June 2013

The monthly meeting of the El-Valle Asociación went ahead as usual at the Camping Bar above the Embalse Vinuela however our usual room was not available and we were moved into the main bar/restaurant area which turned out to be less than ideal!!!! Carol opened the meeting, in the absence of our new chair Anne Dibden, and welcomed the 46 members who had turned up for the meeting. This was an encouraging turn out on what was probably the best day/evening weather-wise that we had so far experienced this year. This was probably in-fluenced by the choice of speaker, Joan Fallon, local authoress, who was to give an insight into the lives of women in Spain during the Franco era 1936 - 1975. Carol, along with Kim, gave an overview of recent and forth-coming social events details of which are available on the web-site/ news letter and at the Fri-day Market. A short break fol-lowed to replenish glasses and purchase "cash box" tickets. At 8.10 Carol introduced our guest speaker, Joan Fallon, au-thor of the following, Loving Harry, Santiago Tales, The house on the Beach, Between the

Sierra and the Sea and Daugh-ters of Spain. It was this book, Daughters of Spain, that Joan was to talk about. The book tells of the lives of women in the Franco era and explains how their lives were ruled by Fathers, Husbands, Boyfriends, Church and The State. In a series of interviews with women of all ages and back-grounds Joan portrayed a life of what can only be described as repression where women had no say whatsoever on such things as marriage, divorce, contraception, education and politics. Joan went on to outline a wife’s duties which were actu-ally in print, and to summarise said, (If you are easily of-fended stop reading now) Wives should be ready on their husbands return with a meal prepared, should not talk about their day but be atten-tive to their husbands day, at all times be presentable, make-up applied hair combed etc and at bed time be ready in bed and attentive to all her hus-bands needs and to only fix hair rollers (if used) once her husband was asleep and then without fail be awake first and presentable, with breakfast

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A R O U N D T H E V A L L E Y

P p

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Chairman's Report &

May Meeting Notes

2

Walking Group &

Quad News

3

Newsbites

Photographic Group &

Drama Group &

Photo Group

4

Obituary

Skittles

5

Whats on—

Forthcoming Events

6

Appeal

Tax Meeting

7

Committee 8

El-Valle Meeting 6th May 2013. By Alan Impey

Warning, some readers may find the content of this report offensive !!!

I'm writing this from a rather dull and chilly Uk after an exciting trip to Kerala and the UAE where it was very warm and sunny. Kerala was very interesting and the countryside green and lush and we saw amazing birdlife and beautiful scenery. Ras Al Khaimah, the neighbour of Dubai was lovely and for you beach lovers a great place to visit as yet not as comercialised as Dubai but al-ready has good hotels and things to keep you occupied. Hope everyone there in Spain is keeping well and we are looking forward to coming home soon and joining in with all the events.

CHAIRMANS REPORT By Anne Dibden

prepared, on her husband’s awakening. Gentlemen, noth-ing new there then, (In our dreams) Joan’s talk was enlight-ening, informative and amusing and was well received by all pre-sent. Thank you Joan on behalf of the El-Valle, Details of Joan's books can be found on her web site, www.joanfallon.co.uk but if you had bought on the night it would have been signed for you as well. It was now time for the cash box which stood at 160€ but none of the 5 attempts to select the cor-rect key were successful, which included yours truly!!!!!. Carol closed the meeting with further thanks to Joan and also Stewart for setting up the sound system etc.

M A Y W A L K I N G G R O U P B y A l a n I m p e y

We eventually reached a small hamlet where the hot sun took it toll and it was decided that yours truly would go on ahead and return with a car to assist one of the walkers who was feeling the heat. I returned to the hamlet to find that the one walker had multiplied to three and we arrived back at the start point just as the first walkers started to arrive. From there we adjourned to what is af-fectionately known as "Charlie's Bar" in Alcaucin for a three course menu del dia with drink at €8.50. The food, as we have come to expect at "Charlie's" was very good value. Thanks to Martyn and Rebecca for the walk and meal. Facts and Figures; Walk Date Thursday 9th May 2013 Walkers 24 Start Height 560 mtrs Low Point 434 mtrs High Point 590 mtrs Walk Length 7.04 kms Walk Time 2hrs 15min.

