1962 Ruth and Alan drove to Devon to visit and com pare babies(Ruth's and Alan's son David had recently been bom). It was the last time Ruth and Sylvia would see each other.

In September of that year Ruth and Alan were in Tangier when

Sylvia Plath

Poet Hutu Fainlight

they received a letter from Sylvia announcing that Ted was hoping to 'set them up in Spain'. Sylvia asked for advice which Ruth and Alan, old hands at living in Spain and Gi braltar, were happy to provide, Alan had been travelling to Gibral tar since the early fifties when he was invalidated out of the Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve. He had spent two years serving in Ma laysia as a wireless operator but came down with an illness and was sent off with a hundred percent pension. He took his windfall and

February 1%3 at age 30) Ruth and Alan met with Ted and his 'strik ingly beautiful' lover Assia Wevil who was now living with him and caring for the children. Ruth found the experience very distressing and said she felt a combination of "pity and rage for Ted, and hated Assia at first sight".

Ruth did come to know and even love Assia but in 1969 she also died a tragic death: "...using Sylvia's same method,though lifting the act to a higher level of horror: first se dating her child along with herself,

settled in Malaga where he began to write full time.

It was during this period that he wrote his most famous book Saturday Nii^lil ami Sunday Morning.Each month when he got his disability cheque he would drive down to Gibraltar to cash it and spend time shopping and dining out.

But Sylvia and her children would never get to Spain or Gibral tar. In October 1962 Ruth received a letter in which Sylvia told her that she was divorcing Ted.

In the letter she sounded confi dent and even pleased "as if life was being restored to me". How ever, she also told how upset she was that Ted had told her he had never wanted children and that the 'dream' home in Devon had been a hoax. Sylvia had loved living in London and had only made the move for his sake.

The last letter from Svlvia to Ruth was mailed in December. Sylvia invited Ruth to go to Devon with her. Ruth was happy to agree and for that reason she brought the maid Fatima to help look after the children "while Sylvia and 1 went for walks or drove around the lanes of Devon talking about poetry".

Following Sylvia's death (11th

then sealing the doors and win dows, lying down with Shura (her daughter)on the kitchen floor and opening every tap on the gas oven". Hughes died of cancer in 1998 aged 68.

Today Sylvia Plath is a feminist icon while Ted Hughes is despised by the same feminists. Their story is told in a movie released this month called Sylvia and starring Gwynelh Paltrow and Daniel Craig.

'Author's note: The Hawthorndeii Prize, the oldest of the major British literary prizes,teasfounded in 1919 by Miss Alice Warrender. It is awarded annually to an English writer for "the best work of imaj^inaiive literature," Tohieh is liberally interpreted and thus may include biography, travel, art his tory, etc, as well as fiction and drama. There is no competition; books do not have to be. and in fact cannot be, sub mitted. A panel ofjudges decides the winner. Young authors are particularly encouraged. The current value of the prize is £70,000. Alan Sillitoe won the award in 1960for The Loneliness ofthe Long Distance Runner and Hughes won it in 1961 for Lupercal.

Sylvia asked for advice which Ruth and Alan, old hands at living in Spain and Gibraltar, were happy to provide

One day_ _ in 170^

Most official sources and luminar ies like General Sir William Jackson offer the 4th of August as the inva sion date;yet people who were there at the time like the Marines or those who arrived a few decades after wards, like John Drinkwater, insist on the 23rd of July.

How can this be? The military precision of such writers leaves lit tle room for error, especially in something as fundamental as the date. Well, truth is often stranger than fiction and the truth here is; both dates are correct. Before you argue the impossibility of that state ment, I had better introduce Christopher Clavius SJ, the Jesuit scientist and mathematician who solved an 800 year old problem and contributed to our historians' di lemma.

From 45BC the civilised world had measured time by the Julian Calendar which unfortunately had not remained strictly accurate. In 45BC the transit time for the earth around the sun was 365.2422 days, now it is 365.2419 days, and the er ror had been accumulating year bv year.By the sixteenth century,Easter was so late that it was nearly sum mer when it was celebrated. Every body knew what the problem was but the difficulties of resolving it were almost beyond the mathemat ics of the time.

It was Clavius' solution which lead to Pope Gregory XHIth issuing the Papal Bull Inter Gravissimas in 1582. In that year the Julian Calen dar ended on the 4th October to be followed the next day by the start of the Gregorian Calendar as Friday 15th October. That adjustment of 11 days restored the equilibrium be tween the solar calendar and the ter restrial calendar used bv mankind.

Clavius'calculations were so precise that the next adjustment, the inser tion of an additional day, will not be needed until 4317AD.

Unfortunately,implementation of the Papal Bull was neither an imme diate nor a universal success.Some people became disoriented and win dows were broken in the houses of some Eu ropean Jesu its by mobs who believed they had been robbed of eleven days. The Orthodox Church saw it as a Roman intrusion(which it was) and Protestant countries were unwilling to accept any decree from a pope.

In the end, England and her colo nies did not accept Clavius' calen dar until 1751(the Chesterfield Act)

and Orthodox Russia not until the Bolshevik revolution. All of which helps explain why to the besieged Spaniards their capitu-

lation was on 4th August (Gregorian) whilst the victorious Britons knew their attack had suc ceeded on 23rd July (Julian). Both were right, but from their differing perspectives.

To those historians closer to the event, the change of calendar within living memory — was unre markable; events before the change would use Julian dates and those after it, Gregorian. To later histori ans the need to compare events across Europe on the same timeline, made the choice of Gregorian dat ing more convenient; since only England and her colonies were out of step.

So there we have it; the apparent date of the capture of our Rock will be largely determined bv your choice of historian, but in the end both dates are the same day.

Christopher Clavius's In Sphaerain joamiis de Sacro Bosco, (Rome 1581) isone ofhis many great worksonastronomyand mathemat ics. He invented the decimal point and VernierScale, hisProstlaphaeresis was the grandfather of logarithms and he postulated then proved a whole variety of algebraic and geo metric theorems.

If you, like me, have been doing your homework in readiness for this year's tercentenary celebrations, you will have noticed an apparently glaring inconsistency in the supposed date of the British capture of Gibraltar.

In the end, England and her colonies did not accept Clavius' calendar until 1751

Tomb of Pope Gregory XIII which celebrates the Gregorian Calendar reform

Christopher Clavius's In Sphaeram Joannis de Sacro Bosco

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IT'o OU i A TY!

"It will celebrate all that Gibral tar has nurtured down the 3t)() Brit ish years — culture, education, medical, legal, religion. It will not be a celebration of battles fought. We shall not be triumphalist."

Peter Canessa, the Director of Tourism,has had added to his brief the title of Tercentenary Events Di rector.

"When the idea ofa whole year's celebrations was first considered,a year ago by a group of local enthu siastic volunteers, it soon became obvious that everyone wished to take part and contribute something. It was decided that no one would be left out, however large or small, and the Government decided it should be government-led. We have the Minister Joe Holliday as Chairman with Marylou Guerrero as Events Co-ordinator and many others, in sub-committees, with a wealth of knowledge to input,such as Richard Garcia with Heritage, and joe Hernandez with Sport anci Youth.

There is a budget, but sponsor ship has been encouraged and many local businesses wen? eager to contribute and said they wish to pay back something to the people of Gib. So far everyone has reacted favourably.

The official launch party at Casemates on New Year's Eve was simply amazing. Looking down from the stage at so many happy faces. The police tell me that over 10,000 visited the Square.

The whole show for the evening, which lasted into the earlv hours was put together by 'The Studio' team of Odette and Philip Valverde, who had successfully tendered for the evening's contract, and in cluded Alice Mascarenhas as Stage Manager. Everyone was very im pressed by the visual presentation which they put together with cameraman Stephen Cumming, of StraitVision.It featured many of the organisations and individuals who make up our Gibraltar.

This year is all about them — it's time for everyone to party!

The 4th August has been desig nated a Bank Holiday as 'the' day and on its Eve there will be a Street Party/ Verbena for all, in the area of Casemates. On the 4th, the House of Assembly will meet to commemorate the Tercentenary, 20

gibraltar

and confer Freedom of the City mo tions on several organisations and individuals."

Two events which took place at the end of last year were the launch

Finlayson and 'Women of Gibral tar' by Dr.Sam Benady.The first of seven Walks 'Places of Worship' will take place at the end of Febru ary. These are open to all.

An undoubted highlight will be the Granting of the Freedom of the City to the Royal Navy

of the Heritage Trust's 2004 Calen dar and Peter Bond's book of the 300 British years — 1704-2004.

A Calendar of Events is already under way with the start of a series of 17 Heritage Talks — in January, we had 'Identity' by Pn?fessorClive

Each Month is packed with events of a heritage and cultural nature and sport has not been over looked. In April, leading interna tional mountain runners will be taking on a new challenge with a Top of the Rock race. Going one

step further will be Jim I'otheringham, in a team led by Chris Bonnington, who will at tempt to climb the North Face not as easy as it looks, judging by previous (successful, and unsuc cessful) attempts. The Harlem Globetrotters will be on the Rock in June to play the new Sportshall.

In late April, HRH The Princess Royal will pay a visit. In June, the Queen's Birthday Parade,just one of the several highlights in the MoD's involvement in this tercen tenary year. There will bo major band Concerts in the Town and at St. Michael's Cave.September will see an RAF Open Day, so sadly missed from Gib.'s calendar in re cent years.

Culturally,there will be Concerts, Stamp, Postcard and Art exhibi tions, including a chance to see many local paintings not exhibited previously.

But an undoubted highlight will bo the Granting of the Freedom of the City to the Royal Navy, which has been so closely associated with the Rock for centuries.

Chief Minister Peter Caruana's offer of this signal honour was gratefully accepted by the First Sea Lord. They join previous distin guished military recipients, includ ing The Royal Engineers and the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

Gibraltar has been strengthening its tics with the UK,especially Lon don's financial world, over recent years and this welcome connection becomes part of the programme with a Gibraltar Tercentenary Day in London (2nd March) with a ' Thanksgiving Service at the RAF Church of St. Clement Danes in the Strand.The now traditional Gibral tar Day will be held in the City of London on Oct.25th. But there will bo a 'first' when a Gibraltar float will take part in the Lord Mayor's Show (13th November).

And so Gibraltar's Tercentenary celebrations continue throughout the year.

"Already there has been much interest from the outside world with many people contacting the Gibraltar tourist Office in London indicating a wish to join in the many celebrations and, of course, we shall welcome all those who, wish to join us on the Rock -at our| Party!"

February 20041

The Tercentenary celebrations, which exploded into action on New Year's Eve in Casemates Square, will be a year of events to involve the whole community living on the Rock.

'The Studio' team rises to the challenge

When Odette Valverde, and her husband Philip, of the 'The Studio', successfully tendered, in October, to provide the New Year's Eve Tercentenary Celebrations they had just a few short weeks to get the show on the road.

Co-opting the 'professionals'

Alice Mascarenhas as Stage Man ager/Director and cameraman Stephen Gumming onto their team ideas were soon flowing and a plan evolved — this would be a Gibral tar — show featuring as much local talent and faces as possible. And that's the way it worked out!

"We have had the experience of8 years National Day concerts behind us. We decided that this latest chal lenge would be a show for all sec tions of the community, mums and dads,senior citizens and teenagers, schoolchildren. We were lucky that so much local talent exists and were most eager to get involved.

Our operatic tenor Nathan Payas was willing to top the bill, accom panied by rock musicians and tak ing on the challenge of 'Rock of Ages', a difficult anthem which even its originator Dorothy Squires had trouble with all those years ago in St. Michael's Cave. They all had to be rehearsed to a tight schedule and be'synched' to the visual pres entation on the Big Screen.'Rock of Ages' appears to have assumed a warm spot in most people's minds and its words are most in tune with the events of the past year.

Technically-minded Stephen is always seeking perfection and put a lot of work into the three minute presentation on the screen, laying down a guide track which involved much editing.

"It would have been dreadful if there had been no synchronisation. I was able to utilise much archive material, some of it from British

.St Valentine's Dinner

Movietone."

Then there were the New Year Greetings from as many local or ganisations and personalities(who will forget'snappers'Slim Simpson and Johnny Bugeja 'face to face?') and the schoolchildren.Stephen has a particular soft-spot for the DSA Modern Sequence dancers who took such care over their waltz.

"I was overwhelmed by the atti tude and commitment of everyone to our project. We have a lot of tal ented people locally. Our musicians — Philip, Adrian Pozo,Guy Palmer, Francis Pecino, Neville Guiliano and Ernest Revagliatte — did a lot of rehearsing to ensure it was right on the night. Many others joined them on stage during the long evening and Alice's stage- manag ing experienced ensured it all went smoothly.

"It had been a race against time and it was all geared towards the Casemates Clock at Midnight. AquaGib (formerly Lyonnaise des Eaux)installed a specially designed set-up and everything worked backwards from there."

Odette chimes in "then there were the fireworks. We contracted a British company, who supplied a three-minute,'zero fall-out' display, the same as in the UK.Their work ers were soon part ofour team, with plenty of suggestions.

"We all met the challenge with 'teamwork'.

"What's next? Well we have the team and are looking forward to being considered for any future challenges."

Ce[e6rate tfie most amorous cfay ojtfie year at T'fie (Efiott Q-fotef

91 wefcome coc^taifawaits yen Sy tfie candlefit pooffefore cfelighting in our sjyeciaffy createcfcfinner. One 9ott(e ofCavajyer coujjfe, five music and gifts.

£2Syeryerson

'Diners can avaiC ofour very syeciaf offer of£ssyer cCouSCe room for tfie nigfit. m

CaffLeanne /OSOOfor reservations

Governor's Parade Gibraltar Tel:(350)70500

Fax:(350)70243

E-mail: eliott@gibnet.gi

HTTP://WWW.GIBRALTAR.Gl/EL10TrH0TEL

HMS Manchester's Little Black Cat

The sailors considered her to be .

HMS ManchesM did, on the 8th day of a good luck charm and through four years of war she proved to bo just that. Even when the end came for the mighty Manchester the cir cumstances were luckier than for most of the British fighting ships sunk in World War II.

Leslie held the honour of serving with the Manchester from the begin ning to the end. She enlisted her self aboard the cruiser when it was being built at Tyneside in 1937 and she went down with it when it sank in controversial cir cumstances in the summer of 1942,

cats joined the Manchester at Tyneside, Leslie, and a tortoise-shell torn nick named Hawthorne,

But as the author Joyce Packer related in her book Grey Mistress (*see below) wrote:

"When the ship was ready for sea and about to sail for the East Indies, Hawthorne, a tortoise shell stepped gracefully down the ^ gangway while Leslie, black for luck, stayed on board,"

In the ensuing years Leslie would witness several of the most famous naval actions of the war — the res cue of troops from Norway, the sinking of the Bismarck, Arctic con voys and the relief of Malta and take part in Operation Pedestal the fiercest convoy battle of the war. But it wasn't all blood and battle Leslie enjoyed quieter times on board as well as shore leave in her home ports of Malta, Scapa Flow, Portsmouth and lastly Gibraltar.

Proof of her off duty activities was soon in evidence on that first voyage to the East Indies as she produced a batch of tawny kittens somewhere in the Red Sea.

Leslie turned out to be the per fect mother and the perfect sailor. She selected the boiler room for her quarters and took meticulous care of her babies bringing them up beautifully in sea-going ways.They caught mice and rats but left the

sea-birds alone.

When the Allied attempt to cap ture Norway failed Manchester was recalled from East and sent to evacuate British troops. While the Manchester was picking up 400 sol diers from the destroyer HMS De

tain of the Manchester."He shows a very fitting respect for the quarter deck,"

However, like any real salt Shrapnel did get into his share of trouble. At Scapa Flow he was court-martialled and the charges

January of 1941,fight with Leading Cat Leslie, Official Number 571, also of His Majesty's Ship Manchester on the is land of Flotta at Scapa Flow.

"...did improperly leave His Majesty's ship Manchester, thereby remaining absent without leave forty-eight hours.

"...was guilty of an act to preju dice of good order and naval disci pline in returning on board the said ship with his coat in filthy and ne glected condition,thereby bringing discredit on His Majesty''s canine uniform,"

light the ever-curious

Leslie decided to inves tigate the other ship.

A short time after parting a message ar rived on the bridge of the Manchester from the captain of the Delight:

"I have black cat in exchange for 400 soldiers discharged to you. Does she belong to you please?"

The Manchester's captain replied:

"Please return our black cat. You can have the soldiers back,"

Leslie was duly returned but it is unlikely that the captains recorded the circumstances in their respec tive log books,

Manchester also took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk and there acquired a 'Free French' mutt which had jumped aboard from a destroyer. The black and white hound was long and strong and dubbed'Ordinary Dog Shrapnel' by the crew.

