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The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

THIS WEEK IN PAGE 3 – SOUSSE’S BLOODY FRIDAY PAGE 4 – IN PICTURES...FIESTA IN THE SKIES PAGE 5, 6 & 7 – SPANISH RELATED NEWS PAGE 8 – ALL BULL IN PAMPLONA AGAIN PAGE 9 – LIKE IT OR GRUMP IT PAGE 10 – THE CABIN VIEW PAGE 11 – GENERAL NEWS FEATURES PAGE 12 & 13 – CHOCK’S AWAY – THE ULTIMATE DREAM PAGE 14 – SPANISH RELATED NEWS PAGE 15 – CROCKER’S CORNER PAGE 16 – READERS LETTERS & LOTTERY RESULTS PAGE 17 – WESTON ON A ROLL / TRAVELLING WITH GEORGE PAGE 18 – WORLD NEWS PAGE 19 – THE SALVATION ARMY PAGE 20 – UK RELATED NEWS PAGE 21 – THE DAY LONDON CHANGED PAGE 22 – LE TOUR DE FORCE PAGE 23 – THE VIEW THROUGH THE LENS PAGE 24 – STILL CURIOSER AND CURIOSER PAGE 25 – OLLIE’S MOOD SPILLS PAGE 26 – THE VIEW ON NOSTALGIA – 3rd JULY 1985 PAGE 27 – FOR YOUR INFORMATION PAGE 28 – WHAT’S ON THE TELLY? PAGES 28 TO 31 – CONCISE TV LISTINGS PAGES 32 & 33 – FASHION, HEALTH & BEAUTY PAGES 34 & 35 – FOOD & DRINK PAGE 36 – OVER 50s LIFESTYLE PAGE 37 – IT’S YOUR PAGE...

PAGES 38 & 39 – PUZZLE PAGES PAGE 40 – CAPTION COMPETITION PAGE 41 – MOTORING PAGE 42 – BUS JOURNEY – TORREVIEJA PAGE 43 – TRAVEL AROUND SPAIN – GRAN CANARIA PAGES 44 & 45 – CLASSIFIED ADVERTS / THE VIEW OUTLETS PAGES 46 & 47 ­ SPORT

EDITOR’S WEEKLY MESSAGE W

elcome to Edition No8 of THE VIEW. Just where have those weeks gone. There are many advantages of putting this publication together during this time of the year, the main one being able to sit in air­conditioned luxury – purely to keep the laptop cool, you understand!

It’s the time of the year when you spot a thick jumper or heavy long­sleeved shirt in the cupboard and wonder how you ever could possibly wear them ever again. Annoyingly, it’s also the time when we all appear to be overrun with unwelcome visitors – the mighty cockroaches. I’ll be doing a feature on the little critters in next week’s edition with a few suggestions on how to combat the infestation.

On behalf of all the team at THE VIEW, I thank you for your continued kind words about our ‘paper. We’re delighted you tell us it’s fast become your favourite simply because it’s different, refreshing and a good read. We even seem to be leading the way in some areas too. The phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” comes readily to mind! The team set out from the start to make THE VIEW more like a weekly magazine and I think we’ve succeeded with the variety of features we include, many from new and previously untapped writing talent.

Can I draw your attention in particular this week to Ollie’s Mood Spills on page 25.

His columns are always interesting and informative and written in his own unique style; this week, he tackles a very thought provoking subject with a fascinating perspective. We welcome Barry x 2 this week with Mr Haslam­Walker and Mr Weston sharing some of their writings and opinions. Contributions such as these are always welcome at THE VIEW, and if space permits we will publish suitable articles.

I said last week that I was looking forward to another new contributor for this edition, and we’re pleased to present “Chocks Away! The Ultimate Dream” by Dave Walsh on page 12 and 13.

It’s a wonderful and emotional true story.

Paul, our designer, has come up trumps once again this week with his selection of another superb front cover. He informs me it’s Lake Bled in Slovenia, which reminded me in no small way of the Bavarian castle featured in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I first saw it. Put the location into Google if you have a PC etc, and you’ll see some more stunning images of the area.

My thoughts on the tragic events in Tunisia last week are on page 3. The world has become a more dangerous place when you’re fighting a loan and often invisible enemy that strikes without warning and isn’t wearing a uniform. A Facebook friend of mine was a good friend of one of the victims and is understandably devastated.

As he said at the weekend, he knew he was there and was looking forward to seeing him out and about in a week or so on his return, having a pint and wondering why there was so much fuss being made because he’d gone missing. He’ll never have that drink, but I’m sure a glass was raised in memory to him and his partner who also lost her life.

The heat wave continues in Spain and we’re in for another 10 days or so of very high and above normal temperatures. I have to confess that I’m sleeping better than usual this year and I put it down to the fact that I have the air­conditioning on for an hour or so before going to bed and so board the James Cama with a cold body which aides a fast and acceptable dozing off while listening to Today In Parliament on Radio 4. OK, perhaps that’s what really sends me off to the land of nod!

As always, enjoy THE VIEW!

You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

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News Editor – DARREN JAMES The professional NEWSpaper The View is solely owned by the owners of TV CHOICE

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

SOUSSE’S BLOODY FRIDAY G

By Darren James

eography has never been my best of subjects. It’s got better over the years and probably due to the amount of questions I’ve asked at quiz nights. Until last Friday afternoon, I had no idea where Sousse was. I’d never heard of it.

Now, like many other places in the world where similar murderous atrocities have taken place – Dunblane and Hungerford for example that I wrote about only last week – they are fixed in the memory for ever.

I also never knew that Tunisia had such wonderful Five Star Hotels alongside long sandy beaches that look as if they would rival any place called paradise in the world.

A holiday paradise that was shattered in the space of 30 minutes and at least 30 bullets taking 30 British lives.

It could have been Benidorm. It could have been La Marina beach. That was my first thought when the details of the events of last Friday lunchtime dominated the news broadcasts. One minute you’re sunbathing without a care in the world chatting with your wife, your husband, your partner, your son, your uncle or someone you’ve made friends with on the next sun bed or towel around the pool and in the next minute.... It’s simply unimaginable.

Writing this column on Wednesday night as the news shows the upsetting images of coffins being taken out of an RAF transport plane at Brize Norton, it’s still not possible to comprehend the causes and the consequences of one person’s actions.

Following this story for almost a week has shown how certain sections of the mainstream media have covered the

events in Sousse, although it’s what they haven’t shown or discussed or featured which is causing concern among some and questioning such a broadcasting policy.

Have you heard about Moncef Mayel? He is a 56 year old builder who threw floor tiles at the gunman from a roof terrace. The few moments whilst he recovered his senses and scrambled to his feet bought precious time for those fleeing and allowed the police to locate his whereabouts. Where are the interviews – with the translators – with members of the staff from the Bellevue Hotel who told the gunman he would have to kill them first as they formed a human barricade between the shooter and Western tourists? According to those who were at the holiday resort when the shooting began, their actions “saved many lives”. Why have the media ignored them? What they did show, however, was a friend of the gunman talking about his life and his background and how he was probably radicalised.

I’m not the only person in the past seven days to think that maybe “good” Muslims are becoming unfashionable. Those reported in the background of the disturbing picture of the gunman walking along the beach leaving blood in his wake were not, according to many British tourists, “horrified onlookers” doing nothing to help. They were the human shield of Muslims. Reports suggest there would’ve been many more bodies returning to RAF Brize Norton had they not intervened telling the gunman to “shoot us first”!

The candlelight vigil that was held around the scene on the

SIR NICHOLAS WINTON

night following the outrage was full of local Tunisian people, and that’s how they were described on TV – Tunisians, not Muslims. The bias seemed palpable. I quote a social media posting I saw during the week: “They tried to kill the gunman by throwing bricks at him. They held a vigil the next day that thousands attended. I have seen them cry, mourn and get angry at this selfish act. They risk losing everything. The media are stirring this up way beyond proportion.”

No country in the world can predict or prepare for the act of one mad gunman whether they act independently or under the direction of a fanatical organisation. No amount of talking or security will prevent a repeat of Sousse’s Bloody Friday somewhere else in the world. Something has to be done...but what?

It would help to see thousands and thousands of the “good” Muslims marching through London and other cities across the world to condemn the actions of those that are said to be misrepresenting their religion. Would the TV show it in the same way they don’t show the fanatics with their anti­western world placards? I don’t think the TV media know which side they’re on either sometimes.

Why doesn’t the whole world get together with the backing of the United Nations to sort the problem out once and for all because the media would have you believe that the rise of IS is the major problem in the world today? Why don’t the powerful Russian’s and the Chinese propose ways of dealing with the “problem”? Is there a problem to solve in the first place? The more I think about it, the more I’m convincing myself that we really are all living in the media mushroom world: kept in the dark and fed manure – or a word to that effect!

WIMBLEDIN

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n my weekly missive last week I mentioned my plans – whilst working, of course, ­ to watch the annual tennis fest from Wimbledon and being prepared to have the TV remote ready to mute out the Sharapova Shout. Sure enough, it was used on the first afternoon and on both BBC One and Two.

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1909 to 2015

few weeks ago THE VIEW featured a list of The Great Centenarians, paying homage to those famous people who had reached that milestone. The only one to be found currently over the three figures was Sir Nicholas Winton who celebrated his 106th birthday in May. Sadly, he passed away on Wednesday.

His secret as the British Oskar Schindler was unknown until his wife found some papers back in 1988 and was featured on the That’s Life TV show. He never wanted recognition for what he did, and unlike Schindler who whilst saving the lives of many Jews did make money out of them, Winton did it for nothing and simply as a humanitarian gesture. They say only the good die young. Sir Nicholas Winton proved a remarkable exception to that rule. A true hero of our time, deserving of the real meaning of the word.

669 children and their subsequent families would share that sentiment.

Whilst the mighty mouth Maria was drowning out the noise of passing Dreamliner 787 aircraft on Centre Court, Lleyton Hewitt was playing what became his final match at the home of tennis on an outside court.

No moaning and groaning from the players here, just the incessant shouting, singing and chanting from an Aussie supporters group of 20 people sat at the front of the tier behind the bowler’s arm! (Sorry, I’m in Ashes mood!). The faces on those spectators sat near them were pictures of understandable disgust at having their

afternoon ruined with their eardrums blasted and view blocked as they stood up showing their support in between every point. It resembled a football match, and if it had been me I’d have demanded my money back, although I’d have probably said something to them and ended up being thrown on a Barbie somewhere! I’ve nothing against Australian’s but I was so pleased Hewitt lost just to keep the rabble quiet!

Talking of Australian tennis players, did you see the sheer arrogance of the new big star to come from Down Under? Nick Kyrgios is fast tracking himself to be the next “bad boy” of tennis, the new McEnroe, and he doesn’t give the proverbial, judging by his attitude at a press conference. Tim Henman – who is half way through week one of his two week’s work a year – explained Kyrgios’ behaviour as being “that’s what he’s like” in the same way that boxer John Prescott was excused as “John is John!”I quite like hating some sportsmen – Nick, you’re on my list!

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

IN PICTURES – FIESTA IN THE SKIES Los Alcazares Air Show – 27 & 28 June

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

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HERE’S ONE WE FOUND EARLIER

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nyone under the age of 40 must have gone through a bag of mixed emotions on Tuesday when it was announced that one of the childhood heroes of many, John Noakes, had been reported missing. Thankfully, he was found safe and well some 10 hours after he first left home.

The ordeal began when John, 81, and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, left his Majorca home early in the morning for a stroll without telling his wife Vicky. When she discovered he was missing, she went out looking for him in their car and at one point spotted him in the distance. It’s pretty rugged and rough territory where they live, so she parked up the car to go and get him. In the moment her back was turned, she’d lost sight of him, and the alarm was raised.

Her main concern was that, like the rest of Spain, Majorca was suffering the hottest temperatures of the year so far and her husband was alone without money, identification or water.

He was first reported missing at 9.15am, then found at

7pm after a major air and land search less than a mile from his home. It’s understood that the former Blue Peter presenter is in a bad way, but his condition is thought not to be life­threatening.

Mr Noakes was taken to Son Espases hospital after being discovered near Andratx, southwest Majorca.

His wife, Vicky, 71, spoke of her joy after her husband of 50 years was found.

She said: “I’ve just heard the news and am obviously very relieved. I’m going to take 10 minutes out with a cup of tea and then head straight to the hospital to see him.

“I’ve been told he’s not injured in any way, but I imagine he’s dehydrated after being more than nine hours without water under a scorching sun, and I assume they’ll keep him in hospital overnight to rehydrate him and check he’s OK.” Vicky thanked everyone involved in the search, adding: “He was found very near the road in a sort of a storm drain that fills up when it rains. I imagine he just lost his bearings and strayed off the path and fell somewhere. I knew it couldn’t be far because he wouldn’t have been able to walk that far.”

A Civil Guard spokesman confirmed their helicopter found John just before 7pm, adding: “He appeared uninjured but confused and in need of medical attention after so long in the heat without water.

Fortunately we found him when we did because, another couple of hours with night closing in, the search would have been suspended until tomorrow and then it could have been a different story."

News he had Alzheimer’s emerged in the hours after his disappearance as previously only his family and close friends were aware.

Vicky said: “John’s had Alzheimer’s for a number of years now. You learn to live and cope with things. But this is a little different this time and I am concerned because it is

the hottest day of the year so far here.”

She said she lost sight of John after catching up with him between their home and Andratx, at around 9.15am yesterday.

Vicky added: “I discovered he’d left the house and caught up with him in the car. I was following him to pick him up and lost sight of him when I turned into a side street to park.”

Noakes trained as an aircraft engine fitter for the RAF and BOAC before deciding to become an actor, first appearing on television in programmes such as the military police drama series Redcap – an early role for actor John Thaw.

He joined Blue Peter as a presenter in 1965; his colleagues at the time were Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton.

Trace left the programme in 1967, and was replaced by Peter Purves, creating probably the iconic and most revered 'Val, John and Pete' line­up which lasted until 1972.

Like most presenters, Noakes was encouraged to take special responsibility for one of the show's pets. His original dog was Patch, the son of Petra, the first Blue Peter dog. After Patch's sudden death in 1971 (from a rare disease) he was given another pet dog, a Border Collie puppy, christened Shep by viewers. Noakes's attempts to control the excitable Shep led to his memorable and much mimicked catchphrase "Get down, Shep!"

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

GAS EXPLOSION UNCOVERS TRAGEDY

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hat first appeared as a tragic accident has now taken a darker route with the discovery that a woman and two children found dead on Tuesday in a cottage in the outskirts of Villajoyosa were stabbed before the explosion and subsequent fire.

Investigators from the Forensic Anatomical Institute of Alicante found that three of the four bodies had stab wounds – a 66 year old woman and seven and 14 year old children. A 38 year old man also found in the home had none. Spanish news agencies have been informed that initially

thought that the victims had died from the explosion of a gas cylinder inside the house, but later it was found that there were traces of gasoline and three of the four bodies had stab wounds.

The dead, all Spanish, and all from the same family are the grandmother, her son and her seven year old grandson.

Apparently, the 14 year old is the daughter of the girlfriend of adult male.

The same sources have indicated that one of the main theories is that the 38­ year­old could have ended the lives of the two children and their mother to then

commit suicide by starting the fire, although the investigation is not yet taken for closed.

The blast occurred in the morning, around 10 am, in the rural area of L'Almisserà, a remote area, although close to a local petrol station and some housing near to the town of Villajoyosa. Twelve fire engines were sent to the scene had to deal with a fire that had spread through the fence to arid bushes and fields. Smoke could be seen from the nearby AP­7 motorway.

Further investigations found that there

were two gas bottles inside, one of which was leaking gas. The general structure of the property survived the explosion but the interior was filled with rubble under which the first three bodies were discovered. It was some hours later until it was reported that the fourth, the son, had been found.

The incident caused shock in the town of almost 34,000 inhabitants located between Alicante and Benidorm. Both the Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, and the newly appointed president of Valencia, Ximo Puig, expressed their deep sorrow for what had happened.

CAUGHT BETWEEN THE ROCK

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ne of the most popular visitor attractions on the Costa Blanca is being closed with immediate effect. The iconic Peñon de Ifach – known to many as the Calpe Rock – was due to undergo a series of safety improvements but as they haven’t taken place, the Spanish Environment Department have taken action.

The 130,000 hikers per year that want to climb by far the most visited natural park in the Valencia region, can now only ascend a short distance until greeted by a stone wall and metal door covering the tunnel leading to the popular viewpoint of Els Carabiners.

The closure is indefinite and doesn’t help the local economy that it has happened in summer. The Peñon is the principal tourist symbol of Calpe.

Now, visitors will only be able to admire this natural feature of the coast from a distance and, at best, hike the short distance until the tunnel door. Anywhere beyond this point is now forbidden.

The path to deteriorate more and more with the last time any major investment was made on the stretch that leads to the summit ­some 332 metres above sea level ­ was back in 2005, and that was due to an investment of funds from the European Union.

The Peñon attracts on overage over 350 hikers per day and the lack of investment has made the pathway more and more dangerous.

The section inside the tunnel – now closed – and the way to the top of the landmark is now very slippery due to the much worn, almost polished stones.

Unfortunately, warning signs are being ignored – some have even been removed –and walkers, some with children, were seen at the weekend attempting the now dangerous climb.

Another concern is the local wildlife, including many gulls and chicks, are being disturbed and were seen squawking loudly very close to frightened tourists.

Wages lower in spain TYRED OF SECOND HAND F

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ccording to research by tyre company Continental, almost a third of motor industry professionals believe sales of second­hand tyres should be banned.

Three­quarters of all road crashes caused by tyre problems occur in cars with used ones fitted. In fact, over 300,000 cars on Spain's roads have second­hand tyres, a figure that has been increasing every year as a result of the financial crisis.

Different cars wear down their tyres in different places, meaning if these are fitted to another make or model, they are likely to cause vibrations and reduce the vehicle's stability.

They can even endanger the lives of drivers and passengers, since the minimum braking distance needed for used tyres is much longer than for new ones, meaning motorists underestimate how much room they need to slow down or stop.

Continental says, tyre traders admit that

80% of their sales come from supplying or fitting second­hand parts and six in 10 cars aged over 10 years, have used tyres fitted when their existing ones become irreparably damaged or worn out.

The research shows that 35% of dealership workers, parts traders, mechanics, body repair staff and tyre suppliers believe second­hand sales should be outlawed.

Continental has revealed that this view is supported by 45% of specialist motor industry journalists.

rom the latest figures available released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) that correspond to 2013, the most common salary received by workers in Spain is €15,500 a year – the same as the year before. However, that figure mustn’t be confused with the average wage which has decreased slightly to €22,697.86, a drop of 0.1%.

The median salary – the amount at the midpoint after dividing those with the highest salaries and those with the lowest salaries into equal groups – has also decreased to €19,026.66 a year, a decline of €11.

The new figures nevertheless do confirm that wages in general have dropped in Spain in the last few years.

The findings of the INE’s annual salary structure survey also demonstrate the many inequalities that exist in the Spanish labour market. The wages of workers with temporary contracts tend to be much lower than those with permanent jobs, with the former earning €15,433.14, 36% less than

the latter.

The data also reveals large discrepancies in earnings among different sectors. While workers in the energy industry take home an average €52,827.86 – over double the national average – those in the hospitality sector, which has the lowest wages, earn an average of €13,851.08.

Compiled using information from the Tax Agency and Social Security system, the figures reflect annual gross earnings, taking into account monetary earnings and both social security contributions borne by workers – though retained by the employer – and income tax.

The View

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

AVAILABLE FROM W H SPLIFF’S

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ood news for those in Spain that indulge in the weed.

From Wednesday cannabis cultivation for personal use has been decriminalised in Spain.

The news has pleasing many growers, shops and cannabis associations across the country.

In Article 36.18 of the law regarding citizen safety, a paragraph is included with an amendment regarding the cultivation of cannabis that states it is punishable “only in public places”.

General Franco’s original law on April 8 1967 prohibited the cultivation of cannabis although

violators were often not punished.

That law stated that it was forbidden to germinate seeds. Now, growers can germinate seeds in

Spain. Shops and growers can sell cuttings provided they do not display them openly to the public, but people certainly can’t start

ROYAL’S IN MEXICO

selling bags of the product at the local car­boot sale accompanied with “Cannabis For Sale” signs!

Self cultivation has not yet been fully legalised, but it has been decriminalised. Therefore, the act of cultivation itself is not banned… but doing it somewhere where it is viewable by the general public is.

So, if you are going to take the risk and grow your own, do it on a hidden terrace, in a greenhouse or in the living room if you like – but not where a neighbour can see it when they stroll past your patio taking their dog for a walk.

The minimum fine is €600, much less than the €1,000 muted in some

quarters, but please be warned that it is still illegal and punishable by the law if you are caught in possession of cannabis in public places, roads, public buildings and on public transport.

However, if a nasty or begrudging neighbour gets to know you’re growing you own cannabis plants, you can still be reported and if you are arrested then you will need to prove that it is purely for personal use. If a judge considers that the cultivation is not just for personal use, it will be classed as a criminal act and you could expect a sentence from one to three years.

Wherever you may roam

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he Spanish King and Queen arrived in Mexico City Sunday, on their first official visit to a Latin American country since the crowning of Felipe VI in June 2014.

The three­day visit included several political, cultural and economic events.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia, accompanied by Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jose Manuel Garcia­ Margallo, landed at Mexico City International Airport around 20:00 local time in a Spanish Air Force plane, where they were received by Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Jose Antonio Meade.

Mexico's ambassador in Madrid, Roberta Lajous, and her Spanish counterpart, Luis Fernandez Cid, were also present.

The royal couple were received on the red carpet and accorded a traditional guard of honour by the presidential guards.

The Spanish delegation also included Head of the Royal Household of Spain, Jaime de Alfonsin; High Commissioner of Government, Brand Spain, Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros and Secretary of State for Trade, Jaime Garcia Legaz, among others.

The state visit began on Monday with an offering of flowers at Monumento de Los Niños Héroes (Boy Heroes Monument) in Chapultepec Park, followed by a ceremonial welcome at Campo de Marte by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and his wife Angelica Rivera.

Later, the Spanish king and queen were received by Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera at the city council at Zocalo, Mexico

City's main square, and awarded the title of Distinguished Guests of Mexico City and given the 'Keys of the City'.

In Mexico's presidential palace, Peña Nieto and King Felipe, accompanied by delegates of both countries, held a meeting, followed by a private luncheon for the royal couple.

The first day of tour ended with an official dinner at the National Palace.

On Tuesday, the agenda will included a business forum in the city, an address by Felipe VI before the Senate, a lunch meeting with personalities from diverse sections of the Mexican society and the signing of the Servicio Internacional de Evaluación de la Lengua Española.

The trip concluded on Wednesday with a tour of the colonial city of Zacatecas.

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rom June 2017, British visitors to Europe will no longer be charged additional fees for using their mobile phones.

The UK has led from the beginning in getting agreement on this point. In March last year, the PM and Germany’s Chancellor Merkel called for accelerated progress towards deepening the European single market in telecoms, including the abolition of roaming charges. It was announced on Tuesday that the EU had agreed a deal based on those proposals.

The Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This deal is fantastic news for British consumers and shows that the UK, working with its partners, can deliver real change in Europe, bringing significant benefits for working people. It also shows

that the EU can show the flexibility and creativity to deliver changes that benefit people in this country and across Europe.”

This deal will deliver major benefits for consumers in the UK, and those across the EU. Roaming charges will no longer apply for those making calls, sending texts and using the internet on their phones or tablets in the EU. According to the Financial Times, to help soften the blow before the charges are scrapped, existing fees will be capped at five cents per MB of data and calls, and two cents per SMS from April 2016. The EU has decided not to follow the US and apply stricter rules on net neutrality.

Instead, the EU will allow specialized services (such as streaming for TV) so long as they do not hinder other customers using the same network.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

ALL BULL IN PAMPLONA AGAIN

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t’s that time of the Spanish summer when attention is turned to the streets of Pamplona for the major bull­ running events of the year.

To give them their proper and official name, the Fiestas of San Fermin are celebrated in Pamplona every year from the 6th to the 14th of July. They have become internationally known because of the running of the bulls, where the bulls are lead through the streets of the old quarter as far as the bull ring by runners. Spanish tradition says the true origin of the run began in north­eastern Spain during the early 14th century.

The fiestas are celebrated in honour of San Fermin, patron saint of the region of Navarra, although the religious aspect would seem to have taken on a secondary role over the last number of years. Nowadays, the fiestas are seen as a mass gathering of people from all the corners of the world, where the partying, the fun and the joy of it all are the most outstanding ingredients.

