Time to complete the Bucket List

A trip to Memphis wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Graceland, the home of the King, Elvis Presley.

I didn’t know what to expect and I guess if Elvis saw the site around his mansion today he would be surprised too. His home is quite large – not excessive – but he had extensive grounds with stables and paddock for his horses. Within those grounds is also a chapel amongst woodland.

It was a bit of a surprise to learn that the house was not new when he moved in. I had heard so much about Graceland over the years that I thought the singer had it built from scratch. Instead he had purchased it from the first owner who, we were told, had named the site after a family member, Grace. At the time of purchase the then 500-acre farm was some way out of Memphis, but with a growing city it is now within a built-up area.

Elvis purchased the site in 1957 when he was 22, for a little over $100,000. Today it is worth a mint, but it was not always so. Graceland was considered ‘home’ by Elvis, a place where much music was played and where he could enjoy riding his horses.

When he died, at Graceland, in 1977, aged 42, his will appointed his father Vernon as executor and trustee. Vernon Presley died two years later. With the passing of time other family members have been involved in the handling of the estate and the Graceland site.

In the early years following Elvis’s death there were cash flow problems, but with careful planning the site expanded. The house was opened for tours in 1982, and a year later a nearby shopping plaza was purchased. This was the start of things to come in terms of development. Today Graceland includes that mansion and chapel, but also a four-diamond-rated guest house, a huge exhibition area and parking for his aeroplanes.

Tours can be made of the ground floor of the mansion. Upon entry, visitors will see a lounge set to impress. The seating area is extensive.

The lounge includes beautiful stained glass windows depicting peacocks

Next to view is his parents’ room with lovely purple decor. Then its onto the 1970s kitchen, pool room and jungle room.

Avocado-coloured sink, a sign of the ’70s

Pool room with beautiful fabric-decorated walls, ceiling and seating

Exiting is via a racquetball building, passing the stables and into a remembrance garden where Elvis, his parents, grandmother, and more recently (and sadly) his daughter Lisa Marie, are buried. This gives fans some time for contemplation and to wonder what music we missed from his early departure.

It seems even Elvis liked teds

But there is so much more of the King for the visitor to admire. In the exhibition areas across the road (Elvis Presley Boulevard) there are displays of his Cadillacs, motorcycles, walls of gold and platinum records, and possibly more than a hundred of his highly decorated and exquisite outfits. A visit is enough to make you ‘All Shook Up’.

So now we know where Ted gets his clothing inspiration from. He obviously thinks sequins are overrated

Outfits are displayed floor to ceiling

But the day was not over. Upon leaving Graceland we headed to Sun Studios, considered to be ‘The birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll’. It was set up by Sam Phillips who, it is said, discovered Elvis as an artist.

Phillips established Sun Studios in the 1950s and many leading musical genres followed. In addition to Rock ‘n’ Roll, this included Blues and Rhythm & Blues with Howlin’ Wolf and BB King. Country and Rockabilly saw hits from Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. All of these artists, and more, made their moves into recording through Sun Studios.

Today the site is still a studio, recording artists in the evening, with tours being carried out during the day.

But we still hadn’t had enough of the music scene. John and I tore ourselves away from our travelling companions to get the chance to visit the Stax studio, a short cab ride away.

Here we got our fill of Rhythm & Blues, and Soul music. Stax Records was established in the 1960s with a focus on recording local musical talent. The company was set up by Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton. The name Stax came from a combination of letters from their surnames.

Stax became a multi-million dollar company, launching almost 250 hits in the Top 100 R&B charts, and more than 160 into the Top 100 pop charts. A part of its success in the early years was that Estelle would sell the records the company had produced in the record shop next door. This proved a good source of income for the company whilst also providing a place for people to congregate and listen to the music they were producing. It also attracted aspiring musicians and singers.

Stax’ artists included in the early days, Rufus Thomas and his daughter Carla, and then expanded with Eddie Floyd with ‘Knock on Wood’, and Otis Redding with ‘These Arms of Mine’ and ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’. Other well-known names were Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave and Booker T & the MGs. Stax went into involuntary bankruptcy in 1975 after their efforts to expand had failed which was a sad ending for a pioneering music business. The visit proved quite a trip down memory lane.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2024

Our days to follow in Memphis were to be jammed-packed with music and music-related experiences, but first we had to get there from Nashville. This involved more than a 200 mile journey with a couple of stops along the way.