Summer has arrived, at least for the day, and that day, Thursday 9th May, was the day for the monthly El-Valle walk. This walk was led by Martyn and Rebecca who made the effort despite have Rebecca's sister, Lorna and her husband Alan staying with them.

Twenty four of us gathered at the radio masts above Alcaucin for an 11am start. The weather was very good and as we started walking downhill towards the south east more than one comment was heard "if we go down now we will have to come back up" We continued on al-ways towards the south east with frequent breaks to take in some wa-ter and cool down.

After descending for almost an hour we eventually turned in a more east-erly direction and began the climb up to the boundary fence of the Parque natural which we then followed in a north westerly direction with the masts at our start point looking ever distant.

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QUAD REPORT Unfortunately, due to a combi-nation of bad weather and broken quads, there has been very little quad activity by the group this month, however as shown by the picture below

Some, at least, of the quads are now back on the road again and seven set off last Wednesday to Guarro. Thanks to Chris Pegman for the photograph, we look forward to normal services being resumed next month!

The photo of this falcon taken by Gary Miles, was a good example of thirty three entries submitted for April’s technical challenge of “Shallow Depth of Field” (focusing on a subject and blurring the back-ground). One or two photos were lacking in the technique but it is a learning curve which is what our club is about. Album ink: http://tinyurl/cxcbjjm Our challenge for May was to inter-pret a “Line from a Poem”. There’s bound to be the obvious shot here and there, but who’s thinking outside the box? Members visited two locations in May on photo-shoots. The first was

Lake Viñuela Photographic Club

I was recently reminded by a close friend about the benefits of pure, not hydrogenated, Coconut Oil, having read about it a few weeks ago, and how good it is for the memory, for calming sweet cravings, for illnesses like Alz-heimers, Fibromyalgia, Parkin-sons and Diabetes. Mitzi bought hers in Gibraltar and no doubt some of the Health shops will stock it here . It has the ability to do great things in the brain by encouraging ‘reconnections’ and research has shown it to have amazing results I have at last found a provider for the First Aid workshop, on behalf of our Therapist’s Support Group, which will be held at An-tonio's Bar, Benamargosa on

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Tuesday September 24th (tbc) from 4 - 7pm. The Head of the local Health Centres is providing the train-ing and needs to check his itinerary before it is for definite, and a nomi-nal fee will be charged to cover ex-penses. I have yet to find out the maximum numbers but I am happy to take names as I think this will prove very popular, and I will ar-range a certificate of attendance. If any members of El Valle wish to put their name down, please send me an email, as it is not only for Therapists: [email protected]. We have no meetings scheduled during the summer and, like El Valle, will meet again in September.

A R O U N D T H E V A L L E Y

Newsbites By Jenny Wright

an early start for a coach trip to Castillar de la Frontera, a historic village in the province of Cadiz, quite a few kilometres inland to the north of Gibralter, thanks to our fellow photographers from the Costa del Sol Photographic Society for the invite to join them. A day trip to Castillar is not recom-mended; the village is worth a visit but is very small and won’t take more than a couple of hours to see what it has to offer, a longer stay will enable visitors to take in the beauty of the lake and sur-rounding countryside. The second was an old favourite for those that live in the Axarquia, a guided tour of El Torcal, a late afternoon start for this trip. The trip was later than the June news-letter deadline, photos and album link may be published in July’s edition.