The Encierro is the event at the heart of the people known as Sanfermines and makes the fiesta a spectacle that would be unimaginable in any other place in the world. The origin of this event comes from the need to transport the bulls from the off­site corrals where they had spent the night, to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. When the clock on the church of San Cernin strikes eight o’clock in the morning, followed by the launching of two rockets. The bulls charge behind the runners for 825 metres, the distance between the corral and the bullring. The run usually lasts between three and four minutes although it has sometimes taken over ten minutes, especially if one of the bulls has been isolated from his companions. The average speed of the herd is 24 kph (15 mph).

The third rocket, fired from the bullring, signals that all the bulls have entered the bullring. A fourth and final rocket indicates that all the bulls are safely in the corral located inside the bullring and that the run has ended.

The Bull Run has a particularly emotional prelude when the runners, just a few metres up the slope from the corral from where the bulls are waiting, raise their rolled newspapers and chant to an image of San Fermin, placed in a small recess in the wall in the Cuesta de Santo Domingo.

Against the strongest of silences, the following words can be heard: "A San Fermin pedimos, por ser nuestro patron, nos guie en el encierro dandonos su bendicion." (We ask San Fermin, being our patron saint, to guide us in the Bull Run

and give us his blessing). When they finish they shout "Viva San Fermin! Gora San Fermin." This chant is first sung three times before 8am, then when there are five minutes to go before 8am, then three minutes and one minute before the gate of the corral is opened.

In Pamplona a set of wooden fences is erected to direct the bulls along the route and to block off side streets. A double wooden fence is used in those houses where there is enough space for it, while in other parts the buildings of the street act as barriers. The gaps in the barricades are wide enough for a human to slip through, but narrow enough to block a bull. The fence is composed of around three thousand separate pieces and while some parts are left for the duration of the fiesta, others are mounted and dismounted every morning. Spectators can only stand behind the second fence, whereas, the space between the two fences is reserved for security and medical personnel and also to participants who need cover during the event.

A large number of pastores (bull "shepherds") cover the entire bull run. They place themselves behind the bulls, with their only protection being a long stick. Their main role is to stop the odd idiot from inciting the bulls from behind, to avoid the bulls turning round and running backwards and to help any bulls that have stopped, or have been separated from their companions to continue running towards the bullring.

Other key people in the bull run are the dobladores, people with good bullfighting knowledge (sometimes ex­ bullfighters), who take up positions in the bullring with capes to help the runners fan out (in other words, run to the sides after they enter the bullring) and "drag" the bulls towards the corral as quickly as possible.

The six fighting bulls that will take part in the evening bullfight, start the run accompanied by an initial group of mansos (bullocks), which act as guides to help the bulls cover the route. Two minutes after leaving the corral in Santo Domingo, a second group of bullocks (the so­called "sweep­up" group), which are slower and smaller than the first one, are let out to lead any bulls that might have stopped or been left behind in the bull run towards the bullring.

The encierro is an unrepeatable experience for spectators and runners alike. It is a spectacle that is defined by the level of risk and the physical ability of the runners.

An inexperienced runner should learn about the

characteristics of this dangerous race before starting, and also about the protective measures to be taken for his/her own safety and that of the people running alongside.

Not everyone can run the encierro. It requires cool nerves, quick reflexes and a good level of physical fitness. Anyone who does not have these three should not take part. It is a highly risky enterprise.

Every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run, although most injuries are cuts and bruises and the odd broken bone due to falls and are not serious.

Goring is much less common, but potentially life threatening.

In 2013 for example, six participants were gored along the festival. As most of the runners are male, only 5 women have been gored since 1974. Previously to that date running was prohibited for women.

Another major risk is runners falling and piling up at the entrance of the bullring, which acts as a funnel as it is much narrower than the previous street. In such cases injuries come both from asphyxia and contusions to those in the pile and from goring if the bulls crush into the pile. This kind of blocking of the entrance has occurred at least ten times in the history of the run, the last occurring in 2013 and the first dating back to 1878. A runner died of suffocation in one such pile up in 1977.

Overall, since record­keeping began in 1910, 15 people have been killed in the bull running of Pamplona, most of them due to being gored. To minimize the impact of injuries, every day some 200 medical people, mainly volunteers from the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) are in attendance throughout the route.

But it’s not just in Spain that bull­running has been famous. The English town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, was host to the Stamford Bull Run for almost 700 years until it was abandoned in 1837. According to local tradition, the custom dated from the time of King John, when William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, saw two bulls fighting in the meadow beneath. Some butchers came to part the combatants and one of the bulls ran into the town, causing a great uproar. The earl, mounting his horse, rode after the animal and enjoyed the sport so much, that he gave the meadow in which the fight began, to the butchers of Stamford on condition that, they should provide a bull to be run in the town every 13 November for ever after.

As of 2013 the bull run had been revived as a ceremonial, festival­style community event.

The View

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

LIKE IT OR GRUMP IT DONNA GEE’S VIEW

THE RISE AND RISE OF REGINALD PURRING I

call it Close Encounter of the Purred Kind - and I promise I’m not taking the puss.

The voluntary exercise to domesticate six feral kittens brought to me by their proud mum got under way last Wednesday under the expert eye of Christine Hoggert.

Chris, who runs the Impact charity in La Marina, says wild kittens up to the age of 12 weeks can normally be domesticated. And the last few days seem to indicate this theory is largely true.

During the three weeks they lived in and around my garden, all six kittens seemed petrified of human contact, and only allowed me to touch them while their heads were jammed into a food bowl.

I feared it would never be possible to pick any of them up, let alone give them a cuddle. Christine quickly discovered that this was not the case. This is how the first few days of the experiment went…

Wednesday June 24: In the roasting heat of a 34-degree afternoon, Christine, volunteer helper Jackie and I managed to trap four of the feral kittens two black, one tabby and one black and white. Later in the day, I caged a second tabby, together with the mother, and took them to join the others at the Impact shop.

Thursday June 25: The kittens’ mum was taken to the vet for sterilisation and found to be two weeks into a new pregnancy. It was a timely intervention as the black-and-white female had been carrying two deformed kittens. Meanwhile, Christine and her team began to concentrate on the kittens. The initial prognosis was not encouraging. “I must admit they do look like they are beyond help,’’ reported

Reggie….he purrs away and is boss­eyed Chris, “but this afternoon I caught them playing in their crate and that gives me even more motivation. If they are playing, then they have the domestic side in them. Our main aim tonight is to separate them and treat their eyes with Trobex. The two black kitties are considerably more friendly than the others.’’

Friday, June 26: Christine received a nasty bite from one of the tabbies as she attempted to clean its weepy eyes. “The bite was purely because her eyes are a mess and she can’t see out of them,’’ she reported. There was, however, ‘’great success’’ during the evening with one of the black kittens. ‘’He/she actually let me clean his/her eyes with Trobex, which is great to use on cats with bad eyes and costs only a couple of euros from the chemist.’’

Christine added: “We have managed to separate this cat from the others and have named him Reggie. His/her brothers are all eating fine, too.’’

Saturday, June 27: At 5am the kittens were already singing with all their lung power. “Reggie has pretty much

turned now and can be picked up,’’ said Chris.’’He/she purrs away while being stroked and the best thing about it is that he/she is boss-eyed!’’

Sunday June 28: Now that the kittens are reasonably settled, it’s a process of taking them to the vet one by one. Whenever a feral cat is taken off the street, a blood test is performed for FELv. The great thing here is that Mummy cat was tested negative, which means the kittens would all be negative, too. Nevertheless they will all be tested when they are a little older.

Monday June 29: Reggie is a boy – and he is doing great, though still a little nervy. He will be going for his first vaccination this week but there is great joy in in the camp with the way things have gone so far. The one kitten Christine’s team were a little afraid of - the black and white one – is at this moment running around playing with other kittens.

Christine says it will be a slow process but she is confident it will work.

Tuesday June 30: All the kittens are now handle-able. Obviously if something spooks them they run for cover but this is a big step. They are eating well and their eyes are clearing up, thanks to twice-a-day eye drops.

READER’S COMMENT: Christine and all involved with Impact work terribly hard to try to save these poor fur babies. Their efforts are relentless. My husband and I have supported them for over two years and we encourage our friends to make donations or take unwanted bits and bobs into the shop at La Marina. I hope this experiment brings them huge recognition for all their hard work and it helps them find valuable loving homes for some of their cats.

TRACY HILL

YOUR VIEW ON DONNA’S VIEW...

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i Donna. I'd like to make two what we want and unless we ask for points about your comments on different, so it will be. tea in a glass.

Which leads me on to the second Firstly, a few years back my wife and point. Instead of being the stereo I dropped into a cafe/bar for a tea and whinging Brit, learn enough Spanish a coffee. It was a Brit bar we'd never to tell them what you want and how been in before. you want it. They are usually very Both drinks arrived in a glass. My accommodating. As to the strength of wife, who detests either in a glass, the tea bags, there’s nothing you can asked the Brit owner/barman to put do about that, but at least nowadays her tea in a cup, which he did. She then you can get a tea bag ­ and they are asked him why he served tea in a glass better than they were. and his reply was, "Because the TOM C tourists like that". The moral is, sometimes it's WANT TO REPLY TO DONNA? Email your the server’s perception of comments to donnagee1@aol.com

SORRY RYANAIR, THIS FAVOURITE’S BELT IS TOO TIGHT I had to laugh, if only because the headline was so ridiculous. ‘’Ryanair is the world’s favourite airline’’, asserted the misleading banner over my internet provider’s leading ‘news’ item.

The claim was pricelessly amusing, coming as it did just hours after Michael O’Leary narrowly escaped decapitation during my latest attempt to bury a longstanding hatchet into the head of the Irish che­ apskates.

The reality is that Ryanair’s massive passenger vo­ lume (86.3 million in 2014) was NOT prompted by them being anyone in particular’s ‘favourite’ airline.

It is because to the financially challenged folk who want to lay out as little as possible, O’Leary’s boys ap­ pear to be the cheapest. And that claim is arguable, too.

It’s around three years since I slapped a personal boycott on Ryanair after one of their cocky jobs­ worths fined me €50 for a triviality and left me fee­ ling like a common criminal.

Thankfully boss O’Leary and his henchmen have since lifted the ludicrous demand that passengers board with a single item of hand luggage, thereby ef­ fectively cutting off every woman’s right hand.

It’s common knowledge that ladies are inseparable from our handbags – and my ‘crime’ was that jam­ ming mine into my cabin luggage bulked my carry­on bag marginally beyond the width sanctioned by the Ryanair fuhrers..

What made the ‘one bag’ rule even more un­ justifiable was that ladies were free to remove those same handbags from their hand lug­ gage once they had boarded the plane. It was a blatantly devious means of bumping up company profits – and it prompted my subsequent abstinence from getting high on Irish fuel for my four or five annual flits bet­ ween Spain and the UK. So why, you may ask, did I book a seat on Ryanair flight 4003 from Alicante to Manchester last Thurs­ day morning?

Well, to start with, their boarding rules no longer include a handbag squeezing contest. And on this oc­ casion the price really was too good to ignore.

Unfortunately, those three years of abstinence had wiped out my memories of being shoe­horned, knees tucked under my chin, into a seat designed for a 10­ year­old extra terrestrial.

Or has Mr O’Leary perhaps plucked a new source of income out of thin air while I was away ­ by halving the cabin space designated each pair of lungs?

Either way, I take issue with the published claim that Ryanair “remains the world's most popular air­ line for international travellers’’. O’Leary’s boast that the passenger list will top 100 million this year does not so much indicate a love affair with the company.

It’s more a case of the world’s economic belt being pulled in collectively – and most commuters only being able to afford the cheapest seat.

But world’s favourite airline? My handbag can’t stop laughing.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

THE CABIN VIEW

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ruising from this part of the world has been made easier thanks to the popular ports of ALICANTE, CARTAGENA, VALENCIA and BARCELONA relatively nearby!

But what if you don’t want to go on a cruise but simply want to go and visit and perhaps photograph some of the world’s greatest cruise liners? How many times have you read a report about one of the famous ships docking in the area AFTER the event and end up kicking yourself that you missed it?

THE VIEW will have a regular feature showing some of the principal arrivals in the nearest ports so you can plan a future day out.

JULY & AUGUST DOCKINGS

AZURA

Early afternoon to early evening 30th July – VENTURA Early afternoon to early evening 4th & 18th August – ZENITH 1000 to 1800 20th August – SEVEN SEAS MARINER 1200 to 2000

0800 to 1800

CARTAGENA

16th & 30th July – MS EUROPA 2 0700 to 1800

2nd July – COSTA MAGICA 1400 to 2000 8th July – CRYSTAL SERENITY 0800 to 1700

ALICANTE

9th and 30th July – AIDAAURA 1000 to 1800

15th July – AZURA

10th July – RIVIERA

EXPLORER OF THE SEAS

The View

21st July – AZURA Early morning to afternoon 22nd July & 19th August – ANTHEM OF THE SEAS 0800 to 1700 5th August – VENTURA Early morning to early afternoon

ZENITH

8th August – MV MINERVA 1400 to 2300 13th August – EXPLORER OF THE SEAS 0800 to 1700 13th August – MS EUROPA 2 0700 to 1800 20th August – AIDAAURA 1000 to 1800 20th August – THOMSON DREAM 0900 to 1700

The View

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

PENSION CHANGES FROM APRIL 2016

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survey undertaken by SAGA of 10,010 over 50s has shown confusion over the plans to introduce a new flat rate state pension in April 2016.

Those that replied were equally divided with a third believing the new system would be more generous, a third thinking it would be less generous and the remainder having no idea.

However, people in their 50s were less positive with just a quarter thinking it would be a more generous system. Just 16% of people in their 50s believed they would go on to receive the new pension and a third thought they would not.

The new flat rate pension is more generous for the lower paid and less so for higher earners. However, the public perception is quite the reverse in that just 28% of those in socio­economic group DE believe the new pension will more generous compared with 36% of those in socio­economic groups AB. Only 7% of people in their 50s said they were sure they knew about how to make extra National Insurance top up payments to secure a better state pension.

SAGA is calling for the Government to write to all those approaching retirement with individual pension predictions along with a proper explanation the new system and to draw attention to arrangements that allow people to make top up payments so they can qualify for a better pension.

Saga’s Paul Green said: “Our research shows great

confusion about changes to the state pension. Whilst there are a minority of people who are savvy who know how to make the most of what is on offer, it should not just be for savvy few to benefit. The Government needs to do much more to raise awareness of the ways that people can boost their state pension.”

So, what are the changes and will they affect you?

The big change that is happening from April is that the state pension is being simplified. Everyone who qualifies for the benefit will receive the same amount, unlike at the moment where several groups get paid different sums.

The means­tested elements of the state pension known as the Second State Pension and the Pension Credit are being abolished. Instead there will be a universal payment for everyone who has hit state pension age and has made 35

Record for a Picasso

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Picasso painting auctioned at Sotheby's in London has fetched a record £16.38 million (€22.93m).

The cubist portrait inspired by the artist's muse Marie­Thérèse Walter features two women reading books and its title – Deux Personnages (La Lecture) is in French rather than the Málaga­born painter's native Spanish.

Another Picasso went for a substantial

price, but nowhere near those of Deux Personnages – selling at £4.4m (€6.16m) was Nature Morte ('Still life').

But Picasso best­seller at Sotheby's this week was a long way off attracting the highest price.

Suprematism, 18thConstruction, an abstract by 20th­century Ukrainian artist Kazimir Malevich fetched £21.4m pounds (€29.96m), although short of its estimated £30m, or €42m and Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt's Bildnis Gertrud

KEEP ORDERING THE TABLETS

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he Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) launched on Wednesday a website that allows for the sale of medicinal products over the internet not subject to medical prescription using a common European logo.

As reported by the Ministry of Health in a statement, thanks to the new system, people who make these purchases through the web will do so through a legally licensed pharmacy and have all the guarantees of quality, safety and efficiency.

In 2011, the European Directive against counterfeit drugs regulated the conditions of sale, via websites, of human medicines and provided for the creation of a logo. This system has today launched simultaneously across Europe.

Buying drugs can be done through the sites that include this logo was defined in 2014 by the European Commission and includes the flag of the country where they are located.

For the implementation of the new system, the AEMPS, in collaboration with the Spanish Autonomous Communities, has developed a computer application – DISTAFARMA ­ through which pharmacies wishing to join this system can join.

The Ministry of Health has expressed concern over the increase in the sale of drugs via the internet because it can involve citizens' access to medicines without obvious controls and guarantees.

In this regard, they have warned that using any illegal websites – the home of counterfeit medicines – will remain a risk to health.

Because of this, the European Commission has formed an information campaign, which Spain has joined, which will be launched in the coming weeks to raise awareness of the danger of buying these products illegally.

The website to order the non prescriptions online is www.distafarma.aemps.es

Loew (Gertha Felsöványi) scooped up £24.7m pounds (€34.69m).

French Impressionist Édouard Manet's Le bar aux Folies Bergère came in slightly above the Picasso painting at £16.9m (€23.71m) .

Picasso beat Paul Gauguin, whose Nature more aux mangos ('Still life of mangoes') fetched £11.5m (€16.2m) and

years of National Insurance contributions.

At present the maximum you can receive before the mean­ tested benefits are added is £115.95 a week. Under the new system everyone who qualifies for the full state pension will receive at least £151.25 per week.

This will benefit the low­paid, self­employed and people who have spent periods out of work in particular. That's because in the past these groups didn't build enough National Insurance credits to qualify for the state second pension so missed out on that higher income level. Now all their credits go towards the single tier system so they will receive a bigger income.

However, the opposite is true for high earners. Under the new system they won't be able to build up credits towards SERPS meaning they will only receive the flat­rate instead.

If you already have your State Pension then the changes won’t affect you, you will just keep receiving your pension like normal. But if you reach State Pension age after 6th April 2016 then you will get the new State Pension. This means you need 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get the full amount (at least £150 a week) or your need at least 10 years to get any State Pension at all.

If you’re approaching State Pension age and want to calculate what you’re likely to receive based on the amount of NI contributions, please log on to www.gov.uk/calculate­ state­pension sculptor Edgar Dégas' metre­high bronze figurine, Petite danseuse de quatorze ans ('Little dancer aged 14') went for £15.8m (€22.14m).

Another Spanish painting – Joan Miró's Peinture, which he dedicated to the Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti and his wife ­ fetched £7.7m (€10.78m).

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

CHOCKS AWAY! THE ULTIMATE DREAM

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efore he retired five years ago, DAVE WALSH was a Flight Crew Training Instructor with a major US airline, training pilots on the Airbus A330 and Boeing 767 for long haul International Operations. He and his wife, Jan, an ex­British Airways Chief Stewardess now live in Rojales. Just a few weeks ago, he was able to complete the top item on his Bucket List. Dave shares his remarkable story with THE VIEW. "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter­silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun­split clouds, — and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there, I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.

High flight by John Gillespe Magee.

The Supermarine Spitfire is undoubtedly Britain’s most iconic aircraft. If anything encapsulates the sheer exhilaration and essence of flying in Chief designer RJ Mitchell’s aeronautical masterpiece, it’s the poem by John Gillespie Magee, a Spitfire pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, tragically killed over Lincolnshire in December 1941.

I first fell in love with Spitfires at the age of five. We lived close to Elmdon Aerodrome on the outskirts of Birmingham when my parents took me to see my first flying display; Battle of Britain Day 1952! In the far distance I clearly remember a small fast moving aircraft approaching and watched open mouthed as it roared low over the airfield, its propeller

blades almost cutting the grass, I briefly glimpsed the pilot beneath the bubble canopy and stood entranced and utterly mesmerised as it climbed vertically, rolled over the top of a loop, the engine coughed briefly and then the aircraft dived again towards the airfield. The unique sight and sound of the huge Merlin engine and the aircraft’s unique shape, personifying grace and power, registered for the first time in my tiny brain. ‘Dad, Dad, what was that?’ ‘That was a Spitfire, son.’ ‘A Spit… Fire’ I said the words slowly as if to savour and remember them.

There’s a parallel scene in 'The Wind in the Willows,' where Mr. Toad sees and hears his very first motor car; it approaches at high speed ‘like the drone of a distant bee, a dark centre of energy’ in a small cloud of dust and heralding it’s approach with the faint sound of the horn, ‘poop ­ poop’ and, in an instant…. It roars by leaving Toad bewitched, entranced and utterly smitten. With a glazed expression, he stares after the motor car as it recedes into the distance and murmurs quietly ‘poop­poop.’ Well, seeing that Spitfire was my ‘poop­poop’ moment.

Since that day, I’ve never lost my fascination with aviation.

Indeed, my wife says that if ever an aircraft were to fly overhead and I didn’t look up, she’ll need to feel for my pulse because, in all likelihood, I’ll have keeled over! But, for all the multitudes of aircraft I’ve ever seen, the Spitfire has endured as my all­time favourite, flown by all the great WW2 aces who have heaped praise on its design and flight qualities. What,

I’ve always wondered, what must it have been like to fly? One can only imagine as they are as rare as hen’s teeth and to fly one, actually fly one, a ridiculous fantasy.

Fast forward almost 63 years from my first sight of a Spitfire, to June, 2015, just a few weeks ago and I‘m walking out on to the apron at a Sussex Aerodrome to fulfil a lifelong ambition. The absolute Numero Uno item on my Bucket List. I’m going to fly a Supermarine Spitfire.

It is a picture perfect day. I’m kitted out with fire retardant flight suit, gloves, helmet and boots and there, in front of me, she sits on the tarmac, the most beautiful aircraft ever designed – A work of art, a sculpture in aluminium ­ a Spitfire mark IX. One of a handful of two seat conversions.

Built originally at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham in 1944, she’s three years older than me, but also like me, a Brummie through and through. I must point out though, she may be older, but thanks to painstaking restoration and maintenance, she’s in infinitely better condition and is as pristine as the day she came off the production line seventy one years ago.

I’ve had a thorough two hour flight briefing covering emergency procedures; engine stoppage, ditching in the sea, life jacket operation, forced landing, pilot incapacitation, abandoning the aircraft, baling out and parachute operation.

I’ve been introduced to my pilot, Bill Dean, (Ex Fleet Air Arm and Sea Harriers) and while he straps himself in the front cockpit, I’m being assisted to strap in and run through emergency evacuation procedures by a member of ground crew. ‘Lower the seat – jettison the canopy – open the side hatch – release harness. JUMP!’ Bill and I confirm we have intercom contact through our helmets.

There is no floor in the Spitfire, just rudder pedals with stirrups (to keep your feet on the pedals during hard aerobatics and combat flight) and there are several lines of steel cables beneath my feet running to the flight controls.

Bill talks me through starting procedures. There are only two things you can’t accomplish from the rear cockpit and these are; starting the engine and changing radio frequencies. I look around the cramped cockpit, scanning and touching the dials and controls, putting my feet in the rudder stirrups, gingerly taking hold of the control column and absolutely savouring the moment. My wife Jan, is about twenty yards away behind a small barrier watching with a lot more trepidation than I feel. In fact, I’m calmly elated.

The 27 litre Rolls Royce Merlin engine coughs and roars into life filling the cockpit with sound, vibration and the sweet smell of burnt fuel exhaust. Magic…. Sheer bloody magic! Bill talks me through the temperatures and pressures

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

starting to quickly register on the gauges.

He powers up the engine and runs through the magneto checks and then returns the throttle to idle and the engine……stops!

Bugger! We do a restart and at the same point in the checks, the engine stops again.

Double bugger! A mechanic climbs onto the wing and talks to Bill and he relays to me over the intercom what’s going on. A minor problem, but as I am an ex aircrew instructor and rather than abandoning the flight, he suggests we do another restart and taxi out to the take­off holding point, perform some engine run­up checks there, and if all is satisfactory, we can fly. He asks me, ‘Are you happy to do that?’

I reply, ‘Bill, if you’re happy, I’m happy ….let’s go!

I half close my canopy, (it’s the hottest day of the year) the ground crew removes the chocks, a little burst of power and we start to move. I look over at Jan and give a ‘thumbs up’ as we taxi by. The forward visibility over the engine is zero, so we have to weave across the grass in a series of ‘S’ manoeuvre's to see where we are going. We arrive at the holding point next to the grass take off strip, commence the engine checks and reach the same point where the engine had stopped twice before. I’m absolutely willing it to keep going. It does.

Canopy closed, harnesses secure and clear for take­off.

Brakes off, throttle forward and the roar and power of the Merlin is tremendous as the huge four bladed propeller bites the air and we accelerate. The tail comes off the ground, we bump and bounce several times on the grass strip and suddenly…we’re airborne. Wheels up and we’re turning out towards Arundel. I have control. Holy Cow! I’m not only in a Spitfire, I’m flying it! At 1500 feet I trimmed the controls to fly straight and level and I take my hands off the stick and she flies beautifully. Under Bill’s direction we head for a column of smoke lazily rising above the Sussex downs. More boost

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and power and we are climbing vertically and I see the patchwork quilt of fields above my head through the canopy, as we loop over the top and dive down towards the ground experiencing 4g as we pull out of the dive and then pull up the nose and then, hard wing over as we reverse direction and the earth spins again as I look out to the wingtips to level up. I’d have been in awe and tingling with goose bumps had I been watching and listening from the ground, but to actually be in the cockpit, ­ a part of it ­ transcends any words that I can conjure up.

