Photo round-up

The creative muse is on holiday. Clarity, who is normally in residence, disappeared when Horrid Head Cold arrived.

So rather than writing some muzzy thoughts - here are some pictures of Gib.

In no particular order..............

Mesembryanthemums providing spring time colour in Gibraltar


Royal gun salute




This was for the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II on 21 April. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment was inspected by Peter Caruana.

I was a little disappointed. There were an awful lot of suits around and a shortage of handsome men in uniforms. By which I mean there were no dark blue ones.

Speaking of the Royal Navy - HMS Chatham stopped over in Gib to refuel. Chatham is a type 22 batch 3 frigate, built on the Tyne by Swan Hunter and launched in 1988. She is en route to the Gulf where she will be helping to protect Iraqi oil platforms and territorial waters in support of the United Nations Security Council Regulations and the Government of Iraq. Chatham will also be helping maintain maritime security in the area.

While they were in Gib, the ship's football team lost against a Combined Services team (2-0), and 42 of the crew ran from the dockyard to the top of the Rock. The fastest runner achieved a new record time for the ship of 26 minutes and 6 seconds. Good grief. Well done Petty Officer Dan Bartlett and everyone else taking part in the Rock Run. How amazingly fit. I feel ill thinking about it.

HMS Chatham


Finally to finish off, some views from a trip to Gib waterworks..

A view from the Moorish Castle at the top of town, just at the entrance to the Upper Rock nature reserve


A now unused valve chamber with an amazing interior






And on the other side of the Rock, views from the old water catchment area down towards Catalan Bay. Virtually all the corrugated sheeting has been removed and the 34 acres previously used for catchment is grassland again. Gib's water now comes from a desalination plant.







Sources: Royal Navy website for info about HMS Chatham

Royal Gun Salute - Gibraltar - 6 Feb 2008

I wouldn't have known but today is the 56th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II.

The reason I found out was because I invariably get my hands on an excellent monthly Calendar of Events published by the Gibraltar Tourist Board.

At noon, there was going to be a 21-gun salute fired from the Naval Base. To be accurate, according to the Gib media, Her Majesty's Naval Base. How cool to have your own naval base. I would like that.

Anyway, I duly got myself a pass and wandered down to Liz's naval base. The naval base has some interesting industrial architecture and I so wanted to take some pix.

I decided it wasn't the best idea. I didn't fancy being carted off by the police and saying good-bye to my short-lived Gib residency. I did ask if I would be able to take pix of the guns. The police officer looked horrified.

When I got to the gun area, there was a guy with a HUGE Nikon. He hadn't asked anyone if he could take pix. Apart from asking his mate who he had come with. Who was busy inside networking and just happened to be one of the invited guests who got a front-row seat.

I decided to collar one of the nice men in uniform. They looked surprised I was even asking. "Of course," said one of them. And then I was dismissed.

I really need a proper video camera. I caught a tiny bit on the digicam - and the batteries promptly started flashing.

So here are my pix.

From left to right, guns 4, 3, 2 and 1. Guns 2, 3, and 4 each fired five rounds. Gun one fired 6 rounds.

The salute was fired by the Headquarter Company (Thomson's Battery) of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the Inspecting Officer for the salute was the Mayor of Gibraltar, the Hon Clive Beltran.

The Royal Gibraltar Regiment marches on to take up position


Waiting for the inspection


The inspection by the Hon Clive Beltran


Ready to load


Gun 4 waiting orders


Firing gun 4


Gun 4


Guns 2 and 1


The Royal Gibraltar Regiment marches off


One remaining soldier waits to be relieved


The same soldier, standing in front of number 2 gun, complete with debris


A few pix from this evening.

The Tower where we stood to view the salute. I took this from across the water (obviously not in the dockyard any more - I had to hand in my pass) at the marina.

The Tower building in the Naval Base


To get a decent shot I had to stand on the wall of a flower bed, and then noticed this beautiful hibiscus.

Hibiscus


Finally, a capstan winch and succulent garden bed which had just been tidied up today with new mulch. It was en route to the marina and I thought it was an interesting finish to today's heritage post.

The inscription says that the capstan winch was salvaged from HM Naval Dockyard by members of the Ship's Company of the Royal Naval Reserve Unit, HMS Calpe. It commemorates the units' existence in Gib from 1965-1993.

Capstan winch and garden