First up was Parker’s Crossroads and it was a worthy stop indeed. This was the site of a battle in 1862 during the American Civil War which raged between the Union in the North and the Confederacy in the South. The root of the conflict was a dispute over whether slavery should be permitted to expand which the Confederacy wanted, or prohibited which the Union wished. The issue had come to a head when Abraham Lincoln (who was opposed to the expansion of slavery) was elected US President in 1860.

A more recent replica on site

The subsequent American Civil War raged between 1861 and 1865. In 1862 the Confederates clashed with the Union at Parker’s Crossroads. After a battle both sides claimed victory but the Confederate forces later withdrew having suffered greater casualties. Up to 750,000 soldiers lost their lives during the American Civil War, much of the South had been destroyed and the Confederacy collapsed. Slavery was abolished and four million black slaves were given their freedom.

The importance of visiting Parker’s Crossroads is that for around 20 years various groups have been fighting to preserve the battleground and its history. Some 350 acres of land have been saved, but developers and investors are eager to expand their foothold. A small visitors’ centre with storyboards and a video assist in keeping the history alive, with the help of those volunteers.

From Parker’s Crossroads we had the opportunity to stop off for lunch at a nicely decorated area called Overton Square, before heading into Memphis and its musically-abundant Beale Street.

A pretty area where even the roads are painted

Beale Street was called so by developer Robertson Topp in 1841. He named it after the naval officer, military general, explorer and diplomat Edward Fitzgerald Beale. The street was originally home to merchants trading goods with ships on the nearby Mississippi River. Around a similar time it attracted performing musicians.

But there was another important name to arrive on this street during the latter half of the 1800s, that of Robert Church. He is considered to be the first African-American millionaire in the South, born of a black mother and white father who owned a steamboat. As a young man employed as a steward, he regularly travelled the Mississippi with his father. He later sought work in Memphis, saving enough money to open a saloon.

In 1878-1879 the city’s population was devastated by Yellow Fever. Property prices plummeted. Seeing an opportunity Church bought businesses and undeveloped land along Beale Street. In one area he created Church Park which became a hub for recreation. Musicians gathered at this site, along with clubs and restaurants.

Famous names associated with the area included Jazz man Louis Armstrong; Rock, Soul, Funk and Blues man Rufus Thomas; and BB King (the ‘Beale Street Blues Boy’) to name but a few.

In the 1960s the street became a National Historic Landmark, and in 1977 was declared the ‘Home of the Blues’ by an act of Congress.

We visited several venues along the street, but perhaps the best music and entertainment we experienced during our whole trip was in Blues City serving ‘Music and meat that can’t be beat’. Here the Rockin’ 88s (pictured below) played, with its frontman doing a good impression of Jerry Lee Lewis.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2024

There’s some discrepancy. Nashville has been commonly called The Music City. Some say that Queen Victoria was responsible for the town getting this label, having seen the Fisk Jubilee Singers (of Fisk University) in the late 1800s. She was so impressed with their performance that she is said to have commented that they must be from a “city of music”. As a result Nashville took on The Music City moniker. However, others claim it was WSM Radio’s announcer David Cobb who coined the term ‘Music City USA’. It has since been the official nickname for Nashville.

Whatever the origins we were to find there was good reason for Nashville getting that name – music was clearly a major part of the city’s culture. The main focus of our tour was on music and in Nashville we experienced it in several ways. These included studio visits, live performances and an ‘audience with’, and museums dedicated to genres and individual musicians.

First up was RCA’s Studio B where an enthusiastic young man with a font of knowledge showed us around. This studio is one of the most significant music sites in the world, with artists such as Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves and Dolly Parton having recorded here. Elvis recorded more than 200 of his 700 records at Studio B, including in excess of 30 over a five-day stint. Our host spoke of some of the Elvis ‘outtakes’, but one left in is on ‘Are you lonesome tonight’. If you listen right at the end you’ll hear a click. For some reason this remained. Maybe time just ran out to remove it. The pressure was on to produce. At one time three songs a day were recorded here. At the end of 1956 alone RCA had sales of 10 million singles and three million EPs.

Other well known records produced included the Everly Brothers’ ‘All I have to do is dream’, Roy Orbison’s ‘Only the lonely’, and Dolly Parton’s ‘Joshua’.