Shrapnel earned the sailor's re spect for his eagerness to chase off sea-gulls and other birds prone to messing the deck,

"He's a good dog," said the cap-

were brought in the dinner hour in the presence ofthe ship's company; "For that he. Shrapnel, Able (he had been promoted] Dog First Class, Official Number 752,belong ing to His Majesty's Ship Mrtnciicster, then being a dog subject to the Naval Discipline Act,

In 1941 Manchester took part in the hunt for the Bismarck, did pa trol work in the North Sea and then was ordered to Gibraltar to escort an important convoy to Malta(Op eration Substance), During the course of this action Manchester came under attack from high alti tude and torpedo bombers, A tor pedo hit the 9,500-ton ship on the port side and caused considerable damage, Manchester returned to Gibraltar for temporary repairs and then was ordered to Philadelphia in the United States for permanent repairs.

From September to March the crew, Leslie and Shrapnel enjoyed a respite from war while Manches ter sat in dry dock. Leslie and Shrapnel seemed to have taken to the US Navy, so much so that Shrapnel deserted while on the return voyage and in mid-

There have been many ship's cats in the long history of the Royal Navy but there can have been few that served with such distinction as the little black female honoured by the crew of HMS Manchester with the rank of 'Leading Cat Leslie'.

However, like any real salt Shrapnel, Able Dog First Class, did get into his share of trouble

Atlantic Leslie gave birth to another litter.

Manchester docked at Port smouth and Scapa Flow, where Leslie's kittens were found suitable homes(Joy Packer took one home) before escorting the ill-fated Arctic Convoy PQ 17 and then providing relief and reinforcements for troops at Spitspergen.

In July of 1942 Manchester was sent back to the Med to take part in the most important convoy of the war, Operation Pedestal, the relief of Malta. At the time the muchbombed island was almost out of food and fuel and was within two weeks of surrendering to the Ger mans. That would have been a dis aster for the North African cam paign. Malta had to be saved. So

and tankers that it was given the largest escort in naval history — 2 battleships, 4 aircraft car-

Damage assessments were made and reported to Captain Harold Drew. When the Manchester began to list heavily he ordered'abandon ship'. Drew then did what no Royal Navy captain had done before or since — he ordered the Manchester scuttled.

The MwMc/fc.sft'r was equipped with state of the art radar and Drew didn't want it to fall into enemy hands.

The Manchester carried a compli ment of more than 900 officers and crew; 400 were taken aboard a nearby allied ship while 500 others made it to shore by lifeboat or by swimming. There the survivors were taken prisoner by the Vichy French and suffered four months of deprivation before being repatri ated to Britain.

The official death toll listed one officer and twelve ratings, not in cluding Leading Cat Leslie. But Leslie had gone down with the ship, the last sighting being that of her"... sinewy black tail, very erect, disappearing into the boiler-room

Leslie and Shrapnel seemed to have taken to the US Navy,so much so that Shrapnel deserted while on the return voyage

vessels.(9freighters, 1 aircraft carrier, 1 cruiser and 2 destroyers were sunk and most of the other ships were dam- ^jpaged).

The story of Operation Bk Pedestal has been told countless times in books and films and doesn't need repeating here.Suffice it to say that after three days of constant bombardment and torpedo attacks that caused great loss of life and ships enough of the cargo got through to save Malta, Only five of the merchant ships (three of them heavily damaged) survived but most importantly the US tanker Ohio carrying a full load of aviation fuel was one of them.

Nine freighters were sunk as well as one aircraft carrier, one cruiser and two destroyers. Most of the other ships suffered some damage.

The convoy was attacked by more than 700 German and Italian fighters and bombers and dozens of U-boats and Italian submarines but remarkably the Manchester came through unscathed.The luck of the little black cat seemed to be holding out, but, then as the Man chester tried to make its way along the coast of Africa back to Gibral tar, at 4 o'clock on the morning of August 13th,off Cape Bon,Tunisia, it was attacked by two Italian mo tor torpedo boats. One torpedo hit the aft engine.

HEARTWORM IN DOGS

by Mark Pizarro MRCVS of The Gibraltar Veterinary Clinic, 33/4 Rosia Road or ICC clinic Tel: 77334 Fax:43352

What is heartworm?

This is a parasitic condition where adult worms em bed primarily in the right ventricle of the heart. The parasites' scien tific name is Dim- 3 filaria immitis.

task's;

How can my dog contract this dis ease?

where she had always taken ref uge in time of danger and where she had given birth to her innumerable off spring",

A young sailor had tried to save Leslie but for the first and only time in her life she had scratched and bit a well-meaning ship mate and refused absolutely to be saved.

In some ways her fate may have been preferable to that of Captain Drew. He was court-martialled and stripped of his command. A dedi cated career officer he remained in the Navy but was never given an other command at sea. He died in 1987 and it is said that he never got over the stain on his character. Leslie on the other hand died a he ro's death.

The adult worms in the heart breed and release very minute larvae into the bloodstream, microfilaria. These circulate in the host's blood and travel to peripheral blood vessels where they are taken in by any mosquito which happens to be feeding on the host's blood. If this same mosquito then goes and feeds on another host then the latter will become infected. The microfilarias are then transported by the dog's blood to the heart where the microfilaria embed, grow into adults breed and then release more microfilaria into the blood.

Is this condition dangerous for my pet?

Yes although the animal can live for years without any clinical signs of the disease. It is not in the parasite's interest to kill its host as it relies on it for its survival. If the host were to die then the para site would die with it, so it is pri marily with very heavy worm burdens or very chronic infec tions where the animal will die suddenly. The main clinical signs that one associates with this con

'Grey Mistress was the second vol ume ofJoy Packer's autobiography, the first being Pack and Follow. The hooks tell of her life as the wife of a Royal hJai>ysea captain. One ofher husband's commands was HMS Manchester

dition is the dog to be off colou

r for a long period of time and on auscultation there is often a heart murmur over the right hand side of the heart.

Can my dog be treated if it is in fected?

Yes your pet can be treated but in some cases when the dog is treated it may die, this is due to the dead worms resulting in anaphylactic shock or fatal emboli.

Can this parasite contaminate me or my other pets?

This disease is one on the whole which is restricted to the canine population, but there has been the odd rare case in felines and hu

Is heartworm prevalent in G

i braltar?

Thankfully in Gibraltar this dis ease is not endemic, however there are a lot of cases in certain areas of Spain so those dogs which travel regularly should be pro tected against the disease.

How can my dog be protected?

Prevention can be easily carried out by either dosing the dog regu larly with monthly treatments which kill any microfilaria when they are injected in by the mosqui tos. Or more easily there is now an annual vaccination which pro tects the dog for one whole year. Also using anti-mosquito prepa rations can be helpful e.g. foggers

against heartworm

% vital was the convoy of 14 freighters

riers,7cruisers,33de* strovers and 17 smaller

for year long protection

Arts b Crafts

The Arts Centre, Prince Edward's Rd. Art classes for children(5-6pm Men,5-6.30pm

Tues, 5-7pm Thurs), adults (Mon - Tues 6.30pm-8pm, Wed 6-30pm-8.30pm, life

painting Wed 7pm-9pin). Tel: 79788.

The Fine Arts Association Gallery 1 st Floor above Gibraltar Crystal, Casemates. Open 11am-2pm, 4-6pm Mon - Fri, Sat 11am2pm. Arts b Crafts Gallery (next door)

opens Mon - Fri 9,30am - 5pm (summer)• 6pm (winter), Sat 9.30am - 3pm,

The Poetry Society meets on 20th of each

month. Contact: Audrey Batty on 44355

Church Senfices

Bahia Tel: 43637 for meetings.

Church of England Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Tel: 78377. Sung Eucharist, Sunday 10.30am. Sunday School.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Suite 21a Don House, 30-38 Main Street. Tel: 50433. Sundays 10am.

Church of Scotland St Andrew's, Gover

nor's Pde. Tel: 77040. Worship 8 Sunday

School 10.30am. Bible Study Tues 7.30pm.

Evangelical Bretheren Assembly, Queensway Quay. Sun 11am, Tues Bible

Study 6pm, Thurs Prayer Meeting 6pm.

Hindu Engineer's Lane Tel: 42515.

Jehovah's Witness Line Wall RdTel: 50186.

Jewish 10 Bomb House Lane Tel: 72606.

Methodist 297 Main St Tel: 77491. Sunday

services 11am 67pm. Midweek Fellowships.

Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned. 215 Main St Tel: 76688.

Board Games

Chess Club meets in Studio 1, John Mack intosh Hall 8-10.3Gpm Tues.

The Gibraltar Scrabble Club meet John Mackintosh Hall Mondays. Bank holidays changed to Thursday same week. 7pm11 pm All welcome. Tel: 71967 / 54000B35

The Subbuteo Club meets Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall 7.30 -11pm.

Dance Modern b Latin American Sequence Danc ing Mondays Catholic Community Centre 8.30pm (beginners 7.30). Over 15s welcome. www.glbnynex.gi/inst/cccseqdance/

Old b Modern Sequence Dancing sessions at the Catholic Community Centre at 8pm, beginners at 7.30pm, Wednesday.

The DSA Old 8 Modern Sequence Danc ing sessions at Central Hall Fridays 8pm,be ginners 7.30pm, Tel : 78282 or e-mai l manvio@gibnet.gi Everybody welcome.

Senior Citizens Teatime Dances at The Youth Centre, Line Wall Rd on Mondays 25.30pm. All senior citizens welcome for cof fee, tea and biscuits. Entrance free.

Classical Ballet classesfor children 4-i-, Spanish dance and hip-hop at Liza School of Dance, 3rd floor, Methodist Church, 297/ 299 Main St. Classes Weds 8 Fri from 6pm at Chiltern Court(4Cs). Tel: 58111000.

Line Dancing Queensway Club, Central Hall Weds8-9pm beginners;9-10pm advanced. All welcome, including visitors to the Rock. Tel: Helen 50381 or 540137760,

History b Heritage

The Gibraltar Heritage Trust The Main Guard, 13 John Mackintosh Sq. Tel: 42B44.

The Gibraltar Classic Vehicle Association

Dedicated to preservation of Rock's trans port/motoring heritage, Assists members In restoration / maintenance of classic vehicles.

Members/vehicles meet first Sunday of month,Safeway's car park from 10am. New members welcome. Tel: 72481 Fax: 72033.

Outdoor Activities

The Caipe Ramblers This group walks on

the last Sunday of each month, except July and August. Meeting place is on the Span ish side of the frontier at Bam just to the right of and opposite the Aduana vehicle exit. For any information contact either Ray Murphy 71956 or John Murphy 74545, the two co-ordinators of the group.

Performing Arts

Rock Dramatics drama group for children aged 4 -17. Rehearsals every Saturday morning at St Andrew's Hall — all children welcome. Tel: 47555 for information.

Stage Musical Group meet Wed and Thurs at rehearsal room, British Lines Rd (next to Frontier loop) at 8pm. Tel: Iris 73098.

Trafalgar Theatre Group meet 2nd Wed of month. Garrison Library 8pm, All welcome.

Quizzes

Cannon Bar quizzes are held on Tuesdays with at least three quizzes per night. Start ing with a warm up, then two other quizzes, including a theme quiz. Starts at 8.30pm, all welcome and prizes are given. Free en trance but a donation to charity Is requested. Tapas served after the quiz.

The Edinburgh Arms, Naval Hospital Road, has a quiz night from S.SOpm every Monday with prizes and free tapas.

The Tunnel in Casemates has a pub quiz and entertainment on Sunday nights,

Social Clubs

Scots on the Rock: Any Scots visiting the Rock can contact Charles Poison (Tel: 78142) for assistance or Information.

Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes(Gi braltar Province) meets at RAQB Club, Vault 1 Jumpers Bastion on these days: Provin cial Grand Lodge, 1st Monday of month, 8pm. Executive Meeting,last Mon of month

7pm. Knights Chapter, 2nd Mon of month

7.30pm. Examining Council, 3rd Mon of month 7pm. William Tllley 2371,Thurs 8pm. Buena Vista 9975, Weds (fortnightly) 7pm. Per Favor 9444,Weds(fortnightly)7pm. Fare well 10001. Tues 8.30pm. Goldacre 10475 (social) last Fri of month 8pm.

The Tuesday Ladles' Club meets 8pm, Queensway Club on first Tuesday each month. Open to all women in Gibraltar who enjoy making new friends. Non-profit mak ing, proceeds donated to charity, Tel: Anne 43869, or Margaret 70B16.

Special Interest Clubs b Societies

Gibraltar Horticultural Society meets first Thurs of month 6pm,John Mackintosh Hall , Annual Spring Flower Show. Also slide shows, demos on flower arrangements and outings to garden centres plus annual tour of Alameda Gardens. All welcome.

Gibraltar Internet Club monthly meetings held on Mondays at the College of Further Education 7-9pm. All welcome,experienced surfers or beginners. A number of comput ers are connected to the internet, others have programs for creating of web pages. A colour scanner Is also available.

The Gibraltar Photographic Society meets on Mon at around 8pm, Wellington Front, Basic courses, competitions etc.

UN Association of Gibraltar PO Box 599. 22a Main Street. Tel: 52108,

Sports Supporters Clubs

Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Club. Comorant Wharf Boat Owners' Club. For details/fixtures Tel: Mario 40240, Michael 55185, John 43166, Tito 70410, Dick 79000, John 59804 or Raju 76176,

Sports b Fitness

Artistic Gymnastics: Gibraltar Artistic Gym nastics Association club for beginners, jun iors and squad at Bayside School in eve nings. Tel: Angela 70611 or Sally 74661.

Athletics: Gibraltar Amateur Athletics Asso ciation holds competitions throughout year for juniors, adults and veterans. Two main clubs (Caipeans 71807, Lourdians 75180) hold training sessions at Victoria Stadium. Badminton: Recreational badminton is avail

able weekdays at Victoria Stadium (Tel: 78409 for allocations). Gibraltar Badminton Association (affiliated to IBA 8 EBA) has leagues and training for adults and second ary school. Tel: Ivan 44045 or Linda 74753.

Basketball: Gibraltar Amateur Basketball Association (affiliated FIBA) leagues/ train ing for minis, passarelle, cadets,seniors and adults at a variety of levels. Tel: John 77253, Randy 40727 or Kirsty (minis)4944],

Billiards b Snooker; Gibraltar Billiards and Snooker Association (member IBSA) rund leagues and competitions at various venues. New members welcome. Tel: Eddie 72142 or Peter 77307.

Boxing: Gibraltar Amateur Boxing Associa tion(member lABA)gym on Rosia Rd. Over 13s welcome to join. Tuition with ex-pro boxer Ernest Victory(75513 w,42788 h).

Canoeing: Gibraltar Canoeing Association. Tel: Nigel 52917 or Eugene 58014000.

Cricket: Gibraltar Cricket Association(mem ber ICC) runs leagues/competitions at Europa PolntA/lctoria Stadium.Junior/senior training. TeLTom 79461 or Adrian 44281.

Cycling: Gibraltar Cycling Association vari ous cycling tours. Tel: Uriel 79359.

Darts: Gibraltar Darts Association(member WDF)adult/junior leagues/competitions. Tel: Tony 70379 or Harry (Junior darts)41798.

Football: Gibraltar Football Association runs leagues/competitions for all ages OctoberMay. Futsal in summer months, Victoria Sta dium. Tel: 42941 www.gfa.gi. Senior Tel: Albert 41515,Junior Tel: Richard 58654000, Women's Tel: Brian 52299. Recreational foot ball for over 35s Tel: Richard 70320.

Golf: Med Golf tournaments held monthly. Tel: 79575 for tournament venues/dates. Gi

braltar Golf Union has competitions through year, EGU handicaps. Tel: Bernie 78844.

Hockey: Gibraltar Hockey Association(mem bers FIH 8 EHF)high standard competitions/ training for adults and juniors. Tel: Eric 74156 or Peter 72730.

Judo: Gibraltar Judo Association UKMAF recognised instructors for all ages and lev els at Budokai Martial Arts Centre, Welling ton Front, Tel: Charlie 73116 or Peter73225, Ju-jitsu: Gibraltar Ju-jltsu Academy training and grading for juniors/seniors held during evening at 4 North Jumpers Bastion (Rosia Rd). Tel: Tony 79855 or club 47259, Karate-do Shotokal: Gibraltar Karate-do Shotokai Association sessions for junior/sen iors, gradlngs and demos at Karate Club house.41H Town Range Tel: Andrew 48908.

Motorboat Racing: Gibraltar Motorboat Racing Association Tel: Wayne 75211, Netball: Gibraltar Netbail Association (affili ated FENA 8 IFNA) competitions through year, senior/junior leagues.Tel: Moira41795 or Suzette 41874.

Petanque: Gibraltar Petangue Association plays at Giralda Gardens,Smith Dorrien Ave. New members welcome. Tel: Francis 70929.