The next performances will be Thursday 6th and Friday 7th June at 'El Trapiche' commencing at 7.30pm. There will be two short plays each evening - these are 'Mystery at the Manor' and 'Drama at the Village Hall'. Each performance will take approximately half an hour and there will be a short interval in between. Tickets will be on sale from the first of May. The plays are very funny and we are confident tickets will sell quickly. We now have quite a few new members inc two young teenagers who are very keen. Also our website is now on line..... www.elvalledramagroup.com

EL VALLE DRAMA GROUP

By Jenny Woodhead

V o l u m e 1 I s s u e 5

Date Friday 24th May 2013 Location Atila's Bar Event El-Valle Skittles. At long last our weather seems to have settled down!!! blue sky's and sunshine were in abun-dance at 3pm for the El-Valle skittles tourna-ment. This was in direct contrast to the last time it was tried to host the event when bad weather forced everyone inside to an im-promptu quiz. Six teams had been drawn up to take part and each team, on paper, had six members however to make the numbers fit some teams had only five and the captains of these teams had to bowl twice!! The teams devised their own names as follows: The A Team Frantic Five Odds & Sods Lucky Six The Easies The Fidgets. As each player bowled there was refined/muted vocal encouragement from the assembled masses and it was noticeable that as the after-noon wore on and more beverages were con-sumed the encouragement/ridicule (all good natured) became more vocal and the event instead of just a non-competitive friendly social event gradually changed to a must win situa-tion. Of course with me being totally unbiased I took no part in the comments made, good or bad. (Trust me it's true, I used to be a policeman) After round 1 Frantic Five were out in front with The A Team bringing up the rear. After round 2 The Fidgets had taken top spot with The Easies at the bottom and The A Team slowly climbing up the table. After round 3 The Fidgets were still in top spot The Easies still last and The A Team still climb-ing. After Round 4 (Final) the results were as fol-lows: (1) The A Team 166 (2) The Fidgets 158 (3) Lucky Six 155 (4) Odds & Sods 151 (5) Frantic Five 148 (6) The Easies 146 Winning Team members from The A Team were; Alan Impey (Capt) Peter Girvan, Marjorie Mor-gan, Sue Dodds Pauline Marland Alan Impey (alter ego) Not only did The A Team (My Team) win the team cash prize but Peter Girvan won the cash prize for highest individual score. Congratula-tions Peter!!!!!

The meal following was to its usual high stan-dard and I heard no complaints from anyone about either The Moroccan Lamb with cous cous of the home made cod and salmon fish cakes. Thanks to Kim (licensee) for his scoring through-

MIKE SPRINGTHORPE Local people will remember Mike Springthorpe, who lost the use of his limbs after a freak cycling acci-dent at Puerto Sabar in October 2008. Many of those local people gave their time and money very generously to the fund-raising campaign in aid of his cause. He was flown to England at the expense of his family, and recuper-ated at Nottingham and eventually at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. Mike and Kay then sold their home by the lake, and bought a house to adapt for Mike's disability, near Kettering. There they were close to their daughter and her husband and grandchildren, and their son and his wife moved there too, to be close to them. Throughout all this distressing time Mike and his family showed im-mense courage and unity. The fund-raising efforts surprised and encouraged Mike considerably. Mike's breathing was always very shallow because of his injury, and a chest infection carried him away on Monday 29th April.

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OBITUARY, MIKE SPRINGTHORPE

out the contest and to all at Attila’s for the hospitality and service. The afternoon was not without its drama as during one round Ken, a pin setter, took a tumble and had to retire for medical treatment. Two other players, Phil and Sue Dodds took him for treatment so thanks also to the players who stepped in to bowl on their behalf and hopefully Ken will make a speedy recovery. There is NO truth in the rumour that Rod Martin, bowling at the time of the incident, decided that he would take out Ken to remove some of the competition. This was verified by Kim, scorer, and Rod should not feel responsible in any way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and he is free to play in any future contest. Many thanks also to El-Valle committee members, Jane and Kim, who oversaw the event and helped it run smoothly. Finally!!!!!!!!! Someone has to score the least points and this is always recognised by a special prize which in this case was a bottle of scotch and the winner (loser) was Maureen, my better half. All in all I came out of the event in a good position. Member of winning team, highest scorer a member of my team and lowest scorer Maureen who won me a bottle of Scotch!!!! Thanks to all.