In the studio we were shown the Steinway piano that Elvis played (pictured above) and ‘X marks the spot’ (below), where recording artists stand for the ultimate sound position within the studio.

X marks the spot (lower left on the flooring)

One of the lesser known records produced at the studio. ‘Lullaby Yodel’ seems rather contradictory

The studio’s sound proofing had been designed to eliminate echoes and that remains today as our host demonstrated with several loud claps.

If I hear ‘I walk the line’ one more time I might go crazy. This was not being played at Studio B, but at the Johnny Cash museum. I don’t know why this was the only tune playing (repeatedly) considering he had recorded more than 1,500 songs during his lifetime. Nonetheless, the museum was a tribute to this popular country, rock ’n’ roll, bluegrass, gospel and folk artist who sold more than 100 million records. 

The museum displayed a wealth of memorabilia, including costumes, album covers, guitars and gold discs. But we were to get a closer insight into the Cash family when we were taken to ‘an audience with’, and that being with one of his granddaughters. Chelsea Crowell (photo below) is the daughter of Johnny Cash’s daughter Rosanne and husband Rodney Crowell, each of whom are in the music business. 

Chelsea told us that she had grown up to the sound of music, listening to a wide range of genres with the family. She was refreshing modest, telling us how she particularly liked writing songs. She interspersed talking about her musical life with a number of songs as she strummed her guitar. Our group of 41 visitors were able to ask questions and she was so approachable that she handed over her guitar to one member to play and sing. This experience came as a particular benefit of being in a tour group. Chelsea carried out these ‘an audience with’ occasions from time to time, but as individual travellers to book onto such an event would not have been possible.

Also visited was the Country Music Hall of Fame, a site that collects, preserves and interprets the traditions of country music. This museum detailed many singers, their works and equipment. Familiar names in the UK were Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee and Jim Reeves. But what caught my eye were the costumes, especially the intricate leather outfits. Time and again the creators were listed as Nudie’s Rodeo Taylors. The suit that follows was created for Chris Ethridge of the Flying Burrito Brothers in 1968. It was later worn by Elton John for the cover of his 45-rpm record ‘Rocket Man’.

During some free time we took ourselves off to the Ryman Auditorium and, following a suggestion from a fellow traveller, we signed up for a backstage tour. We were lucky to get last minute tickets and it was worth it. The Ryman’s roots were in gospel music dating back 130 years, but the venue became the home of the Grand Old Opry and country music from 1943-1974. It is also considered to be the birthplace of bluegrass music dating back to 1945.

Its performance history was not always continuous, however. For 20 years the site lay neglected. Threats of demolition followed but with local groups rallying around to save the performance venue it was refurbished. Performers returned. In more recent years these have included Ringo Starr celebrating his 73rd birthday, Emmylou Harris, and Harry Styles. Coldplay is quoted as saying it is ‘The greatest theatre in the world’.

Our backstage tour took us around several of the dressing rooms including that of Johnny Cash and Minnie Pearl, but photography was not permitted. Front of stage included some rather restricted viewing, but also some ideal seats directly in front of the stage. Cushions are recommended. The seats comprise the old wooden pews.

But today, the chance to see a show at the Grand Old Opry House is the pinnacle of a visit to Nashville. This is the home of live country music playing. The 4,440-seater site was close to our hotel, opened in 1974 but didn’t originate here. The Grand Ole Opry was born in 1925 and transmitted via WSM Radio to the nation. In 1943 live broadcasting moved to the Ryman Auditorium and 31 years later to its current Opry House. Performances are recorded up to five times a week and transmitted live via WSM Radio.

A view if you are lucky to get centre-stage seats

It was a full house when we attended, but although most enjoyable and great to have experienced an evening listening to live country music our seats, as many others, had restricted viewing (not our choice).

Those playing live included the group Exile, John Conley, T Graham Brown, Pam Willis, Lorrie Morgan, Don Schlitz and Josh Turner. Each frontman (or woman) has the chance to experience part of the Ryman Auditorium’s history, for a large circle of the old floor has been incorporated into the stage of country music’s current performance home.

It is difficult to convey the experience in words of a performance at the Grand Old Opry House but rather better if one listens to some of those seasoned country music stars on-line. Don Schlitz for example is best known for his song ‘The Gambler’ and for writing ‘When you say nothing at all’. Josh Turner’s songs include ‘Long Black Train’, and Exile members have written numerous songs for others.

