Wednesday Algarve Geriatric Strollers: WAGS 09.01.2019:Though we walk through the Vale de Telha.......

Rod had done more than his share in our absence, and I was getting rather concerned at not only pushing the limits for our gentle WAGS strolls, but also at the numbers turning up, which strung out the field and made the catering at the end difficult.
I decided to test the theory that the nearer to Silves the walks were, the greater the attendance, and called for a walk in the Vale de Telha/Ribat de Arrifana area which is over 35 km from Lagos let alone from Salir or where Terry lives.

A splendid day with clear views to the West

Quod non erat demonstrandum (QNED). We had 18 this week, and I had thought 16 was a more than sufficient number! Perhaps I had made the walk sound too attractive, with promises of a gentle stroll, no climbing and views of a Moorish Necropolis, the Ribat de Arrifana, now a National Monument, dating back to the 1100's. Not only that but one of the headlands we would pass was the scene of the Battle of Atalaia in July 1943 where a Focke Wulfe Condor crew, who had been bombing the Allied Mediterranean-bound convoys met their fate and crashed into the clifftop. Plus there was a good possibility of the customary WAGS eating food together ritual at the end

The meeting point didn't go too well, despite comprehensive instructions on my part; none of the 3 restaurant/snack bars at the start was open. Happily I had spotted a reliable place on the way in, Solar dos Vales, so headed back there for the caffeine, and stood outside as we were early, hoping to intercept WAGS on the way to the RV. Moderate success, we got all except Hilke and Andrew and Lindsey plus the cafe looked promising for catering for up to 16 for lunch, so we placed our orders there and then.
Once gathered we minimised car use, and went to find Hilke, Andrew and Lindsey at the original RV and then drove to the start.

Excellent starter pic. Putting the camera on an Audi bonnet makes all the difference!
John has really got the hang of the tech!
L-R: Antje with a moth-eaten Sasha, Antony with Ember, Chris, John, Mervyn (Rod's guest),Geraldine (trainee WAG) Paul, Maria, Myriam, Hazel, Hilke, Lindsey, Rod (standing on a podium), Jill, Terry, Ingrid, Peter (also on a podium) and Andrew.

See what I mean by 'moth-eaten'! Sasha fell victim to a rogue hairdresser.

Rod's guest, Mervyn is a distinguished scholar who had delivered a talk to the Archaeological Society on the Alcazar in Seville the previous evening. Also distinguished by his walking garb which would not have been out of place on a Church social. I guess Rod had not passed on the message about the walk before he packed! He did however have the essential Tilley, and boosted our total to 6 1/2 Tilleys.
Andrew had forgotten headgear completely as he is a bit out of practice, but after an unsuccessful trial of Lindsey's hat, went for the Johnny Depp look!

Pirate of the Algarve

We set off on a sandy path through some thick scrub, so the first half hour at least was single file. There was much discussion as to the source of a sweet scent filling the air with few visible flowers. Eventually it was concluded by our resident Botanist, Lindsay that it was the heather. She also later identified a common bush with white berries as Corema Album, part of the Ericaceae family. Bittersweet to taste,. Used for jams & liqueurs. Medicinal, antipyretic. Also ornamental use. The Portuguese name is Camarinha or Camarinheira or in English, White Crowberry.

Corema Album

After some dead-reckoning navigation, we reached some dunes leading to a spectacular view of Foia to one side and the coast to the other..

Totally unposed!

The tide was out.

At this point we coincided with the Rota Vicentina with it's green and blue waymarks.

Following the Rota Vicentina south towards the Ribat, we crossed several handy boardwalks built over the marshy bits and needless to say, treated as team photo ops.

A perfect day for walking

The views on this walk are stupendous.

Ponta de Atalaia

With a modicum of help from Google Photo Editor!

A nicely composed shot of Antony's shadow appearing to bend over into the sea,

Soon we were at the Ribat de Arrifana, admiring the remains of stone walls partially protected by rusty wire fencing. The excavation and studies were carried out from 2001, and it is claimed to be one of the most significant finds and sites exposed this century.

A more learned treatise than I could hope to write can be found HERE

Free admission!

The remains of the Fiscal Post.

4-Tilley Study Group

A shorter and more easily digestible article about the historic site can be found in the useful Vale de Telha Community website, HERE

Chris decided he had WAGSed enough for the day taking a more direct route back to the cars and left 17 of us to soldier on,

From here we continued on the Rota Vicentina a short way looking for the memorial stone to the German Aircrew. Along this section, I almost achieved the Leader's Dream - to blamelessly lose 50% of the walkers. As it was, I only lost 8, 9 having stayed together under the Leader's tight control and made it to the memorial stone which was actually off the Rota Vicentina closer to the cliffs.!

A memorial stone to the 7 German aircrew lost during the Battle of Atalaia . They are buried in the cemetery at Aljezur, and in 2013 there was a ceremony to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of their loss.

The aircraft crashed into the cliffs just below this point after being damaged in an encounter with a Beaufighter of 248 Squadron.

More information on this battle can be found HERE

From here it was a short walk back to the cars, for those that followed the leader. The 8 lost sheep, loosely led by Antje missed the left turn directly back and added several hundred extra meters to their walk.

There were, as is the case as WAGS embrace smartphones (well some anyway), several sets of stats and tracks, but I prefer the Gold Standard Garmin figures from my purpose built GPS. I could delve into an exposition of sampling rates and receiver sensitivity, but I might lose the rest of the field!

The climb figures were modest, and I can't recall when they happened - in fact Rod's Samsung recorded 230m 0f climb and descent, using the ViewRanger App.

LocusMap on my OnePlus 5 showed the walk and in blue, the Rota Vicentina

It was similar to my Garmin on ascent, but somehow was 900 metres less in distance.

John's device was not heading for controversy. His stats were comfortably in the middle:

Distance: 6.4 kms.

Total time: 2 hrs 40 mins.

Moving time: 1 hr 52 mins.

Moving av: 3.5 kph

Ascent: 161 metres.

Maria had told the cook at Solar dos Vales 1 o'clock for lunch, and most of us arrived bang on time, and divided into two sub-groups, TM's and Bifanas on one table, and Prato do dia which was grilled chicken on another. Those who had learned from last week and brought their own sandwiches congregated in the front conservatory.