All too soon, the time’s up, and we head back for the airfield. Pre­landing checks; hatches, harnesses secure.

Wheels down ­ flaps down, descending in a curving approach to keep the grass airstrip in sight. Then, another aircraft

suddenly appears in front of us and steals our landing slot. A little Cessna cutting in front of a Spitfire? Cheeky beggar! Where’s that gun button? Full power, nose up, wheels up, flaps up and accelerate away for a ‘go­around’ and another circuit. As we get to circuit height above the airfield it appears it’s now rush hour and there are private helicopters as well as light aircraft all approaching the airfield for landing. We get the bums rush twice more and are forced to ‘go around’ but I don’t mind in the slightest. More Spitfire time for me.

Finally, we get a landing slot and we curve round on the approach. A few bumps on the uneven grass strip, we decelerate rapidly and we’re taxiing in to the concrete apron in front of the hangar. I wind back my canopy and a cool rush of air enters the cockpit. The aircraft swings round to park, the sound reverberating off the hangar, as I can see Jan and a small crowd watching from behind the barrier. A few final engine checks, switches and fuel off and the mighty Merlin engine coughs and the propeller stops. The silence is palpable after the noise and vibration and I just sit, absolutely immobile, scarcely able to believe what I’ve experienced. It’s a highly emotionally charged moment – I’m told that fast jet pilots and airline captains have all been reduced to tears by the sheer magnitude of flying this wonderful machine. I’m no exception. Dramatic? Theatrical? Maybe, but one has to understand that this aircraft is still viewed by many as an almost mythical saviour of the country and to fly it.........actually fly it, is regarded as the Holy Grail of British aviation.

After unbuckling my harness and parachute, I step out of the cockpit and one of the ground crew is standing ready to meet me. He extends his hand and say’s the most magical words I think I’ve ever heard. ‘Congratulations Dave, you’ve flown a Spitfire.’

professionals who are focused on innovation and implementing new technologies. We’re also very conscious at Toldos Guardamar that we’re not simply selling an awning – it’s part of your daily lifestyle!

Toldos Guardamar have recently moved premises and the entire team welcome you to visit their new production centre in San Fulgencio on the industrial estate just outside the village. You’ll see more than 1,500 square metres with the latest technology that makes up the material used in the awnings and you’ll experience an exhibition designed to make your visit a unique experience.

MORE THAN AN AWNING, A LIFESTYLE When you buy a canopy of any kind from Toldos Guardamar you’re buying part of a legacy of over thirty years in the field of solar protection based on perfection and professionalism, a commitment to quality and to our customers, ensuring efficient protection for you and your family.

THE CHALLENGE OF A GREAT TEAM Our challenge is not only to make the best awnings with the latest technology; it’s to create unique products that will be part of the lives of our customers and their homes. Toldos Guardamar is staffed by highly qualified professionals with years of experience in the manufacture and installation of all types of awnings, both manual and electric, for terraces, balconies, and car ports. If you need something that needs a shade, we can cover it!

WE TAKE CARE OF THE DETAILS Because small details are important, we look carefully at the quality of both our service and product. Our quality policy helps control and development of both production processes and the management of the company, the training of our technicians, the implementation of the latest technology, customer service and environmental requirements.

For all of our products, we only use top

quality materials supplied by the best of Spanish and European brands, leaders in their sectors, to allow us to ensure the consistent high level of quality and provide a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly solar protection.

Our awnings undertake a multi­point inspection by three qualified technicians that certify that our products are of the highest possible quality.

All of our products come with a factory warranty of three years running alongside technical assistance for the same period of time with a direct line to the team at Toldos Guardamar for any questions or problems that many arise.

Our customer service doesn’t end once we’ve put up your awning and left the premises. It continues long after.

ALWAYS AT YOUR SIDE EVOLVING Using only the best raw materials in terms of textiles, tarpaulins and hardware enables us to provide a solid guarantee in both our products and in the quality of our work, manufacturing, installation and repair. In addition, you have the label guaranteeing 100% Spanish production, the date of manufacture of your awning, and the corresponding Docril 7­year colour warranty on the canvas covering deterioration in normal conditions, you simply have peace of mind of owning a first­class product.

Please see our advert on the back page of this week’s edition of THE VIEW with all our contact details and map to show our new location. We look forward to seeing you and being of service.

TOLDOS GUARDAMAR I

Advertising feature

t’s now been 12 years since the popular Toldos Guardamar established our business in the manufacture and installation of top quality awnings in a small workshop in La Marina.

As our work ethic and commitment to providing first class products has grown, the confidence of our customers has grown too.

In 2003 our company moved to the Santa Anna Industrial Estate in Guardamar as we looked for extended premises to enable us to meet the high demand for our products. In recent years Toldos Guardamar has experienced rapid development that resulted in offices opening in Calpe and in the Netherlands, creating a commercial network of 300 employees. This expansion has allowed us to take our name and our work to other countries in Europe and North Africa.

We have invested in the quality of our team of technical operatives by creating a set of specialised and motivated

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

THATCHER OUT IN MADRID?

T

here are proposals in Madrid to replace a plaza dedicated to Margaret Thatcher – who introduced Section 28 in the UK – with a memorial to a gay rights activist.

The Spanish capital unveiled its tribute to Thatcher just last year – becoming the first such country outside of the UK to pay tribute to the former Conservative PM. However, as Thatcher’s government passed Section 28, which banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools, and has been much­criticised for its response to the AIDS crisis, she remains unpopular a figure among LGBT people. The name plate on the square was also vandalised within days of its placement.

Following the death of Spanish gay rights activist Pedro Zerolo,

who passed away last month, there are thought to be proposals to instead dedicate a monument on the site to him.

Hot? There’s worse to come

S

o, you think it’s been hot this week? It is Spain and it is July after all. In the words of Al Jolson, “You ain’t seen nothing, yet!”

According to the Spanish National Weather Office, the country is heading for a new heat wave which will last for at least nine days and extend to the rest of Europe.

The heatwave, the second of the summer, will affect almost all of Spain from today (Friday), a spokeswoman for the weather office said.

Temperatures will be especially high on Monday (6th), reaching 44C (111F) in some regions, due to the arrival of hot winds blowing from Africa.

"Beginning on Saturday this heat wave will be felt in France, Germany, Italy, southern Sweden, Poland and other nations in central Europe," the spokeswoman said. “The heatwave will last at least nine days in Spain although I cannot offer a prediction for how long it could last in other nations.”

Spain's first heatwave of the summer, which began last Thursday, caused temperatures to soar to 44C in the countryside of the southern province of Cordoba.

A low pressure system which brought cooler winds from the Atlantic caused temperatures to drop on Tuesday. The highest temperature recorded in the country on Wednesday was in the Ebro Valley in the northeast where temperatures reached 40C. The last major hot spell in Europe in 2003 caused an estimated 70,000 deaths, mainly among elderly people.

NAVY ANSWER THE CALL

T

he Spanish Navy patrol boat, ALBORAN, which is currently part of an inspection and surveillance team in waters close to Finisterre came to the rescue of a British fishing vessel on Monday.

The stricken boat, with 11 crew on board, was about 500 miles off the Galician coast when it sent out a distress call around Noon when it started taking on water.

After reaching the boat’s location, the 'Alboran' sent a relief team, which found that the water had already reached one metre in depth. This allowed the rescue ship to arrive with a full set of pumping equipment ready for the subsequent operation.

At the recommendation of the Navy, the boat headed to the fishing port of Lugo, at the same time as the relief team worked for several hours aboard removing the water. By the early hours of the morning, the boat was declared safe and continued with its journey to Ria de Viviero.

According to right­wing news site Breitbart, newly­elected Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena of the Ahora Madrid party has warned that her party members “do not want a space for public use in town to be named after the Iron Lady who enslaved the workers”.

Mr Zerolo served as President of two of the country’s most influential gay rights groups – Colectivo Gay de Madrid, and Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gays, Transexuales y Bisexuales – and is regarded as a hero among the dominant Spanish left for his role in instrumental LGBT reforms. He had a hand in shaping a number of reforms in the country, including same­sex marriage, which became law in Spain in 2005, and later the country’s gender recognition laws.

Breitbart complains: “Margaret Thatcher Plaza, the Confederate Flag, or maintaining the Union flag on British Ministries and Embassies is now not simply frowned on by the left, these ‘affectations of a bygone era’ must be culturally edited, regardless of the inconvenient realities of history or centuries old law or protocol.

“The left won’t simply erect their monuments to ‘LGBT activists’, Marxist thinkers or their own political acolytes alongside those of less favoured figures and ideas in the spirit of inclusively they profess to promote, they will do so on the burning rubble of the monuments that once commemorated Western civilisation at its best.”

The View

15

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

Crocker’s Corner C

hris “The Crocker” Ashley continues in his own unique whimsical way through his life’s journey. This week, it’s all about his newly­found internet surfing and some pukka times spent Down Under Well, here I am still self­ unemployed as a radio rambler – who said not surprised?

Cheek – but I have had a couple of fill­in jobs.

One of them was as a gardener at a huge villa up towards Altea. The driveway was so long; I don't go that far on my holidays! Half way up there was a Little Chef. Another unusual thing for sun­baked Spain was it had a very, very large lawn which I had to cut with an Atco petrol mower, circa 1972. I inhaled more grass in two days than Bob Marley did in his entire lifetime.

my formative days in what was in the 60s and 70s a cultural Bermuda Triangle – Australia, where if your girlfriend said with a coquettish giggle “Tee hee I'm game” you'd shoot her and it didn't even have to be the Glorious 12th.

But that was then now it has changed to such an extent that Sydney now is the gay capital of the Pacific Rim (don't think that's a euphemism).

Anyway Bruce (honest) was in what he calls Pomgolia visiting “rellies” (his Sister & Brother in Law­In residing in Ramsbottom, England ­ I should be getting 10 euros an hour for this translation service) – but Bruce wants to visit Spain and he had three questions to aid him to acclimatise. Number one and imagine a Crocodile Dundee drawl “Do the Spanish drive on the right or left hand side of the road?” Answer yes. Question two.

“What's the beer like? Cold, gassy, and as weak as the Greek economy. Question three “Are the Sheilas approachable?” Yes but for sure fire success approach them in a roundabout way.

KALGOORLIE

So here I am with nothing to do but browse eBay all day. Bought a stair lift, which is a bit odd since we live in a ground floor apartment, so I've rigged it to run from the bed via the loo to the fridge and back and it works a treat.

Needless to say, Mrs Crocker the 3rd (now to be known simply as MrsC3) is not best pleased with my noshing and quaffing at 3am: the Sticky Toffee Pudding & the Bishops Finger (IT'S A BEER) gets EVERYWHERE! Last weekend the phone rang and I'm thinking this could be Radio 2 calling to say “We want you to take over from Chris Evans as he has got so much on at the moment” (he gets where smoke can't go. I swear when his phone rings he picks up and the first thing he'll say is “Yeah I'll do it”) Bitter? A tad. But no, it was an old chum from

It was at this point necessary to explain that young ladies who appeared to have lost most of their clothing were not on the roundabouts conducting a traffic census.

“Jeez mate no worries I've been to Hay Street ” Now dear faithful reader if you are not familiar with Hay Street in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia I beg for your indulgence before we journey to an Aussie house of ill­ repute where I was a feared enforcer.

We are talking about the world’s oldest profession along with politics – and you would have to admit there are some uncanny similarities. The snake & Adam negotiated a deal for the apple which Adam then used as a bribe to get his wicked way with Eve (Ed the Bible Bashing Anorak ­ I don't like the direction this is taking Crocker). Relax Ed,

there won't be a plague on your house! Oh no, that wasn't the bible, that was the Bard Billy Waggledagger's Romeo & Juliet (and that Romeo, is why we always insist on feeling for a pulse to be certain).

GROUCHO MARX Be also mindful of the great Groucho Marx chat up line to a young starlet ...go on you do his voice “Would you let me make love to you for a million dollars?” “Oh yes” she trilled.

“Well would you let me make love to you for 50 dollars?” she replied heatedly “Certainly not – what do you think I am?” “We've already established that ­ now we are negotiating”.

You know as I was writing that I was beginning to wonder if it was Groucho or George Burns or someone completely different. Maybe it was Mahatma Ghandi or the Clitheroe Kid (Ed the Black & White BBC Light Programme Anorak – The Clitheroe Kid ran for 290 shows from 1957 – 1972) Ta ­ any ideas because you're a slippery genius?

I asked you a couple of weeks back if other than Alma Cogan there were any other famous musical folk who were or are residents of my home town of Worthing and you came up with Keith Emerson (Emerson,Lake & Palmer), Ian Grant (former manager of the Stranglers), the peroxide pop star Billy Idol & Niall Hone (Hawkwind). Not sure how to categorise them but I do remember Stacia dancing as will a number of elderly gentlemen you ladies care for and mop up after. Look, if he asks you to jig around topless to Silver Machine pop some bromide in his cocoa.

One of the other DJs was stepping out with one of the working girls and they lived together in a house of ill­repute on the

aforementioned casa on Hay Street and he invited me to stay there. Now there was a certain ambivalence towards the set­up, after all we are talking of a hard mining town and the view was needs must. I used to sit in the lounge reading War & Peace, comfy in my slippers smoking my pipe, drinking my Horlicks, minding my own business. I have to point out at this stage that some 40 years ago I was very tall, very skinny, wearing horn rimmed specs and looking like an even more geeky version of Buddy Holly.

There was never any trouble at the Casa on Hay Street – not because the Cops Head Shed was ironically at the end of Hay Street ­ but there was no aggro because they thought anyone so dorky looking as me in a place where the possibility of gratuitous violence was always imminent and the fact I was not participating as a punter (honest), I must be a psychopathic nutter minder. Makes sense because whenever a serial killer is unmasked they tend to look like a maths teacher – I give you John Christie, former resident of 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill before Hugh Grant gentrified it as opposed to gentry being mugged in it. (If, however you are a maths teacher I'm sure you look nothing like a serial killer; you look like a............maths teacher, albeit a slightly angry twitchy one. In a certain light almost a touch of the Norman Bates).

JOHN CHRISTIE It was a very interesting time, but sadly in a town founded on gold I never met a happy hooker with a heart of gold a la Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts. Mind you there were not too many Richard Gere lookalikes knocking about either. Quite a few Richard the Third lookalikes however!

All in all I'm rather proud I left Hay Street with the reputation of a Stone Cold Killer (Robert De Nero, eat your heart out). Right, I am off to the joys of eBay – what? ­ “YOU TALKING TO ME ­ YOU TALKING TO ME – YOU TALKING TO ME. (Ed – The Film Fun Anorak ­ “Someone call Crocker a cab– see if Taxi Driver Travis Bickle is available”.)

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

The Reader’s View on....

THE VIEW will feature a selection of your letters every week on this page. If you have anything to say about something you read in THE VIEW, or you have opinions or views on stories of the day, please contact us via e­mail at editor@theview.es or by post to Apartado De Correos 255, 03193 San Miguel de Salinas, Alicante.

We do our best to publish as many as we can and reserve the right to edit where necessary.

Dear Editor, I refer to my email to you and your response dated 18 June for which I thank you. I subsequently contacted my MP's office again to see if their advice, given in January 2014, has become clearer. I was particularly concerned that the assertions of Robert Oulds, published by The View, are at odds with the Commons Library Pensions Specialist. Please see below my email to Alethea Warrington and her reply to me dated 22 June.

As you will see the situation at the moment is still unclear and the Library think that the concept of acquired rights wouldn't necessarily apply here.

The fact is that no­one has definitive answers to questions relating to the consequences of "No" vote in the referendum and I am wary of anyone who says that they do. Hopefully things will become clearer further down the line.

I may email No 10 as Alethea suggests but I suspect it would be a waste of time!

Best wishes Lynda Summerfield Dear Lynda, Thanks for your email. I spoke to the Library for you and they think that the concept of acquired rights wouldn’t necessarily apply here but it would depend on the terms of any exit. In the event that that UK did leave the EU— which I still think is extremely unlikely, as even Cameron will try very hard to make sure we stay in—it would almost certainly be in the form of a negotiated exit, rather than the UK’s entire relationship with Europe suddenly being removed. So it is possible that reciprocal access to healthcare,

particularly for UK citizens who are already settled in the EU and vice versa, might be part of the agreements put in place following an exit, but at this stage it is impossible to say what would happen.

I’m sorry I can’t be more definite about this, but the situation at the moment is so uncertain that no one knows what will happen. However, why not write to David Cameron about this?

As he is the one who has been campaigning for a referendum in order to steal voters from UKIP, he now needs to realise the full consequences a UK exit would have on UK voters, including people such as you who are living in Spain. As he is the one who will be “renegotiating” the UK’s relationship with Europe, he needs to be aware of how this will impact on UK citizens abroad who depend on EU healthcare.

Best wishes, Alethea Warrington Office of Roger Godsiff MP Editor’s Note: As you and others quite rightly say, Lynda, there appear to be no definitive right answers available in the subject of any future EU referendum. Those that I’ve seen are open to either different interpretation or full of legal speak. We’re having similar issues with the changes being implemented to the double taxation treaties. I shall follow up the points raised after the Parliamentary summer break and run a series of articles on these very important areas of our day­to­day life in Spain.

Thank you Lynda for the interest you’re showing in this subject and for sharing your own correspondence with me.

Dear Editor, Thanks to your newspaper we had a great trip to Cartagena to see the cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas (the one with the pod!), and I am attaching some of our photos of the ship.

We had a lovely break in Cartagena thanks to The View.

Kind regards Adrian and Diana Bridle

Editor’s Note: I’m delighted that you both had such a great time in Cartagena, and thank you so much for the excellent photographs – some of which we have shared on this page. The latest edition of THE CABIN VIEW is on Page 10 of this week’s publication.

SPANISH & UK LOTTERY WINNING NUMBERS

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

17

WESTON ON A ROLL

A

regular reader of THE VIEW, Barry Weston, has commented on a couple of articles featured in previous issues. Why­De­Why No More Hi­De­Hi , looked at times spent at holiday camps and Donna Gee’s column on corporal punishment. We’re happy to share his experiences on both subjects below.

SPARE THE ROD

At the senior school I attended, we had a headmaster who was quite reasonable when it came to punishing misdemeanours and a deputy head, Mr Fairbairn (totally inappropriate name), who was quite sadistic. His answer for everything was the cane and he took great joy in dispensing the same. He would make his victim move around until he was satisfied he was standing in exactly the right position on his carpet. Jackets, etc. would have to be removed and placed neatly on a nearby chair.

At this stage, he would then take out a selection of his canes and swish them about like Zorro in front of the victims face.

Once he was satisfied that he had chosen the right weapon he would then proceed with administering the punishment. The norm was four strokes for minor infringements or six for more serious crimes. Minor crimes covered despicable things such as, running in the corridor, not wearing your cap outside of school, etc. He would then carry out the punishment. Four strokes, in actual fact 12 hits, as he would take two practice swipes, before delivering each violent one! Needless to say, he was not very popular with the pupils; just some of the

more sadistic teachers.

He lived in a house that backed onto the vast school playing field and he had constructed a ladder over it, in order that he could climb over the fence, thereby reducing his journey time to school by a considerable amount. By the way, it was a crime for the pupils to take short­cuts through the grounds!

Again punishable by cane at Mr Fairbairn’s hand, depending on which master caught the miscreant.

One night, a group of victims made a late night visit to the playing field armed with saws. After a short while most of the rungs on our side of the fence had been virtually cut through.

Next day there was a notable absentee at assembly. It seems that Mr Fairbairn had somehow suffered bruises and a twisted ankle overnight!

Needless to say, it was never revealed as to who was responsible and the ladder was never used again.

Apart from the humiliation and frustration that his ministrations brought about, I don't think anybody was harmed physically or mentally by this treatment. If anything, it made the kids more careful about not getting caught for their 'heinous' crimes in the future.

BLUECOATS? MORE LIKE TURNCOATS

You might remember how I wrote about my good memories from visits back in the '60s to holiday camps. Well, later on in life, we took our kids, when they were youngsters, to several camps and had a really good time each visit. Plenty of enthusiastic, professional, helpful staff in coats of various colours, good shows in the evenings, baby crying facilities and, importantly in the UK, good wet­weather programmes.

Last year we decided to take our grandkids to a camp at Camber Sands, that we had visited and enjoyed several times in the past. We had a bit of confusing correspondence before we even started our holiday, by threatening to cancel our booking if we did not pay on time, even though, I had a week old receipt from them for the full amount.

On arrival all new campers had to sit around, some for several hours, until the staff who were just standing around twiddling their thumbs and trying to avoid the waiting people, consented to set up tables in the ballroom to deal with everybody all at once. Then the (few) staff in the

reception area sunk under the deluge of campers wanting to buy their bedding (Yes, BUY) and anything else that was needed to start the holiday.

The chalets were reasonably clean but had Spanish electrics. More than two devices running at any one time would trip the mains switch! The 'free' entertainment during the day was virtually non­existent. The few Blue­coated entertainment staff were poorly trained, young and inexperienced and their main idea of entertaining was karaoke belted out at such a high level that the decibel meter at the rear of the ballroom was struggling to stay on the wall.

'Professional' entertainment in the evenings was by several X­Factor rejects also intent on damaging our eardrums!

Trying to get an exorbitantly priced drink at the bar was enough to turn anyone TT with hardly any staff behind the bar. Personally, I left the camp and went to a local pub! I think most other people went back to their chalets to watch TV. Very few remained in the hall.

The entertainment for wet weather, of which there was plenty (weather that is), was a bouncy castle set up in the ballroom, monopolised by teenagers for hours on end. The swimming pool had restricted numbers, due to the pool being full of 'toys' that resulted in queues in the rain!

I think that in future we should all just leave our memories in the past and not try to relive them. Never again! In the words of Captain Bertorelli in 'Allo, 'Allo: "Whatta mistakea to makea!”

TRAVELLING WITH GEORGE, AGAIN

By Robert W. Barnes

"I sincerely hope this isn't another of your wild goose, or should that be, cave chases" commented travelling companion George, as we prepared for our journey to the small town of Alpera, in the province of Albacete.

True, a couple of months ago, we had spent some time, pottering along farm tracks, disturbing the occasional sleeping goat herder, on our quest to locate the Cueva de la Vieja (Old woman's Cave). We did manage to eventually find what we took to be the cave in question, only to find security fencing and locked gates, barring our way.

"Not a problem this time George, our new friend Antonio from the Casa de Cultura, has agreed to meet us at the abandoned salt works just outside the town" There was a slight pause. I could almost hear the cogs turning in George's head "Sounds a bit dodgy to me, it could be a trap".

Our journey this time, took us through Monforte del Cid, Petre and Sax. "Still can't make out the tortoise climbing up the rock face, perhaps it's just me." It most probably was, but thought wise not to comment.

The way to the Cueva De La Vieja.

With the signs telling us we were now approaching the outskirts of Alpera, it was all eyes for the abandoned salt works. After two journeys up and down the main thoroughfare, we were still none the wiser. "Ask at that petrol station we passed on the way in, bound to know" suggested George. Good idea, while there, I thought I'd call him on his mobile.

Salt Works? Not round here, was the consensus of the locals, propping up the small bar. Oh dear, and with our appointment now 15 minutes adrift, I made the call.

"It's ringing" said George, and sure enough, from a dark corner, emerged a gentleman, with a telephone pressed to his ear. Formalities taken care of, we made our way to the car park, at the side of the garage workshop. Would it not be a wise idea to let the petrol station staff know that their premises were actually, at one time, the town salt works?

"Oh, they know alright, but like to keep it their little secret" replied Antonio. "Makes sense" said George, but bound if I could see any.

Our little convoy soon left the main road, heading along dusty tracks, until we eventually parked beneath an escarpment.

Antonio produced a bunch of keys, leading the way. One key gave entrance to the area directly beneath the Cueva De La Vieja. A second key gave our party access to a metal stairway, taking us up to the final barrier. Once opened we were invited to enter the inner reaches of this curious chamber.

Antonio explained that the paintings are between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. There were sketches of deer, bulls, goats and horses.

In the central section, hunters with bow and arrows could

A detail of some of ancient drawings

just be made out, along with sketches of women with knee length garments and ornaments on their arms. The red colour of the drawings came from the mineral pigments and the artists used twigs, bird feathers and tips of fingers, to create this artwork.

Antonio explained that the cave was discovered by teacher Pascual Serrano, in 1910 and in 1924 it was declared a national monument. The owner of the land, Aurora Garcia, transferred the land to the Alpera Town Hall in 1957, with it being declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998.