This was not to be the last of our live music experience in the Southern States, but gave us an in-depth look at country music and its effect not only on Nashville, but the rest of the world. It certainly lives up to its name of ‘The Music City’.

Copyright: Words and photographs, Sue Barnard 2024

PS Most of our reports have several photographs but these are not always available to view on some equipment. It is better, therefore, to click the ‘Read on blog’ or ‘Reader’ icons at the top of the postings.

It will come as no surprise that most things in America are big, but we hadn’t expected quite how large our first stop in Nashville was going to be. When our cab from Nashville airport dropped us off at the initial hotel of our Southern States USA group tour we couldn’t quite believe our eyes. We soon found out this is the largest hotel in the country without a casino – the latter point was quite a relief to me as previous experiences saw us having to take an extended walk through vast smoke-filled gaming halls before reaching the reception and hotel lifts… but I digress.

Our hotel, The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Centre, had a whopping 3,000 rooms. Rooms, such as ours, had two large single beds. Well I say single – each was the size of a standard double bed in the UK. What is more, each bed had five pillows – so on average 10 per room. Multiply that by 3,000 rooms and at 30,000 pillows it entails a whole lot of ironing. 

Just one of the many hotel lakes

Even the guitars are huge

The hotel had a dozen restaurants, a shopping mall, large swimming pools with rapids, four-lane racer slides, indoor lakes, and a whole lot more.

As we walked around on the first day we passed a recording studio within its mall. This turned out to be the home of WSM Radio which broadcasts country music 24 hours a day. And we soon realised we had landed in the home of country music when we saw, thorough the studio windows, a real country singer with her cowboy hat, denim shorts and knee-high white cowboy boots. This was singer-songwriter Annie Bosko (pictured) who has written songs for Willie Nelson and performed alongside Adele, amongst others. If country music is your thing you can catch the 24 hour broadcasting on-line at WSM Radio.

What we also hadn’t expected was that our four-day Nashville stay coincided with the annual CMA (Country Music Association) Fest, considered to be the number one country music festival in the US. Last year it grossed in excess of $65 million according to some sources, and this time had 11 stages with music playing from morning to night.

We got a feel of this when we jumped into a cab to downtown Nashville (unfortunately a 30 minute drive away) where we were to find the main strip, Broadway, closed to traffic so fans could enjoy the many bars and stages. As we worked our way along Broadway the sound level was LOUD. 

Early fans head for day one of the festival

Not knowing the Fest was on we had other things planned and to get our bearings we boarded the hop on, hop off, trolley bus.

This took us past many small houses that had once been used as recording studios. Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, and the Eagles are all said to have recorded in these small venues. We also passed an hotel where Elvis once stayed and which has since added a guitar-shaped swimming pool in remembrance (or could it be marketing?). 

A site we would not have seen during our limited time in Nashville had we not been on the trolley bus was the Marathon Motor Museum. Marathon had its origins in the Southern Engine and Boiler Works founded in Jackson, Tennessee in 1884. Its name gave a clue to its production – that of gasoline engines and industrial boilers. Some of those gasoline engines were being purchased as components for companies assembling cars. It was rare that companies manufactured entire vehicles to their own design and using components they had produced on site. But things were to change when a young engineer, one William Henry Collier, joined the Southern Engine and Boiler Works in the early 1900s. Collier wanted to build a car he had designed and to do so at the company in which he was working.

The agreement to do so was to reap rewards with the launch of their first vehicle with gasoline engine in 1907. Investors flocked to be involved. Several models were developed based on Collier’s design. The vehicles were to be sold under the name ‘Southerns’, but this clashed with another company using the same name. Instead ‘Marathon’ was chosen. Such was the success that the company needed to expand production and took over a cotton mill in Nashville. Several models followed and by 1912 200 cars were produced a month.

Sadly, that success did not last. While the Marathon car had a reputation for quality and reliability, demand outstripped supply and the company went into receivership.

Today this nationally-registered historic industrial premises houses a museum focused on the motor company, plus shops, cafes, distillery and work spaces. The building still proudly emblazons the words ‘Marathon Motor Works 1907’. An estimated nine Marathon cars still exist worldwide although not all have been traced.

From here, having hopped off at the motor museum we hopped back on the trolley bus, passing (rather bizarrely) the Parthenon. It was sited in Centennial Park in the west of Nashville and is a replica of the ancient building in Athens. It is said to be accurate to within an inch of the original – it is not a copy of Athens’ actual ruins of today! 