Pool: Gibraltar Pool Association (member EUKPFl home and away league played on Thurs through season. Tel: Linda 74753.

Rhytfimic Gymnastics: Gibraltar Rhythmic Gymnastics Association run training ses sions for girls 5-18 years weekday evenings during school holidays. Tel: Richard 70320.

Rugby: Gibraltar Rugby Football Union train ing sessions for Colts (^4-^), seniors and veterans. Play in Andalusia 2nd Division Oct -April. Tel: Dennis 74600 or Michael 729B2.

Sailing: Gibraltar Yachting Association jun ior/senior competitive programme through season (April - Oct)Tel: RGYC 48847.

Sea Angling: Gibraltar Federation of Sea Anglers (members FIPS-M 8 CIPS) Superb calendar of events with four clubs partici pating. Tel: Mario 72622 or Charlie 74337,

Shooting: Gibraltar Shooting Federation over 14s only. Rifle, Europa Point range (Tel: Joe 74973): day pigeon. East Side(Tel: Harry 74354); Pistol, facilities near Royal Naval Hospital (Tel: Fidel 71990).

Skating:Glbraltar Skating and Xtreme Sports Association opens its Skate Park, Coaling Is land, Queensway. Tues-Sat, 5 - 9pm. State of art ramps for Xtreme/aggressive roller blading /skate boarding. Leisure skating fa

cilities provided within excellent skating rinkl (when not used for roller hockey training).! Tel: Eric 70710 (after 5pm)or just turn up.

Snorkelling6Spear Fishing: Over UsweFl come for snorkelling, over 16s for spear fisfvj ing. Tel: Joseph 75020.

Squash: Gibraltar Squash Association, The] Squash Centre, South Pavilion Road(menv| bers WSF6ESF). Adult/junior tournaments/! coaching. Tel: Ronnie 44922 or Barry 73260.1

Sub-Aqua: Gibraltar Sub-Aqua Association taster dives for over 14s, tuition from local clubs. Voluntary sports clubs: Tel: Phil 44606, Noah's Dive Club Tel: Leslie 79601, 888s Dive Club Tel: Martin 70944. Commer cial sports diving schools also available, Swimming: Gibraltar Amateur Swimming Association(member FINA 8 LEN)opens its pool for leisure swimming Mon • Fri 78.45am, 12-4pm, 8-9pm. Also junior les sons (Tel: Rebecca 71342), squad for com mitted swimmers, junior and senior water polo (Tel: Chris 72869).

Table Tennis; Gibraltar Table Tennis Asso ciation(members ITTA)training / playing ses sions, Bishop Fitzgerald School, Weds 610pm,Thurs B-10pm. Tel: Lisanne45071 or Eugene 58014000.

Taekwondo: Gibraltar Taekwondo Associa tion classes/gradings Tel: Marl 44142.

Tennis: Gibraltar Tennis Association, Sand pits Tennis Club, excellent junior develop ment programme, Courses for adults, leagues/competitions. Tel: Frank 77035. Ten-Pin Bowling; Gibraltar Ten Pin Bowling Association(members FIQ 8WTBA)leagues at Ultra Bowl,training for juniors and squad. Tel: Gary 42447 or Charlie 71125.

Triathlon: Gibraltar Triathlon Union (mem bers ITU) Tel: Chris 75857 or Harvey 55847.

Volleyball: Gibraltar Volleyball Association (members W 8 EVF) training, leagues, competitiions for juniors/seniors. Tel; Tony 40478 or Elizabeth 58306000.

Yoga: Integral Yoga Centre runs a full pro gram of classes from Mon-Fri at 33 Town Range. Tel: 41389. All welcome.

Support Groups/Associations

Alcoholics Anonymous meet 7pm Tues and Thurs, 11 am Sat at Nazareth HseTel: 73774, Citizens' Advice Bureau Late opening hours Wednesday 5.30 - 7.30pm. Open two Satur day mornings each month.Tel: 40006 Email: info@cab.gi or visit 10 Governor's Lane. No appointment necessary, no charge.

Gibraltar Cardiac Rehabilitation and Sup port Group meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 8.30pm at the John Mac Hall, except for July and August.

Gibraltar Marriage Care. Free relationship counselling, including pre-marriage educa tion (under auspices of Catholic Church, but open to all). Tel: 71717.

Hope.Support after miscarriage Tel: 41817.

Narcotics Anonymous Tel: 70720

Overeaters Anonymous support group of those with compulsive overeating problem. Tel: helpline for details of meetings 42581.

Psychological Support Group, Nazareth House, Group therapy Tuesdays 7-9pm (so cial, crafts, games, music etc,), Workshop Thursdays 2pm-4pm. Tel: 51623.

With Dignity Gibraltar friendly support group for separated, divorced, widowed or unattached people. Regular meetings Weds 9pm at Catholic Community Centre, Line VVall Rd, Outings and activities. Tel; Pill 71824 or Gladys on 71465,

Women In Need. Voluntary organisation for all victims of domestic violence, Refuge available. Tel: 42581 (24 hours).

Women's Aid. Aims to protect women and children from violence. Tel: 41999.

Clubs and Support Groups should submit details to The Gibraltar Magazine,PO Box 561, PMB 6377, Suite S3D International Commercial Centre, Main Street Gibral tar Fax: 77748 for inclusion in this guide.

Defence of the Realm

Landport Ditch, virtually a dust bin for the latter years of the last century, has been given a new lease of life in this one. To visitors and grateful residents alike, its present incarnation as a car park disguises the fact that it once formed an inte gral part of the Grand Battery de fensive system.

The south side of Landport d i tch is contained by the curtain wall,or scarp, which, with its fifteen embra sures for great guns,is a forbidding obstacle in itself. There can be little doubt that when the wartime con crete is removed and the embra sures are once again equipped with cannon it will present a formidable spectacle.

The north side of the ditch is formed by a wall, usually called a counterscarp, beyond which an in clined sand slope or glacis, ran down towards Bayside.Thus an ap proaching enemv had to claw his way up the sloping glacis — whilst being shot at from the Grand Bat tery — only to find he then has to descend into the ditch before he can approach the curtain wall. His only direct access to the curtain wall was via the bridge.

The sentries who patiently guarded the mines have left their marks in graffiti as clear now as it was when first cut

whose approach was well covered by Kings Lines and Messes, and whose final protection was the drawbridge at the heavily de fended Landport Gate.

Many of us would have thought this a fairly ad equate system of defence y, and yet our antecedents took it a couple of stages further. On some parts

of the walls we can see the last ves tige of what must once have been a fine colony of barnacles,indicating that at one time the ditch was flooded with seawater. In the 17lh and 18th centuries a cunette — a deep channel filled with water was typical of many defensive ditches. Here,the barnacle evidence suggests that the whole of the ditch may have been flooded.

Yet still that was not enough; the defences continued with a counternune beneath the glacis. In the counterscarp there

are two entrances to galleries(tun nels), driving deep inside the glacis slope. At the end ofeach gallery we find branches running left and right forming a tee, along which explo sives would be placed, so that the whole slope could be exploded be neath the feet of a massed assault, should it be necessary.

Apparently it was not; as we still have the mines today and indeed the defenders found benefits that thev had not, perhaps, expected.

The mines would have acted as soughs, draining the sand slopes above and collecting significant amounts of water during the win ter, However, this impediment to their primary purpose was turned to good use. By directing the water into an enormous cistern, still within the glacis, the engineers managed to turn a curse into a blessing. Who those engineers were we shall probably never know,but the sentries who patiently guarded the mines have left their marks in graffiti as clear now as it was when first cut.

Their inscriptions remained for WW2 soldiers to see when the cis tern was used as an air raid shelter and for the few Gibraltarians who remember the west mine entrance being used as a garage,to house the famous bren-gun carrier often seen in pictures of the frontier gates. Al though the east mine is now closed, the.semi-derelict west mine is a fur ther testament to the ingenuity and artifice of fortress builders.

One of Gibraltar's most prominent yet perhaps least well known heritage assets has recently been brought back from the dead; well at least from the very edge of oblivion.

The word Casemates, meaning a bomb proof compartment, usually of masonry, to house a magazine or troop quarters, comes from the Italian 'Casamatta' from the Latin 'Casa'(house)and 'Matto'(mad) originating from the Latin 'fvlattus"(drunk)l

The European Nations'Cup Squash Team event was held at the end of 2003 in Bratislava, Sloz'akia andfor the first time in Gibraltar's long established squash history the Gibraltar Squash Association loas able to send a squad ofeight plapers and three coaches to the event. Gibraltar ivas respresented by Steven Shacaluga, Christian Navas, Anthony Brindle,Louis Montegrijfo, Danny Fabre, Justin Chipolina, Gail Attias and Gail Navas with coaches Barry Brindle, Victor Camilleri and Julio Peire (pictured above), sponsored by Zenith.

Pictured right: thefinalists ofthe Christmas Squash Tournament with Marie Asquez and Gibraltar Squash Association President Ronnie Barabich

Stan James 9-ball Shield

The 2003 tournamentfor the Stan James O-ball Shield was again a great success with 32 playersfighting it out over two weeks xoilh sei>eral nail-biting matches. During the competition, held in the 9-batl Nest on the top floor of the Three Owls, Irish Toxvn, last year's winner, Julian McGrail, was knocked out in the quarter finals by Francis Becerra. Francis zoent on to beat Craig Finchfor a place in thefinal against Charlie Santos. Thefinal,a race to 11,saw Francis Becerra take an early lead but then Charlie Santos got a golden break to storm back with an eventual 11-9 win. Pictured above Charlie Santos and Francis Becerra.

The f»ist»irAtio»iAl Centre YdM'll De FA5ei»Wktet> At Fortwne* llitKsiui/ Giftsfor Evenjone Or> tlH'Citscmatcs Balcony Tel/Fax:510S8

DINNER MENU

(available 7pm •late)

8 Casemates Square Tel: 74946 Tel/Fax: 44878

(Available Sam - 7pm)

From Cheese or Roast Turkey to Tandoori Chicken or Hot Chicken b Bacon

From Soup of the Day to Omelettes with Fries. Baguettes freshly baked from Juicy Sizzling Sirloin Steak tor Honey Roast Ham)

(From Chicken Breast in Creamy Pepper fr Brandy Sauce to Succulent Chicken Curry)

(From Sausage, Mash fr Onion in Rich Gravy to Lasagne with Beef, Tomato and Cheese)

Bhona Prawns/ Dover Sole/Swordfish / Salmon / Madeiran Fish fr Prawn Kebab/ Madeiran King Prawn Kebab 'Vesuvius'

Grand Casemates Fillet Steak / Sirloin Steak/Pork Fillet Steak (Steaks served with sauce of your choice)

Chicken Stroganoff/ Chicken Portu guese/ Chicken in Black Pepper fr Brandy Sauce/Jamaican Pepper Pot/ Beef in Red Wine fr Mushroom / Garlic Chicken/Tandoori Chicken/ Special mixed Grill (for 2 only• tandoori b garlic chicken,fillet pieces, prawns,swordfish, sausages, bacon, tomatoes b peppers)

The Royal Caipe

RESIDENT GRANT A TIPPLE TOO FAR

In 1877 former US President and American Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant embarked on an ambitious world tour. There was no official itinerary but for 19 months Grant and his wife Julia travelled through Europe, the Mediterranean and the Far East. The many stops (his favourites were Switzerland and Japan) included Gibraltar.

It was reported by the US writ ers accompanying the tour that eve rywhere Grant went he was re ceived by cheering crowds.Parades and dinners were given in his hon our and he met the leaders and main dignitaries of most of the countries he visited.

Grant'sship arrived in Liverpool on 28 May 1877. Huge crowds turned out to honour him; not as a former president but as a war hero. Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales hosted dinners for the Grants but the Queen was irri tated by the presence of Grant's 19-year-old son Jesse whom Vic toria described as a "very illmannered young Yankee."

All across Europe the Grants were treated like royalty. The most emphatic display of affec tion came in Newcastle on 22nd September 1877. An estimated 100,000 turned out for a Grant speech in the town centre.

Grant arrived in Gibraltar on 12th November 1878 but stayed at the home of the US ConsulSprague rather than at the Convent. A pa rade was given in his honour, he was taken on a tour of the Rock by the Governor and there were sev eral formal dinners. Naturally alco hol was included at these grand re pasts. This would have proved a tremendous temptation for Grant who was well known to have a drink problem.

There were numerous reports of Grant drinking during the Civil War when he led the Union troops to victory over Robert E. Lee and the Confederate States. But it was believed that by the time he was elected president in 1868 he had conquered his craving for alcohol. He was the 18th president of the United States and,despite some fi nancial scandals involving his ad ministration, he was deemed to be scrupulously honest and was reelected in 1872.

One biographer wrote that in Grant's case the use of alcohol:

"...was an appetite, not a dissi pation. In the last twenty years of his life, he drank rarely and there are only two accounts of him being drunk:once at a dance in 1866 and one fanciful account of him being

1 ne b r iated on his world tour and hav ing sex with liis wife in front of wide-eyed British sail ors. The former account is sup ported by credible witnesses, the latter tale is told by one man and is dubious."

In reading the above I immedi ately thought —'Gibraltar'. The Gi-

Ve r n e and the 'round-theworld'sailor Joshua Locurrr became amiably drunk thanks to Garrison hospitality. It was commonly related at the time that the Gibraltar Garrison was no torious for never permitting any of their guests to leave the table sober.

There seems to be no doubt that

The Gibraltar Garrison was notorious for never permitting any of their guests to leave the table sober

braltar Chronicle of the time doesn't say much about Grant's visit but does mention that he was enter tained by the Garrison and its repu tation for plying its guests(even ce lebrities) with large amounts of al cohol leads me to believe that Grant may have fallen off the wagon on the Rock.

Both the science-fiction writer

Grant liked a drink but it is inter esting when reading of his life that friends and colleagues, many who fought alongside him in the Civil War, give such varied accounts of his drinking habits. Following are just a few of the many disparate examples:

"1 have seen him often, some times daily, and I have never no

ticed the slightest indication of his having used any kind of liquor. 1 have seen him, time and again to refuse to touch it. It has been charged that Grant was under the influence of liquor on the fields of Donelson and Shiloh.The charge is atrocious and wickedly false. I saw him repeatedly during those battles and if there was any sober man on the field. Grant was one of them."

(General John Thayer 1865).

"Lieutenant Grant had an ex cellent taste for good liquors. I had given him the liberty of the sideboards in my cabin, and urged him frequently never to be backward in using it and he never was. Every night after I turned in, 1 would hear him once or twice,sometimes more, open the door quietly. 1 would hear the clink of a glass, and a gurgle and he would walk softly back."(Charles Ellingon 1854).

"When Grant was in Detroit he took a pew in the Methodist church. Dr. George Taylor was the pastor and he helped Grant a groat deal. It is said that he had a long talk with Grant at that time and told him that he could not safely use any liquor in any form and Grant ac knowledged this and took the pledge and thereafter used no liq uor at all there." Judge Chapman 1849).

After reading numerous reports of Grant's drinking the conclusion one comes to is that his problem wasn't that he drank too much but simply that he couldn't hold his drink. In modern terms he was a 'cheap' drunk. According to close friends a single drink could cause Grant to be unsteady and slur his words.

One biographer wrote:

"Grant's relationship with liquor can be stated simply: in his early life, he apparently did drink to ex cess, particularly when separated from his wife and sons in 1852-54. His letters from this period elo quently prove his loneliness and feelings of emotional abandon ment. With little to do and bur dened with a martinet as a com manding officer. Grant drunk too much and its significance has been exaggerated.

His drinking hurt no one, im pinged on his ability to work only marginally and was borne out of a desperate loneliness to see his fam ily."

During the Civil War Grant was seen to imbibe only occasionally and was rarely seen drunk.

Taking everything into consid eration it would seem a good bet that Grant might have fallen off the wagon at Gibraltar. Far from being shocked by his behaviour the Brit ish sailors would have been more likely to cheer him on all the while plying him with even more drink.

Grant and his entourage de parted Gibraltar for Malaga aboard HMS Expiress on 19th November 1878. They continued on to Egypt, Jerusalem, Greece, Rome, Russia, Austria and Germany, returned briefly to Britain and then sailed to Asia, visiting Burma, China, Viet nam and Siam. In Japan they were received by Emperor Mutsuhito and Grant was said to be the first

person in the world to shake the Emperor's hand.

The Grants returned to America on 16th December 1879 arriving with their St. Bernard Ponto (ac quired in Switzerland) to cheering crowds at San Francisco.

Grant had hoped the world tour would help erase the financial scan dals of his presidency and earn him the Republican presidential nomi nation and a third term as presi dent. The tour had been thrilling and followed eagerly by readers throughout America but Grant lost the Republican nomination to James Garfield who went on to be inaugurated the 20th president of the United States on 4th Mar 1881. He was assassinated just five months later at a railroad station by a lone gunman.