The site is remote. Sweeping winds bring dust, rain and snow, crashing into these irreplaceable paintings. I'm sure that industrial pollution is also having an effect. What the answer is, I have no idea.

For more information, and to make an arrangement to visit the cave, The Casa De Cultura can be reached on 967 330 555.

We thanked Antonio for his time, and for telling us a little of the story of The Old Woman's Cave, in the hills above Alpera.

"We can stop for petrol at that station where we met Antonio" suggested George. "Do think I should ask for a bag of salt as well?"

Best not to old friend, best not to.

18

SAVE THE GREAT WALL

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

Danes tighten the border

I

A

ccording to the South China Morning Post, part of the Great Wall has fallen into an alarming state of disrepair because of erosion, vandalism and a lack of maintenance, nearly 10% of it has disappeared.

And according to the Beijing Times, a large part of the wall in Hebei province was slanting dangerously, and many bricks had fallen off, leaving large holes.

Nearly 2,000km of the Great Wall, which measures more than 21,000km in length, had disappeared, according to figures from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and if further evidence were needed the findings of a study by the China Great Wall Society last year found that only 8.2% of the Ming Great Wall – built during the Ming dynasty (1368­ 1644) and which forms the most visible parts of the structure – remained in good state.

Society deputy director Dong Yaohui said towers on the wall could collapse during torrential rains because of erosion. In 2012, more than 30 metres of the wall in Hebei fell after several days of heavy rainfall.

Trees that had grown on the wall posed another threat to the structure, as their roots stretched across it, causing further damage to the already brittle bricks that had been exposed to open weather for centuries. Some villagers who lived near the wild part of the wall also stole bricks, especially those with characters etched on them, to sell on the black market.

A member of a Great Wall protection group in Hebei’s Funing County said the growing number of people visiting the wild part of the wall was also a cause of damage.

Dong urged the authorities to survey the structure and to conduct repairs where necessary. There was a great need for more people and financial support to protect the UNESCO world heritage site, he said, but most of the counties in Hebei province where the Great Wall runs are very poor.

The View

n a move likely to worry the European Union but please a right­wing party on whose support the government now depends, Denmark will impose controls on its border to stop smugglers and illegal migrants, The new foreign minister, Kristian Jensen, said that more police, machines screening number plates and other measures would increase security without breaking EU rules guaranteeing freedom of movement through the bloc.

The EU is grappling with an unprecedented flow of refugees from the Middle East and Africa which is testing its asylum rules and the Schengen agreement ­ its core agreement on unrestricted travel.

Anti­immigration parties have shown signs of gaining support across the continent and Hungary last week said it would fence of its border with Serbia, drawing EU criticism.

The EU Commission said it would not comment on the Danish plan until it saw details, but it complained when Denmark briefly started checking cars at the border in 2011.

Jensen said he had mentioned the new measures in a meeting with his counterpart in neighbouring Germany on Tuesday, adding that Frank­Walter Steinmeier "took it positively".

"The strengthened border control will be within the framework of Schengen, in dialogue with relevant authorities and in accordance with neighbouring

countries," Jensen said, "We want to make it tough on criminals to pass, but still easy for companies to come through."

The foreign ministry said the new measures would not include regular stops or passport checks.

Steinmeier later told journalists he was grateful for "the announcement that the Schengen agreement will not be touched," and would keep in contact with Denmark over the issue.

Analysts said any new controls would be largely symbolic and difficult to impose on the free­flowing, multi­lane traffic through Jutland, the only part of Denmark connected to the rest of mainland Europe.

Denmark's centre Liberal party formed a minority government after winning just 34 out of 179 seats in parliamentary elections this month.

Coalition talks with other parties failed, but the Liberals will still need the votes of other parties including the right­wing Danish People's Party (DF), which has called for even tighter border controls than those announced.

"It (the border controls) is naturally a wholly symbolic initiative, but it has an important political function," said Derek Beach, an associate professor at Aarhus University Department of Political Science.

DF is also pushing for curbs on immigration and a referendum on whether Denmark should stay in the EU.

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

THE SALVATION ARMY T

1865 -

he Salvation Army was founded in London's East End in 1865, by one­time Methdist Reform Church minister, William Booth and his wife Catherine.

Originally, Booth named the organization the East London Christian Mission.

The name The Salvation Army developed from an incident during 19 and 20 May 1865. William Booth was dictating a letter to his secretary George Scott Railton and said, "We are a volunteer army." Bramwell Booth heard his father and said, "Volunteer! I'm no volunteer, I'm a regular!" Railton was instructed to cross out the word "volunteer" and substitute the word "salvation". The Salvation Army was modelled after the military, with its own flag (or colours) and its own hymns, often with words set to popular and folkloric tunes sung in the pubs. Booth and the other soldiers in ‘God's Army’ would wear the Army's own uniform, for meetings and ministry work. He became the ‘General’ and his other ministers were given appropriate ranks as ‘officers’. Other members became ‘soldiers’.

When William Booth became known as the General, Catherine was known as the Mother of The Salvation Army.

William preached to the poor and Catherine spoke to the wealthy, gaining financial support for their work. She also acted as a religious minister, which was unusual at the time; the Foundation Deed of the Christian Mission, states that women had the same rights to preach as men. William Booth described the organization's approach: "The three ‘S's’, best expressed the way in which the Army administered to the 'down and outs': first, soup; second, soap; and finally, salvation."

In 1880, the Salvation Army started its work in three other countries: Australia, Ireland and the United States. It was not always an official Officer of The Salvation Army who started the organisation in a new country; sometimes Salvationists emigrated to countries and started operating as the Salvation Army on their own authority. When the first official officers arrived in Australia and the United States, they found groups

WILLIAM BOOTH of Salvationists already waiting for them and started working with each other.

The Salvation Army's main converts were at first alcoholics, morphine addicts, prostitutes and other "undesirables", unwelcome in polite Christian society, which helped prompt the Booths to start their own church. The Booths did not include the use of sacraments (mainly baptism and Holy Communion) in the Army's form of worship, believing that many Christians had come to rely on the outward signs of spiritual grace rather than on grace itself. Other beliefs are that its members should, completely refrain from drinking alcohol (Holy Communion is not practiced), smoking, taking illegal drugs and gambling. Its soldiers wear a uniform tailored to the country in which they work; the uniform can be white, grey, navy, fawn and are even styled like a sari in some areas. Any member of the public is welcome to attend their meetings.

As the Salvation Army grew rapidly in the late 19th century, it generated opposition in England. Opponents, grouped under the name of the Skeleton Army, disrupted Salvation

19 Army meetings and gatherings, with tactics such as throwing rocks, bones, rats and tar, as well as physical assaults on members of The Salvation Army. Much of this was led by pub owners who were losing business, because of the Army's opposition to alcohol and targeting of the frequenters of saloons and public houses.

The Salvation Army's reputation in the United States improved as a result of its disaster relief efforts, following the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In the U.S. alone, over 25,000 volunteers with red kettles are stationed near retail stores during the weeks preceding Christmas for fundraising.The church remains a highly visible and sometimes controversial presence in many parts of the world.

In 1994, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, an industry publication, released the results of the largest study of charitable and non­profit organization popularity and credibility. The study showed that The Salvation Army was ranked as the 4th "most popular charity/non­profit organisation in America" of over 100 charities researched.

Charity Watch rates the Salvation Army an "A­" to an "A", indicating a high level of financial efficiency and organizational transparency.

Taking the figures from the most recent data available, the Salvation Army operates in 126 countries and provides services in 175 different languages. Its stated membership includes 16,938 active and 9,190 retired officers, 1,122,326 soldiers, 189,176 Adherents, 39,071 Corps Cadets, 378,009 Junior Soldiers, around 104,977 other employees and more than 4.5 million volunteers. Members of The Salvation Army also include "adherents", these are people who do not make the commitment to be a soldier but who formally recognize The Salvation Army as their church.

The current world Leader of the Salvation Army is General André Cox. In the United Kingdom, the Salvation Army is no longer the largest non­governmental provider of social services; however, it provides a significant service to people in need.

The International Congress of The Salvation Army is normally held every 10 years, as a conference for all Salvationists from around the world to meet, with the next International Congress taking place at the moment in London, in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of The Salvation Army's founding.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

SALMON BACK IN THE DEARNE

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major engineering project helping salmon return to what was once one of Britain’s most polluted river systems, has achieved a historic success after a young salmon was discovered in the River Dearne, South Yorkshire.

An Environment Agency fish survey team spotted the 14cm juvenile when carrying out routine checks last week. The discovery is the first evidence of salmon spawning in the river, which is a tributary of the River Don, for more than 150 years.

Once in abundance, salmon populations began to dwindle with the growth of industry. Weirs which were built to power industry or provide deep water for boats also acted as barriers to the fish reaching their spawning grounds. By the mid 19th Century salmon were all but gone from South Yorkshire’s rivers.

Last year the construction of a fish pass was completed at Sprotbrough Weir opening up 55 kilometres of the River Don ­ almost half the length of the river ­ to salmon and other migratory fish.

Jerome Masters, Environment Agency fisheries technical officer said: “Our rivers are the healthiest for more than 20 years and otters, salmon and other wildlife are returning for

the first time since the industrial revolution. But there is still more to be done. The construction of the fish pass at Sprotbrough Weir is a significant step in getting salmon back to rivers across South Yorkshire.

“The River Don already supports a healthy population of coarse fish, and adult salmon have been caught in the river in the recent past, but the discovery of this juvenile salmon in the River Dearne is hugely exciting. The size of the fish indicates that it was born in early 2014, which means that its parents probably used the fish pass at Sprotbrough Weir shortly after it opened.”

The fish pass at Sprotbrough also allows coarse fish living downstream of the weir, like barbel, to reach their spawning grounds further upstream. It reconnects the rivers Don and Dearne back with the Humber Estuary and is part of the grander plan to create ‘fish highways’ providing free passage for fish between the sea and the upper reaches of rivers.

The construction of Sprotbrough fish pass was a partnership project, with the Environment Agency working closely with the Canal & River Trust, Don Gorge Community Group, a local landowner and Doncaster Council. The project was funded by the Environment Agency with support from LaFarge Quarries.

UK FIRE-FIGHTERS REMEMBERED Migrants stops foreign trips

F

ire­fighters who lost their lives in the line of duty were remembered last Friday at a memorial service held at Carter Lane Gardens, St Paul’s Cathedral, attended by Fire Minister Mark Francois.

Following the service, the minister laid a wreath on behalf of the government, for all fallen fire­fighters and paid tribute to their sacrifice.

The minister said the ceremony at the memorial, which came during Armed Forces Week, was an opportunity to remember the huge sacrifice of our armed forces and home emergency services in keeping Britain safe.

The Fire Minister said: “It is an honour to lay a wreath on behalf of the government in memory of our brave fire­fighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty. During Armed Forces Week it is especially important we remember the sacrifice and contribution of our home emergency services, that have paid the ultimate price to protect our community. I pay tribute to all of them.”

Events were held up and down the country to mark Armed Forces Week, with Guildford hosting the national event on Saturday, with a flag raising ceremony at the Guildhall.

The memorial service of remembrance takes place annually each year. It is organised by the Fire­fighters Memorial Trust, which is a registered charity, to recognise the commitment and dedication of all members of the fire and rescue service serving within the UK. Particularly those who have been

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killed, or who have died following injury or illness, as a result of their duties.

The Firefighters Memorial depicts a fire officer and 2 fire­fighters, cast in bronze engaged in fire fighting duties. It was originally called ‘Blitz’ and was dedicated to the men and women of the fire service, who lost their lives as a result of their duties during World War II. Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, unveiled this memorial on 4 May 1991.

Birmingham haulage firm has ended foreign deliveries after its drivers were repeatedly targeted by desperate migrants at Calais.

RGF Logistics Ltd, based in Garretts Green, said it acted to protect its staff after would­be stowaways tried to reach the UK by hiding out on its trucks.

The problems were thrown into sharp focus by recent chaos at the French port, when hundreds of migrants tried to board queuing lorries stranded in a ferry workers’ strike.

RGF transport manager Lee Johnson said drivers also feared being fined £2,500 if stowaways were found in transit.

“It has happened to me,” he said. I loaded up in Brussels and crossed the border from Calais to Dover when I was stopped close to East Midlands Airport. A migrant was stowed on the axle of the lorry.

“I wasn’t fined because he was under the lorry so I had no way of knowing he was there. But I would have been fined if he had managed to get inside. This has happened to our drivers on ten or more occasions so we have stopped Europe­wide operations.

“We only operate across the UK now. It was

just too much hassle. It came to a head this week with the problems in Calais and we don’t want to put our drivers in dangerous situations.”

A driver working for Coleshill­based Benton’s Haulage was caught up in the strike but managed to get back.

A spokesman said: “The driver had been to Germany. He got stuck at Calais but managed to get back. He didn’t experience problems with illegal immigrants but said other drivers had.”

About 3,000 migrants are estimated to be living rough around Calais, willing to try their luck and make it to Britain.

The Home Office said around 19,000 attempts to cross the Channel had been foiled so far this year – more than double the number during the same period last year.

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

21

THE DAY LONDON CHANGED

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he tragic events in Sousse in Tunisia last Friday, were the worst terrorist attack involving British victims since that July day ten years ago in London. For many people, it became their JFK, Diana and Twin Towers moment. They would never forget where they were when they heard the news.

The 7 July 2005 London bombings (often referred to as 7/7), were a series of coordinated suicide bomb attacks in central London, which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning rush hour.

On that morning, four British Islamist men detonated four bombs ­ three in quick succession, aboard London Underground trains across the city and later, a fourth on a double­decker bus in Tavistock Square. As well as the four bombers, 52 civilians were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks, making it the United Kingdom's worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, as well as the country's first ever suicide attack.

The 7 July attacks occurred the day after London had won its bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, which had highlighted the city's multicultural reputation. After the bombings, stories were circulating saying that the attacks had been planned for the day before, with the double intention of not only causing death and carnage, but to prevent the capital city from being awarded the Games, instead going to Paris.

At 8:49am, three bombs were detonated on board London Underground trains within fifty seconds of each other: The first exploded on a London Underground Circle Line train travelling eastbound between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, killing seven and injuring 171. The second device exploded in another Circle Line train which had just left Edgware Road and was travelling westbound toward

Paddington. That atrocity left six dead and a further 163 injured.

A third bomb was detonated on a Piccadilly Line train, travelling southbound from King's Cross­ St. Pancras and Russell Square.

This was the deadliest of them all claiming 26 fatalities and 340 injured.

It was originally thought that there had been six, rather than three, explosions on the Underground network. The bus bombing brought the reported total to seven; this was clarified later in the day. The erroneous reporting can be attributed to the fact that, the blasts occurred on trains that were between stations, causing wounded passengers to emerge from both stations, giving the impression that there was an incident at each. Police also revised the timings of the tube blasts: initial reports had indicated that they had occurred during a period of almost half an hour. This was due to initial confusion at London Underground (LU), where the explosions were originally believed to have been caused by power surges. An early report, made in the minutes after the explosions, involved a person under a train, while another described a derailment (both of which did occur, but only as a result of the explosions).

Initial reports suggested that a power surge on the Underground power grid had caused explosions in power circuits. This was later ruled out by power suppliers National Grid. Commentators suggested that the explanation had been made because of bomb damage to power lines along the tracks.

The rapid series of power failures caused by the explosions (or power being ended by means of switches at the locations to permit evacuation) looked similar, from the point of view of a control room operator; to a cascading series of circuit breaker operations that would result from a major power surge.

A couple of hours after the

bombings, Home Secretary Charles Clarke, confirmed the incidents were terrorist attacks.

Almost one hour after the attacks on the London Underground, at 9:47am, a fourth bomb was detonated on the top deck of a No. 30 double­decker bus in Tavistock Square, travelling its route from Marble Arch to Hackney Wick. In an incredible twist of fate, the bus had passed through the King's Cross and Euston bus stations at 9:35 am, where crowds of people had been evacuated from the tube following the early incidents. Many had boarded that bus, believing they would be safe continuing their journey.

The explosion ripped off the roof and destroyed the rear portion of the bus. The blast took place near BMA House, the headquarters of the British Medical Association, on Upper Woburn Place, where a number of doctors and medical staff, in or near that building, were able to provide immediate emergency assistance.

The location of the bomb inside the bus meant the front of the vehicle remained mostly intact. Most of the passengers at the front of the top deck survived, as did those near the front of the lower deck, including the driver, but those at the rear of the bus suffered more serious injuries. The blast killed 13 and injured a further 110.

All but one of the victims had been residents in London during the attacks and were from a diverse range of backgrounds. Due to train delays before the attacks, as well as subsequent transport issues caused by them, several victims died aboard trains and buses they would not normally have taken. Their ages ranged from 20 to 60 years old.

July 7 2005 – Remembering the 52 who died and the 784 injured – July 7 2015.

Jacqui Putnam, who survived the attack on a train at Edgware Road that killed six people, said: “This is shocking behaviour and deeply offensive to the families of those who died and the survivors. It does not matter where these people are from, this is obviously a memorial and they are being deeply disrespectful. More needs to be done to protect the memorial.”

She said that last week’s terror attack on holidaymakers in Tunisia brought into focus the importance of remembering the innocent victims.

“I feel so much for the poor families, the people camping at the memorial are showing little regard for others, it is just

awful.”

The memorial features 52 steel pillars to represent each of the victims of the bomb attacks.

Nick Taylor, chief executive of the Survivors Network which helps victims of terrorism, said: “We are very disappointed that at this especially poignant time this is happening. We would call on people who see this to report it so that the Royal Parks can take the appropriate action.”

Cllr Nickie Aiken, Westminster City Council’s cabinet member for public protection, said: “All memorials should be treated with sensitivity and respect, but this one even more so with the tenth anniversary of the London terror attacks just a few days away.

“I was appalled when I saw the photographs. As soon as we knew about the problems, the council notified Royal Parks Police and Immigration Enforcement officers, bringing together the right agencies to address the issue as soon as possible.

"My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims of 7/7 and hope these pictures do not cause further upset at what must be a very difficult time.”

Last year the memorial was defaced by a vandal who daubed “Blair lied thousands died” and “4 innocent Muslims” across it.

MEMORIAL CAMP OUTRAGE

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group of rough sleepers have caused a degree of outrage by camping at the 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park and using the plaque inscribed with the names of the 52 victims as a dinner table.

The memorial site is also being treated as a makeshift toilet by the homeless eastern European group, triggering anger among survivors of the 2005 terrorist attack on London.

Some have been captured on camera putting their possessions on the memorial with apparently no awareness of what it represents.

A series of 10th anniversary events to remember the victims of the suicide bomb attacks on three Tube trains and a bus in Tavistock Square are planned for next week, including a visit to the memorial by the Prime Minister.

The rough sleepers have been branded “deeply disrespectful” for the way they are treating it. According to witnesses, they clutter the site with their sleeping bags, cases and black sacks overnight and move on early the next day to evade the authorities.

One onlooker said: “They were there when this poor person went to pay their respects to the dead early one morning.

What he saw was basically a rubbish heap and the rough sleepers did not move. They seem ignorant of what the memorial means.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

LE TOUR DE FORCE T

All because of newspaper rivalry

he Tour de France could well begin as the Tour de London again, very soon after London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, confirmed that there were discussions to bring the start back to the capital city. It was last held there in 2007 when two stages of the annual race took place. The 2014 start was in Leeds, and Le Tour 2015, which begins tomorrow (Saturday) launches from Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Britain’s Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Frome, had back to back success in 2012 and 2013. Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali took last year’s title. The sport of cycling is recovering from the biggest scandal to hit it in the aftermath of seven­time winner Lance Armstrong. A look at the roll of honour for the Tour shows the words, “awards stripped” against the years 1999 to 2005 inclusive.

The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. The race was first organized in 1903 to increase paper sales for the magazine L'Auto; it’s currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation.

The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903, except for when it was stopped for the two World Wars. As the Tour gained prominence and popularity, the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe. Participation expanded from a primarily French field, as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year. The Tour is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI Pro­ Teams, with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite.

The Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España make up cycling's pprestigious three­week­long Grand Tours; the Tour is the oldest and generally considered the most prestigious of the three.

Traditionally, the race is held primarily in the month of July and while the route changes each year, the format of the race stays the same, with the appearance of time trials, the passage through the mountain chains of the Pyrenees and the Alps and the finish on the Champs­Élysées in Paris.

The modern editions of the Tour de France consist of 21 day­long stages over a 23­day period and cover around 3,500 kilometres (2,200 mi). The 2014 edition consisted of 9

LANCE ARMSTRONG

The View

discussed it after lunch. Desgrange was doubtful but the paper's financial director, Victor Goddet, was enthusiastic. He handed Desgrange the keys to the company safe and said: "Take whatever you need." L'Auto announced the race on 19 January 1903.

The Tour originally ran around the perimeter of France. Cycling was an endurance sport and the organisers realised the sales they would achieve by creating supermen of the competitors. Night riding was dropped after the second Tour in 1904, when there had been persistent cheating when judges could not see riders! That reduced the daily and overall distance, but the emphasis remained on endurance. Desgrange said his ideal race would be so hard that only one rider would make it to Paris.

THE MODERN TOUR

flat stages, 5 hilly stages, 6 mountain stages with 5 high­altitude finishes and 1 individual time­trial stage. A little known fact is that the race alternates between clockwise and anticlockwise circuits of France

ORIGINS AND HISTORY

The roots of the Tour de France trace to the Dreyfus Affair, which had no original link to bikes or cycling whatsoever. This affair was a cause célèbre, that divided France at the end of the 19th century over the innocence of Alfred Dreyfus; a French army officer convicted ­ though later exonerated ­of selling military secrets to the Germans. Opinions became heated and there were demonstrations by both sides. One was what the historian Eugen Weber called "an absurd political shindig" at the Auteuil horse­race course in Paris in 1899. Among those involved was Comte Jules­Albert de Dion, the owner of the De Dion­Bouton car works, who believed Dreyfus was guilty. De Dion served 15 days in jail and was fined 100 francs for his role at Auteuil, which included striking Émile Loubet, the president of France, on the head with a walking stick.

The incident at Auteuil, said Weber, was "...tailor­made for the sporting press." The first and the largest daily sports newspaper in France was Le Vélo, which sold 80,000 copies a day. Its editor, Pierre Giffard, thought

Dreyfus innocent. He reported the arrest in a way that displeased de Dion, who was so angry that he joined other anti­Dreyfusards such as Adolphe Clément and Édouard Michelin and opened a rival daily sports paper, L'Auto.

The new newspaper appointed Henri Desgrange as the editor. He was a prominent cyclist and owner with Victor Goddet of the velodrome at the Parc des Princes. De Dion knew him through his cycling reputation, through the books and cycling articles that he had written and through press articles he had written for the Clément tyre company.

L'Auto was not the success its backers wanted. Stagnating sales lower than the rival it was intended to surpass, led to a crisis meeting on 20 November 1902 on the middle floor of L'Auto's office at 10 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, Paris. The last to speak was the most junior there, the chief cycling journalist, a 26­year­old named Géo Lefèvre, who Desgrange hadpoached from Giffard's paper.

Lefèvre suggested a six­day race of the sort popular on the track, but all around France.

Long­distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers, but nothing of the length that Lefèvre suggested had been attempted. If it succeeded, it would help L'Auto match its rival and perhaps put it out of business. It could, as Desgrange said, "nail Giffard's beak shut." Desgrange and Lefèvre

A succession of doping scandals in the 1960s, culminating in the death of Tom Simpson in 1967, led the Union Cycliste Internationale to limit daily and overall distances and to impose rest days. It was then impossible to follow the frontiers and the Tour increasingly zigzagged across the country, sometimes with unconnected days' races linked by train, while still maintaining some sort of loop. The shortest and longest Tours were 2,428 and 5,745 km (1,509 and 3,570 mi) in 1904 and 1926, respectively.

From 20,000 old francs the first year, prize money has increased each year. From 1976 to 1987, the first prize was an apartment, offered by a race sponsor. The first prize in 1988 was a car, a studio­apartment, a work of art and 500,000 francs in cash. Prizes only in cash returned in 1990.

Prizes and bonuses are awarded for daily placings and final placings at the end of the race. For 2015, the total pot is around €2million, with the winner receiving €450,000, and each of the 21 stage winners, €22,500.

The Souvenir Henri Desgrange, in memory of the founder of the Tour, is awarded to the first rider over the col du Galibier, where his monument stands, or to the first rider over the highest col in the Tour. A similar award is made at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, at the memorial to Jacques Goddet, Desgrange's successor.

Most stages are in mainland France, although since the 1960s it has become common to visit nearby countries: Andorra, Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland have all hosted stages or part of a stage. Since 1975, the finish has been on the Champs­Élysées in Paris; from 1903 to 1967 the race finished at the Parc des Princes stadium in western Paris and from 1968 to 1974 at the Piste Municipale south of the capital.