Why was it there? It was originally intended to be temporary and built to celebrate Tennessee’s 100 years as a state, as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897. The Parthenon was chosen to reflect Nashville’s labelling as ‘The Athens of the South’ named so for its educational opportunities, due in part to the establishment of schools such as Vanderbilt, and Fisk. We were to see on our travels that Vanderbilt now has vast estates and elaborate buildings in Nashville. Some of its students are able to spend a year overseas on work experience. We know that as one of the companies John had worked for had such an arrangement.

But back to the Parthenon. The original building was not built to last and in 1920 the decision came to pull it down, or rebuild. The community wanted the latter. Today, the building has been purposed to educate the public about the original Greek Parthenon, 5th century BC Athens and its people, and life in Nashville since 1897. Fine aims indeed. We looked forward to learning more… the building was closed.

We headed back. Nashville, so far, looked a fun town. Not only was the CMA Fest in full swing, but so were many hen parties for which I share some photos. We looked forward to what else Nashville had to offer in the days ahead.

Copyright: Words and photos, Sue Barnard 2024

And we’re off. Well almost. Music will be at the forefront of our next trip as we head to the Southern States of America – sometimes referred to as The American South, or to make it brief, The South, or even more briefly, Dixie. 

Our first stop will be Nashville, the home of Country Music, and where would we be without mention of Dolly Parton? A visit will include a trip to the studio where she recorded ‘I will always love you’. We will see a show at the Grand Ole Opry – the venue famous for honouring Country Music and keeping its history alive.

From there we will head to Memphis for Blues, Soul and Rock ’n’ Roll, and of course we can’t miss the home of Elvis – Graceland.

We will then take in Natchez and a cotton plantation to find out about a more sombre side of history no doubt, before making our way to New Orleans to discover its music and cuisine, its French and Spanish architecture and get a taste of the vibrant nightlife. 

But why is The South called Dixie? There are several suggestions. One is that it was named after two British surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon who were commissioned to settle a long-established boundary dispute between the North and South. Their work involved surveying 233 miles of territory between Pennsylvania and Maryland during 1763-67. Along the way they placed milestones with a P on one side and an M on the other. This dividing line became known as the Mason-Dixon Line and territories beneath the line became know as The South, or Dixie.

No doubt we will discover more about this and so many other aspects. So all we can say is Ye-Ha, let’s bring it on. Hmmm… I wonder if I will be able to resist buying some cowboy boots.

Copyright words and images: Sue Barnard 2024

For our last full day we had booked a morning small bus tour that covered some areas we had not yet visited such as Europa Point which is the most southerly part of the Rock.

The lighthouse at Europa Point

From Europa Point the northern coast of Africa can be seen along with the coast of the Spanish mainland. Yet again the military strategic importance of Gibraltar can be seen here with the views across the strait and Harding’s Battery on the shoreline with the gun pointing across the strait.

Harding’s Battery was named after Sir George Harding, Chief Engineer of the British Army in 1844. It was originally armed with two 24-pounder cannons which were changed to two 32-pounders in 1863. In 1868 Colonel WFD Jervois carried out a survey of Gibraltar’s fortifications and batteries which resulted in several batteries being modified or rebuilt to accommodate the heavy Rifle Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. The original intention was to arm Harding’s Battery with a 9 inch RML on a Moncrieff disappearing mounting but this never occurred. In March 1877 work commenced to reconstruct the battery to take a 12.5inch RML on a barbette mounting which was completed in 1878. The current gun emplacement is the one constructed for the RML gun with the chamber underneath being the ammunition magazine.

We then moved on into the Nature Reserve visiting St Michael’s Cave for a second time and then the Ape’s Den, one of Gibraltar’s most iconic attractions.

A resident of Ape’s Den

Ape’s Den was the last stop on our small bus tour so we were dropped off near the WWII Tunnels for a short walk to the Great Siege Tunnels. Hopefully these will have reopened after being closed the day before. We were in luck.

The tunnelling of the Great Siege Tunnels was started in 1782 during the Great Siege (1779 to 1783) with a view of getting guns to a projection, called the Notch, on the precipitous northern face of the Rock. Sergeant Major Ince, one of the Company of Military Artificers (the forerunners to the Royal Engineers) suggested this could be done by tunnelling. Permission was granted with the tunnellers relying on brute strength, sledgehammers, crowbars and blasting with gunpowder. In five weeks, 18 men had driven a tunnel 8 feet square by 82 feet long into the Rock. It is interesting to compare this to the fully mechanised tunnelling during WWII where the tunnellers advanced 180 feet in a week.