Grant retired to write his mem oirs, which earned a fortune, but he died of throat cancer on 23rd July 1885 before he gained any appreci able benefits from them. He was 63.

Terry's Books Now Open

Terry's Books has now opened on Irish Town and is offering a very popular book, video and DVD exchange. The shop also stocks a range ofgreeting cards, wrapping paper and ribbon and sells cake decorations and inscriptionsfor cakes. Most people know Terry as Terry The Cake Man, and he is continuing to create hisfabulousfruit cakes to order,especially for

Bell Pharmacy

Your Family Chemists

Here to help you by answering all your pharmaceutical questions

Consult us at 27 Bt-ll Lane Tel: 77289 Fax: 42989

Dr Rene A Beguelin MB BS General Practitioner

Sally Correa

BSC (Hons)Ost. Med. 1X3 ND

Osteopath ft Naturopath Central Clinic, 1 A Centre Plaza, Horse Barrack Lane. Tel: 59955 Fax:49495 E-mail: be8uelin@8ibnynex.gi

LARRY WILDING BSC(Hons)MChS SRCh ABAHChP

BRITISH STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST/PODIATRIST

180 Main Street Tei:51482 Safeway Pharmacy Tel:75765

Free e-tnalladviceline contactlarry@>glbnynex,gl

StO/lG

8("il\ Mill l.ano, Gibraltar. IVI: 7T7h'*

Suppliers of Ciucosamine, Ginkgo Biloba and ail vitamins. New large range of American products now in stock.

Body Building Products(Creatine etc)

Open:9am - 1pm & 3pm - b.,30pm

HEARING AID

— centreagents FOR PHILIPS HEARING AIDS

Open Mon.-Fri. 10am-1pm Mpm-6pm

2 Horse Barrack Court, Gibraltar Tel: 73341

ptometrist L. M. PASSANO British Registered Eye Examination Contact Lenses 38 Main Street Tel: 76544 Dr Keith j Vinnkvmhc

D'i Hcsii-iii:; MH.nr H'ki

I EYE STUDIO

Working with Computers £t PlayStations

Do you work with computers, or do you spend a lot of time on the computer at home? They can make life a lot easier but there are also implications for your health if your workstation is not set up correctly.

It may not appear a high-risk op eration but some computer opera tors have had to give up work be cause of Work Related Upper Limb Disorder or Repetitive Strain Inju ries. It is thought that a large number of these conditions can be caused by not operating the mouse correctly.

What should you look for?

•- Pain in upper limbs while car rying out tasks

• Pain persisting for prolonged periods after work

• Being woken at night by pain ful symptoms

McTlmoney Chiropractor

Gentle

treatment for all back or muscular problems and sports injuries

Gillian

• Numbness, loss of control or power in the affected limb

• Loss offunction and pain in car rying out everv-day tasks, such as turning door handles, using scissors, etc.

At work your employer is re quired to provide workstations that meet minimum requirements and this includes risk assessments and

training — but you can do a few things to help yourself.

• Vary the tasks you do each day, even the keyboard tasks.

• Avoid leaning your arms against hard edges and constricting the

DENTAL SLIRGLON Bruce UOS lUnnsi DENTAL SURGEON

I isilina Orihodtnitisl i<- Orul Siirveim 62 Main Street, Suite 6. PO Box 909. Gibraltar Tel: 76X17

306 Main Street,Gibraltar (next to John Mackintosh Library) ^ Tel:44844 www.lStchiro.com e-mail:enquiries@lstchiro.com t. To

blood flow.

• Relax your hand and don't use excessive force when operating the mouse.

•iMake sure your workstation is arranged so that your hand and wrist are not bent at an angle when using the keyboard and the mouse(see picture A).

•iPlace the mouse mat so that you don't need to reach or sit in an uncomfortable position(see pic tures B & C).

•-Vary the fingers you use to de

press the mouse buttons.

• Don't rest your wrists on the desk when inputting.

And what about when you are at home? Do you, or your children, spend hours playing computer games. Even children are getting Repetitive Strain Injuries to their thumbs because of the time they spend on games or PlayStations. The same rules apply when using computers at home. Try some and see if thev make a difference.

More Than Skin Deep

medical directory

BIORESONANCE

PRACTITIONER

Gisela Keuper-von Kader 8RTRCR€FIT0

Healthier Life Clinic

252/2-11 Main St

Tel; 70421

Website: www.healthierlife.gi

CHEMISTS

Bell Pharmacy 27 Bell Lane

Tel: 77289 Fax: 42989

Louis' Pharmacy

Unit F12, international Commercial Centre. Casemates.

Tel: 44797

CHIROPODISTS

John W Miles BSc (Podiatry). MChS College Clinic, Regal House

Tel: 75769

L Wilding BSc (Hons). MChS, SRCh, ABAHChP

180 Main Street

Tel: 51482

Safeway Pharmacy

Tel: 75765.

Free advice line: larry(§>gibnynex.gi

CHIROPRATORS

Dr Steven J. Crump BSc, DC. MCC

ICC Suite F5C 1st Floor. Casemates.

Tel: 44226

Dr Michael Pirn DC, D'Ac

Gilly of Richard's Salon has recently announced the arrival of the Crystal Clear Skin System — Microdermabrasion — a beauty treatment used by many celebrities. The system, which uses fine crystals to gently remove dead cells,leaves the skin brighter andfresher and helps smooth outfine lines and wrinkles. Gilly also explains that the treatment is effective on acne scars, dull, congested and sun damaged skin. She usually recommends, depending on the state of the skin,an initialfive treatments with a top up once a monthfor best effect, though it can even be used as a 'flash treatment'to create a good basefor make upfor special occasions. Contact Gilly on 70244 or call in at The Eliott Hotel, Governor's Parade for further details or appointments.

JOHN W.

MILES

BSc(Podiatry), M.Ch.S

STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST

Treatment of all Foot Problems

rown Toe-nails including Surgical Removal

• Biomechanicai Analysis for Insoles / Orthotics including Children

Wart(Verruca) Clinic

• Diabetics

College Clinic, Regal House, Queensway Tel: 75769/77777

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR HOME VISITS

Dr Leyla Pirn BA, DC 1st Chiropractic Centre 306 Main Street.

Tel: 44844

E-mail: enquiries(@1stchiro.com

Website: www.1stchiro.com

Gillian Schirmer MA. DC. MMCA

McTimoney Chiropractor, Clinic (Claudia's). 1st Floor, 58 Main Street

Tel: 74040 or after hours: 40026

Dr Carsten Rudolf Steiner BSc. DC Steiner Chiropratic Clinics. College Clinic. Regal House.

Tel: 75769

DENTAL SURGEONS

Samuel Ibgui BDS Bruce Hogg BDS

62 Main Street, Suite 6, PO Box 909

Tel: 76817

Dr Keith J Vinnicombe BDS iWales) LDS

RCS(Eng)MFGDP(UK|

Unit F5B, International Commercial Centre, 2a Main Street

Tel/Fax: 40747

Emergency After Hours: 78756

GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Dr Ren6 A Begueiin MB. BS

Central Clinic. 1 A Centre Plaza, Horse Barrack Lane

Tel: 59955 Fax: 49495

E-mail: beguelin@gibnynex.gi

Dr J. Shelley Dr M. Salem College Clinic. Regal House, Queensway.

Tel: 77777 Fax: 72791

E-mail: info(Scollegeclinic.gi

Website: www.collegeclinic.gi

HEALTH STORES

The Health Store 5 City Mill Lane.

Tel: 73765

NATUROPATHS

Sally Correa BSc(Hons)Ost. Med.DO ND Central Clinic, 1A Centre Plaza. Horse Barrack Lane.

Tel: 59955 Fax:49495 Mobile: 57158000

E-mail: sarahacorrea@hotmail.com

OPTICIANS / OPTOMETRISTS

Eye Studio Opticians Unit 20B Grand Casemates

Tel: 47800 Fax: 47801

Cache & Co Limited 266 Main Street.

Tel: 75757

L. M. Passano Optometrist 38 Main Street Tel: 76544

OSTEOPATHS

Sally Correa BSc(Hons)Ost. Med.DO ND Central Clinic, 1A Centre Plaza. Horse Barrack Lane.

Tel: 59955 Fax:49495 Mobile: 57158000

E-mail: sarahacorrea@hotmail.com

PHYSIOTHERAPISTS

G. Keuper-von Kader BRTPCREFITO Healthier Life Clinic.

252/2-11 Main St

Tel: 70421

Website: www.healthierlife.gi

For

by Alan brav0

13B College Lane

Tel: 50612

Decorative Crafts

• Hand Painted Cifiware

• Personalised orders taken for Christmas, Birthdays, Weddings or any Special Occasion

•Decorative Painting - Furniture/Walls

• Adult One Stroke Painting & Card Making

• Children's Craft Classes after School

• New Stock of Crafting Products now in!

•Children's Craft Parties Call in at our shop/studio to see us or telephone 77992 19 George's Lane

Send completed crossword to: The Cannon Bar, Cannon Lane, Gibraltar.

One entry per person.

Winner notified in next issue ofThe Gibraltar Magazine.

Closing date: 24th February 2004

Crossword Winner Gloria Fernandez, Royal Oak House

Across

I. Channel Island with a ban on cars(4)

3. Viking vessel (8)

8. Possess(4)

9. 5 line comic verse(8)

II.and 12 down.1964 novel by Hubert Selby, Jr. and 1989 film starring Jennifer Jason Leigh (4,4,2,«)

14. Glamorous(6)

15. Sweltering (6)

17. Type of game not followed by the majority (5,5)

20. They are placed on the body to reduce swelling (3,5)

21. Take flight(4)

22. Device to clear windscreen on a car(8)

23. Types of insect(4)

Down

1. Largest town and port on Jersey (2.,6)

2. Alteration (8)

4. First name of film star de Havilland (6)

5. Building providing holiday accommodation (10)

6. Frozen rain (4)

7. Prod (4)

10. The 2 games preceding the final of a knock out competition (4-6)

12.see 10. across

13. Person in overall charge of a newspaper's contents(8)

16. Edible mollusc(6)

18. Female deer (4)

19. Channel Island renown for bird life in summer(4)

FIRST PRIZE: Lunch for 2 at The Cannon Bar

CALLED TO THE BARRE

The first ballet school was opened in France by Louis XIV In 1661... and the Gibraltar School of Ballet has been going since the late 1960s.

'I was a 17 year old pupil at the school in 1983 when the lady who had founded it suddenly announced she was going away and asked me it' 1 would like to take over,' said Cheryl! Bossino, who has successfully taken charge of the lessons for the last twenty years after taking a correspondence course with the Royal Academy of Dance in her teens in order to glissade smoothly from pu pil to teacher. In ad dition she attended courses in Spain and at the Royal Acad emy in London,cul minating in an Academy examiner coming specially to Gibraltar to confirm her abilities as both a dancer and teacher, awarding her a pass with distinction.

Back in 1661 women weren't al lowed to dance on stage, although this rule wassoftened in 1681 when ladies were first permitted to dance ballet — as long as they wore an kle-length dresses. Nowadays things have reversed.'Sadly,' said Cheryll,'of my one hundred pupils not one is a boy. We have had boys pass through, but they were usu ally English, from forces' families mainlv, and of course they would eventuallv leave when their parents were re-posted. And yet there is nothing unmanly about ballet it's a fact that professional football ers do ballet exercises to keep them selves at peak condition.'

The Gibraltar Ballet School is a thoroughly professional academy, fully equipped with a quality 'barre' and mirrors as well as wooden sprung floor, changing rooms, a separate reception area and all the props such as hoops scarves and boards which, Cheryll explained, help make it more inter esting for the younger pupils.

The school's standards are moni tored annually by an inspector from the Royal Academy of Dance, and Cheryll herself has to take a fresh

course every year to keep her stand ards up-to-date.

Three levels of teaching are pro vided:Children's(from as young as three and a half in exceptional cases but usually from the age of four); High (for those who wish to pur sue ballet as a hobby); and Major (for those who hope to become pro fessional); although Cheryll points out that the ballet business is'fero ciously competitive'— in common with most branches of the perform ing arts. Young people mostly wish

Bossino I

to leam ballet as a hobby, and the school has had pupils who were the children of former pupils.'Gener ally, Mums do get involved, which is good;' Cheryll continued,'espe cially as there can be a lot of sew ing involved for shows.'

With so many pupils though, parents' attitudes are bound to vary,ranging from those who think it's a waste of time but put up with it because their children have badg ered them into letting them join, to others who have no interest in the

art form but are highly aware that ballet is excellent for posture im provement.'Doctors recommend it for that,' said Chervil,'and also for overcoming obesity and clumsiness — it teaches coordination — and is also excellent mental exercise as there is a lot to think about.'

Cheryll herself has been involved in ballet since she was three and a half.'My mum had always wanted to be a dancer,' she told me,'and my two sisters, Noelle and Sabina are dancers too. Sabina has an Im

perial Society of Teachers of Danc ing certificate for modern dance.' Whilst Cheryll makes the lessons as enjoyable as she can, she was at pains to make it clear that it is basi cally a serious mat ter. 'Self-discipline is very important;' she said.'I try to in stil this from day one. 1 am strict on punctuality, and the pupils must ar rive in the correct uniform: pink leo tard, pink tights, ballet shoes,hair in a bun.By the age of eight if they come with their hair down they get fined one pound but they can easily afford that, they take it very casuallv.'

Lessons are made up of two to four one-hour sessions a week,with Royal Academy exams being pre pared for in alternate years. All les sons are carried out to music CDs provided by the Academy. The lit tle ones'lessons start at4pm,whilst the senior classes(usually over-12s with no upper age limit) go on un til 10pm, doing point work, for which they need strong backs,feet, knees and ankles. In non-exam years they prepare for shows, al though they present a charity show annuallv;2004 is a show year, when the pupils'graceful skills will form part of the Spring Festival.'It's very important for them to perform,' Cheryll emphasised; 'a lot of the pupils do need to develop their stage presence.' She also encour ages their interest by arranging out ings if there are any ballet perform ances nearby, and says she would love to take them to London in the near future.

The Gibraltar School of Ballet is conveniently situated at F19, the Europa Business Centre.It's easy to find and there's plenty of free park ing. For more information, call Cheryll on 45145or 51187.For Mod em Dance,her sister Sabina can be contacted on 46400.

Brian McCann

Gibraltar

Ballet School ptrpils roith their certifientes

It's a fact that professional footballers do ballet exercises to keep themselves at peak condition

ARE TEMPERATURES RISING?

I do not think I was alone in thinking that last summer was a very long hot oppressive summer which made most people feel rather fatigued. I normally reckon that I can cope with heat very well, but the high degree of humidity that accompanied the plus 30° - temperatures took its toll! In the UK similar temperatures were recorded, even up to 38°C which took its toll in gardens and woodlands as well.

ago, recent visits have really sur prised me as regards what is being grown in an average English gar den now. My sister-in-law Eve Doran has been growing the illus trated Oleander in her garden for the last 5 years, whilst Cannas can be left in the ground for the winter. When 1 lived in Worthing, 1 grew them, but they had to be lifted in the autumn,otherwise they would freeze and rot! Other plants to be seen in gardens and garden centres were Canarlan palm trees {Phoenix canariensis), the New Zealand tree fern {Dicksonia antarctica), plants which previously would only sur vive in sheltered parts of Devon and Cornwall plus the Scillies in the famous garden on Tresco. These plants are now not unusual throughout tiie south and in sub

urban gardens in London. A visi tor to the gardens here last Novem ber, mentioned that she grew in her Lincolnshire garden an apricot tree from seed 5 years ago, which pro duced 135 beautiful fruits in 2003. That is much further north, and to day there are even vineyards doing extremely well in Yorkshire.

If you look at an advertisement on the page opposite you will see mention of a conference 1 am organ ising in Gibraltar from 1st -5th May. It is intended to introduce you to a much greater range of trees,shrubs and plants from South Africa that can be grown here, some of them now suitable for many parts of the UK, so do look up the website. Il lustrations of a variety of South African species will appear in the next two issues.

If the experts are to be believed temperatures may well rise by as much as 4°C on average in the UK over the next 50-100 years. On a World Service BBC programme a couple of months ago,similar fore casts were made for the Mediterra nean region, and again talking about a much lesser timescale. Win ters will be milder everywhere and most likely wetter too.After all, this last November, with the exception of2or 3 mornings has been remark ably mild here, whereby our Dombeyas are already in bud, Al oes from Somalia in particular are producing flower spikes much ear lier than usual. Yet in contrast Aloe arborescens, large stands of which are on the slopes across the road from the mosque are just about on schedule.