The View

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

THE VIEW THROUGH THE LENS

J

ohn­Ross Hainey from Guernsey based JR Photography is entitled to a break like anyone. No photography tips from him in this week’s edition of THE VIEW, but he has shared some stunning photographs taken at the annual Chaos biker show on his home island.

Another year of pure Chaos, where the weird and wonderful meet every year to put on the best biker show on our land.

There is only one word to describe this weekend ­ epic, amazing, breathtaking, outstanding, excellent. Did I forget to mention epic? OK, maybe more than one word to describe it, but if you were there then you would understand!

Complete respect to the Greenman MCC for putting this cracking event and music line­up together ­ it's going to be a hard one to beat yet again. I enjoyed every minute of it (that I can remember), met some amazing people as

always as well as spending a great weekend with great friends camping in our vans.

Unfortunately I missed the burnouts and probably a few other things, but sadly some things have to be compromised at these gigs.

I enjoyed the bands more than ever and really appreciated music that I wouldn't normally listen to.

Bands such as Stormbringer, Sovereign, Static Alice and not forgetting one of my favourites,

Buffalo Huddleston with Becky Hamilton joining us all the way from Switzerland finally reunited with Buff Hudd in the Peace Tent.

Which reminds me ­ their coffee and toasties where amazing!

Anyway, I could go on for pages about how awesome Chaos 11 was, but that’s something you will have to find out for yourself.

What I’m trying to say with the three photos on this page is that no matter how weird or

Aerial shot of Chaos and the south west of Guernsey shot with a Gopro Hero3+ and DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter, edited on site with Snapseed on my iphone6+

wonderful you are you are welcomed to Chaos with open arms.

Remember to check out our website and Facebook Page for the latest updates and images. www.johnrossphotography.co.uk www.facebook.com/JRPhotographyGSY www.johnrossphotography.co.uk/testimo nials

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

STILL CURIOSER AND CURIOSER

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t’s 150 years since the first and most famous work of Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was written. What do we know of the origins of the work itself, the author and, to slightly misquote a famous song, who was Alice?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland), is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures and is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre.

Just what influenced the young Charles to write the story can be traced to a series of river trips. In 1856 Dodgson met Lorina, Alice and Edith Liddell, daughters of Henry George Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church College in Oxford. During the next few years he spent a lot of time with the girls, photographed them and made up stories for them. Though information is scarce (Dodgson's diaries for the years 1858– 1862 are missing), it seems clear that his friendship with the Liddell family in Oxford was an important part of his life in the late 1850s, and he grew into the habit of taking the children (first the boy, Harry, and later the three girls) on rowing trips.

The first of these journeys began in 1862 at Folly Bridge near Oxford and ended five miles away in the village of Godstow. During the trip Dodgson told the girls a story that featured a bored little girl named Alice who goes looking for an adventure. The girls loved it and Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her. He began writing the manuscript of the story the next day, although that earliest version no longer exists. The girls and Dodgson took another boat trip a month later, when he elaborated the plot to the story of Alice and in November he began working on the manuscript in earnest. Three years later, the work was finally published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, under the Lewis Carroll pen­name, which Dodgson had first used some nine years earlier The book failed to be named in an 1888 poll of the most popular children's stories. In fact, it received poor reviews from both readers and critics, giving more credit to the illustrations by John Tenniel than to Carroll's story. At the release of 'Through the Looking­Glass' (six years later in 1871), the second Alice tale gained in popularity and by the end of the 19th century, Sir Walter Besant wrote that Alice in Wonderland, "was a book of that extremely rare kind which

will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete".

In the intervening century and a half, the book has never been out of print and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into at least 174 languages. The book is commonly referred to by the abbreviated title Alice in Wonderland, which has been popularised by the numerous stage, film and television adaptations of the story produced over the years. The most famous and darker of those being the Tim Burton version released in 2010.

Certain critics have argued that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland should be kept away from children, because it is riddled with material that causes anxiety, such as the book’s frequent references to devouring small animals as evidence of the work’s “preponderant oral sadistic trends.” Another described the book as “Thus, we find many pictures and read much dialogue (although very little of it makes sense) in this novel.”

The government of China banned the book in 1931, charging that its talking animals were offensive because their use of language placed them inappropriately on the same level with humans. In 1966, after the book was read over the radio in Britain, the British Broadcasting Corporation was inundated by phone calls from listeners, outraged over the book’s description of using hedgehogs as croquet balls.

Christ Church College in Oxford. He graduated in 1854 and was appointed a maths lecturer at the college the following year. This appointment was permanent and recognized his academic superiority which also brought him financial security. The appointment meant that Dodgson had to take orders from the Anglican Church and not get married.

He remained at Christ Church studying and teaching, but he failed an important scholarship through his self­confessed inability to apply himself to study. Even so, his talent as a mathematician won him the Christ Church Mathematical Lectureship in 1855, which he continued to hold for the next twenty­six years. Despite early unhappiness, Dodgson was to remain at Christ Church, in various capacities, until his death from pneumonia suddenly and unexpectedly in January 1898.

THE SUBJECT

THE AUTHOR

He was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson in 1832. Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym that he created by translating his first and middle names into Latin, reversing their order and translating them back into English. This happened in 1856 after he had begun writing humorous texts and stories to keep them separate from his serious mathematical writings, which he published under his real name.

His early years were happy with his nine sisters and two brothers to whom he frequently made up games and wrote stories. His school years at Rugby (1846­1849) were not so happy because he was shy and often sick. But he was still recognized as a good scholar and in 1850 he was admitted to

Alice Pleasance Liddell was born on May 4th 1852, to Henry George Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and his wife Lorina Hanna. Alice was the fourth of their 10 children. She had two older brothers and an older sister. She also had six younger siblings; two of her brothers dying at a young age.

Alice grew up primarily in the company of the two sisters nearest to her in age: Lorina, who was three years older and Edith, who was two years younger.

In 1880 Alice married when she was 28. They had three sons, but unfortunately two of them, Alan Knyveton Hargreaves and Leopold Reginald Hargreaves, were killed in World War I. Caryl Liddell Hargreaves was the only surviving son who was to give Alice her only grandchild, a girl.

Alice was an educated woman and she lived the life of a land­lady. She was also an enthusiastic painter.

After the death of husband Reginald Hargreaves, Alice sold her manuscript of "Alice's Adventures Under Ground" (given to her by Carroll in 1864) in Sotheby’s auction house in 1928.

It was bought by an American who paid an enormous amount in those days of £15,400 pounds for it.

In 1932, at the age of 80, Alice published her own memoirs and two years later, on 15 November 1934, she died in Westerham, Kent.

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

25

OLLIE’S MOOD SPILLS Politically Correct or the Finger on the Trigger?......

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By Gordon Oliver

am reasonably content, inside my bubble, concentrating on my family unit and divorcing myself from the sickness in our world. Or am I? Should I be? Is it merely programming?

Who decided that I would become indifferent to the suffering of millions of people? Was it of my own volition, or did I make the choice, being led by the hand, a child onto the steamer, platform two, bound for the countryside. Yes the countryside, the peace and quiet. No bombs going off there.

We fill our lives with work and problems. Entertainment and art, to cover the reality of the world around us? After all, it seems to be how the world works. But do we miss the truth?

Do we intentionally hide from the sick reality that real life is happening and it is disgusting. A glade plug­in for the stink, emitted from lack of moral integrity? Who decides our mind set? Who chooses what we find deplorable and acceptable?

After all, since recorded history began, major atrocities have been enacted around the planet and depending on where you live and where your blood began, it becomes a question of perspective.

So what if, just what if, the small area of earth and concrete you live upon, was directed in violence by the people employed to enrich the area of land. With its invisible barrier to segregate. Just what if those people committed despicable actions to further profit, but they kept it quiet, instead promoting the despicable actions of other areas of granite and soil, so to give you a sense of anger, anguish, pain and more importantly ignorance. Blissful ignorance. Ignorant as sin.

Surely this level of trickery and propaganda is not conducted by countries such as the UK and the US. Surely not.

It is the others. It’s always the others; we are pure and peaceful. Do not adjust your sets, this is a temporary glitch, NORMAL PROGRAMMING WITH RECOMMENCE SHORTLY...................

Terrorism – noun ­ the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.

The disgrace that hit the tourist filled beach in Tunisia is an abomination. A completely unacceptable act of violence and cold blooded murder. Sickening, abhorrent. It is one side of the story, a side which people in power of our little area of land will promote and force into our faces over and over, keep the anger fresh, to ensure the discriminations.

These men did not commit this act for fun. Without cause.

I am certainly not condoning it. It is sick. It fills me will anger the same as every person reading this. However, for me, the

anger is not only pointed towards the gunmen, but also towards the politics, which raised the stakes, forced the hand, pushed these vile individuals into action. There are two sides to a story, but if we were to really see both sides, we would hold both sides accountable. That, is a reality government cannot afford.

My grandfather, on my mother’s side, was an evacuee.

Evacuated from Poland; a Ukrainian Jew. His family had vast wealth and riches, it is how they got to Poland and evacuated my grandfather and his twin brother. But they were the only two. The other 30 plus members of my ancestry were separated to the trains and the camps. Some were left to die in hot train cars, they starved to death or died of dehydration, packed in the hundreds and left to die. The more fortunate trains were bombarded with machine gun fire and the lucky were killed instantly. Others were put into the concentration camps. Segregated, starved and forced to work until too weak to continue and they were shot dead.

Others were piled into the showers to clean off, for the final time. 30 plus members of my family, murdered. It was unacceptable then, it is unacceptable now. So, why is Guantanamo bay acceptable? The torture and innocents interned, have been clearly published, so why does this modern concentration camp a) exist b) continue to exist? I am not interested in the semantics of 9/11 being involved in this question. The question is directed in the reality of the political correctness in this matter. The allowed hypocrisy. The propaganda laden, allowance of this divorced atrocity. There is the reason. 9/11. "Yeah, damn those evil Muslims."

We are fed the fuel to start the fire. We are all as guilty as the Tunisian gunmen, because we allow, the men who control our little pieces of earth and soil, to act out atrocities on innocents also. In the name of justice. In the name of "God".

In the name of peace. In the name of patriotism. This, friends, is racism.

Racism – noun ­ the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

In our blind bubbles, accepting that Sky News is truthful and The Sun is not the most unmitigated piece of cage filler

going. Allowing our country to militarise against the terror.

Terror has been given a face and it wears different clothes and colour. It has been packaged with a bloody bow and a different set of beliefs. Racism.

How can we judge millions on the actions of few? How can we believe that these few actions are random acts, that they are not reactions to other events?

For centuries, Christians have ransacked, murdered and forced beliefs upon countless "heathens" stealing every piece of gold on the way. From the Crusaders and Conquistadors, to the Bush administration and Tony the Cheshire Blair. Just in the last two decades of "peacemaking" on foreign soil, millions of lives have been lost. More innocents have been lost in Iraq, for example, in the wake of the hanging of Saddam Hussain, the CIA meat­puppet.

That is most definitely saying something, when the lunatic would poison water supplies of his town’s folk to test chemical warfare. The U.S. and the U.K. got whatever it was they wanted, (control of the oil fields) and got the hell out. I often ponder the lack of decent intelligence the Americans had on these elusive WMD that just kept slipping away, yet they can pinpoint a man anywhere in the world, via GPS. There are rumours of DNA tracing via satellite. They can connect to nearly every pocket in the modern world via smart phone apps. They can find traces of barium and other chemicals, using sensitive telescopes, hundreds of light­years away, but with these WMD, they just couldn’t quite get there, they were always a step behind those sneaky Arabs.

Hans Blix conducted the investigation, although I am sure it was orchestrated by Sepp Blatter, still I could be wrong.

Damn, Qatar, that’s where those pesky nukes are! It definitely smelt like the countryside in Iraq.

The long and short is this. America and Britain, do, go, take and kill, at will, for hidden agenda, normally involving gold or oil. They then mask the truth with other events that shock and dismay, to prevent us from cottoning on to the devilish plots they unfurl. It is a magic trick. Slight of hand. Watch what the evil Muslims are doing, look.... Look!

(I am not by any means saying, that these atrocities are staged by the U.S. or U.K. heaven forbid such tactics could be employed. However they are exceptionally good for covering tracks, by use of the medium of media propaganda.)

Meanwhile, unreported, unnoticed terrible things are being done, In the name of peace and justice.

There is an ongoing debate with gun lobbyists. Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

I wish there was a third part to this. And who pulled their trigger?

26

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

THE VIEW ON.....NOSTALGIA 3rd July 1985 An entertainment journey reminding you of some of the BBC Radio and TV programmes, and the UK Top 30 on this very day! This week, we go back exactly 30 years to 1985.

If you have a special or important day in the past 60 years (1955 to date), let us know here at The View, and we’ll reproduce it just for you. Just contact us at editor@theview.es explaining why the date you’ve chosen means so much.

BBC RADIO – RADIO 2 6.00 RAY MOORE 8.05 KEN BRUCE 10.30 JIMMY YOUNG 13.05 DAVID JACOBS 14.00 GLORIA HUNNIFORD 15.30 MUSIC ALL THE WAY 16.00 STEVE JONES 18.00 JOHN DUNN

13.30 HOKEY COKEY 13.45 WIMBLEDON ‘85 – Commentators Dan Maskell and John Barrett

4. CHERISH – Madonna 5. BEN – Marti Webb 6. YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE –The Crowd 7. SUDDENLY – Billy Ocean 8. BORN IN THE USA – Bruce Springsteen 9. HISTORY – Mai Tai 10. KAYLEIGH – Marillion 11. JOHNNY COME HOME – Fine Young Cannibals 12. HEAD OVER HEELS – Tears For Fears

16.25 BRIC­A­BRAC ­ Brian Cant 16.35 THE WOMBLES – Told by Bernard Cribbins

20.00 STRING SOUND 20.30 SYD LAWRENCE IN CONCERT

Performances recorded at The Playhouse Theatre, Manchester 21.10 LISTEN TO THE BAND Introduced by CHARLIE CHESTER 22.00 THE FOSDYKE SAGA II 22.15 HARVEY AND THE WALLBANGERS 22.30 HUBERT GREGG ­Thanks For The Memory 23.00 BRIAN MATTHEW presents Round Midnight 1.00 PETER DICKSON ­ Nightride 3.00 VERNON AND MARYETTA MIDGLEY 3.30 DETECTIVE

13. N­N­NINETEEN (NOT OUT) – The Commentators 14. LIFE IN ONE DAY – Howard Jones 15. THE WORLD GIRL – Scritti Politti 16. TOMB OF MEMORIES – Paul Young 17. MY TOOT TOOT – Denise Lasalle

16.40 17.00 17.10 17.35 18.00 19.00 19.35 20.00 20.50 21.00 21.25 22.15 23.15

BATTLE OF THE PLANETS JOHN CRAVEN'S NEWSROUND GENTLE BEN GLORIA THE SIX O'CLOCK NEWS WOGAN ODDIE IN PARADISE DALLAS POINTS OF VIEW THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS THE VISIT: SHOWDOWN AT GLITTER GULCH WIMBLEDON 85 ­ MATCH OF THE DAY TAXI

UK TOP 30 SINGLES

4.00 MARTIN KELNER

TV – BBC 1 6.50 BREAKFAST TIME

with Nick Ross & Debbie Greenwood

9.20 PAGES FROM CEEFAX 10.30 PLAY SCHOOL 10.50 GHARBAR 11.15 PAGES FROM CEEFAX 12.00 SEE HEAR! 12.25 HOME ON SUNDAY 13.00 NEWS AFTER NOON ­ Richard Whitmore

1. FRANKIE ­ Sister Sledge 2. AXEL F – Harold Faltermeyer 3. CRAZY FOR YOU – Madonna

18. OBSESSION – Animotion 19. IN TOO DEEP – Dead Or Alive 20. KING IN A CATHOLIC STYLE – China Crisis 21. PAISLEY PARK – Prince & The Revolution 22. TURN IT UP – Conway Brothers 23. A VIEW TO A KILL – Duran Duran 24. 19 – Paul Hardcastle 25. THE SHADOW OF LOVE – The Damned 26. LIVE IS LIFE – Opus 27. COME TO MILTON KEYNES – The Style Council 28. SMUGGLER’S BLUES – Glenn Frey 29. DUEL – Propaganda 30. SHE SELLS SANCTUARY – The Cult

The View

27

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

IF IT’S TUESDAY, IT MUST BE........

L

ocal markets are as much a part of daily Spanish life as sun, sangria, siestas and mosquitoes! If you’re on holiday or new to living in Spain, there is bound to be a market somewhere close to you every day of the week.

Yes, support your local markets but why not, from time to time, get in the car and investigate one a little

further away, especially those in Alicante, Benidorm and Altea.

As part of the policy at THE VIEW to bring you more and more information, we’ve produced below a “cut out and keep” comprehensive list of the markets in our coverage area. If you know of any others, please let us know at editor@theview.es

MONDAY

THURSDAY

Elche Formentera Orihuela San Pedro del Pinatar Santa Pola

Albatera Alicante Gran Alacant Rojales San Javier Urb. La Marina

TUESDAY FRIDAY Altea Benijofar Orihuela San Fulgencio (Village) WEDNESDAY

Benejuzar Crevillente Dolores Los Montesinos Pilar de la Horadada Torrevieja

Benidorm Callosa Guardamar del Segura La Mata San Miguel de Salinas

SATURDAY Alicante Almoradi Catral

Elche La Marina (N­332 Lidl & Iceland) Playa Flamenca Santa Pola SUNDAY Algorfa Benidorm Benijofar Campoverde Campo de Guardamar (Lemon Tree) Elche El Zoco (Quesada – San Miguel Road) Urb. La Marina

DENIA TO IBIZA FERRY T

he Denia Ibiza ferry route connects Spain with Ibiza. Currently there is just the 1 ferry company operating this ferry service, Balearia. The crossing operates up to 10 times each week with sailing durations from around 3 hours 30 minutes.

As an example THE VIEW checked random times and prices for 2 people based on foot passengers. The ferries leave DENIA at 0900 and 1730 with the return journeys from IBIZA departing at 1230 and 2000. For a day return trip for 2 leaving DENIA at 0900 – spending around 8 hours on the island – and returning on the 2000 service, the price – with reserved seats – is €86 PER COUPLE and travelling on the RAMON LLULL FERRY. We would advise you to log on to www.balearia.com to check Balearia timetables and fares before planning your own journey.

NEW 24 HOUR DUTY CHEMISTS T

he commitment of THE VIEW to bring you important information continues with more lists of 24 HOUR DUTY CHEMISTS in our coverage area. Known in Spanish as FARMACIAS DE GUARDIA, most towns have at least one chemist on the duty rota which changes on a weekly basis.

TORREVIEJA

There are two chemists that open 24 hours, 7 days a week: CALLE RAMON GALUD, 196 (Corner of Calle Virgen de La Paloma) AVENIDA ANTONIO MACHADO, 115

Of course, we hope you’ll never need to use the services of the emergency chemists. The advice of THE VIEW is to visit your local farmacia to see if they’re on the rota.

There is usually a list posted outside the building if they are.

28

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

WHAT’S ON THE TELLY?

LET’S GO BARGAIN HUNTING A

Get the link with the current BBC One offerings?

It seems as if BH and HOTH have been part of the BBC One schedules since Peter Purves embarrassingly introduced Valerie Singleton with the line of, “here’s one I made earlier” and Brucie asked Anthea to give him a Mars Bar. Haven’t they got anything else they could show to make up the schedules?

Consider the amount of programmes Auntie Beeb has in

her archives.

Thousands and thousands of hours of shows over 45 years of colour television alone could be repeated as well as the feature films that seem to be restricted to BBC Two. Apart from Christmas and Easter, when was the last time they showed a film that didn’t contain a cute computer generated animal?

The current series of Homes under the Hammer – that’s the one that began about 400 episodes ago – is now full of repeats mixed in with the budding property developers talking to new presenter Dion Dublin. For me, it’s now like watching your favourite episode of Dad’s Army as you recite the script and know exactly what line is next. You recognise those bidding and buying and you remember totally what they did with the downstairs family bathroom and outside shed house and what they answered when asked for their auction number.

“Don’t tell him, Pike!”

It’s been refreshing for me each

week to research our own nostalgia page (25) in THE VIEW to look back at the variety of some of the daytime shows from days gone by.

With the exception of the daily news programmes and lunchtime productions like Pebble Mill at One, the rest was changed each day.

There was something to look forward to but now, there’s simply no imagination from programme makers that have no budgets (ah, we’ve identified the problem I think) to make shows that don’t feature cheap (not in the way they dress) and over giggling members of the public who get the wonderful, life saving, over rated bruising tough guy Dom to sort everything out for them. Their words, not mine!

Re­reading my words, I obviously just need to switch to ITV instead to watch daily live and original shows to be entertained or simply get on with my work. Oh, Flog It, just give me the £300 and I’ll go and find my expert!

DJ

00:40 Perspectives 01:35 Jackpot247 04:00 Tonight 04:25 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 11:55 ITV News 11:59 ITV London Weather 12:00 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News London 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Secret Dealers 16:59 ITV London Weather 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News London 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Gino's Italian Escape 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Doc Martin 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News London 23:40 Vicious

00:05 Scientologists at War 01:05 Big Fat Gypsy Weddings 02:00 One Born Every Minute USA 02:55 Kids in Crisis?

03:50 Country House Rescue 04:45 Dispatches 05:15 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 06:10 Deal or No Deal 07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:30 The Big Bang Theory 11:30 Come Dine with Me 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:10 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Deal or No Deal 17:00 A Place in the Sun 18:00 Couples Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 21:00 Location, Location, Location 22:00 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown 23:00 The Last Leg

01:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 Wildlife SOS 05:25 Divine Designs 05:45 House Doctor 07:00 The WotWots 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Lily's Driftwood Bay 07:30 Fireman Sam 07:40 Toot the Tiny Tugboat 07:55 Pip Ahoy!

08:10 Little Princess 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:50 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 09:55 Milkshake! Bop Box 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 Cowboy Builders 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Stop! Police Interceptors 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS: Los Angeles 16:15 Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011) 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News Tonight 20:00 World War II in Colour 21:00 Conspiracy 22:00 Big Brother 23:30 Big Brother's Bit on the Side

gain, and again, and again!

Don’t get me wrong, I like Tim Wonnacott and did so before he trotted his own version of the light fantastic around the Strictly dance floor and made possibly the most gentlemanly and dignified of all exits when he left.

A true gentleman. His catchphrases such as “left­over lolly” and “let’s go bargain hunting, yes!” have become part of my own vocabulary. My Mum thinks I’m going ever so slightly bonkers on a market day, and really does draw the line when I insist she kicks her leg in the air at the same time as me!

I like Bargain Hunt too, in the same way that I like Homes under the Hammer but even this ardent fan is starting to get fed up with same old every day of the week.

And I do mean EVERY day.

I’m reminded of an old episode of The Goodies when, in the middle of the Cold War in the early ‘70s, they decided to open their own radio station (that sounds a good idea!

Hang on, the T­shirt is in the back of my cupboard) called Radio Goodies BUT place it in an underground nuclear bunker. They had a year’s supply of everything they needed, with one exception. Records. Well, they had one single 45rpm – A Walk in the Black Forest by Horst Jancowski. The three of them took turns at doing their shows with just the one record to play again, and again and again, each time with a slightly different intro and outro.

Friday 3rd July 00:35 This Week 01:20 Holiday Weatherview 01:25 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Crimewatch Roadshow 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Call the Council 12:45

Helicopter

Heroes

Down Under 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:45 Wimbledon 2015 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Would I Lie to You? 21:00 EastEnders 21:30 Celebrity MasterChef 23:00 BBC News 23:25 BBC London News; Weather 23:35 The Graham Norton Show

00:15 Weather 00:20 The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt 01:20 Panorama 01:50 An Hour to Save Your Life 02:50 The Met: Policing London 03:50 This Is BBC Two 04:30 Welcome to the World 05:00 David Starkey's Magna Carta 05:30 The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 06:00 Let's Kick Sum Maths 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Call the Council 08:45 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 09:15 Gardeners' World 09:45 Cowboys and Angels 10:15 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 Daily Politics 12:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:30 Wimbledon 2Day 22:30 Gardeners' World 23:00 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 23:30 Newsnight

The View

29

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

Saturday 4th July 00:25 SunTrap 00:55 Flatliners (1990) 02:45 Weather for the Week Ahead

00:00 Artsnight 00:30 Glastonbury 2015 02:30 Even the Rain (2010)

02:50 BBC News

04:10 Question Time

07:00 Breakfast

05:10 Protecting Our Foster

11:00 Saturday Kitchen Live

Kids

12:30 The Box

07:05 Animal Park

13:00 BBC News; Weather 13:10 Wimbledon 2015 19:40 BBC News 19:50 BBC London News; We-

07:35 Formula 1 09:15 Formula 1 10:55 Formula 1

ather

12:05 Wimbledon 2015

20:00 Prized Apart

13:10 Formula 1

21:00 The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins 21:50 Casualty 22:45 The John Bishop Show

15:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:30 Wimbledon 2Day 22:30 Top Gear

23:30 BBC News; Weather

23:45 Hunt v Lauda: F1's Gre-

23:50 Not Going Out

atest Racing Rivals

00:20 Room 101 - Extra Storage 01:00 The Hot Chick (2002) 02:40 Weather for the Week Ahead 02:45 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:00 The Andrew Marr Show 11:00 Sunday Morning Live 12:00 Sunday Politics 13:15 Formula 1 16:30 Prized Apart 17:30 Escape to the Country 18:00 Songs of Praise 18:35 Nature's Greatest Dancers 19:35 BBC News 19:50 BBC London News; Weather 20:00 Countryfile 21:00 Fake or Fortune?