Originally there was no intention of mounting guns in the tunnels but as fumes from the blasting was suffocating the miners, a vent was opened to let air in. It was then realised what a good embrasure this would make for a gun before reaching the goal of putting a gun on the Notch. Other embrasures were cut and by the time the Siege ended in 1783 the tunnels were 370 feet long and had four guns mounted. Tunnelling did not finish with the end of the Siege and two other galleries called Kings and Queen Lines were excavated lower down the north face of the Rock. When the Notch was eventually reached, a large chamber was excavated called St George’s Hall where a battery of seven guns was installed.

St George’s Hall

During WWII the tunnel was extended through to the other side of the Rock with the long straight extension being called the Holyland Tunnel.

The Holyland Tunnel

The Mediterranean Sea from the end of the Holyland Tunnel

After the Great Siege Tunnels we walked down to the town and made our way to our hotel for our farewell dinner before our flight home the next day.

In summary, Gibraltar is a good place for a short break for a few days particularly if you are interested in history and don’t mind a bit of steep walking.

No room for error on the Gibraltar runway

Sunset in Gibraltar

Copyright: Words and Photos John Cruse 2024

After an early breakfast we made the short walk from the hotel to the cable car having pre-booked tickets for our one-way cable car ride and entrance to the Nature Reserve.

The ride to the top of the Rock gives very good views of the Bay of Gibraltar and the town, marinas and airport of Gibraltar that are mostly situated on the Bay side of the Rock.

Map by Visit Gibraltar

The map above (that is supplied free by Visit Gibraltar) shows the whole of the Rock and surrounding areas including the Nature Reserve and the various attractions. We used this map to plan our walking tour from the top cable car station back into the Main Street of the town. It is possible to visit the viewing area at the top cable car station and return by the cable car if you do not want to walk down, but walking down gives access to all the attractions and requires a Nature Reserve ticket to be purchased as well as one for the cable car. Tickets for some of the attractions need to be purchased upon entry also.

The views from the cable car top station were spectacular particularly as the weather was clear and sunny. We arrived early in the morning and it was a bit chilly with a brisk wind but as we walked down it warmed up as we were on the Bay side of the Rock and the wind was coming from the Mediterranean Sea side.

View towards the town, airport and border with Spain

Sandy Bay beach

After we left the top cable car station we walked into the Nature Reserve and O’Hara’s Battery which is the highest point of the Rock being 426m (1400 feet). On the way we met our first Macaques that we expected would be in great numbers all over the Nature Reserve. There were only about 10 in this location and they seemed well behaved until one lady got too close and the Macaque jumped on her back and started pulling her hair.

We walked on to O’Hara’s Battery which included a steep section up to the highest point of the Rock. All the roads/paths are in good order and some are wide enough for taxis and small tour buses.

O’Hara’s Battery is named after General Charles O’Hara who was Governor of Gibraltar between 1795 and 1802. It was originally the location of an unsuccessful attempt to build a watchtower from which the garrison could see any possible enemy in Cadiz harbour, which is an incredible 100 kms (60 miles) away. As this purpose failed, the garrison began referring to the tower, amongst other names, as O’Hara’s folly. The tower survived until 1888 when it was demolished and the first 6 inch gun was mounted in 1890. This was replaced in 1901 by a 9.2 inch cannon with a range of 26km due to its height above sea level. In theory, its range would allow the gun to shoot right across the strait of Gibraltar reaching the North African shore. O’Hara’s Battery remained active during WWII with its gun last firing during a training exercise in 1976.

After we had visited O’Hara’s Battery we walked downhill to St Michael’s Cave. St Micheal’s Cave was long-believed to be bottomless and there are various stories about who lived there over many centuries. During WWII the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital but was never used as such. The cave is now open to visitors and has been used as a theatre with 600 seats since the early sixties. When one visits the cave there is a light and sound show that is projected around the main cavern.