In the 6th September 2003 issue of the Daily Mail there was an arti

cle by Tim Utton their science re porter headed "Why English Oak may be banished to Scotland". The article mentioned that in addition to the English oak, many other na tive trees struggled with last sum mer's heat, including beech, black poplar, ash and maple! It was not all doom and gloom though for agriculture and horticulture in the UK as many vineyards were ex pecting to be needing an additional 25,000 or 50,000 bottles to cope with the results of the 2003summer.Per haps a local wine merchant will start stocking UK wine instead of Spanish!

This article has made no refer ence to the pictures of Oleanders which accompany it, but these wonderful flowering shrubs might well become a common sight in the UK,particularly in the south. Hav ing lived in the UK up to 17 years

common Oleander on the . -i Main Walk in the vardens

An Oleander groxcing in a UK gardenfor the last 5 years and still in flower in October last

Close-up ofthe variegated leaved Oleander near Lions Pond

lint Hoor, Casemates Shopping Prt'ctticf fr GibrnlfiirBefariic Curileits TheAlameda. rel;-«70S/72b'39

The most imaginative gift shop. If nature hasn't thought of it — it's not worth has'ingCome and enjov shopping with us.

Frost Language Centre (registered in Gibraltar) Spanish Lessons at all levels. Private or join our Evening Classes in Victoria House Main St. Please contact Margaret on 956173384 or e.mail rmf2@telefonica.net

Queen s 3~{oieI

SihrahaiExcellent Prices • Centrally Located • Easy Access • Parking • Bar• Restaurant Tel:(+350)74000 Fax:(+350)40030

Emile Youth Hostel Montagu Bastion,Line Wall fid.Gibraltar

I l l Family run hostel just a minutes walk I from thecentreoftown.

Budget accommodation for tlie young and young at heart, itngl^twin £f communal rooms. Bed & breakfast hbqs padied lutKhes &evening meals

Tel: Fax: 51106 Mobile: 57686000

Shoreleave Vacations

EURO 2004 PORTUGAL

PACK.AGES include • Match Tickets• Accommodation • Tranfers to Matches

BOOK NOW Tel: 51790 Fax: 51794

Email: shoreleave@gibnvnex.gi

framing photos

Macap

Photo Framing, Watercolours, Oils, Tapestry, Frame Boxes, Medal Mounting, Custom Frames

41D Town Range Tel: 72629 gibrallarprints@aol.com

To advertise on these pages contact Tel/Fax: 77748

The Picture Gailer}'

For the largest selection of frames in Gibraltar Mirrors, Prints, Oils and Gifts {Jriif 16, tVrtfiTgnrdcris Tel:42S51

1st May - 5th May 2004

Conferencefor Amateurs & Professionals on "The Wonderful Flora ofSouth Africa including the Succulent Plants"

329c Main Street

PHOTOS Tel.SiniOFax:.50710

Commercial Photography

Weddings. Communions,Portraits

Finest rollccliim of old photographs on the Rix k

newsagents

Sun iBaily

There is a distinguished list of speakers including two from famous botanical gardens in S. Africa plus others from the UK.Portugal and Gibraltar,

For further infonnaiion coniact Brian M,Lamb(Programme Chairman), Gibraltar Botanic Gardens. Red Sands Road.PO Box 843, Gibraltar

shopping gifts

Gold n' Gifts

68 Irish Town Jewellery,Crystal, Glassware * Mineral World

7E Casemates Arcade Rocks,Shells,Carvings Masks

Out of Africa

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hair beauty salons

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WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?

Furthermore when your Cock ney band name gives no suggestion that your music is in fact stripped down basic acoustic blues you are again looking to be misunderstood. When the band members decide to adopt pseudonyms like Def Doyle, Curly Wallace and Mel "The Bamet" Church they are similarly asking for a less than serious appre ciation. And that's exactly what they got. But OffYer Trollei/ are hav ing the last laugh as they have pro duced one of the most successful CDs to be made available by locally based musicians forsome time.The secret appears to be,keep it simple.

They have only been together for a short time and I first caught them live at Pickwicks at the beginning of last summer.They arrive at gigs with most of their equipment loaded into a supermarket trolley. This did provoke comment from rather well established musos here on the Rock, who thought the band was well and truly living up to their name. Some of these sceptics have been talking about when they hit the big time for years — any day they are going to record their mas terpiece — any day that is except today.

Well in a few short months this band have established a niche mar ket for themselves in Gibraltar, re corded an album in three hours which has achieved sales into three figures (don't laugh — that is as good as it gets selling CDs locally); have had almost every track played by Dave Raven's superb Raz>en and the Blues show which goes out in ternationally on BFBS, and have just recorded their second pro gramme for GBC TV.

1 have always been attracted by their simple approach because as well as blues they also have the appeal of the early skiffle groups that inspired so many British mu sic legends to get up and play. All you need is an acoustic guitar, a harmonica and a snare drum and you too can play. There is no bar rier in terms of equipment costs or lets face it, even in terms of musi cianship, between you and being in a band.In September they were the first band to offer their services at the Rock Solid gig which took place at Governor's Parade. 1 booked them on behalf of Rock on the Rock Club immediately.In keeping with their unpretentious approach the guys were happy to be first up on the acoustic stage and their easy going music kicked off an event

which was to be a delightful little aperitif to the superb main National Day concert at the Coach Park later that evening.

They mentioned to me at the time their intention of "going into the studio." Now 1 must be honest 1 have heard this from so many mu sicians that I didn't take them too seriously. More fool me.By Novem ber they were selling me one of the first CDs!

Modest in ambition the disc is a charming memento of classic blues

photographed with gelled up hair. Two of them haven't got any hair to gel!

No,this album has been done on a shoestring budget, its fifteen tracks recorded in three hours (al beit at one of Gibraltar's best stu dios,The Bam,with one of the best engineers around, Charlie Moore) and its insert produced on the same computer that burned the CD.And this album is all the better for it.

1 spoke to Def Doyle and Curly Wallace, aka Laurie and Barrv, at

ity that makes it. We were doing it for us,for fun, on a shoestring. We could only afford three hours of re cording time,so we recorded it like we were in a flat or at a gig, or re hearsal. This was at the Barn Stu dio and Charlie did a really good job ofcapturing how we sound live. It is essentially a live album; the only song we attempted twice was Mississippi Blues because I had a broken fingernail by then."

Dave Wood gave the guys an immense number of songs, mainly on tape to choose from. How, I asked, did they select which songs they wanted to include on the CD? Barry,"We chose the ones we par ticularly liked. I haven't really got a favourite, 1 like them all. I go for humour and dou ble entendres in the lyr ics."

material. If your idea of blues is watching Eric Clapton perform at the Royal Albert Hall with a guitar worth tens of thousands of pounds, and dressed in an Armani suit then this CD may not be for you. If, on

the Lord Nelson,to find out exactly how the project came about. Why,1 asked, did you do it at all? Barry was first to answer:

"We did it for personal nostalgia. And it's gone better than we ever

GBC TV has been in credibly supportive of the guys and they were quick to ac knowledge this when we spoke, "Following Bas tak ing up a copy of the CD 1 got a phone call. In fact my partner Barbara got a call from someone asking to speak to Def Doyle. She didn't realise it was me initially! We've had a laugh about this since! It turned out to be Roddy Steel, the presenter. He'd been let down by someone so we went up and spoke to him about Trolley. We have done two sessions now and Chris Gadd and Paula Latin have been brilliant in the way they have caught the ambience of what we are about."

the other hand,Robert Johnson,the American genius who,way back in the 1930s and armed with an acous tic guitar, became the most impor tant figure in the development of what we now call the blues,is your template then you will enjoy the Tro//cy's CD.These guys don't have a suit from Napoleon,Springfield, or even Daniela's. in fact they, like Robert Johnson, 1 suspect, don't even have a suit at all.

Furthermore it doesn't come in luxury packaging either. There's no open out booklet inside,they aren't

expected. It's been won as a prize on Dave Raven's radio show by a squaddie from Germany." Laurie agreed,"We had no vision of it go ing anywhere,just doing maybe 50 copies. People said they'd buy it if we did it and it's been amazing how it's been received."

Just how much airplay has it re ceived from BFBS? "Dave Raven has played at least one track a week on his show, in total he's now played virtually every track from the album," said Barry.

Laurie continued,"It's the qual

The guys also have plans to build on the album's local success by do ing more recording, as Laurie ex plained: "The next CD is going to be recorded on the kitchen table of my flat because I now have a home recording studio. The CD can take on a life of its own then. It's also possible we may have a website which people can use to access the new material."

If you would like to obtain a copy of the CD Def or Laurie can be con tacted on 54018995. Copies can also be bought from Pickwicks Barwhich will be putting on live mu sic in the summer, just watch this space — and theVragon Bar. The way things are going for these guys they'll be soon be splashing out on some new suits from Daniela's!

I guess if you name your band Off Yer Trolley it is fair to assume that people may not take you too seriously.

'We had no vision of it going anywhere, just doing maybe 50 copies..."

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Things I found on the way to looking up something else....

FRANCIS DRAKE LIVED IN JEREZ

In researching an article on Sherry I came across a book by Manuel Gonzalez Gordon, titled Sherry, The Noble Wine, which claimed Sir Francis Drake lived in Jerez.

Gordon quoted a reference made to Drake's exploits in a book, Hombres ilustres de Jerez, written in 1875 by by Diego Parada y Barreto as follows:

"The celebrated seaman Drake, who played such an important role in the history of the British Navy and whose animosity to wards Spain was so marked,made repeated raids on the Iberian coasts and shipping in the six teenth century. Such was the fear he inspired that even today Span ish mothers threaten their way ward children by saying,'Mira que viene el Draque'['Look out, Drake is coming']. The citizens of Jerez were often called upon to help in countering Drake's attacks on Cadiz, and it is of interest to record an incident that occured when this celebrated seaman was himself in Jerez at an earlier date, because it may have a bearing on

the origin of his hatred ofSpain and his consequent celebrity.

"Drake... was first strongly at tached to Spain, and established himself in business in Jerez, where he lived for some years and was apparently well content; but he quarrelled with a Jerezano called Melgarejo, who went so far as to strike him in public. This so infuri ated Drake that he left town, and from then onwards his open hos tility towards Spain knew no bounds. Had this not happened, it is possible that Drake might not have left the country and his name would not have gone down in his tory."

I have been unable to confirm any of this in the biogrpahies of Drake I have read but it does make sense.

Drake was born in Devon but the family moved to the Medway where Drake's father was made

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Carry on Cruising

2003 marked a mile stone in the growth of Gibraltar as a cruise port of call. The total number of passengers who arrived at Gibraltar on cruise ships was 143,508 which ex ceeded the record set in 2000 of 133,059 by over 10,000 passen gers. In addition, over 70,000 crew on board cruise ships called at Gibraltar.

The number of cruise calls in 2003 was 167, which was fewer than the record number of 175 calls in 2000. This is evidence of the trend that cruise ships are getting bigger, and the true indica

tor in the growth of the cruise in dustry is the number of passen gers not simply the number of calls.

'I am delighted with the results for 2003,' said Hon.Joe Holliday, Minister with responsibility for tourism. 'Cruise passengers are the highest spending visitors in Gibraltar, and growth in this sec tor is good for Gibraltar.'

Already there are over 200 cruise bookings,which represents over 200,000 passengers,for 2004. The bookings reflect a growing interest in Gibraltar as a Mediter ranean cruise port of call.

vicar to the Church of Upnore.The fam ily was poor and the father put his son in the charge of a mas ter of a bark who traded along the coast of the Nether lands and France.

This is where the young Drake learned his seaman ship and it is quite conceiveable that in the process of trad ing along the coast the bark made its way into the har bours of Spain.

Drake must have pleased his master for when the old bachelor died he bequeathed the bark unto him by will and testament.

As Drake was now the owner of the bark it would seem reasonable that this might be the time when he became "...strongly attached to Spain, and established himself in business in Jerez."

This would help explain why Drake wasso successful in fighting the Spanish. He would have under stood their temperment, may have learned their tactics and would have known the strengths and

iweaknesses of ports where he had traded. He certainly had a knowl edge of Cadiz,successfully sacking it twice, and he had developed a taste for Sherry.

When Drake attacked Cadiz in 1587 he set fire to fifteen ships laden with merchandise Intended for the invasion of England by the Armada of 1588.

According to historians the quantity ofSherry the English took on that occasion was about 3,000 butts(one butt contains 108 gallons or 409 litres).

MED GOLF MASTERS WINNER

AUfourteen winners of the Med Golf qualifying events held over the past year came together at Valderrama to play alongside sponsors and corporate guestsfor the season's annualfinale, the Med GolfMasters sponsored this year by Johnnie Walker, Blue Sky Rentals and Aage Hempel Marine Electronics. The winner with a score of34 points was David Steele, with the corporate trophy goingfittingly to one of the tournament sponsors, Andy Griffin of Blue Sky Rentals. Contact Johnathan on jg@medgolf.gifor detailsforthcoming ofevents.

NEW CHALLENGES FOR OLIVE

It is just a year since Clive Beltran appeared in these pages as Principal of the Gibraltar College. In a few years, as a professional teacher with vision, he had set the College on a new course and given hundreds of youngsters a chance to further their education. It was up and running and succeeding'big time'.

This New Year we find him in a bright new office at Duke of Kent House and now a politician and member of the GSD Government with responsibilities for Sport,Her itage, Culture and Youth — with Broadcasting and the Lottery thrown in for good measure. 1 asked him,how come, Clive?

"The major interests in my life were always education and politics, but I had to earn a living for my family and followed the path of education as far as I could; I never felt that I could risk going into poli tics. Remember, you can just as eas ily be thrown out by the electorate after four years.

"There can be few places as'po litical' as Gibraltar. iTien last year the opportunity arose to stand as a candidate for the Gibraltar Social Democrats. I had always sub scribed to their political philoso phies and felt that the time was right.

"Like teaching, 1 regard politics as a vocation. 1 have never felt that 1 would ever give up work.But eve rything that 1 have ever done in my life has been by choice.I was fortu nate that the electors had confi dence in me"

"In a very short few weeks, 1 seem to have seen you everywhere. You must be happy with your Min istries.

"It seems so. The Ministries 1 have been tasked with are all high profile- whether it be concerts or football matches. I am usually ex pected to give a speech;fortunately my teaching background has not left me short of words.

"Following my formal education in Gibraltar, after a couple of years working, I did my further educa tion at St. Mary's,Twickenham and University College, where my de gree was in French and Physical Education. 1 have always been in terested in sports of all kinds; prin cipally known for football. I've al ways been a member of the local Manchester United Football Sup porters club and served on the GFA Council for nine years. They asked me to take over as Manager of the ^ national side for a year."

Si You have taken over Sports from ® another active sportsman Ernest « Britto, who left you the legacy of the

new Sports City,taking shape at Bayside. How's it progress ing?

"Extremely well.The Sport Hall is very evident and the next feature to be completed is the Hockey stand, which houses changing rooms and stores underneath. The Admin Block, opposite the School,is rising from itsfoundations. Everything is on schedule.

Various stages of the over all project will be reached during this year and it will be completed in spring 2005. There are several other fea tures not so apparent at present. There will be a sec ond squash court backing onto the present court, which has suffered external water penetration. Between the new sportshall and the hockey stands there will be a tennis court, three paddle courts; these will be surrounded by a'Fartlek'track—I wheirun

ners will also be tested by ob stacles and challenges.Closer to the sea there will a five a side kick-about area and a pitch and putt golf area. Alongside the seafront at Bayside there will be a watersport centre, adjacent to the

The whole thing will be adminis tered by the Gibraltar Sports Au thority, at present at the planning stage in consultation with the un ions — you cannot expect workers

dozens of games,it can only be good both physically and psychologically, especially for our youth. Sport can be looked atin two ways-do we expect to produce Olympic champions or provide'sport for air? This Department has made great strides in recent years since the establishment of the Sports Development Unit, where Michelle Smallwood has done such great work. In my earlier days, a few keen sportsmen and women took courses to advance their knowledge, nowadays every sport is tak ing advantage of the many experts and courses made available. Sport has the full commitment of the Govern ment.

"The next facility which you will see is the 'shallow' (Im) pool at Europort, suit able for the elderly and peo ple with disabilities.Some of it should be in use this sum mer, with the project, indoor and outdoor,completed next year."

On specifics, how do you regard the GFA's continued campaign for recognition by UEFA and FIFA?

scheduled Duke of Edinburgh Award HQ."

"It's a 'mind-boggling' conceptso many facilities for our small community, at a cost of £8 million.

to take on increased work and re sponsibilities without consultation.

"It is a very expensive project, but sport is well supported on the Rock with thousands taking partin

"We have full confidence in the GFA Council and their efforts to become recognised by their inter national organisations- there is so much competition out there at a level which we could attain. We are not thinking of European Cups and the like. The new pitch is FIFA ap proved and is proving popular with the players.