22:00 A Song for Jenny 23:20 BBC News 23:40 BBC London News; Weather 23:50 Live at the Apollo

00:45 Grand Prix (1966)

Sunday 5th July

03:25 This Is BBC Two 07:15 Homes Under the Hammer 08:15 Big Dreams Small Spaces 09:15 Countryfile 10:15 Gardeners' World 10:45 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites 12:15 Weather for the Week Ahead 12:15 Formula 1 Rewind 13:20 Bargain Hunt 14:20 Athletics 15:20 Live Athletics 19:00 John Carter (2012) 21:00 Top Gear 22:00 Odyssey 22:45 Family Guy 23:25 Family Guy 23:50 Family Guy

00:10 The Hitcher (2007) 01:40 Jackpot247 04:00 Britain's Best Bakery 04:50 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Fort Boyard Ultimate Challenge 07:25 Pat & Stan 07:35 Dino Dan 08:00 Canimals 08:15 Sooty 08:30 Super 4 08:45 Fish Hooks 09:00 Young Justice: Invasion 09:25 ITV News 09:30 Weekend 10:25 Murder, She Wrote 11:20 Murder, She Wrote 12:15 The Jeremy Kyle Show 13:20 ITV News and Weather 13:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 14:25 Surprise Surprise 15:30 1000 Heartbeats 16:25 All Star Family Fortunes 17:10 This Is Lionel Richie 18:15 Catchphrase 19:00 ITV News London 19:15 ITV News and Weather 19:30 You've Been Framed!

20:00 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 23:00 ITV News and Weather 23:15 Black Work

00:05 Man Down 00:40 Pusher (2012) 02:15 Supernatural 03:05 The Hotel 04:00 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 04:55 The Renovation Game 05:50 Deal or No Deal 06:40 SuperScrimpers: Top Tips 06:50 Draw It! 07:15 How I Met Your Mother 08:30 The Grid 09:00 The Morning Line 10:00 Frasier 11:00 The Big Bang Theory 12:25 The Simpsons 13:55 Rude(ish) Tube 14:25 Channel 4 Racing 17:10 Come Dine with Me 19:40 Channel 4 News 20:00 Walking Through History 21:00 Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages 22:00 GI Joe: Retaliation (2013)

00:30 Big Brother 01:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:20 Jackass 05:45 House Doctor 07:00 Peppa Pig 07:05 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:20 Angelina Ballerina 07:30 Pip Ahoy!

07:45 The Mr Men Show 07:55 Chloe's Closet 08:05 Roobarb and Custard 08:15 Make Way for Noddy 08:30 Paw Patrol 08:50 Little Princess 09:00 Wanda and the Alien 09:15 Zack and Quack 09:30 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:45 Jelly Jamm 10:05 LazyTown 10:30 Dora and Friends 11:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11:35 Access 11:40 Cowboy Builders 14:35 Carry On Cabby (1963) 16:25 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) 19:10 5 News Weekend 19:15 Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords 20:10 Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away 21:05 Benefits 22:00 Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole 23:00 Big Brother

00:15 Burn after Reading (2008) 01:55 Jackpot247 04:00 Ejector Seat 04:45 ITV Nightscreen 07:00 Fort Boyard Ultimate Challenge 07:25 Pat & Stan 07:35 Dino Dan 08:00 Canimals 08:15 Sooty 08:30 Super 4 08:45 Fish Hooks 09:00 Young Justice: Invasion 09:25 ITV News 09:30 Weekend 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 13:30 ITV News and Weather 13:40 Love Your Garden 14:40 Long Lost Family 15:40 Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang (2010) 17:45 Midsomer Murders 19:45 ITV News London 19:55 ITV News and Weather 20:15 Catchphrase 21:00 Surprise Surprise 22:00 Black Work 23:00 ITV News and Weather 23:20 Bear Grylls: Mission Survive

00:10 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 02:45 The Last Leg 03:40 Hollyoaks 05:45 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 06:40 River Cottage Bites 06:55 How I Met Your Mother 08:10 Ginetta GT5 Challenge 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:30 Sunday Brunch 13:25 Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast 14:30 The Big Bang Theory 16:00 The Simpsons 17:30 Location, Location, Location 18:35 A Place in the Sun: Summer Sun 19:30 Channel 4 News 20:00 Kevin McCloud's Escape to the Wild 21:00 Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year 22:00 Humans 23:00 The Grey (2012)

00:00 Wedding Disaster Specials 01:00 Access 01:10 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 House Doctor 05:25 Make It Big 06:45 Angels of Jarm 07:00 Peppa Pig 07:05 Bananas in Pyjamas 07:20 Angelina Ballerina 07:30 Pip Ahoy!

07:45 The Mr Men Show 07:55 Chloe's Closet 08:05 Roobarb and Custard 08:15 Make Way for Noddy 08:25 Paw Patrol 08:40 Mio Mao 08:45 Little Princess 09:00 Wanda and the Alien 09:10 Olly the Little White Van 09:15 Zack and Quack 09:30 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:40 Jelly Jamm 09:55 LazyTown 10:25 Milkshake! Monkey 10:30 Dora and Friends 11:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11:35 Access 11:40 Police Interceptors 13:40 Kate & Leopold (2002) 15:50 Entrapment (1999) 18:05 Hercules (1997) 19:45 5 News Weekend 19:50 You, Me and Dupree 22:00 Big Brother 23:00 A Deadly Adoption

30

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

Monday 6th July 00:35 Don't Tell the Bride 01:35 Weather for the Week Ahead 01:40 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Neighbourhood Blues 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Call the Council 12:45 Helicopter Heroes Down Under 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:45 Wimbledon 2015 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Nigel Slater: Eating Together 21:00 EastEnders 21:30 Panorama 22:00 The Met: Policing London 23:00 BBC News 23:25 BBC London News; Weather 23:35 A Deadly Warning: Srebrenica Revisited

00:10 Family Guy

00:05 Have I Got Old News for You 00:35 The Graham Norton Show 01:25 Weather for the Week Ahead 01:30 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Neighbourhood Blues 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:30 7/7: The London Bombings Remembered 13:05 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:45 Wimbledon 2015 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 EastEnders 21:00 Holby City 22:00 The Syndicate 23:00 BBC News 23:25 BBC London News; Weather 23:35 Imagine: Beware of Mr Baker (2012

23:30 Newsnight

00:20 Piers Morgan's Life Stories 01:15 Jackpot247 04:00 Motorsport UK 04:50 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 11:55 ITV News 12:00 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News London 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Secret Dealers 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News London 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 Vet School 21:30 Coronation Street 22:00 Vicious 22:30 It's a Funny Old Week with Jason Manford 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News London 23:40 Plebs

01:15 Rude Tube 02:10 The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) 04:30 Come Dine with Me 06:45 River Cottage Bites 07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:30 The Big Bang Theory 11:30 Come Dine with Me 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:10 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Deal or No Deal 17:00 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 18:00 Couples Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 21:00 Dispatches 21:30 Superfoods: The Real Story 22:00 How to Get a Council House 23:00 Man Down 23:35 Tattoo Fixers

00:45 Assumed Killer (2013) 02:30 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 House Doctor 05:25 Make It Big 06:45 Angels of Jarm 07:00 The WotWots 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Lily's Driftwood Bay 07:30 Fireman Sam 07:40 Toot the Tiny Tugboat 07:50 Peppa Pig 07:55 Pip Ahoy!

08:10 Little Princess 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Milkshake! Monkey 08:50 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 Cowboy Builders 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 90 Cats and Counting: Cat Crazies 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 The Trail to Hope Rose (2004) 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News Tonight 20:00 Police Interceptors 21:00 Hiroshima: The Aftermath 22:00 Big Brother 23:00 Under the Dome

00:15 Weather 00:20 Odyssey 01:05 Watchdog 02:05 The BBC at War 03:05 This Is BBC Two 05:00 Schools - Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways 05:40 Schools - Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here 06:00 Ultimate Brain: Mad Lab - Mission Materials 06:30 Ultimate Brain: Mad Lab - It's Alive 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Call the Council 08:45 Helicopter Heroes Down Under 09:15 Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands 10:15 Victoria Derbyshire 11:30 Call the Council 12:15 Flog It! Travels Around Britain 12:30 Daily Politics 13:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:00 Wimbledon 2Day 22:00 The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt 23:00 Rev 23:30 Newsnight

00:10 The Jeremy Kyle Show USA 01:00 Jackpot247 04:00 The Jeremy Kyle Show 04:55 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 11:55 ITV News 12:00 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News London 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Secret Dealers 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News London 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 A Great Welsh Adventure with Griff Rhys Jones 21:00 Love Your Garden 22:00 Virgin Atlantic: Up in the Air 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News London 23:40 Benidorm

00:40 24 Hours in A&E 01:35 Child Genius 02:30 One Born Every Minute USA 03:20 Mary's Bottom Line 04:15 How Britain Worked 05:10 The Renovation Game 06:05 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:30 The Big Bang Theory 11:30 Come Dine with Me 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:10 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Deal or No Deal 17:00 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 18:00 Couples Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 21:00 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 22:00 Child Genius 23:00 Not Safe For Work 23:50 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

01:15 The 12-Year-Old Shopaholic 02:10 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 Wildlife SOS 05:25 Divine Designs 05:45 House Doctor 07:00 The WotWots 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Lily's Driftwood Bay 07:30 Fireman Sam 07:40 Toot the Tiny Tugboat 07:55 Pip Ahoy!

08:10 Little Princess 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Milkshake! Monkey 08:50 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 Cowboy Builders 13:15 Nightmare Tenants 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 Meltdown: Days of Destruction (2006) 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News Tonight 20:00 Police Interceptors 21:00 The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies 22:00 Benefits by the Sea: Jaywick 23:00 Big Brother

00:30 Match of the Day Live 03:30 Countryfile 04:30 Holby City 05:30 This Is BBC Two 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Call the Council 08:45 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 09:15 Escape to the Continent 10:15 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 Daily Politics 12:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:30 Wimbledon 2Day 22:30 Mock the Week 23:00 Episodes

Tuesday 7th July

The View

31

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

Wednesday 8th July 01:10 Weather for the Week

23:35 A Question of Sport

00:15 Weather 00:20 7/7: The London Bombings Remembered 01:05 The Super League Show 01:50 Antiques Roadshow 02:50 Napoleon 03:50 This Is BBC Two 05:00 Schools - Apprentice for a Day 05:40 Schools - Ultimate Brain: Mad Lab - Circle of Life 05:55 Schools - Ultimate Brain: Mad Lab - A Load of Old Rubbish 06:10 Schools: Ten Pieces 06:55 Schools - Wonders of Nature: Grass Cutter Ants - Teamwork 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Call the Council 08:45 Helicopter Heroes Down Under 09:15 See Hear 09:45 Antiques Roadshow Detectives 10:15 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 BBC News 12:30 The Budget 2015 16:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:00 Wimbledon 2Day 22:00 Children of the Gaza War 23:00 QI 23:30 Newsnight

00:40 Murder, She Wrote 01:35 Jackpot247 04:00 Loose Women 04:50 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 11:55 ITV News 12:00 This Morning 13:15 ITV News 14:55 ITV News London 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Secret Dealers 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News London 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 20:30 Coronation Street 21:00 The Cube 22:00 Long Lost Family 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News London 23:40 Pop Gold

00:50 Rude Tube 01:45 KOTV Boxing Weekly 02:15 Gillette World Sport 02:40 The Grid 03:05 Ginetta GT5 Challenge 03:35 Gadget Man 04:00 The Renovation Game 04:55 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 05:45 Deal or No Deal 06:35 Draw It! 07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:30 Frasier 10:30 The Big Bang Theory 11:30 Come Dine with Me 13:00 Channel 4 News Summary 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:10 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Deal or No Deal 17:00 A Place in the Sun 18:00 Couples Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 21:00 The Autistic Gardener 22:00 24 Hours in A&E 23:00 From Russia with Cash

01:00 Benefits 02:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 Wildlife SOS 05:25 Divine Designs 05:45 House Doctor 07:00 The WotWots 07:10 Igam Ogam 07:20 Lily's Driftwood Bay 07:30 Fireman Sam 07:40 Toot the Tiny Tugboat 07:50 Peppa Pig 07:55 Pip Ahoy!

08:10 Little Princess 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Milkshake! Monkey 08:50 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 Cowboy Builders 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Trauma Doctors 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 FBI: Negotiator (2005) 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News Tonight 20:00 Cricket on 5 21:00 My Million Pound Council House 22:00 Nightmare Tenants 23:00 Big Brother

00:05 The Met: Policing London 01:05 Weather for the Week Ahead 01:10 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Neighbourhood Blues 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Call the Council 12:45 Helicopter Heroes Down Under 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:45 Wimbledon 2015 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 Britain Beneath Your Feet 21:30 EastEnders 22:00 Celebrity MasterChef 23:00 BBC News 23:25 BBC London News; Weather 23:35 Question Time

00:15 Weather 00:20 The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt 01:20 See Hear 01:50 Kate Humble: Living with Nomads 02:50 A Song for Jenny 04:10 This Is BBC Two 05:00 Exploring the House of Commons 06:00 Schools - Titch and Ted Do Maths: Measurements 06:30 Schools - Titch and Ted Do Maths: Fraction 07:00 Homes Under the Hammer 08:00 Call the Council 08:45 Flog It! Trade Secrets 09:15 Natural World 10:15 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 BBC News 12:30 Daily Politics 13:30 Wimbledon 2015 21:00 Wimbledon 2Day 22:00 Coast 23:00 Mock the Week 23:30 Newsnight

00:40 Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green 01:10 Jackpot247 03:30 British Touring Car Championship Highlights 04:45 ITV Nightscreen 06:05 The Jeremy Kyle Show 07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 11:55 ITV News 12:00 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 ITV News and Weather 14:55 ITV News London 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Secret Dealers 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 ITV News London 19:30 ITV News and Weather 20:00 Emmerdale 21:00 Coronation Street 21:30 Big Box Little Box 22:00 Superhospital 23:00 ITV News at Ten and Weather 23:30 ITV News London 23:40 The Late Debate

00:00 How to Get a Council House 01:00 Four to the Floor 01:30 One Born Every Minute USA 02:15 Somewhere (2010) 03:55 The Renovation Game 04:50 Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners 05:45 River Cottage Bites 06:00 Deal or No Deal 06:50 Countdown 07:30 Will & Grace 08:20 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:15 Frasier 10:15 The Big Bang Theory 11:10 Come Dine with Me 12:50 Channel 4 News Summary 12:55 Come Dine with Me 14:00 Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 15:00 Channel 4 Racing 17:00 A Place in the Sun 18:00 Couples Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 Channel 4 News 21:00 Grand Designs 22:00 Married at First Sight 23:00 True Stories

01:00 Benefits by the Sea: 02:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Big Brother 05:00 Wildlife SOS 05:25 Divine Designs 05:45 House Doctor 07:00 The WotWots 07:20 Lily's Driftwood Bay 07:30 Fireman Sam 07:40 Toot the Tiny Tugboat 07:55 Pip Ahoy!

08:10 Little Princess 08:20 The Mr Men Show 08:35 Thomas & Friends 08:45 Milkshake! Monkey 08:50 Noddy in Toyland 09:00 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom 09:15 Peppa Pig 09:35 Toby's Travelling Circus 09:45 Bananas in Pyjamas 10:00 Tickety Toc 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:10 Cowboy Builders 13:10 5 News Lunchtime 13:15 Conspiracy 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 Lone Rider (2008) 18:00 5 News at 5 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 5 News Tonight 20:00 Cricket on 5 21:00 Benefits 22:00 Big Brother 23:00 Person of Interest 23:55 Big Brother's Bit on the Side

Ahead 01:15 BBC News 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Neighbourhood Blues 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 11:45 Call the Council 12:30 Wimbledon 2015 14:00 BBC News; Weather 14:20 Wimbledon 2015 19:00 BBC News 19:30 BBC London News 20:00 The One Show 21:00 Don't Tell the Bride 22:00 The Interceptor 23:00 BBC News 23:25 BBC London News; Weather

Thursday 9th July

32

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

fashion forward

DAINTY FLORAL JEWELLERY FEMININE CHARMS. THIS SEASON IT IS ALL ABOUT SAYING IT WITH FLOWERS-FROM BOLD FLOWERY PRINTS TO DELICATE EMBROIDERY. PRICES FROM 10 Euros to 153 Euros.

ACCESSORIES Blooms continue to flourish on clothing and accessories for summer, but this season, they are taking on a darker mood, blossoming from black­as­night backgrounds in a riot of vintage­inspired greens, deep pinks and creams.

BHS – TANKINI – 22 Euros – www.bhs.co.uk

Rose Feather Earrings, £118 (153€). Rose Heart and Cubic Zirconia studs, £70 (91 Eur). www.robertocavalli.com Rose Rose Feather Ring, £85 (110€r) Charm Bracelet, £65 (84€) with Rose Rose Bow Ring, £55 (70€).

Charms, from £40 (52€) Statement Ster­ All Pandora. www.pandora.net ling Silver Ring £75 (97€). Daisy Ring with

Rose Feather Pendant, £109 (140 Eur) with Sterling Silver Chain, £75 (97€), both Pandora.

LANDSEND LEAF PRINT MASTECTOMY SWIMSUIT­ 48 Euros­

Cubic Zirconia, £55 (71€), all Pandora.

DEBENHAMS COLLECTION www.debenhams.co.uk Van PETERSEN Necklace – 30 Eur

www.landsend.co.uk

BHS – ORCHID PRINT BEACH BAG – 18 Euros

Floozie by Frost French, 22 Eur.

RingButterfly by Matthew Williamson ­10 Eur.

Gold Ring Debenhams Collection Van PETERSEN earrings ­20 Eur. ­ 10 Eur. LORAL JEWELS by Carol Woolton: new book unfurls the history of flowers in fine jewellery.

A new book by British Vogue jewellery editor Carol Woolton delves into the world of floral jewellery through the eyes of the world’s leading designers.

From Chanel’s camellia to Christian Dior’s lily of the valley, flowers have been a constant source of inspiration to jewellers throughout the ages. This lavish book is the perfect gift for anyone who is passionate about jewellery. £24 (31 euros) www.amazon.co.uk

F

MODAINPELLE­ YELLOW BAG – was 75 Euros NOW 63 Euros www.modainpelle.com

VISIT THE ABOVE WEBSITES FOR LATEST SALE PRICES – NOW ON!

The View

33

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

POSH BATHING

WETROOMS

A wet­room has no rule or design format, a true wetroom is just a completely watertight room or area simply furnished with a shower and a glass panel to deflect water, and usually the starting point for a steam room construction, there is no conventional shower tray as such but a shower area, in most cases a dedicated sub­base which ensures continuation of the

floor.

Safety in a wetroom is of paramount importance too, for those amongst us a little usteady or just aching more than usual, but don’t want that standard clinic look but more rather a Hotel Spa fee, use stunning non­ slip tiles from Porcelanso .

Give your bathroom a refined appeal with slick bathroom essentials:-

Pigeon & Poodel­Atwater Soap Dish­ Silver Leaf – 120€ www.amara.es

Pigeon & Poodel – Tifton Tis­ sue Box – Natural Rattan – 132€ www.amara.es

Aquanova­ Taco Beauty Box – 22 Euros. www.amara.es

Prices on request. www.porcelanso.com

BHS ESPANA ­ Santorini Soap dish ­7€. Tumbler – 10€. Soap Dispenser ­13€.

Toilet Brush – 26€. www.bhs.co.uk

LUXURIOUS BATHING

Bathrooms by PORCELANOSA Group are conceived from a uniquely creative perspective and are created for design lovers while being highly functional.

Fitted or free­standing, acrylic or manufactured from advanced materials these bathrooms are designed to create delightful spaces that can meet every need.

There is also a wide range of hydro massage bathtubs that combine different equipment, such as water or air jets and chromotherapy systems, designed to revitalise, tone and relax the body after a hard day’s work, or can simply be used to enjoy one of the best moments of the day.

Price on application at www.porcelanosa.com

Carolines view on..... No Makeup Skincare T

his is a must buy for anyone over 40 –Love it!

Will this make­up slash your morning regime and beauty spend by half ?

Doctor's revolutionary range includes foundation to boost collagen and concealer to fight lines • Dr. Nicholas Perricone has created No Makeup Skincare • Addresses common yet concealed ageing concern: loss of youthful colour • £45 foundation contains Neuropeptides, which boost collagen

From serums and day creams to foundations and contouring palettes, the beauty industry is booming with products that promise to turn back the clock and help women cheat a healthy glow.

But for ladies who don't have the time or the bank balance for an extensive regime, one doctor thinks he has the answer.

Dr. Nicholas Perricone, who is loved by the A­list, believes he has the answer to busy women's beauty woes with his latest offering.

34

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

Mechoui lamb

This tender, tasty Mechoui lamb is awesome with the fresh carrot and orange salad

Ingredients 1 quality shoulder

fresh thyme sprigs,

of lamb, approxima­ leaves picked tely 2.5kg

A few sprigs fresh

50 g smen or butter, rosemary, leaves

Preheat your oven to full whack. Place the lamb shoulder in a large roasting tray, skin side up. Rub your smen or butter all over the meat until completely covered, then sprinkle over your cumin and coriander. Pound your salt and thyme leaves in a pestle and mortar and rub all those flavours all over the lamb, along with the rosemary leaves and a few good pinches of pepper.

Smash your garlic bulb open, separate the cloves and push them into the butter on the lamb. Pour around 100mls of water into the bottom of the tray and snugly cover the lamb with a double layer of foil. Put the tray into

at room tempera­

picked

ture

Freshly ground

1 heaped teaspoon

black pepper

ground cumin, plus

1 bulb garlic

extra to serve

4 flatbreads

1 heaped teaspoon

½ pomegranate,

ground coriander,

seeds of

plus extra to serve

250 g Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons

1 small handful

harissa

your hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. You'll need to cook a shoulder this size for around 3 hours in total. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking. When the skin is nice and crisp and the meat is falling off the bone and deliciously tender it's ready.

Leave to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, covered loosely with the foil. While it's resting, make the salad. Using a speed peeler or mandolin, or the grater or julienne cutter of your food processor if you've got one, shred your carrots as finely as possible into a bowl. Dress them with the orange juice, a good lug of extra virgin olive oil, a splash of red

wine vinegar, the mint leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper, then toss and take to the table or divide between your plates.

Use forks to shred the lamb. Warm your flatbreads in the oven or a hot dry pan for 30 seconds or so on each side until warm and soft, then sort of scrunch each one into a rough cone shape, like in the picture. Lift up the top pocket so you can stuff in some lamb, and top with a few pomegranate seeds. Dollop some yoghurt on the side of the plate, drizzle with a little harissa and a pinch of cumin and coriander and you've got a killer meal.

Devil's double choc malt cookies Ingredients

50 g unsalted butter 200 g quality dark chocolate (70%) 1 x 396 g tin of condensed milk 25 g ground almonds 2 heaped teaspoons Horlicks 200 g self­raising flour 100 g Malteasers 50 g quality white chocolate

Method

Melt the butter and chocolate in a pan on a low heat until smooth and combined, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the condensed milk, followed by the almonds and Horlicks. Sift in the flour and a pinch of sea salt, mix together, then chill in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes (no longer). Once cool, but still pliable,

smash up the Maltesers and roughly chop the white chocolate, then mix it all together.

Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3. Divide the mixture into 24 equal­sized balls and place on a couple of large baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Flatten each a little – like squashed golf balls (you can freeze them at this stage to bake another day if you like) – then bake for around 12 minutes, or until chewy in the middle and firm at the edges. Leave to sit in the tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

If you want to take these devilish cookies to another level, either sandwich 2 cookies with a good spoonful of your favourite ice cream, or even some homemade marshmallow, and squeeze… heaven, or simply drizzle all the cookies with melted chocolate while they cool… amazing!