The theatre in the main cavern

Stalactites in the Cave

After the Cave we walked the length of the Nature Reserve to Great Siege Tunnels which were dug during the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783. Due to high winds that morning, the Great Siege Tunnels were shut for safety reasons so we moved on towards the WWII tunnels further down the hill. On the way we passed the Military Heritage Centre which was also closed that day, but there was a great view over the Gibraltar airport which is interesting as a public road runs across the runway. This road is these days only open to pedestrians and bicycle riders as cars have a new road that goes around the end of the runway into the town.

The airport looking across the border into Spain

We then walked down the hill to the Lime Kiln – Willis’s Road, which had been restored by the Gibraltar National Museum and Ministry for Heritage. The Rock is a Jurassic limestone massif so the abundance of limestone has been exploited since medieval times. By the late 19th/early 20th century two kilns were built to make quicklime for use in the construction of Gibraltar’s water catchments and underground reservoirs.

The Lime Kiln

We then walked a little further to the City under Siege Exhibition in the Old Willis’s Magazine that shows what life was like for the population (who were mostly the Armed Forces) during the early years of the British occupation of the Rock. The various exhibits show life issues such as the food they ate, how punishment was administered, death and disease, and water. It is worth visiting as it gives a good overview of the challenges that the early British occupants endured. There was some interesting graffiti from the 1730s to 1760s which was carved in the lime mortar by soldiers on tedious guard duty.

Punishment 18th Century style

Our next stop was the WWII tunnels where we were told about the military significance of Gibraltar. At the start of WWII, the civilian population was evacuated to the UK and the Rock became a military garrison. With a hostile Spain next door, and the area of the Rock being so small, storage became an urgent issue so that food and equipment could be stored safely and siege accommodation could be available for troops.

New tunnels were dug by the Royal Engineers and Canadian Army. A new main base was established in the southeastern part of Gibraltar on the Mediterranean coast, which potentially shielded it from the Spanish mainland, and new tunnels were created to link this with the established military bases on the west side.

A pair of tunnels called the Great North Road and the Fosse Way were excavated running nearly the full length of the Rock to interconnect the bulk of the wartime tunnels. The entire garrison of 16,000 could be housed with enough food for 16 months. There was an underground telephone exchange, a power generating station, a water distillation plant, a hospital, a bakery, ammunition magazines and a vehicle maintenance shop all within the tunnels. The total length of the entire tunnel system in the Rock is approximately 55 kms (34 miles).

A visit to the WWII Tunnels is a must for those interested in the recent history of Gibraltar and is well worth the walk to reach it.

We then walked a short distance to the Moorish Castle. The fortifications on and around the site of the Castle were first built in 1160 or maybe earlier. These were destroyed when the Spanish re-conquered Gibraltar from 1309 to 1333. The Tower of Homage, the castle’s main feature, dominates the hillside and was rebuilt from about 1333 when Abu’l Hassan recaptured Gibraltar from the Spanish. The Tower of Homage shows the battle scars inflicted during various sieges. The courtyard of the Moorish Castle served as a prison until 2010.

The Moorish Castle

The Moorish Castle is near the lower exit of the Nature Reserve so we exited and walked down the narrow streets of the town to Main Street for a much-anticipated cup of coffee and a sit down.

After a long day we walked back to the Hotel for dinner and a discussion on our plans for Day 3.

Copyright: Words and Photos John Cruse 2024. Map: Visit Gibraltar.

We decided to take a short Monday to Friday break in April to escape the rainy UK weather and Gibraltar seemed to fit the bill. The British have been on the Rock since 1704 when it was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the War of Spanish Succession and was ceded to the British in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Spanish Monarchs have made many unsuccessful attempts to regain Gibraltar over the years since, such as in the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783 when the Spanish and French joined forces.

Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula on the Bay of Gibraltar near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. This makes it a strategically important location for the military, hence the miles of tunnels in the Rock dug by the military, firstly during the Great Siege and secondly during the Second World War.

Gibraltar is approximately 5 km long and 1.25 km wide so we felt that our Monday to Friday visit would give us sufficient time to see all of the delights that Gibraltar has to offer, including the infamous Macaque monkeys.

After arriving at our hotel, The Rock, by lunchtime, we found that we were just over the road from the Alameda Botanical Gardens which were established in 1816 by Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Don who was the first commander in Gibraltar since 1704 to dedicate significant resources to public well-being.

The Botanicals Gardens are small but worth a visit and contain a little wildlife conservation park with some interesting birds and monkeys.

The original layout of the Gardens remains intact and a series of guns and commemorative busts attest to the garden’s age.