"On the subject of the sportsfield at Europa;that is still being retained by the MoD. It's not our land and discussions with MoD are ongoing. We feel sure that it is suitable for greater sporting development.

"One project which I feel is still greatly needed is a Leisure Centre. A site has been identified and I hope to make this my priority for this term in office. It is going to be one of my aims — to provide more facilities for young people"

Quite a lot for our new Minister for Sports, Clive Beltran to set his mind to.

Welcome and good luck!

t is a very expensive project, but '&rt is well supported on the Rock^

lar^oTf/C/^pe

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The Reel Tiste

Now I'm not complaining, really I'm not, but after the excesses of the festive season 1 was looking forward to a period of relative abstinence. Then our illustrious editor had the bright idea of doing an article on Champagne for Valentines Day. Wly heart sank — "You mean I've got to go and try more of the sparkly stuff?

Oh well, if you Insist". She did, so I had to!

For me,and probably a lot of you. Champagne is something to be re served for high days and holidays and special celebrations. I like to look forward to my glass of ethe real bubbles on Christmas morning, or on the stroke of midnight at New Year, or when long awaited good news arrives.

Throughout Champagnes' his tory it has been associated with monumental events, war,the belle^poque, famous people and, most of all — love. Coco Chanel said she only drank Champagne on two oc casions — when she was in love and when she wasn't. Casanova considered Champagne 'essential

sparkling wine. When 1 visited the Cape in'97, all the wine-makers who didn't make their own spar kler were drinking his, and that's a pretty good compliment. I recently tasted this again and was able to re discover the creamy, pure Chardonnay ('blanc de blanc' means made from 100% Chardonnay grapes)characters and warm bisciuty aromas. The four years ageing on it's lees, just like true Champagne, give the wine depth and complexity, and the mousse is gentle rather than explo sive — thank you Mr Beck!

Also from Safeways comes the bargain of the year so far. I had to

6 days

equipment'during the act of seduc tion.

But it's not just Champagne that can have this effect on people.Good sparkling wine from elsewhere in the world, as long as it is made by the traditional champagne method, can be just as effective.

So, for all you incurable roman tics, here are my recommendations to help you woo your paramour!

As 1 mentioned, sparkling wine can be an excellent alternative to true Champagne, especially if you're watching the purse strings, and if you want a Champagne taste-alike at a fraction of the cost then Graham Beck Blanc de Blanc Brut(£5.98,Safeway's Tel:41114)is for you. Graham Beck's famous South African winery is situated in the Robertson region of the Westem Cape where traditionally heavy red wines are produced. Which is ironic, given that Mr Beck'sfame is due largely to the quality and popu larity of his method champenolse

steal myself to try a supermarket champagne for under £10 (that's wine-snobbery rearing it's ugly head!), but Cauthier Brut N.V.(re duced from £9.99 to £6.99,1st-14th Feb), was a more than pleasantsur prise. Don't be fooled by the price, Gauthier is a real champagne house founded in 1858,favoured by pres tigious hotels such as The Ritz, Paris and the Carlton, New York, and since 1950 has enjoyed consid erable commercial success. This wine has a brilliant golden hue and a delicate mousse. The nose is fra grant with honeyed toastiness,and the dry palate shows a fine balance between light floral notes and firm depth of flavour. Just don't ask me how they produce such a lovely wine for so little cost.

If you're a champagne aficio nado, you will doubtless have heard of the house of Perrier-Jouet. Although famous for it's prestige cuvee,'Belle-fipoque' presented in the distinctive hand-painted bottle,

Just don't ask me how they produce such a lovely wine for so little cost

Stilton Pasty Cheese & Bacon Pasty Chicken Pasties Vegetarian Pasties Sausage Rolls

^latvcas

Ommpa^ne otj the ^helve^^ at Anglo Hhpano its house 'cuvee', Perrier-Jouel Grand Brut N.V. (£19.75, Anglo Hispano 5-7 Main St tel; 77210), demonstrates the sheer quality tor which this house is famous. PcrrierJouet was the first house to make a dry style of Champagne way back in 1854 and, whilst continuing the theme, this wine has delicate aca cia blossom aromas, along with peach characters.The flavour is full of vitality, which floods the palate, withtj'pical flavours of freshly but tered brioche-yummy!Chardonnay dominates the blend here, but did you know that most while cham pagne is made from a combination of Chardonnay plus two red grape varieties, namely Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier?

That leads me on nicely to three more fizzy treats, which are in fact rose or, pink!

Another ros^, although not champagne this time, is Codornui Pinol Noir Rose Brut(£7.50,Anglo Hispano, as before). This is a Cava, from Spain, and although it is pro duced by the same method as Champagne, is a softer less acidic style, A touch of Parellada (a tradi tional Spanish white grape variety) added to the blend makes it a more interesting style. The wine is rich with ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit and the flavour is full and dry, and the gentle mousse is delicate and persistent. This is also boxed, ready for gift giving!

Finally, and if you want to know which bottle my loved one and I will be indulging in on the most romantic day of the year, it is Ruinart Rose Brut N.V (£27.50 Anglo Hispano,as before). Ruinart is the oldest commercial Cham-

Did you know that most white cham pagne is made from a combination of Chardonnay plus two red grape varieties?

Pink Champagne has to be the epitome of luxury,so if you are out to impress this Valentines Day, may 1 suggest you try the following;

First up is the very sexy LaurentPerrier Rose Brut (reduced to £29.90, lst-]4th Feb, Lewis Stagnettos, 41 Main St, tel; 41550). This makes a great gift, presented as it is in a styled bottle and deco rated tin case. The wine itself is a fresh coral-pink colour which comes from the 100% Pinot Noir skins delicately staining the juice. The palate is dry with an impres sive concentration of red fruits, es pecially strawberry,combined with a just-baked shortbread flavour, and dangerously delicious!

February 2004

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pagne house established 1729,so it has had plenty of time to hone the House image of quality,luxury and understated elegance,and it has to perfection. Their rose brut is made with a high proportion of Chardonnay,giving great finesse. It has a pretty rose-petal pink colour, with a very fine,subtle fmity nose. The well- balanced palate is supple and smooth with hints of morello cherry, and the delicate stream of minute bubbles makes the wine sparkle in your glass. Delightfully, Anglo Hispano are also offering a free red rose with every bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine pur chased from the 9th-14th Feb. Aah, how romantic!

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restaurants

Biancas Restaurant

6/7 Admiral's Walk, Marina Bay. Tel:73379 Fax:79061

Popular and pleasant restaurant on the Quayside at Ma rino Boy with large quayside terrace. Try chicken tikka raita, avocado & smoked salmon or fresh carrot & ginger soup to start,followed by barbecued spare ribs, beef viagra.swordfish steak,Cajun Ceasar salad,kuku n)'ama pizza,or chicken and smoked salmon tagliatelie to name but a few for the main course. Crepes, pies, ice cream sundaes etc for des sert. Children's menu, vegetarian dishes, daily specialsGreat for all the family.

Open:7 days,9am - late.

Cafe Solo

Grand Casemates Square. Tel:44449

Modem Italian eater)' set in Casemates. Everything from cajun spiced langoustines Caesar salad, or aromatic prawn salad on romaine leaves hound in wild mushmom & sherry mayonnaise, to pastas (eg; smoked haddock risotto with mascarpone and basil oil; open ravioli of swiss chard,basil, garlic and potato with parmesan cream sauce) and pizzas (eg:QuattoStagioni topped with mozzarella,ham,chicken, pepperoni and mushroom).

Claus on the Rock

Queensway Quay. Tel/Fax; 48686

International menu served on the quayside for lunch,aftermx>n and dinner. Well worth a visit, esi-X'dally if you ap preciate good wines and cigars.

Open;l.uneh & Dinner. Closed Sundays.

Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant

H-13 Market Lane. Tel: 77313

Gcxxl no fuss Chinese Restaurant off Main M near Pt>st Otfia- serving all the traditional favourites including Spring Rolls. Chicken Satay, Buddha Duck in Black Bean Sauce.

Pork Sweet and Sour, King Prawns with Spring Onion Gin ger Sauce, Shredded Cri.spy Beef, Special Noodles and Chicken in Black Bean Sauce on a Sizzling Plate.

Open;12 - .3, 6..30 - midnight every day.

Marrakech Restaurant

9 Governor's Parade. Tel; 75196

New Moroccan restaurant situated in the quiet square next to the Eliott Hotel. Lots to tr\' including Bastilla(mixture of chicken,spiced eggs and roast nuts wrapped in filo dough, baked and served with powdered sugar and cinnamon), harira (Moroccan lentil and bean st^up), various couscus, Grouper fillet Marrakech (spiced and marinated in shcrmoula sauce and baked, served with saffron rice and sauted seasonal vegetables). Lamb and caramelized apri cots(braised leg of lamb in honey-nutmeg sauce,caramel ized apricots, roasted almonds and sesame seeds), and Sul tan's Kebab Feast (assortment of chicken, beef and lamb kebabs, specially marinated, skewered and grilled, served with saffron rice and chef's choice vegetables). Open; lOam-3.30, 7pm-llpm last orders.

Palm Court Restaurant

Eliott Hotel, Governor's Parade. Tel; 70500

A splendid choice of international dining lunch and eve nings uniquely blended with a Mediterranean flavour. Fin est regional wines. All highlighted with painting.s trom lo cal artists and sophisticated atmosphere. A la carte menu

includes starters such as Moroccan spiced prawns, roasted goats cheese with herb crust, pcsto dressing, toasted dabatta, and pan fried scallops with five spices on sauted leeks with lemon and dill butler. Main courses from grilled sea ba.ss with fettuccine and ratatouille sauce,to pan roasted guinea fowl filled with ricotta and thyme on spinach and mushrooms Madeira jus. and griddled pepper fillet steak sliced on balsamic roast red onions and red wine jus. The lunch menu includes baked mussels with garlic, tomatoes and breadcrumbs, chilli oil, and Italian cold meat platter with artichokes,gherkins and capers- Air-conditioned,park ing.

Da Paolo Marina Bay. Tel; 76799

Da Paolo serves a high standard of attractively presented international cuisine right on the waterfront at Marina Bay. Try baked leek & wild mushroom tartlet or lobster bisque to start, or for main course, crepe of fish & prawns glazed with hollandaise sauce; baked aubergines filled with rafatouille gratinated with mozzarella; or perhaps the loin of pork baked in cider with cinnamon. Continental/Eng lish breakfast, lunch, inc. light meals & baguettes, and full a la carte dinner served. Quayside terrace.

Open;from 9.,30am. Closed on Sundays,

The Rib Room Restaurant, Rock Hotel. Tel; 73000 www.rockhotelgibraltar.com

With stunning views of the bay, the Rib RiH>m is acclaimed for its high standard of service and cuisine. Ultimate venue for intimate dinners, or larger gatherings, the Rock Hotel rises to the occasion with style and sophistication. Glass of fino and appetiser welcome diners. Summer a la carte and daily house menu from £21.95 p/p specially prepared by the Executive Chef with classical cuisine and a modern in terpretation, Comprehensive wine list. Sunday lunch £14.95 for a welcome Manz.anilla,4-courses always includes roast sirloin and some of best Yorkshire puds in town. Sunda)' newspapers. Relax aftenvards to the resident pianist/gui tarist. Air-conditioning, parking, kid's menu /high chair. Open:7pm-ll)pm daily. Credit cards; AE, D, E, M, V

Simon's Restaurant 44 Cornwall's Lane. Tel; 47515

Excellent food in a sophisticated, intimate atmosphere. Hosts Suzanne and Simon ensure everyone receives per sonal attention. Start with Simon's own pat^ with red on ion jam and hot toast, or king prawns thermidor with tar ragon mustard, white wine and cheese cream sauce or per haps baked New Zealand mussels with garlic butter and melted camcmbcrt. Main courses include kebab of swordfi.sh and Icing prawns with creamy dill sauce, breast of chicken with mushroom, bacon, rosemary stuffing and masala sauce, and roast tenderloin of pork wrapped in ba con with apple, sage and calvados sauce. Or try the roast rack of lamb with mint, redcurrant and red wine sauce or the grilled fillet of mero with avocado and prawns. There is something to delight every palate. Fully air-conditioned. Open:evenings(bookings recommended)

Thyme Restaurant

5 Cornwall's Lane. Tel; 49199

Modern international restaurant serving dishes with a fu sion of British, Mediterranean and Eastern flavours. Try the Seafood Slammers, orange and Lime Caramelised Chicken or Thai Fishcakes. Main menu changed season ally and specials run daily. Everything made on the premises using only the best, fresh ingredients.

Open; Mon - Fri 12.30-3pm. Mon-Sat 7.30pm - 12am-

The Viceroy of India, Horse Barrack Lane. Tel; 70381

Pleasant, quality restaurant for banquets/intimate meals off Main St opposite post office. Well presented dishes in clude tikkas, samosas, bhona prawns, pakora, tandooris, kofte curiy, lamb Jaltrazi, and prawn biryani. Air-condi tioned.

Open; noon- 3pm.7pm - late.

informal

A] Andalus Bar Restaurant

3 College Lane. Tel: 49184

Small eatery in the centre of town serving lots of tasty food from sandwiches and baguettes to barbecues(lamb chops, fillet steak, mixed grill etc) and tajines. Try the cous-cous (beef, veggie, chicken or lamb)or the tapas - £1 (eg: Span ish omolette,boiled crab legs, garlic chicken,cuttlefish stew).

Open;Sam - late evening. Now serving breakfast from Sam.

A1 Fresco's 2/3 Casemates Square. Tel; 74195

Good varietx'of food from breakfasts and fish and chips to toasties, jacket polatix-s.eiita'cote steak and tasty local fare such as calentita, stuffed aubergines, croquettes and spin ach pie. Definatcly one to try for a taste of Gibraltar!

Open: Monday - Saturday 9am - 7pm

Barbary Ape

Opp.Queen's Hotel. Tel: 44380

Homemade food, breakfast, lunch and dinner, including English breakfast, toastics, club sandwiches, salads, burg ers and fish & chips. Kid's menu. Enclosed terrace, park ing, near cable car.

Open:from 10am Monday - Saturday. Closed Sundays.

The Black Kat Bar - Restaurant 104/106 Irish Town. Tel; 47181 Fax; 46645

Fully airconditioned bar -restaurant. All private parties ca-

Sflid and Beii welcome you to MoKoccan culnme is Kich and disnnaive. Its ciiisme is considened by many cidiimy expeKTS and famous chefS to be among The Top

Tel: fon KesenvaTions

open:10.00- 3.30for Moroccan and continental breakfasts, coffees and snacks,lurKh — full dally menu & daily specials

-11.00 last orders for full menu plus dally specials

tered for including kids' birthday parties.

Buddies Pasta Casa

15 Cannon Lane. Tel:40627

Tasty Italian specials in pleasant ambience. Large selection of starters from garlic bread to calamari. Main courses in clude fettuccine de formaggio, spaghetti alia carbonara, fusilli al salmone, and entrecotc al whisky to name a few. Tasty desserts and variety of wines.

Open: Monday • Wcdne^ay 10am •5pm,Thursday, Fri day and Saturday 10am - 4pm and 7pm - midnight.

Charlie's Steak House Grill

Marina Bay. Tel/Fax: 79993

George and Paula are your hosts at Charlie's where j nu will find a wide selection of international food including sizzling steak-s,tandooris and seafix>d dishes plus daily spe cials. Tr)- the special sizzling mixed grill which includes tandoori and garlic chicken breasts, slices of prime fillet, king prawns,sausages, bacon,tomato and peppers. Regu lar theme nights. Quayside terrace.

Open:9am - late every day.

Le Coq D'Or

Unit 9-10 Watei^ardens. Tel: 43601

Eat-in or take-away at this busy eatery for all the favourites such as fish and chips, pie and chips,sausages,donner and chicken kebabs, mast chicken, curries, pinchitos. pakoras, salads and Moroccan cakes.

Open: 10am - late 7days a week.

Just A Nibble

IsfFlrlntemationalCommercialCtL Tel:78052

Full blown licensed cafeteria serv'ing EnglLsh breakfast, vast range of loasties, rolls, and other snacks. Meals include steak and kidney pie,chilli con carne,cod and chips,jacket potatoes and burgcrs/hotdogs. Home c(«)ked daily spe cials. Vegetarian sausages/burgers/Englishbmakfast and lasagne. Ideal meeting place.

Open: Monday -.Saturday from 9am.

Just Desserts

Isl Floor ICC Tel: 48014

Comfortable bright and airy cafe ser\'ing vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine from breakfast and lunch to after noon tea. Homemade desserts a speciality. Eat-in or takea way at sensible prices. Outside catering service.

Open:Sam - 5.30pm Monday to Friday.