The View

35

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

THE T

ABC

S

of

Fine Dining

he food world can often seem intimidating. Sous­vide cooking? Beef carpaccio?

The terminology found within menus is sometimes off­putting, and you'll find yourself wishing you had a dictionary when ordering. Luckily, we've done the legwork and created a glossary just for you. Bon appetite.

Béchamel n. a white sauce made with a roux of butter and flour cooked in milk, it is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine and is used as the base for other sauces and soufflés.

That eggplant lasagne with béchamel sauce was rich and addicting.

Burrata n. a traditional Italian cheese with a solid outer shell and rich, creamy centre made from mozzarella and cream. It’s typically served at room temperature.

The burrata's buttery centre oozed out at the touch of a knife.

Carpaccio n. an appetizer made of raw meat or fish that's been thinly sliced and pounded thin. It's traditionally marinated with lemon and olive oil and topped with thin shavings of white truffle or Parmesan cheese.

We couldn't decide on an appetizer, so we ordered both salmon and sirloin carpaccio.

Confit n. the term confit (pronounced "kon­ fee") derives from the French verb confire, which simply means to preserve. Confit is a generic term for various kinds of food that have been cooked in oil or sugar water. Sealed and stored in a cool, dark place, confit can last

for several months. A favourite method of preparing meat (especially duck) in pre­ fridge France was to preserve it in its own fat.

It's similar to maceration, but instead of infusing alcohol with fruit, you're infusing meat with fat and flavour.

Escargot n. a French dish of cooked land snails. The snails are removed from their shells, cooked in a garlicky parsley and butter sauce and placed back into the shells for serving.

The escargots were so tasty that not a drop was left in the dish. After eating every single snail from its shell, we soaked up all of the leftover sauce with bread.

Gelato n. while ice cream is made with cream and eggs and contains at least a 10 percent fat content, gelato is made with mostly milk and hardly any eggs, so it's lower in fat. Ice cream is churned fast to let in air and pump up the volume, lending it a light, fluffy quality. Gelato is slow­churned, which causes it to be denser, milkier and slower to melt.

A rich, creamy scoop of gelato holds up longer to the hot Caribbean sun than ice cream.

Foie gras n. a spread made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. Foie gras is a popular and well­ known delicacy in French cuisine. Its flavour is described as rich, buttery and delicate, unlike that of an ordinary duck or goose liver.

Foie gras spread on a piece of crisp toast feels so indulgent that I can only eat it once a month, otherwise, I’ll feel too gluttonous.

Sous vide adj. a method of treating food by

partial cooking followed by vacuum­sealing and chilling. Cooking sous vide is easier than its fancy name might suggest. You simply seal the ingredients in a plastic bag (you can also use a canning jar) and place them in a water bath, a combi oven, or any other cooker that can set and hold a target temperature to within a degree or two. Modern chefs love sous­vide cooking because you will have perfectly cooked proteins every time.

Our party opted for sous­vide steak, and each piece of meat was cooked to perfection; a warm­ pink centre for medium dishes and a bright­pink filet for those who ordered it rare.

Truffle n. a fancy, pricey mushroom. The mention of truffles conjures up images of the expensive French black truffle from the Perigord region of France, or the renowned odorous white truffle of Alba, in the Piedmont region of Italy. This prized delicacy is most often found with the help of trained pigs or dogs.

A modest sprinkling of truffles makes even the humblest dish great, especially eggs or pasta.

36 SIT LESS AND WALK MORE

W

e’re all guilty of this, particularly at this time of the year in the heat of the Spanish summer, where the comfort of a seat on the patio or in fan or air­conditioned luxury, is much preferred to any form of exercise. UK national press at the beginning of the week detailed how the younger generation are ignoring basic health issues, but specialists are warning that it’s not just the tech­obsessed young who are taking a risk.

A recent report from the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has found that 56% of people aged 55 and over agree that, simply sitting still for too long has the most negative impact on their back health, acting as a trigger for 36% of those who have experienced back or neck pain. With 27% of people aged 55 and over suffering

with back or neck pain saying they feel pain ‘every day’, the BCA is encouraging people to take the simple step of spending more time walking.

Chiropractor Tim Hutchful says: “As you continue to age it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the sooner you commit to being more active the better.

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015 Consider taking up a new sport which will give gentle exercise whilst keeping you moving and flexible or, quite simply, start walking more! Injecting even a little more activity will provide immediate benefits and gives you the springboard to increase your activity according to your capabilities.”

Now the BCA has shared these top tips to help walk your way to a healthier back and neck: • Walk don’t run: Walking is less strenuous on the joints than other forms of exercise and is weight bearing therefore helping to maintain bone density.

• Top up your daily routine: Adding just a few minutes walking to your daily routine could be of benefit. For example, walk to the shops instead of driving; try walking a little faster to boost the exercise benefit; take the stairs instead of the lift.

• Invest in walking poles:

The View Walking poles help you to maintain an upright position and also keep your arms moving, increasing the health benefits and helping to maintain a good posture.

• Keep hydrated: As you walk, it’s important that you top up your fluids as the body works better when well hydrated. Your muscles and joints will work more efficiently and for longer.

• Walk heel to toe: Walking so your heel strikes the floor first and then pushing off your toes allows your foot to act as a shock absorber and helps to push you forwards.

• Buy the right footwear: Make sure your shoes are flat, supportive and flexible.

• Get outside: Walking in the sunshine can help to top up your vitamin D levels – which is good for your bones. Just remember to stay sun­safe and use sunscreen though.

Having back or neck problems?

Check out the advertisement on Page 42.

EXERCISE COULD BE TOO LATE Mobile phone health dangers

T

raditionally, members of the human race are not sedentary creatures.

Our ancestors occupied their time farming, building and hunting but they evolved. Thirty years ago, we had to get up to move around to do the simplest things, like changing the TV channel and go shopping. Now, it’s just a few buttons for this and a quick check on a website for that.

Another report on this page shows some of the down sides of sitting down and suggestions for improving your health. But have our habits just gone too far that exercising is now too late to undo the underlying problems?

A 2011 study from the American Cancer Society, who studied the health outcomes of more than 120,000 people during a 14­year period, found that men and women who sit for more than six hours a day were, respectively, 20% and 40% more likely to die during the course of the study, than those who sat less than three hours a day.

This conclusion is supported by a study currently running in the annals of Internal Medicine that examined 47 studies analyzing the relationship between physical inactivity and mortality. The researchers found that sedentary lifestyle increases people’s risk to diseases or health conditions that can result in premature death – even with exercise.

They found out that individuals who spend their day sitting were found to be 24% at risk to early death (usually due to type 2

diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses related to sedentary lifestyle), than those who sat less.

Just how does sitting, relaxing, taking it easy actually ruin your body?

As soon as you sit down, your leg muscles immediately become idle as all the electrical activity shuts off. In adition to that, the amount of calories you burn drops to just one every minute and the important enzymes that help the body break down fat decline significantly at a rate of 90%!

After just two hours of sitting down – an average amount of time for a majority of people – what is known as your good cholesterol, the fats you need to help remove the bad counterparts which block and cause plaque build up, drop to 20%.

Health experts offer a simple suggestion: take note of how much time you are sitting and make it a goal to reduce that number a bit every day. If sitting is part of your work, give your legs a break by standing or walking around for at least a minute every half an hour.

ARE YOU SURE? YES, RICKSHAW R ickshaws have arrived in Exeter, and it is all to do with getting those feeling stuck in care homes out to Exeter's busy spots.

The Cycling without Age (CWA) project is linked with the Ride On charity which is based in Exeter and aims to work with care homes to get elderly people out and about to aid health and well­ being.

The project, based on the Quay, hopes to have two rickshaws eventually; a grant of £6,000 from the Exeter Board funded the first rickshaw which means that the scheme in the city is the first across the UK to become active.

For the rickshaw’s trial run the ‘customer’ was Robert Blackmore who lives at Greenslades Nursing Home. The rickshaws

M

any health articles have concentrated on the possible damage to the health of mobile phone users from levels of radiation, but what about posture? Did you know that you could be forcing up to 60 pounds of unnecessary stress on your spine?

We’ve all seen it and some reading this may be guilty themselves, but there are a group of people that can be slumped over their Smartphone’s between two and four hours a day. There are extreme cases when the average can be up to 10 hours.According to a study by the Surgical Technology International Journal, this can result in temporary and longer lasting damage to the spine.

The average adult head weighs between 10 to 12 pounds and that’s the same weight of the pressure put on your spine when sitting or standing upright with a perfect posture.

Any tilt of the head increases the apparent weight that your spine needs to support and the pressure is not doing it any good at all.

According to the study, tilting your head 15 degrees forward would increase the

can carry two passengers and operates on the basis that everyone, no matter their age, should be able to enjoy the wind in their hair.

CWA was started by Ole Kassow in Denmark as a way of helping nursing home residents get back into society. As a cycling Copenhagener for whom the bicycle as transport is a necessity, Ole felt the need to help those with limited mobility. His solution was a classic Copenhagen style rickshaw! He was inspired by an elderly man, Thorkild, from his local nursing home and he offered to take him for a ride which led to other residents wanted a ride, too.

Before he knew it, Cycling Without Age spread to many cities in Denmark and beyond. There are now 25 cities in 14 countries that have been granted a royalty free license to give their elderly in their local nursing homes the same fantastic experience.

amount of stress to 27 pounds. Tilt 30 degrees and it becomes 40 pounds. Tilt 45 degrees and it becomes 49 pounds and if you move even further and tilt your head 60 degrees, it becomes 60 pounds. The worse news is a lot of people do tilt their head at 60 degrees in order to focus on their Smartphone.

The chief of spinal surgery at New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine and author of the study, Kenneth K. Hansraj, M.D., noted that the practice has a lot of negative effects. Not only can that cause a literal pain in your neck, but it also puts stress on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

It’s not all bad news for addicts of Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, as just the slightest adjustment can make all the difference. The recommendation is to always use your phone with the proper posture, that means to have your shoulder blades and your shoulders aligned and your back in neutral position. This might put a little stress on your arms for lifting your Smartphone higher, but that’s the reason these gadgets are becoming lighter!

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

37

IT’S YOUR PAGE...

BUSSACO M

By Barry Haslam-Walker

y Traveler was in Madrid, it was September 26, 2010.

The old part of the City provided the perfect atmosphere for his research on the Peninsula wars, fought between the combined British, Portuguese and Spanish forces against the might of the French occupation of Spain in 1807.

Spain was once an ally of France, her naval fleet had combined with the French at the battle of Trafalgar in October of 1805, which resulted in a resounding defeat by the British under Lord Admiral Nelson.

It was left to Wellington that the Peninsula wars were fought, initially head of the British and Portuguese forces. The Spanish refused to accept Wellington as head of their own armies, instead, fighting the French alone with humiliating and disastrous results. Eventually and reluctantly they gave in and accepted Wellington as head of the three combined forces.

BUSSACO PALACE HOTEL

LORD NELSON

Napoleon recognized the power of the British navy, which he knew he could never defeat. But if he could deny them access to the ports of Portugal on the Atlantic and the ports of Spain on the Mediterranean, their powers would be considerable reduced.

The Spanish King Carlos IV, was a weak and uncertain fool and constantly at odds with his son Fernando VII. Napoleon played on this weakness and on the duplicity and corruption of the Spanish Government. With the promise of annexing Portugal to Spain, Napoleon came with his armies. Carlos IV was forced to abdicate to France and for a short few weeks his son Fernando became King. Spain was a rotten fruit easily picked and Napoleon placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain.

KING CARLOS IV So began the seeds of what became known as the Peninsula wars, fought throughout the period 1808 to1814.

Napoleon had many experienced Marshals and Generals, Britain had but two, General Moore, killed at the retreat to Corunna in January of 1809 and Arthur Wellesley, later created Viscount Wellington after the battle of Talavera in August 1809.

My Traveler had already visited the battle sites of Talavera and Salamanca and was now on the road to Portugal to the small town of Bussaco. It was a four hour drive and he booked into the Palace Hotel situated on the top of the Bussaco ridge, where the battle was fought on the 27 September 1810.

After a leisurely lunch, My Traveler took a welcome siesta, before preparing for a jog along the top of the 10 mile long ridge. He was dressed typically with designer track suit and trainers. Looping back to the Hotel, he visited the site where Wellington had commanded the battle and to the small Convent where he had retired for the night.

The evening was balmy, My Traveler was drowsy and he stretched out on a ledge inside the Convent and let his mind wander to that evening exactly 200 years ago to the day.

CRACK ………… a very sharp and hard blow to the ribs brought him instantly awake and doubled up in pain.

Struggling to get his breath and totally confused at the assault, all he could discern were a group of menacing soldiers milling around and guns, or was it muskets aimed at him.

“Sergeant, who is this man and what the hell is he doing in Wellington’s quarters – Frog spy is he?”

Wits gradually returning, My Traveler found himself in the midst of what he could only assume was a historical film set.

He recognized the military attire of the British soldiers from the time of the Peninsula wars. Spot on, even down to the Brown Bess muskets.

BUT ………..the noise, the shouts, the sounds, the smells, horses and the rattle of wagons, bivouac fires, this was no organized film set this was for real!

Any explanations were cut short, “Sergeant take this man to the rear and put him under guard, we’ll deal with him after we’ve dealt with the Frogs”.

My Traveler was literally elbow lifted off the ground and ‘frog’ marched to a small group of soldiers milled around a bivouac. These were hardened soldiers, years of campaigns

had worn all the sharp edges, they had seen it all and this stranger posed no threat, only curiosity.

“Sit thee down mate and tell us what’s a fancy pants doing in this neck of the woods. There’s going to be a right pounding soon, you’ll need more than a bit o’ luck to come through, but with ‘Nosy’ in charge you’ve got a chance”.

My Traveler told his story, his year 2010 and the Peninsula Wars, the battles, even that Wellington would win – but they knew that, he always did!

A young Ensign joined them, he had pencil and drawing pad and was known as a gifted artist, recording scenes of life in the army, campaigns and battles. The strange attire of My Traveler and his fantasy stories would make a good contribution to his collection.

NIGHT ATTACK ……… crack of muskets, shouts, orders and the troops assembling and arming to repulse the enemy.

Charging forwards in the teeth of musketry fire, My Traveler was caught up in the excitement and was carried along unarmed, but without any thought of safety only sheer impulse to be part of the fight.

WHAM ………. a musket fired at short range lifted him off his feet and then all was black.

Then all was white ­ white room, white sheets, a nurse and doctor in white ?

Gradually and groggily coming around, he tried to piece where he was and what he was doing, one moment in the middle of an 1810 battle, the next in a hospital room with a doctor at the foot of his bed reading his medical chart.

The doctor noticed the confusion in the eyes and in a friendly manner welcomed him back to the world of consciousness. The doctor spoke in English, having seen the documents the Traveler was carrying when he was brought in. Brought into emergency with a very nasty bullet wound in the upper thigh.

“You are a very lucky man to be still alive, the bullet missed the main artery by millimeters. Even so, you lost a huge amount of blood not to mention savage damage to the bone, flesh and muscles”.

“One very strange thing is that it was not caused by any modern bullet, but by an antique lead musket ball. Out of use hundreds of years ago and I am afraid the police will be wanting to talk with you once you are better recovered”.

The police were neither believing nor amused at the tale the Traveler told, who would, but as there was no trace of evidence of an assailant or any sign of 200 year old lingering Frenchmen, they reluctantly gave up and the incident was logged as unsolved.

“Keepsake for you”, said the doctor, handing over the lead musket ball extracted from the Travelers leg. The ball was heavy, near an inch in diameter and no wonder so much damage was done.

Several days more in the hospital recuperating, before friends from Madrid came over to bring him back. They were also amused at the tale and being good friends feigned belief so as not to disturb the recovery.

Months passed and additional battle sites had been visited.

The memory of Bussaco was fading, but the limp and lead musket ball tied around his neck was a painful reminder that could never go away.

Every Sunday, Madrid hosts the ‘Rastro’, the biggest open air flea market in Europe, where anything and everything can be bought and sold.

This Sunday My Traveler was browsing amongst the second hand bookstalls when he noticed an old, torn and overlarge book full of sketches and annotations in English. The faded title read ‘Sketches and Memories of the Peninsular Wars 1808 to 1814 by Ensign the Rt. Hon Russell Tayler artist and recorder to the office of Viscount Wellington’.

Hands shaking he picked up the book and slowly and carefully leafed through the worn pages of sketches, notations, diagrams and hand drawn maps.

AND THERE …….. a group of soldiers sittings around a bivouac, fading light, but the central figure was unmistakable.

My Traveler with his designer track suit, trainers and wrist watch.

But it was the eyes that bore out of the sketch: CAPTURED AND FRIGHTENED IN A PAST TIME AND PLACE

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

THE BIG CROSS WORD

4. Who In The World Of Music Has The Real Name 'Marshal Mathers'?

5. With Which Teen Band Did Bobby Brown Sing With Before Going Solo?

6. Who Sang With Glen Campbell On His No.3 Hit 'All I Have To Do Is

8. Who Had A Uk No.1 In January 1975 With The Track 'January'?

9. Who Sang 'Neutron Dance' From The Movie Beverly Hills Cop'?

10. Paul Young Was Once A Member Of Which Band Was It The Q Tips Or The Q Jumpers?

11. Which Rap Band Originally Entitled Their 1986 Debut Album 'Don't Be A Faggot' Until Their Distributor Refused To Accept 12. In The Beatles Song 'Penny Lane'' What Does The Fireman Have In His Pocket?

Answers:

3. Name The Band: Andy Summers, Gordon Sumner, Stewart Copeland?

7. Who Released Their Debut 'The Prince' On 2 Tone In 1979?

1. East 17 2. N Sync 3. The

Attached' In 2000?

Dream'?

Police 4. Eminem 5. New

2. Which American R&B/Pop Quintet Released The Album 'No Strings

1 Which freshwater lake on the California­Nevada border takes its name from the Washo Indian word meaning ‘big water’? (5) 2 What name is given to a

Edition 6. Bobbie Gentry 7.

1. Which Boyband Released An Album Entitled 'Walthamstow'' In 1992?

Down

Madness 8. Pilot 9. The

MUSIC QUIZ

space? (5,4) 24 What name was given to young people in the 1950s and early 1960s belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation? (8)

Pointer Sisters 10. The Q Tips

recorded, typically electronic instrumental backing? (3) 22 In computing, what name is given to a small picture of an image or page layout? (9) 23/18 What is the name of the first American woman to fly into outer

11. The Beastie Boys 12. A

1 What name is given to newspapers having pages half the size of those of the average broadsheet, typically popular in style and dominated by sensational stories? (8) 7/11 Which Welsh­born poet was the author of the ‘play for voices’ Under Milk Wood? (5,6) 8 From the Greek for ‘the many’, which phrase is often used to describe the common people generally? (3,6) 9 Which snake­like fish with a slender elongated body and poorly developed fins is renowned for its slipperiness? (3) 10 Which word means a feeling of strong eagerness, usually in favour of a person or cause? (4) 11 See 7 13 What name is given to a drill for cutting circular holes around a centre? (6) 14 Which word derived from the French for ‘again’, means an extra or repeated performance, usually given in response to audience demand? (6) 17 What word meaning to descend a rock face using a doubled rope coiled round the body and fixed at a higher point, comes from the German for ‘down’ and ‘rope’? (6) 18 See 23 20 In what type of popular music of US black origin are words recited rapidly and rhythmically over a pre­

subdivision of an army, typically consisting of a small number of infantry battalions and typically forming part of a division? (7) 3 Which slender woodwind instrument has a conical bore and a double­reed mouthpiece? (4) 4 Which ancient Greek city on the slopes of Mount Parnassus was the site of the Temple of Apollo? (6) 5 With what type of music would you principally associate Bessie Smith and Sonny Boy Williams? (5) 6 What name is given to an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it? (7) 7 Singer/songwriter Noah Kaminsky is better known as Neil who? (7) 12 Which word means of or relating to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge? (7) 13 What name is given to a female tiger? (7) 15 What name is given to the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures? (7) 16 Which period of time is equal to 60 seconds or a 60th of an hour? (6) 17 New York is often referred to as the Big what? (5) 19 Ruth who was the last woman to be hanged in Britain? (5) 21 What word means to encourage or assist someone to do something wrong, in particular to commit a crime or other offence? (4)

Portrait Of The Queen

Across

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39

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

SUDOKU

FILL-IT-IN

Complete the crossword grid by using the given words:

2 letter words To Up 3 letter words Amp Ant Ate Cue Den Doe Due Emu Fin Ice Ion Its Lea Mot Nab

Our Pax Pea Sap Sup Tau Tis Tog Ups Yap 4 letter words Adam Alas Apex Apse Aria Arid Aunt Bras

Cape Dole Drag Euro Even Glee Lost Lull Luxe None Odds Omen Opal Pace Plea Pore Romp Slap Slim

Cryptic

Across 1 Valuable things Tessa’s sorted out (6) 4 Moved quickly and traded tentatively (6) 9 A plot of land or a vehicle to drive over it (7) 10 Clipped trees replaced (5) 11 Screen is back before the day before (5) 12 Cover ran back and score (7) 13 Squealer knits her pop a small jumper (11) 18 Australia began before it became bleak and forbidding (7) 20 Sample some of the pasta’s texture (5) 22 Ron is not actor Jeremy (5) 23 Good position for a servant, a gentleman found (7) 24 The man and two journalists paid attention (6) 25 A succulent Teen Tuna Ugly 5 letter words Costs Sting Upset 6 letter words Cellar Sesame 7 letter words Explain Footpad Legatee Topless 8 letter words Ravenous Seaplane

primarily causes a child to use soap (6) Down 1 Act as witness at critical trial (6) 2 Hades could be in semi­darkness (5) 3 Del Boy’s family have no registered Rolls (7) 5 Service centre? (5) 6 Outdoor area where a caterer served up (7) 7 Fuel from Leeds I used (6) 8 The Parisians depart, apparently without permission (6,5) 14 Bring back from hardware store (7) 15 Favourite lady introduced single flower (7) 16 Breakfast treat for Hamlet? (6) 17 Cuts off perpetually in the ship (6) 19 The Spanish head of state, that is Doris’s sister (5) 21 It’s shrewd to reverse street cars (5)

Standard

Across 1 Possessions (6) 4 Dashed (6) 9 Farm vehicle (7) 10 Succinct (5) 11 Strainer (5) 12 Tell (7) 13 Plant­eating insect (11) 18 Stark (7) 20 Flavour (5) 22 Metal shackles (5) 23 Benefit (7) 24 Listened to (6)

The Big Crossword Answers

25 Desert plant (6) Down 1 Prove (6) 2 Semi­darkness (5) 3 Staggers (7) 5 Communion table (5) 6 Veranda (7) 7 Type of fuel (6) 8 Departure without permission (6,5) 14 Renovate (7) 15 Garden flower (7) 16 Type of pastry (6) 17 Cuts off (6) 19 Girl’s name (5) 21 Clever (5)

Last weeks Crossword Solution

Sudoku Solution

40

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

CAPTION COMPETITION THE VIEW has reproduced an image taken from one of this week’s major news stories.

We’re challenging you to come up with a caption to fit.

We’ll publish our favourite suggestion next week.

E­mail your wit to editor@theview.es or send them to Apartado de Correos 255, 03193 San Miguel de Salinas. Alicante.

THE VIEW has reproduced an image taken from the recent Glastonbury Festival.

Last week’s image was of Sir Winston Churchill’s statue in the middle of the anti­austerity demonstration. The entry that made us giggle the most came in from George Watson in San Miguel.

“Get ‘orf. You’re not fit to lick my boots, let alone stand on them”

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

Ugly cars you might just want to buy U

gly is always going to be a matter of opinion, particularly when it comes to cars. What one person sees as a automotive design masterpiece can easily look like a wheeled root vegetable to another.

There are, however, vehicles around which a consensus of ugly car opinion forms and what they all have in common is that very few people ever think about buying them.

But are we missing a trick? Could some models that appear to have been viscously assaulted with the ugly stick on their way out of the factory actually make great used buys? Profound ugliness certainly does little to prop up residual values so at least these automotive elephant men tend to be cheap.

To test the hypothesis, we've rounded up a collection of what we perceive to be ugly cars. But these are ugly cars that you might just want to consider buying. It's tough to make a compelling case for some of them but others stand out as sleeper used car bargains that you'd want to drive with or without a paper bag over your head…

Subaru Tribeca

Subaru’s premium SUV, the Tribeca, was named after an upmarket area of New York.

And it has an upmarket spec to match, with flagship cars offering heated seats, a sunroof and reversing camera, plus DVD rear seat entertainment and even seven seats. The controversial styling held it back, as did the car’s thirst and the rather cramped rearmost seats, but this SUV now represents fine value for money.