The main entrance to the Botanical Gardens is next to the cable car that takes 6 minutes to transport passengers to the top of the Rock which is a Nature Reserve and includes most of the attractions in Gibraltar, such as the Apes Den, the WWII Tunnels, the Great Siege Tunnels and Moorish Castle to name a few. In addition to these attractions and the main walking paths, there are also some walking trails on the Nature Reserve map which are for those who want a more strenuous walk.

The cable car can get very busy particularly when cruise ships are in the Spanish ports nearby Gibraltar, so booking online in advance for both the cable car and nature reserve are beneficial.

Therefore we decided that for day 2, we would book in advance and board the cable car early in the morning for a one-way ride up and a walk through the nature reserve, visiting the attractions, on the way down. We didn’t realise we would be walking 7 miles that day, which was for the most part either down or uphill.

We returned to the Rock Hotel for dinner and as the sun set, we could see the lights of Spain across the Bay of Gibraltar and, if we looked left, the lights of Tangier, Morocco, which is on the northern shore of the African continent and only a 79km ferry ride away.

Copyright words and pictures: John Cruse 2024

If you travel with us by reading our posts and are wondering what has happened to our posts in 2023, the answer is, we have been travelling but, for various reasons, not posting.

This will be rectified in due course and we will catchup with posts for our 2023 travels to South Korea, The Outer Hebrides, Northern Ireland and Egypt.

Our travels for 2024 are all planned and we will be posting our first 2024 posts shortly.

And so our trip was almost at an end. Having left the delights and hospitality of Robinson Crusoe Island we had a 400-mile sailing to Valparaiso in Chile, taking around a day and a half. 

We had visited this area of Chile 22 years ago, so took the opportunity to take things a little easier, but not too much. Valparaiso and the nearby Santiago (where we were staying) are not the safest of places to visit and even our local guides were wary where they took us.

Valparaiso, our docking point, is one of Chile’s most important and busy Pacific Ocean seaports. It has a long history, and away from the bustling coastline with its huge stacks of containers and transporting lorries, features an historic quarter which was granted UNESCO status in 2003. It also has a labyrinth of cobbled alleys and colourful buildings. But with time at a premium this was not where we were heading.

Instead, it was over to Santiago, an equally busy area and the country’s capital some 70 miles away. This town was founded in the 1500s by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia and too features attractive architecture, winding streets, and very busy areas. An estimated 40% of Chile’s population live here.

With the help of a Spanish guide, speaking through a broken-English interpreter (not easy), we took the opportunity of a whistle-stop tour of Santiago. Making things a little more difficult was the fact that our guiding duo was wary of us even getting out of the vehicle (for safety reasons). Nonetheless, we did visit the cathedral and had a very quick walkabout, viewing the Palacio de La Moneda (the President’s palace).

On the edge of the town we visited the beautiful garden of Laguna de las Aves – a relaxing escape from the busyness of the centre, which we were not used to after three weeks of little-populated islands.

A trip we did manage on our own via the use of taxis, was to a most delightful craft area, the Centro Artesanal Los Dominicos.

This land had been donated to the Order of the Dominican Fathers of Recoleta in the 1800s by an Irish citizen living in Chile. Although his name wasn’t stated I suspect it to be Anthony Fahy, a Dominican priest, chaplain and keen supporter for 27 years of Irish immigrants who struggled with the Spanish language.

Since 1983 part of this land has been set aside for the purpose of encouraging artisans to make their creations in view of the public and to subsequently sell them. It was a delight to actually see them at work and admire their skills, and was a far cry from viewing the usual imports. There were more than 100 workshops and small eating places. 

And so to some overall thoughts of our trip across the South Pacific.

This had been an incredible opportunity, giving us the chance to visit so many islands – both inhabited and uninhabited. We experienced and were able to compare so many cultures – the French Polynesians with their genuine warm welcomes, floral garlands, food and hospitality; the rather British approach on Pitcairn; the histories and mysteries of Easter Island; and the stories within Juan Fernández Archipelago all of which gave us such contrasts. Then there were the birders themselves and viewing their passion for these winged creatures. And never to forget the experiences of landing on islands where few people had walked before over the decades or even centuries. 

This was such a rare chance and one we much appreciated. But we had to leave, in order that we could travel again. Next destination: South Korea.

Copyright: Words and Photos Sue Barnard 2022