Munchies Cafe

24 Main StreeL Tel: 43840 Fax: 42390

A great sandwich bar/cafe offering an unusual range of sandwiches on white or granary bread, plus salads, ba guettes,soups, desserts,homemade ice-cream and hot/ cold drinks. Business lunches, parties and kids parties also ca tered for (for party and office platters phone or fax order by 5.30pm day before - minium orders for delivery £12).

Open: Mon - Fri 8.30-7, Sat 9•4, Closed Sun.

Piccadilly Garden Bar/Restaurant

3RosiaRoad. Tel: 75758

Pleasant bar near cable car/Queen's Hotel with lovely ter race for drinks/meals. Tasty Spanish/English cuisine in cluding fresh seafood, breakfast,churros and hamburgers. Open;from breakfast to late.

Pizza Hut

ICC,Casemates Sq. Tel: 42800 www.pizzahut.gi

All favourite piz/as from cla.ssic to Scicilian, Pan and Roll ing- Salad bar, garlic bread and pastas. Buffet eat as much as you like (pi/za, garlic bread & salad)£4.99 adults, £2.50 kids. Last orders l(l.30pm. tal-in, take-awav, freedeliverv.

etvarWe^

Steak House Grill & Tauem

Where people meet to eat a fine and varied lunch menu and a comprehensive a la cane menu (hat complimeni.s both our kitchen and our oistomers-Evervthing from loasties to lagliaielie and from full Faigiish breakfast to Jamaican Pepper Pol.

V ni

Spinnakers Marina Bay

Special teas, coffees,sandwiches and toasties. Pick & mix baguettes, cream teas, scones, ice-creams and soft drinks. No smoking inside,large terrace outside.

Open:from 8.30am

The Tasty Bile

39a Irish Town. Tel: 78220 Fax: 74321

Tasty Biie has one of the biggest take-away menus around with home cooked meats,filled baguettes,burgers,chicken, kebabs and everything else you can think of!

Open: Monday •Saturday.

bars&|)ii))s

All's Well Grand Casemates Square. Tel: 72987

Traditional pub in fashionable Casemates area. Named for the 18lh century practice of locking the Gates to the city at night when the guard announced 'All's Well' before hahding the keys to the watch. All's Well serves Bass beers, wine and spirits plus pub fare. English breakfast served all day, hot meals such as pork in mushroom sauce, sau sage & mash, cod and chips and steak & ale pie are complimented by a range of salads and filled jacket pota toes. Large terrace.

The Real Taste of Cornwall

16 City Mill Lane. Tel: 70737

Real pasties, handmade in Cornwall and baked in Gibral tar, are available from this Pasty Bar and Takeaway IcKated just off Main Street near Mothercare. Go along for a quiet pint or take a pasty home for tea, many flavours available from beef& Stilton to Cheese & Bacon,Steak & Ale to Broc coli, Cheese & Sweetcorn.

Open:Iflam - late Monday to Saturday.

The Rock Cafe

2nd floor ICC(next to Health Centre). Tel: 52990

Eat in (or take-away), while you wait for your number to come up on the Doctor's Digital Appointment Screen on the cafe wall. All day breakfast, toasties, sandwiches, ba guettes, jacket potatoes, scampi & chips, cod & chips, calamarcs, steak & kidney pie, burgers, kiddies menu, homemade apple pic, cakes and pastries — milkshakes, beer, wines, spirits, tea, coffee and soft drinks. Ideal meet ing place, relaxing music.

Open:from 8am. Monda\' to Friday.

Roy's 11 Fish and Chips Cafeteria

Opposite the Convent, Main Street. This fish and chip cafeteria and take-away is located di rectly opposite the Governor's residence on Main Street. Traditional fish and chips, burgers,salads and much more. Open: lOam-IOpm.

Sacarello Coffee Co.

57 Irish Town. Tel: 70625

Converted coffee warehouse, ideal for coffee, homemade cakes with afternoon tea, plus full menu including excel lent salad bar, specials of the day and dishes such as lasa gne,steak and mushroom Guinness pie, hot chicken salad, toastics, club sandwich and baked potatiH-s. Art exhibitions. Open:9ani - 7.3npm, Closed Sundavs.

Bars / Restaurants marked have their full menus online at www.TheCibrallarMagazine.com

Charlies Sizzling Specials wilt) sit-aks or mixed grills.

We also carry a good .selcclion of wine, spirlLs and beers.

We're on the harbour wall at the beautiful Marina Bay so book a pleasant table for two or just sit watching the world go by while sipping an ice cold beer.

Reserve on Tel/Fax: 79993

No. i .\dmiral"s Walk.

Marina Bay Gihndiar

E-mail: georgtCa>gibiiet,gi

We love to cater for groups and parties so why not spend thai ne.\i special occasion at Charlies':'

The Angry Friar

278 Main Street. Tel: 71570

The Angry Friar is everything you'd expect from a British pub, but with a laige terrace. Food 9.30 - 4, 6 - 9,15 inc. breakfasts- (Sunday roasts 11 - 4,6 - 9.15pm).

Open:9.30am-midnight(Sun.from 11am)

Located:Opposite The Convent.

Aragon Bar 15 Bell Lane. Tel: 78855

A friendly traditional bar serving good homemade food. Outside tables available.

Open:7 days, 10-late, food 10 -10,

The Cannon Bar 27 Cannon Lane. Tel: 77288

E-mail: janegibltgibnynex.gi

Still owned by Jane after 16 memorable years! Good food all day. Amin makes cous cous or tajine to order. Located: off Main St at Marks & Spencer.

The Clipper Irish Town. Tel: 79791

Large popular bar serving good homemade food from breakfast to dinner. Large varied menu. Top sporting events covered on overhead TVs. Private functions catered for. Open:9,30am tomidnight(FriandSat tolam). Food served 9..klam to 10pm).

Corks Wine Bar Irish Town. Tel: 75566

Under the new management of Neil and Ginu, Corks is a popular and pleasant wine bar serving an excellent range of not and cold dishes al lunchtime (12-3pm) with daily specials. Toast, coffee and scones .served 9.30-11,30am, af ternoon toasties. English breakfast- Tuesday evening is Curry Night. Thursday evening is Steak night

Open:9:TOam - late. Closed Sundays

Duck St Firkin Building 6,Europort. Tel: 72745

Live football on a giant TV showing all premier league ac tion Irom Sky Sports plus more. Quiz machines, 2 poker

Fish b Chips Ploughman's Lunch Pastries Apple Pie

machines,2pool tables. Karaoke on 2nd Saturday in month. Food served 10am - 3pm Mon-Sat.

Open;from 10am -midnight(Friday-Sat urdayllam-lam)

The Edinburgh Arms

Naval Hospital Road. Tel: 78961

When it's hot outside be cool inside! Excellent homemade food from 10am weekdays, midday weekends. Snacks/ tapns available all day. Take aways available. Sundays re lax with the Sunday papers and special brunch, Sunday roasts from October onwards. Dartboard and children's activities. Monday is prize quiz night.

Open: Mon-Thurs lOam-midnight,Friday & Saturday midday-lam, Sunday midday-midnight.

The Horseshoe

193 Main Street. Tel: 77444

Right in the centre of town,the Horseshoe is a popular,busy bar. Good menu from full English breakfast, to burgers and mixed grills. Curry and chilli specials on Sunday.

Open:9am to late, Sunday 10am - late.

Facilities: Main Street terrace.

The Market Tavern

Waterport/Casemates Gates. Tel:50800

Serving good food from salads, snacks and full English breakfast (until 3pm)to burgers, toasties, curries, fish and chips, and pie, chips and gravy. Pool table upstairs. Live music Friday 9pm -late. Karaoke Wed and Sat 9pm- late.

Open:Sam - late Mon - Sat, Sun lOam-late.

Lord Nelson Bar Brasserie ■■I

10 Casemates Sq. Tel: 50009 www.lordnelson.gi j.', f|l

E-mail: reservations@lordnelson.gi

Attractive bar/brasserie in historic Casemates building.

Done out to respresent Nelson's ship with cloud and skv ceiling cro.s.sed with beams and sails. Spacious terrace

Menu: try Serrano ham plate with pistachio and roast pep pers, Greek salad -Mediterranean cucumber, tomato & mixed leaves with black olives and feta cheese, orjacket potato with black pudding sliced and pan fried with a fried egg on top. Daily specials and snacks available. Childmn eat free on Sunday lunch (with their parents!), senior citizens get tea and coffee at 50p before 12ntx>n. Live entertainment Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Open: from Sam for breakfast until late.

Pickwicks

Governor's Parade. Tel: 76488

Newly refurbished and run by well-known friendly face, Mandy, this small pub with a large terrace is situated in the new Theatre square away from the traffic and safe for all the family. Sometimes there's live music in the summer months. Good food available. Private parties catered for.

Open: from 9.00am Mon • late Fridays

Location: turn off Main St at Marks & Spencer.

The Pig and Whistle Unit 18, Watergardens. Tel: 76167

The Pig and Whistle is a comfortable pleasant pub with pool table and terrace on the quayside. Big screen TV.

Open: 10-midnight (Fri-Sat 11-lam)

The Quarterdeck Quayside, Block 2 Watergardens. Tel: 50360

Freshly cooked filling meals from £2.95 at this friendly little bar on thequaysideatWatergardens. Happy hours 5-7Mon day - Thursday and 4-6 on Fridays.

The Red Lion Watergardens. Tel: 44392

English pub grub, sandwich bar and take-away service.

Steak and ale pie, boozy lasagne, all day breakfast, homemade burgers and Sunday lunches.

Open: 9ani - 10pm. Closed Saturdays.

The Royal Calpe

176 Main Street. Tel: 75890

Comfortable traditional bar close to the Cathedral on Main Street. Beer garden at the rear. Serving good pub food all day including breakfast, omelettes, salads, jackets, toastios and main coursessuchascurry, chilli, lasagne, scampi, burg ers and fish and chips. Kiddies menu available.

Open: 9pm-12 Mon - Sat, Sun llam-5pm.

Royal Oak Bar

59c Irish Town. Tel; 71708

Informal pub, popular for its pool table and sports talk. Outdoor seating.

Located: Irish Town, parallel to Main St.

The Star Bar Parliament Lane. Tel: 75924

Reputedly the oldest bar in Gib, the Star Bar opens early for breakfast (English or toast and cereal). Lunch/evening menu includes fillet steak, fish and chips and salads. Kids menu 99p. Home of Med Golf (10% discount on food for Mod Members). Home of Leeds United FC supporters club.

Facilities: Outside seating.

Open: from 7am every day.

Located: first right off Main Street (walking from N to S).

The Theatre Inn Governor's Street Tel: 77172

A comfortable bar located close to the Eliott Hotel and serv ing a variety of hot and cold tapas, plus bar snacks from 10am-5pm-

Facilities: terrace seating.

Open: 9.30am - midnight Mon - Sat. Happy hoursl-2, 6-7.

Bars / Restaurants marked have their full menus online at www.TheCibtaltarMagazine.com

The Three Owls Irish Town

OfJe 9?oc^

John MackintoshSqTel: 71804

Tnnlitioiml

The Three Owls is a traditional bar serving best of English beers.Threeseparatebars/floors: ground floor—bigscreen tv, pool table, pokermachines, games machines, bar—open from 10-30am daily. First floor 'Hoots' — 2 match pool ta bles, poker machines, darts board, games machine, bar open from 1pm daily. Second Floor'Nest' —American pool table, poker n^chine, games machine, card table, bar open from 5pm daily. 20

The Three Roses Governor's Street. Tel: 51614

Dermot and Val from Scotland run this bar, known as The Scottish Embassy, serving homemade food (until 6pm). Dartboard and pool table.

Open; all day, every day

Toon on the Rock Cornwall's Parade. Tel: 59997

Comfortable bar, and the official home of Newcastle United supporters on the Rock. Three big screen TVs, outside ter race and bar snacks served all the time. Good bar food such as pies with peas, pasties, toasties and burgers, plus the occasional barbecue on the terrace.

Open; 10- late 7 days a week.

The Tunnel 8 Casemates Square. Tel: 74946 Tel/Fax; 44878

Large bar located in the historic Casemates Square.

Menu: Wide variety of affordable food including Sizzling specials from 7pm. Selection of international meals, Indian specialities, vegetarian selections, homemade ice-cream. Sunday carvery served lpm-9pm (hot & cold).

Facilities: Large terrace, big screen TVs, regular live music.

Open: 7 days a week 9am - very late.

The Venture Inn Lynch's Lane. Tel: 75776

A good central meeting place, this bar servos home-cooked food all day. Terrace seating off Main Street.

Open: from 10am

Located; Main Street near Casemates, opposite the ICC.

The Verandah Bar, The Eliott Hotel

Governor's Pd. Tel; 70500 Fax: 70243 email: eIiott@gibnet.gi

A sophisticated place to unwind at any time of the dayWembley Bar

10 South Barrack Ramp. Tel: 78004

Popular bar for hot and cold bar snacks, function room, in south district. Fridays 10am for breakfast. Air conditioned.

Open: 11am - midnight Sunday - Thursday, 10am - lam Friday, Hani - 1am Saturdays.

Ye Olde Rock

John Mackintosh Square. Tel: 71804

Warm friendly pub with lots of military history in the mid dle of town. Homemade food including specials served by hosts Laion, and Mollie. Air conditioned, terrace.

Open: trom IDam 7 days a week.

acrossthe %{•

La Verandah Tel: (956) 615998

km 135, Playa Guadiaro, Torreguadiaro, Spain.

Quality international food served in a friendly informal atmosphere. Excellent value. Log fire in winter.

Open: Lunches: Saturday and Sunday only. Dinners: every day except Tuesday. Closed Tuesdays.

Award winning breakfastsfrom 730am

Great meals & snacks all day

Evening Steak House menu

Med Golf Clubhouse

Leeds United Gibraltar HQ

Parliament Lane Tel: 75924

Warm friendly bar, lots of military history

Hosts Eaion, Mollie & Justine

Air-conditioned

Various top beers

Outside seating to watch the world go by Homemade specials every day

Open 7 days a week

pub in the middle oftown

'All our pasties are handmade in Cornwall by a firm called Crantock/ said James Hammond. 'The company has had a reputation for quality pasties for over a hun dred years, using old family reci pes.'

We were sitting in the snug bar called the Smugglers' Rest at the rear of The Real Taste of Cornwall just a little way up City Mill Lane. The two rooms have separate names, but whilst the front part is used for serving pasties to custom ers to take away or eat in, both ar eas can be used by the drinking classes during opening hours. I couldn't help noticing that the back bar seemed a long way from the traffic outside, and James con firmed that this was one of the at tractions of the bar,its combination of a peaceful atmosphere coupled with the city centre location.'Peace' in this instance refers to the lack of noise from outside, because James told me that the pub,especially in the evenings, has become quite a lively spot.

'Since opening in October, we've built up a steady number of cus tomers, including taxi drivers, lo cal Gibraltarians and expats, both from the town and from the mari nas. Mostly of the lively middleaged sort.'said James,whose cater ing experience includes serving as valet to Prince Charles for a while when they were both in the navy. 'There's a tremendous atmosphere here most evenings, everybody knows everyone now and there's almost non-stop humour—includ ing regular clowning from a certain

irrepressible Scotsman. And when someone new comes in, he or she is introduced to the regulars and quickly becomes part of the scene. It's a great place to make friends.'

Back to the pasties. Their attrac tion over simple meat pies is that they are a lot more than just a pie. Although there is a choice of ten on offer from James and his wife Alison, the traditional pasty is a juicy package of pastry containing meat and carrots, swedes and po tatoes. Known to have been popu lar since the Middle Ages, Henry VIITs Jane Seymour is believed to have been particularly keen on them. But they weren't created for the nobility:the pasty was designed as a container that allowed tin min ers and farm labourers to take a tasty succulent meal to work with

then closed around them, the join being crimped together by hand. The crimp can be on the top or on the side, hence the two well-known pasty shapes. In our case, this part ofthe prepa ration is carried out in Cornwall by Crantock, who were also used by James and Alison when they owned no less than five cafeterias before moving their ca tering skills to Gibraltar. Crantock then flash freezes the raw pasties and they are sped on their way to City Mill Lane, ready to be cooked and served as fresh as the day they were'made.

'Crantock's are noted for only

The traditional pasty is a juicy package of pastry containing meat and carrots, swedes and potatoes

them; some tin mines even had large ovens on the surface so the pasties could be kept hot until the miners'break times.And it's thanks to the Cornish miners' skills being exported through the world that pasties are now to be found in vari ous parts of North and South America. Other variations on the basic filling used to include a twocourse pasty, with a pastry partition inside separating the meat and veg from jam for dessert.

Whichever filling is used,the in gredients(which must be raw),are laid on the circular pastry which is

using the best quality products in their pasties,' said James;'and all the vegetables they use are grown in Cornwall.'