Should you buy one? Why not? If you can live with the design, the Tribeca has decent tech and costs from £5,500.

Volkswagen Bora

This Volkswagen commits the ultimate sin of being too bland. Bora was the name the brand gave its Golf Mk4­ based saloon – every other version has been the Jetta – and while running costs are decent, the car lacks bite and has overly light steering.

There have also been problems with the windows, the 1.8­litre engine and the clutch, which have resulted in a total of seven recalls since the launch in April 1999.

Should you buy one? Probably not. The Bora fades into the background, and its SEAT Toledo or Skoda Octavia cousins look much better value for money.

Chrysler PT Cruiser

The PT Cruiser stood out from the crowd at launch with its brave retro looks, and it had bags of space and kit including a six­ speaker CD stereo as standard.

Although the ride wasn’t bad on smooth surfaces, on twisty roads the handling let this Chrysler down.

The 2.0­litre petrol engine had 188Nm of torque and gave a coarse, noisy driving experience. And while the price looked good value, running costs were steep – all of which you could perhaps forgive when that retro styling was fresh.

But it’s aged poorly.

Should you buy one? No. The PT Cruiser’s looks were an acquired taste at launch and haven’t stood the test of time.

Ford Fusion

It was sold on its high seating position, but the Ford Fusion struggled to win over critics.

Still, it has a spacious interior, and also scores on safety, with a four­ star Euro NCAP crash test rating.

However, it’s based on the old Fiesta and looks dated, plus it’s inherited some of that model’s build issues, including cutting out at junctions.

There’s plenty of them on the market, though.

Should you buy one? Maybe. There are loads available, they’re cheap and relatively practical, and the drive is reasonable

Citroen C3 Pluriel

Nissan Pixo

The Pluriel edition of Citroen’s C3 hatch was often described as quirky and wacky. It’s certainly unique: the spacious four­ seater achieved a four star crash test rating, and you can drop the canvas hood and remove the roof rails for a very different driving experience.

Trouble is, there’s nowhere to store these parts on the go, while reports of leaky roofs and electrical glitches have held the car back.

Should you buy one? Probably not. Its brave design doesn’t quite hit the spot while owners’ tales of problems are all too commonplace.

Renault Vel Satis

This French model was based on the same platform as the Citroen C3. It offered decent fuel economy and a unique selling point of unconventional electric sliding doors, which are handy for tight parking spaces.

Strong safety credentials add to the appeal, although the awkward styling put buyers off, as did the sluggish performance, firm ride and poor handling. Reports of the electric doors failing in cold weather are likely to make you think twice, too, although you can now pick up a second­ hand version from as little as £1,000.

Should you buy one? The 1007 might be worth a punt as a cut­price and practical runaround.

The Nissan Pixo is never going to win any prizes in the style stakes, but it’s cheap to buy and run. Yet the cabin also feels cheap, plus there’s no glovebox and only a tiny boot.

Safety also fails to impress, with only a three­star Euro NCAP score.

And the real low point came when a problem with the windscreen wipers made drivers’ feet wet. Other faults have caused unwanted cabin noise.

Should you buy one? No. Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and while the Pixo is cheap to buy, for this cash you can stretch to a city car with better safety kit.

This spacious four­door coupe is a hidden gem. The Vel Satis is becoming increasingly rare, even though it was discounted when new to boost sales.

And French President François Hollande apparently had a bulletproof version made to transport the Queen and her hats for last year’s 70th anniversary of the D­Day landings. It has plenty of headroom, and the 2.2 dCi engine is frugal. It also has a great safety record.

Should you buy one? Yes. You can up pick one of these future classics for as little as £700 on the second­hand market.

Peugeot 1007

42 T

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

TORREVIEJA

orrevieja is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in south­ eastern Spain. It lies about 30 miles south of the city of Alicante and has a population that hovers around the 100,000 mark.

Torrevieja is a busy, bustling town that has a lively atmosphere all year round, day and night. Torrevieja includes many residential areas which can be grouped together into nine main zones, all of which are well served by local bars, restaurants and shops, as well as being highly residential.

It was originally a salt­mining and fishing village, as it is located between the sea and two large salt lakes (Las Salinas), which give Torrevieja a healthy micro climate.

Until 1802, Torrevieja existed only as an ancient guard tower, which gave the town its name (Torre Vieja (Spanish) means Old Tower) and some labourers' cottages. But in 1803, Charles IV authorized the movement of the salt production offices from La Mata to the town itself and allowed the construction of dwellings there. In 1829, the town was totally

destroyed by an earthquake, but the basins were soon reconstructed and re­opened. In 1931, Alfonso XIII gave Torrevieja city status by special grant. During this period, there was also a growing market for flax, hemp and cotton.

In the 19th century, the salt was mainly shipped from the town by Swedish and Dutch ships. At the time, there was only limited demand from other regions of Spain, mainly Galicia and to a lesser extent Valencia. By the dawn of the 20th century, a quarter of all the salt harvested from the lagoon in Torrevieja was sold in Spain itself and the rest was exported to foreign markets. Today, it is still an important industry in Torrevieja and a major employer.

In recent years the local economy has hugely expanded due to the tourist industry. This includes both a strong contingent of British, Irish, Germans and Scandinavians, many of whom live there all the year round. Also Spanish people who have a second home in the city. By 2004, Torrevieja had the largest number of British residents of all the Spanish municipalities, a percentage that has reduced in the past ten years.

The area has the two sandy beaches of Acequión and Náufragos, the rural coves of Cala Ferris, the Parque Dona Sinforosa and the old marina known as the Puerto Deportivo Marina Internacional.

The Centro and the Cura are the areas at the original heart of Torrevieja, and are packed with amenities, including the

The View

Town Hall and Tourist Office. The Tourist Train leaves from beside the wooden huts of the Day and Night Market. The Sea and Salt Museum is situated next to the Municipal Theatre and performances are also offered at the Palacio de Musica and the Virgen del Carmen Cultural Centre. The main shopping street runs past the Church Square. There is a long beach front Promenade with the iconic Wave Fountain, the impressive and original Casino building and the permanent Day and Night Market. The more modern Marina Salinas is protected by a magnificent 1.3 km long Pier, which stretches out to sea and is floodlit at night. There is also the Cura Beach, the Vistalegria Promenade, the Floating Museums of the Albatros Patrol Boat, the Delfin Submarine, year round Boat Trips and the Summer Funfair. Torrevieja's busy weekly Market occupies five streets every Friday morning and is the largest in the area with space for over 1,000 stalls.

The Habaneras is the location for the shopping mall, the Ozone Entertainment Area with a cinema, bowling alley, crazy golf and restaurants and the summer only Aqualandia Water Park with slides and rides to suit the whole family.

In the area known as Aguas Nuevas, the large municipal sports complex is situated in this residential area. The centre, known as both the Palacio de los Deportes Infanta Cristina and Sports City, includes an Olympic sized indoor heated swimming pool, two seasonal outdoor pools, courts and pitches for all types of sports, a gym, athletics track and the Vicente Garcia Stadium, the home of Torrevieja Football Club with a capacity for 6,000 spectators.

Next stop on our bus journey, next week, is La Mata.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

43

TRAVEL AROUND SPAIN G

GRAN CANARIA

ran Canaria (originally meaning "Great [Island] of Dogs") is the most populous island of the Canary Islands with a population of 838,397, which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the islands. It’s in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the north­western coast of Africa and about 1350 km (838 miles) from Europe.

GEOGRAPHY AND ORIGINS

Gran Canaria is located southeast of Tenerife and west of Fuerteventura. The island is of volcanic origin, mostly made of as a result of eruptions over millions of years. Gran Canaria's surface area is 1,560 km² and with a maximum height above sea level of 1,949 meters (Pico de Las Nieves).

About 80% of the island was formed during the Miocene period, between 14 and 9 million years ago. The last of the eruptions was around 3,500 years ago, but the island is still regarded as being “active”.

The changes in size over the years have affected the weight of the island and caused it to rise above the previous sea level during erosive periods and to sink during eruptive periods.

Some of these "fossil beaches" can be seen in the cliff faces of the more eroded northern coast.

HISTORY

Gran Canaria was populated by the Canarii (Guanches), who may have arrived as early as 500 BC. The Canarii called the island Tamarán, or Land of the Brave. After over a century of European, mainly French and Portuguese incursions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered on April 29 1483, after a campaign that lasted five years, by the Crown of Castile, with the support of Queen Isabella I, a conquest which turned out to be an important step towards the expansion of the unified Spain.

The capital city of Las Palmas, jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, was founded on June 24 1478, under the name "Real de Las Palmas".

UP TO DATE

Gran Canaria has roads encircling the whole island and extending into the mountain areas. In the late 20th century, its motorways, among the first in the Canary Islands, were opened and run around Las Palmas. They were later extended to the north coast and the airport and subsequently to the south coast in response to increased tourist traffic. The high­ speed motorways are GC1, GC2, and GC31 and dual carriageways GC4 and GC5. The western and the north­ western parts, with the fewest inhabitants, are linked only by main roads.

Gran Canaria Airport is the only commercial airport on the island. The large number of aircraft and passengers passing through it each year, make it one of the busiest in Spain. Gran Canaria is also responsible for all air traffic control in the Canaries.

The most important ports in the island are the Port of Las Palmas, in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Arguineguín, which exports cement from a large factory; and Arinaga, located in the major industrial zone of Canaries and one of the major ones of Spain. The ports which transport the most passengers are, the Port of La Luz and the Port of Las Nieves, located in the municipality of Agaete.

Gran Canaria is noted for its rich variety of micro climates. Generally speaking though, the average daytime high ranges from 20°C (68 °F) in winter, to 26°C (79 °F) in summer. Some cool nights occur in winter, but lows below 10°C (50 °F) are unknown near the coast. Inland the climate is still mild but mountainous areas see the occasional frost or snow.

This island is called a "Miniature Continent" due to the different climates and variety of landscapes found, with long beaches and dunes of white sand, contrasting with green ravines and picturesque villages. A third of the island is under protection as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

TOURISM AND ATTRACTIONS

The number of annual visitors is 2.2 million, with most of them visiting the southern part of the island. The north tends to be cooler, while the south is warmer and sunny. The east coast of the island is flat, dotted with beaches, while the western coast is rockier and mountainous.

The island possesses 32 Natural Protected Spaces, featuring the Rural Park of Nublo, The Doramas Jungle, the Azuaje Ravine, Tamadaba, Pino Santo, etc.

In the south there is a large bird park, Palmitos Park, as well as many beach resort communities. Resorts are concentrated in the central eastern part of the southern coast in the Maspalomas area, which includes the towns of San Agustín, Playa del Inglés and Meloneras. The Maspalomas Dunes are located between Playa del Inglés ("The Englishman's Beach") and the distinctive 19th century Maspalomas lighthouse.

Still further to the west along the southern shore, in the Municipality of Mogán, are the communities of Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán, a village referred to as "Little Venice" on account of its many canals.

Other attractions include, Cocodrilos Park, Roque Nublo, Cenobio de Valerón with about 290 caves, Cueva Pintada the most important archaeological park in Canary Islands and the botanical gardens Jardin Canario (in Tafira Alta) and

Cactualdea (in La Aldea de San Nicolás).

El Dedo de Dios, or "God's Finger" was a rocky spire jutting from the sea in Puerto de las Nieves and was previously the signature attraction of the Canary Islands, until it was destroyed by Tropical Storm Delta, that crossed the archipelago in November 2005.

Other well­known rock formations are El Cura (also known as El Fraile), The Frog (La Rana), Bentayga, the Roque de Gando, and the Peñón Bermejo.

Las Canteras Beach lies in the heart of the city of Las Palmas; a protected area and diving zone. It was the first stop of Christopher Columbus' 1492 expedition on his way back from the Americas, a commemoration of which is the Hermitage of San Antonio Abad, where the navigator prayed and the Casa de Colón. Other attractions in the capital city include, the Museo Canario (the most important archaeology museum in the archipelago), the Cathedral and the Plaza del Espíritu Santo.

In Teror, the shrine of Virgen del Pino, patron saint of Gran Canaria, can be found.

The town of Agüimes, on the eastern part of the island, has been carefully restored and its town centre, centred on its old church and a peaceful square, now evokes the quiet living of a traditional Canarian town. The district also has some of the best preserved cave dwellings, in the protected area of the Guayadeque Ravine, where even the church has been built into the hillside and visitors can find a number of popular cave restaurants. The district also includes the most renowned scuba diving area on the island: the marine reserve at the playa de El Cabrón, just outside the town of Arinaga.

Other important towns are Telde, very well known due to the sales of hot dogs on the Salinetas coast and Vecindario (within the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana) and Gáldar, an important diving zone. In Arucas there is a Neogothic temple, popularly known as "Arucas' Cathedral", as well as a large fertile plain where bananas are grown. In Gáldarand, there is also a banana­growing plain and some remarkable archaeological remains, such as Cueva Pintada or Cenobio de Valerón's communal silos, ancient tombs, and the port of Sardina del Norte where, as in Las Palmas', Christopher Columbus used to get supplies for his ships.

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The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View

THE ORIGINAL BLOND BORIS

L

ast week, THE VIEW acknowledged the 40th anniversary of Arthur Ashe winning the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon for the only time in his career and by doing so, creating his own niche in the All England Club’s record books.

Ten years later, a virtual unknown from Germany established his own set of remarkable achievements.

Boris Becker was born on 22 November 1967). He is a six­ time major singles champion, including the distinction of being the youngest ever Wimbledon men's champion when he was 17. He also won 13 Masters Series titles, five elite indoor titles (three ATP Tour Finals, a WCT Finals, and a Grand Slam Cup) and an Olympic gold medal in doubles.

Tennis Magazine ranked Becker the 11th best male player of the period 1965–2005.

Becker turned professional in 1984, under the guidance of Romanian­born coach Günther Bosch and manager Ion Ţiriac, and won his first professional doubles title that year in Munich. As a German teenager, Becker won the Tennis World Young Masters at the NEC in Birmingham in 1985, before

taking his first top­level singles title in June that year at Queen's Club. Two weeks later, on 7 July, he became the first unseeded player and the first German to win the Wimbledon singles title, defeating Kevin Curren in four sets.

Unseeded, Becker was at that time ranked 20th in the ATP ranking, but Wimbledon did not then seed players beyond the top 16. He was the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 227 days (a record later broken by Michael Chang in 1989, who won the French Open when he was 17 years, 110 days). Two months after his triumph, Becker became the youngest winner of the Cincinnati Open. Becker has since said that "The plan from my parents for me was to finish school, go to university, get a proper degree and learn something respectful. The last thing on everyone's mind was me becoming a tennis professional."

In 1986, Becker successfully defended his Wimbledon title, defeating world No1 Ivan Lendl in straight sets in the final. Becker, then ranked world No 2, was dumped out in the second round of Wimbledon in 1987 by Peter Doohan.

Eight years later, in 1995, Becker reached the Wimbledon final for the seventh time, by defeating Agassi in the semi finals. In the final however, Becker, further fatigued after grueling baseline contests with Cédric Pioline and then with Agassi, lost in four sets to Pete Sampras.

Becker was most comfortable playing on fast­playing surfaces, particularly grass courts and indoor carpet (on which he won 26 titles).

He reached a few finals playing on clay courts, but never won a clay­court tournament in his professional career. His best performances at the French Open were when he reached the semi finals in 1987, 1989, and 1991.

Over the course of his career, Becker won 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. Besides his six Grand Slam titles, he was also a singles winner in the year­end Masters / ATP Tour World Championships in 1988, 1992, and 1995, the WCT Finals in 1988 and at the Grand Slam Cup in 1996. He won a record­equalling four singles titles at London's Queen's Club.

Becker won singles titles in 14 different countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the USA. In 2003, Becker was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Now, he occasionally plays on the senior tour and has been heard for the past few years in the BBC commentary box. His current role in world tennis is being the coach of someone called Novak Djokovic. So this 30th anniversary of his greatest triumph, could well be rewarded with his own pupil lifting the famous trophy on Centre Court next weekend.

GREAVSIE ON THE MEND

F

ormer England and Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves is “feeling good” as he recovers from a severe stroke.

The 75­year­old was admitted to intensive care on May 3 but left hospital just over a month later and is now in a rehabilitation unit.

Greaves, who also suffered a minor stroke in 2012, received messages of support from across the football world after it emerged he had been hospitalised and he is now determined to get as well as he can.

“I should be dead,” he told the Sunday People. “But I’m here and I’m fighting fit. Now I want to live until I’m at least 90. Hopefully there’s a few years left in me yet.

I’ve promised my grandkids I’ll go and watch them play rugby and hockey when they go back to school so I’ve got to get better.”

He added: “I’d like to be a bit better but I’m taking every day as it comes and I’m feeling good. I’m much better than I was. I’m getting my speech back and I can move my

right leg now. I haven’t got any feeling in my right arm but my left arm and hand are absolutely fine so I can still sign my autograph perfectly.

“I’m a long way from being back to my best and I don’t know whether I can ever get back to it, but I’m determined to do everything I can. I’m a fighter. Every day is a new day. The doctors reckon after a year if something isn’t working it’ll never work. I’ve got another nine months until then and I’ve come on a lot already so hopefully it’ll come.”

The Essex­born striker spent nine seasons at Spurs during one of the most successful periods of the club’s history. Greaves scored the opening goal in Tottenham’s FA Cup final victory over Burnley in 1962 and he also found the net in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Atletico Madrid, which the London club won 5­1.

He started his career at Chelsea, where he broke into the first­team squad after scoring 114 goals for the youth team and once he had been promoted to the seniors, he scored

132 goals in 169 games.

After nine years at Tottenham, Greaves moved across the capital to West Ham before seeing out his career lower down the leagues following a battle with alcoholism.

Following his retirement he became an iconic figure to a whole new audience when he presented the popular Saturday lunchtime football show Saint and Greavsie alongside former Liverpool forward Ian St John.

Despite a fine international record, Greaves missed out on a place in the 1966 World Cup final as Sir Geoff Hurst replaced him in England’s starting XI after the Greaves suffered a shin injury in the group match against France.

Hurst kept his place in the team until the final, where he famously scored a hat­trick in the 4­2 win over West Germany.

At the time, only the starting XI received winners’ medals but Greaves was finally awarded one, alongside the rest of Sir Alf Ramsey’s squad, in 2009 after a change to FIFA rules.

The View

Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

BBC’S OLYMPIC TASK

A

s they are proudly showing one of the world’s major sporting events from SW19, the BBC’s reputation for sports TV coverage suffered a potential damaging blow when it lost control of the rights to the Olympic Games from 2022.

The International Olympic Committee has agreed a £920m pan­European deal with Discovery, the US broadcaster that owns Eurosport.

The BBC has already secured exclusive rights to the 2016, 2018 and 2020 Games, but Discovery will now take control of the UK rights from 2022. The deal takes effect in most of Europe after next summer’s Rio Olympics, and covers the winter and summer Games from 2018 to 2024.

From that point, the BBC will only be able to broadcast Olympic coverage if it reaches a sub­licensing agreement with Discovery,

CARDIFF BECOMES FINAL HOST

T

he Secretary of State for Wales was delighted to confirm that the capital city will be the host of the Champions League Final in 2017. Stephen Crabb said that hosting the Champions League final in Cardiff will be a huge boost for the capital and Wales as a whole.

UEFA’s executive committee has confirmed that the biggest game in European club football will be held at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2017.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The Millennium Stadium is not only one of our country’s finest sporting venues, it is one of the best in Europe. It is fantastic news that this has been recognised by UEFA and that the 2017 Champions League Final will be in Cardiff.”

The UK Government has worked closely with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in its ambition to bring the match to Wales.

Earlier this week, Ministers hailed the announcement from UEFA as another milestone sporting moment for Cardiff, and for those who worked in partnership to secure it.

The Secretary of State for Wales continued, “The announcement is fantastic news for

Wales and yet another ringing endorsement of the Millennium Stadium’s credentials as a world class sporting venue. The FAW’s bid has had the full backing of the UK Government and we should be rightly proud of all the efforts that have gone into securing this pinnacle match.

“From Ashes Test matches, to Olympic football games, Cardiff has consistently proven its calibre in delivering high profile events on an international stage. Hosting this prestigious fixture is another opportunity for one of Europe’s most exciting capital cities to shine in front of an audience of millions, bringing with it an economic boost that reaches the whole of Wales.”

The final words were left to the Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch: “It is fantastic news that the Champions League final will be coming back to Britain in 2017 with Cardiff the host venue. The Millennium Stadium is a brilliant venue and I know that the Welsh will give visiting supporters a wonderful welcome. I am pleased the UK Government could help secure the biggest match in club football for Wales that will bring both economic and sporting benefits to the country.”

SPAIN CHALLENGE QATAR 2022 T

he Spanish football league is challenging FIFA’s to switch the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to November­ December.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport says the Spanish league (LFP) has filed an appeal against the FIFA decision, which avoids the Qatari summer heat. As yet, the court has not set a hearing date.

A November­December tournament would shut down all the top European leagues for eight peak weeks and require more summer fixtures.

Spain’s challenge is the first by any country to formally oppose the moving of the World Cup in Qatar from the traditional June­July slot.

FIFA’s executive committee approved the change in March, 18 months after requesting a global consultation.

The Spanish league is a member of the European Professional Football Leagues group, which was consulted. FIFA rejected a European clubs and leagues proposal to play in May­June.

which has said it will seek partnerships with broadcasters in some territories.

The loss is a blow to the BBC, which has set great store by its Olympics coverage as one of the moments when the nation comes together. The broadcaster was widely praised for its coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London, but today’s deal raises the prospect that the Olympics will not appear on the UK’s publicly funded broadcaster for the first time.

At least 200 hours of the summer Olympics will be made available free­to­air, but Discovery has not specified which events will be shown or by whom.

BBC director of sport, Barbara Slater will now enter talks with the rival broadcaster that fortunately intends to sub­let the UK television rights and plans to give the BBC first refusal on them.

“It’s something we have to treat as a relatively urgent discussion,” Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton told the Daily Telegraph.

The Olympics is currently protected for free­to­air broadcast by law and Eurosport is a subscription service in the UK. Discovery does have its own free channel, Quest TV, in Britain but Hutton all but ruled out the network keeping the Games exclusively for itself.

“That’s not our desired intention as it stands,” he said, revealing Discovery had assured the IOC it would make the Olympics available to as many viewers as possible.

That could mean coverage traditionally shown on terrestrial television being supplemented by additional content on Eurosport platforms.

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“It’s not in our interests to jeopardise the history of the Olympics in the UK and the way that it’s televised,” Hutton added.

“We want to give more hours of coverage and make it more available to more people.”

This will come as a huge relief to the BBC less than four months after it lost the Open Championship to Sky Sports (for 2017), having already given up half of the Masters and Formula One and its entire horse racing portfolio, including the Grand National.

Its contracts for Wimbledon and the Six Nations are also up for renewal in the coming months.

A BBC spokesperson said: “The Olympic Games remains a priority for the BBC and we have already secured the TV, radio and online rights to the next three Olympic Games – 2016, 2018 and 2020. More than 90% of the UK population watched the BBC’s coverage of London 2012 and it remains one of the most popular free­to­air, sporting events for UK viewers.”

Business or charity for Barca

F

C Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has reportedly pledged that he will scrap the club's Qatar Airways shirt sponsorship deal if he is re­ elected.

Laporta, who was president between 2003 and 2010, confirmed he is running in next month's election for the Spanish football club which takes place on July 18.

Speaking at the official launch of his candidacy, Laporta said: "They [the last board, headed by rival candidate Josep Bartomeu] have linked the shirt to Qatar but we will work so that UNICEF return to the shirt. We also want to fight for a good [paying] contract. If the [Manchester] United shirt is worth €70m then ours must be worth more."

He has previously criticised the five­year sponsorship deal with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), which was agreed by Sandro Rosell after Laporta's exit and is worth €165 million ($225 million).

Prior to the Qatar Airways agreement, FC Barcelona was one of the few sides in world soccer not to have a corporate logo on their

shirts, instead displaying the name of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), for which they paid the organisation 1.5 million euros ($2m) a year.

The subsequent deal with QSI, which is in place until 2016, was controversial at the time it was agreed and Laporta has now been quoted in local media as saying: "The club has many other ways of generating revenue. It is a matter or values. I want to rescue the values of our club."

Barcelona reportedly earned a basic €32 million from Qatar Airways last season and also picked up a €5 million bonus from them for winning the Champions League.

Reports suggest Bartomeu has negotiated a considerable increase in that sum with Qatar Airways now set to pay the club closer to €60 million a season from the 2016­17 campaign, a deal too good to refuse, he has said.

Separately it has been reported that Barcelona have already readied their kits for the 2016­17 season, with vertical stripes to return in place of next season's horizontal stripes.

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Edition 8 - July 3rd 2015

The View