As well as the traditional chopped beef pasty, the highly-fla voured parcels can also be obtained with a choice of other accompani ments within the shortcrust pastry wrapping. There is Beef & Stilton; Steak & Ale; Chicken; Spicy Chicken; Ham, Leek & Cheese; Cheese & Bacon; Cheese & Onion; Pure Vegetable: and Broccoli, Cheese & Sweetcorn. All these are a bargain at£2.20 each,and there is

also a Sausage Roll of similar qual ity for only £1.20. All can be eaten hot or cold.

James told me that quite a few local people who weren't familiar with pasties had worked their way through the whole list (one a day) and then settled on a favourite. The juicy flavours can make them quite addictive, and why not, given that this is real healthy food — and just as healthy is the laughter from the snug back room bar in the evenings. All the usual spirits are there (al though no ghosts have yet been spotted in the bar) and Murphy's Irish Red and Heineken are on tap at £1.80 a pint.

James and Alison are planning on bringing in a pasty delivery service soon, and, whilst service is fast, busy workers can save even more time by phoning ahead on 70737. In-office parties can be ca tered for too, but allow an hour if the order is approaching eighty meals. The hours, for eating or drinking,are 10am until late, Mon day to Saturday,and the Real Taste of Cornwall and the Smugglers' Rest are at number 16 City Mill Lane.

A pub whose grub is a choice of genuine Cornish pasties is a novel idea — but it's a novelty that' has caught on and already has a loyal clientele.

look at Gibraltai^; society with "H"

Onceagain it'sthe beginning of

Anne of Wooden Roses

another new year, 2004 and what an exciting year it prom ises to be for the mighty rock of Gibraltar, with many events planned throughout to celebrate the Tercente nary. And if the party in Casemates to welcome in the new year is anything to go by we shall all have a great time in 2004, what a terrific night it was. 10 out of 10 for everyone involved.

For one or two of Gib's finest 2003 couldn'tcome to an end quick enough. The pride of the MoD catering team "Squeege" will be one fellow who will remember the end of 2003 for some time. He went on a pre-Christmas shopping trip to the UK and hired a car to get about in during his visit. Before taking it back,of course, he had to re-fill the tank.Just how it happened will have to remain one of life's mys teries, but"Squeege" filled the tank up with diesel instead of petrol, fortu nately he realised before too much damage was done but it was still a costly mistake.

Another fellow who was glad to see the end of 2003 was none other than Terry "Wiz Waz Woo" Breedon who

suffered a run of bad luck in late De cember that would have been enough to get anyone down.After being away from home for a few days he returned to find his flat had been burgled and the wretched thieves had stolen his magic tricks, and then when he went to report the break-in his car broke down and if that wasn'tenough,when he finally got home again a water pipe had burst and flooded the place. But at least he had a winning end to the year when he won the top prize of a booze hamper in the Pickwick's Christmas lucky numbers draw. While on the sub ject of the Pickwick's Christmas party and the lucky numbers prize winners I've heard that there was some skulduggery involving a tin of Quality Street. None other than "Greeny" was at the centre of it all, would you believe, however the choccies ended up with the real winners eventually, I'm told.

Congratulations!

Another couple who will remember the end of 2003 for the rest of their lives is Dino of All's Well and his wife Ana who became the proud parents of twins to be named Dino and Maltilde. Many

congratulations to them both.Congratu lations also to Simon and Suzanne of Simon's Restaurant who were married on 26th January what a lovely way to start a new year.

Haircut Horror

The "Laird" of the 3 Roses Dermot, proved to be a typical canny Scot just before Christmas when in an effort to try and save a couple of quid he decided to trim his lad Dermot Jnr's hair himself rather than send him to a proper barber. You don't need me to tell you that it all ended in disaster, especially for young Dermot. Even the "Laird" himself real ised he'd made a terrible error ofjudge ment and tried to get the lad to a proper barber. Eventually he got it all sorted out but not before he had to practically beg the services of a proper hairdresser. I'd stick to pouring pints if 1 was Dermot because he's never going to make it as a hair-stylist.

Sport Report

A look back at the sporting highlights of 2003 can only mean one thing — Eng land winning the rugby World Cup and Gib's rugby fans are still talking about

Richard zvith Sheefal

Anasfasia and Martin

Karen ofthe EUott Hotel

The lovely fustme

Siinlc>fwni ]nui'l and Paca it. "Sparky"(yes, he's a rugger man) reckons if he lost a pound or two he could be another Jonny Wilkinson what a dreamer. Roger of Pipe-Works was watching the final butthought Eng land had blown it so went walk-about and missed the winning kick, Oh ye of little faith. One of Gib's rugger stal warts,Bemie,left the Rock in early Janu ary —hewas three days mucking about before he eventually went but he told me that he would probably be back for summer.

As we begin the year 2004 Man.Utd. and Arsenal are 1st and 2nd in the Pre mier League with Chelsea just behind them. Ifs all a bit boring really,the same old story every year. Celtic have all but won the SPL, but the big news is that despite a 5-0 thrashing in January the "Pride of the East End" the mighty Ori ent are in the top half of the 3rd Divi sion and could be challenging for a play off place. What a dream.

Strong Resolutions!

I expect by now all those well meant New Year's resolutions have been forgottea but if you're still trying to pack up smoking or lose a pound or two

The Polar Bears don't give up it will be worth it even tually. 1 strolled up Main Street in the first week of January and bumped into none other than the First Minister him self Mr. Peter Caruana walking to work. "Hello there," 1 said, "what's with all this walking?" And he told me that it was his New Year's resolution to try and get a bit fitter and this was the start of the campaign.I have to say that 1 haven'tseen him since but I hope he's still trying.

The Highland Sling

The first two new members of "The Bad Leg Club" in 2004 are Colin the customs man who twisted his knee on Boxing Day(he wouldn't tell me how it happened but as he's a Scot 1 can only imagine)and another Scot none other than Muriel of the Health Food Store who I'm told has broken a bone in her foot. It must be all that Highland danc ing they get up to or some thing.

Many Happies...

Birthday boys and girls in February include Gavin Sharrock, Dave, Christopher, Noonic, Veronica, Pepe Fabre,Ted Wheatcroft,Baz and my old

Val and baby Coleeu mate Reg Reynolds.

Seasonal Madness

Christmas always brings out the party animal in some and momentsof sheer lunacy in others. Up at the Rock Hotel a Moroccan theme night was one of the highlights of their Christ mas programme,which was to include a cabaret. However due to transport problems thev never arrived.But"Toby didn't want to disappoint his guests so donned fez and and costume to match and entertained everyone in a style not often seen in Gib. What a star!

The Boxing Day polar bear swim at Catalan Bay is only for the hardiest and this year those Med Golf maniacs John Hunter and Jonathan Goodson took part for charity. They arrived on the beach later than most with a look on their faces that said,"What have we let ourselves in for?" But in they went and it wasn't as cold as they expected. 1 can only say well done lads,1 enjoyed every moment you were in the sea.

Well that's about it for this month and I'll see you on Main Street.

liliiii iiiiiiliiiliiil I i )ii

Superstar Toby

Father Danny

The AnK girls

~ K.D. Curtains ~

Balloqui I & Sons

FINISHING TOUCHES

Natural History & Heritage Park

Admission to the Natural

Historv and Heritage Park is between 9.30am and 7pm by tickets(includes entrance to sites within the Park including St. Michael's Cave, Monkey's Den,Great Siege Tunnels, Military Heritage Centre, 'A City Under Siege' Exhibition and the Moorish Castle).(Facilities closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.) Adults £7.00 / Chil dren age 5-12 years: £4.00, Children age 4 years and under: free. Vehicles: £1.50. Pri vate vehicles may be restricted at certain times and it is advisable to take a Rock Tour by taxi/mini bus. The Natural History & Her itage Park can also be reached by Cable Car (leaves from Grand Parade 9.30am-6pm Monday to Sunday, Lastcableup: 5.15pm, down: 5,45pm),

Theflora and fauna on the

Upper Rock are considered to be of great conservational value. It's a perfect place for birdwatchers, as migratory species use Gi braltar as the shortest crossing between Eu rope and Africa, but botanists will also be interested to see over 600 species of flow ering plants, including some unique to Gi braltar Watch out for colourful lizards, the non-venemous Horseshoe Whipsnake, but terflies and pipistrelle bats. Info on the Rock's flora and fauna is found at the Gi braltar Ornithological and Natural History Society's Information Centre at Jews Gate.

St. Michael's Cave: The cave consists of an upper hall with five connecting passages and drops of 40-150ft to a smaller hall, A further succession of chambers, some at 250ft below the entrance, is reached through narrow holes. The Cathedral Cave is open to visitors and is used as an audito rium for concerts and theatre, The cave was prepared as a hospital in VWVll, but was never used. While blasting an alterna tive entrance a further series of chambers were discovered ending in a mini lake. These are called Lower St, Michael's Cave and can be visited with a qualified guide.

The Monkeys' Den: There are around 160 monkeys living in the Park and around 30 of these can be seen at the Monkey's Den. Often called apes,they are tail-less Barbary Macaques and the only free living monkeys in Europe. Feeding the monkeys is illegal and carries a fine of £500.

The GreatSiege Tunnels:Tunnelling in the Rock began during the Great Siege (17791783) when France and Spain made an all out attempt to recapture the Rock while Britain was busy with the American War of Independence. Governor General Elliot of-

History Alive

fered a reward to any man who could tell him how to mount a gun on the north face of the Rock, It was a Sgt, Major Ince who suggested tunnelling and there are now over 30 miles of tunnels Inside the Rock, Various exhibitions inside the tunnels bring their history to life.

The Militsry Heritage Centre: Housed in one of the Rock's many historic batteries, the Military Heritage Centre displays infor mation on the development of Gibraltar's military defences through the ages.

A City Under Siege Exhibition: Exhibits depicting the lives of the civilian population during the many sieges, are housed in one of the earliest British building on the Rock. Original graffiti, drawn by duty soldiers to stop themselves falling asleep, is still vis ible, the earliest dating back to 1726.

The Moorish Castle: The Moorish Castle is actually just part of a Moorish town and castle which was built up during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Penin sula, spearheaded from Gibraltar in 71 IAD by Tarik-ibn-Zeyad ("Gibraltar" is a corruption of the Arabic words "Jebel Tarik" - Tarik's mountain). The part we see today. The Tower of Homage, dates back to 1333AD, when Abu'l Hassan recaptured the Rock from the Spanish. The tower provides an excellent view point as it did for its Moorish builders centuries ago.

Natural History b Heritage Park Walks:

One walk is recommended (St Michael's Cave through to Charles V Wall) but walk ers should be relatively fit, It is also pleas ant walking along the upper rock roads. Fact Files and brochures are available free from all Tourist Board offices.

Botanical Gardens: Opened in 1816, the Alameda Botanical Gardens fell into disre pair but are currently being restored to their former glory. Visitors can enjoy a stroll be neath pines, dragon trees and palms, and see many of Gibraltar's native plants as well as exotic species. The shop sells environ mentally friendly gifts, plants and seeds, Tel: 72639/74022. Large car park available.

Nelson's Anchorage: Rosia Road 9,30am - 5.15pm Monday to Saturday (last entry at 5pm). Closed on Sunday, Admission: £1,00 (free of charge with Nature Reserve ticket. Tickets for the nature reserve can also be bought at this attraction).

Parson's Lodge: Rosia Road, A narrow limestone outcrop with a labyrinth of un derground tunnels surmounted by an im pressive battery, which has witnessed the Emergency Services

development of coast artillery over 300 years, Once housed three 18 ton 10-inch rifled muzzle loaders positioned behind a unique sandwich of armour plate and teak, known as 'Gibraltar Shields', Open 10am to 6pm every day. Adults £1.00 / Children & OAPs 50p.

Flat Bastion Magazine Flat Bastion Road,< Geological Research Station and Lithology of Gibraltar, To visit please contact: F, Gomez Tel , 44460,P HodkinsonTel,43910, Shrine of Our Lady of Europe (Museum within premises) Europa Road, 10am-7pm Monday to Friday, 11am-7pm Saturday,Sun day and Public Holidays, Closed 1pm-2pm, Admission free,

Trafalgar Cemetery: Trafalgar Road, open 9am - 7pm daily (admission free).

Visitor Information

Gibraltar Museum Tel: 74289 18/20 Bomb House Lane Open 10am -6pm (Sat. 10am - 2pm). Closed on Sunday Ad mission: Adults £2.00/Children under 12 years £1,00, Special exhibitions also held at museum premises in Casemates gallery.

Heritage Trust Tel: 42844

Registry Office Tel: 72289 it is possible to get married on the Rock within 48 hours of arrival. A fact taken ad vantage of by stars such as Sean Connery and John Lennon.

Rock Tours by Taxi Tel: 70052

As well as offering normal fares, Gibraltar taxis provide a complete Rock Tour taking in the Upper Rock, Europa Point and other sites ol interest, it is the best way to see the Rock's major features in a short time.

Tourist Board Tel: 74950

Gibraltar National Tourist Board, Arundel Court, 179 Strand, London Tel: 0207 836 0777 Fax: 0207 240 6612 E-mail: giblondon@aol.com

John Mackintosh Hall Tel: 75669

The centre of Gib's cultural life, this centre includes a cafeteria, theatre, exhibition rooms and library. 308 Main Street 9.30am - 11pm Monday to Friday Closed week ends.

Bus Routes

Route 2: Caieta Hotel - 5 mins past the hour.

When Sir Herbert Miles Rd is ready the bus route will start from Both Worlds. Line Wall Rd, Cable Car, Prince Edward's Rd, St. Bernard's Hosp. 25 mins to the hour back to Caieta Hotel - down Prince Edward's Rd, Main St, Cathedral Sq.W.Churchill Ave, Dev il's Tower Rd, Caieta Hotel Monday - Friday 0830- 1700.

Birthday 14 June

Tercentenary Holiday* 4 August

Summer Bank Holiday 30 August

National Day* lOSeptember

Christmas Day Holiday 27 December

Boxing Day Holiday 28 December 'Gibraltar Only

Spain F/xed.' New Year 1 January; Epiphany

6 January: St Joseph 19 March: Labour Day

1 May: St John 24 June; St James 25 July; Assumption Day 15 August; National Day

12 October; All Saints 1 November; Im maculate Conception 8 December; Christ

mas 25 December, Moveable: Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Corpus Christi,

Gibraltar's streets are filled wiu'i military pageantry every Saturday morning when the Rock's past is brought alive by a troop of soldiers in 18th century period uniform, The soldiers march from Bomb House Lane at 12 noon to Casemates, At Casemates they carry out a "Ceremony of the Keys" routine and then march back up Main Street to the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned,

Non-urgent calls:

Route 3: Runs between Frontier and Light house, Europa Pt. Calling at points inc. W, Churchill Ave, Smith Dorrien Ave, Line Wall Road, passing Museum,Convent, up Europa Rd past Casino, Loreto Convent,Lighthouse, and Caleia Hotel. Men - Fri 0730 - 1130 (non-stop). 1130 - 1830 (every 15-20 min) 1830-2130(every 1/2 hour)Saturday 08001000 (every hour) 1000 -1800 (every 1/2 hour)1800 -2130 (everyhour)SundaylOOO - 1400 (every hour) 1400 - 2000 (every 1/2 hour).

Route 4: Catalan Bay. Devil's Tower Rd, W. Churchi ll Ave, Glacis Rd, Queensway, Europort Ave, Safeway F'etrol Station, Gib 5,Watergardens, Casemates, Line Walt Rd,

passing US and British War Memorials, Mu seum,Cathedral Sq, Convent, Cable Car Sta tion, end of Atameda Estate, Rosia Rd, up Europa Rd,South Barrack Rd, KGV Hosp,St. Joseph's Sch,down S,Pavilion Rd and stops at Rosia PIz, nr 100 Ton Gun, Returns past Police Hq at New Mole House, Cumberland Rd, Rosia Rd, Boyd St, Main St, Cathedral S, down Casemates, Queensway, up Europort Ave, Safeway Petrol Station, Watergardens, Corral Rd, Devil's Tower Rd and Catalan Bay. Mon - Fri 0730 -2130 (every 15 min. After 1645 every 30 mini Sat0700-2100 Sun 1000 -2100.

Route 9: Frontier to Market PI and back, stops at W,Churchill Ave and Glacis Rd. Mon - Fri 0830 -2030 (every 15 min) Sat 08301400 (every 15 min) 1400 - 1700 (every 30 min)1700 -2000 hours(every hour)Sundays (no service).

Route 10: Runs Frontier, W. Churchill Ave, Glacis Rd, Watergardens. Gib 5, GASA Pool, Safeway, McDonalds, Europort Ave, British War Memorial, Mon - Fri 0830 -2030 (every 20mins|Sat0830 - 1900 Sun 1000 -1800,