EL—VALLE SKITTLES By Alan Impey

ALL MEETINGS START PROMPTLY AT 7:30 pm

MONDAY 3RD JUNE, CHANGE OF PROGRAMME, WE WILL NOW BE ENTERTAINED BY REG BRADBURY (SINGER)

MONDAY 1ST JULY, MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT BY `ALEGRIA’

AUGUST NO MEETING

MIDSUMMER MADNESS DANCE @ THE HOTEL VINUELA

THURSDAY, 20TH JUNE 2013 19:00

3 Course meal in the beautiful Hotel Gardens, includes wine,

cava, Beer and soft drinks during the meal.

Live Music by the Honky Tonk Cats, Dancing till Late

Members: €35 Non Members: €40

THIS EVENT IS BEING HEAVILY SUBSIDISED BY THE EL VALLE.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH

TRIP TO ALMUÑECAR FIREWORKS

€6 Members €8 Non Members

Leave Hotel Romero 6pm, leave Almuñecar 1 am

Enjoy an excellent night, find your own restaurant, or take a

Picnic on the beach.

Fireworks to music.

WHAT’S ON—FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

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MEMBERS PICNIC FRIDAY 12TH JULY

AT CAROL & BEN CALDWELLS’

26 VALLE DE ALCAUCIN

COST 5€, BRING YOUR OWN DRINKS & GLASSES

TIME: 7pm

LIMITED NUMBERS SO BOOK EARLY TO AVOID

DISAPPOINTMENT

What is the Marfan Syndrome? Marfan syndrome is a disorder of the body's connective tissues. Children usually inherit it from one of their parents. Connective tissue helps maintain the body's structure and provides support to other tissue and organs. Some people are only mildly affected by Marfan syndrome, while others develop more serious symptoms. Typical characteristics of Marfan syn-drome include: being tall, abnormally long and slender limbs, fingers and toes (arachnodactyly, heart defects and lens dislocation – where the lens of the eye falls into an abnormal posi-tion

A person with Marfan syndrome does not have enough of a protein called fibrillin in their connective tissue. This results in parts of their body being able to stretch abnormally when placed under any kind of stress. The defective fibrillin gene also causes some bones to grow longer than they should. So someone with Marfan syn-drome may be tall because their arms and legs grow longer than normal. There is no cure for Marfan syndrome, so treatment focuses on managing the symptoms and reducing the risk of complications.

The son of one of our neighbours of Alcaucín is affected by this disease. At this moment, the nine year old boy is losing his vision and can turn blind if surgery is delayed.

For several reason, surgery will have to

take place in a private hospital of Málaga

(Quiron). The parents presented the

medical justification for the intervention

as well as the qoute. The surgery is going

to cost them about 2300€.

The Evangelic Church Cristo Rey, that

meets at the Cruce de Periana, have been

assisting this family for several months.

This church is registered in the Depart-

ment of Justice under the number 5691-

SE/A. They are paying a private medical

insurance for the boy. However, this is

becoming too big for them and the par-

ents. For this reason, I thought that we, as

neighbours from Alcaucín should try

gather that money.

If you wish to donate, you can do so on

the account here below. We will keep you

informed about the amount that has been

raised as well as the destination of those

funds. This intervention is URGENT!!!

UNICAJA ACCOUNT:

2103 0218 17 0030003805

CONCEPT: MARFAN

This message has been sent to me from

Mario Blanke.

ALL ABOUT TAXES, RESIDENTS,

NON RESIDENTS, ETC.

A meeting has been arranged on

Wednesday, 19th June at Restaurant La

Era, Alcaucin (next to the Petrol Station)

As many people have questions relating

to the tax declaration and the difference

between being resident and non—

resident, fiscal deductions etc.

As this is a very complicated item and

nobody wants confusing information

Mario thought the best thing to do was

to organise an evening inviting a tax spe-

cialist to explain the matter.

Rosana Tejada from “HELPING

AXARQUIA” has agreed to organise the

evening.

She has proposed an Agenda

which might seem quite large

and it may not be possible to

cover all the items in one meet-

ing but if there is a lack of time

she has agreed to complete the

Agenda with a second meeting.

PROGRAM

1. Tax Residence in Spain

2. Residence Card (Green)

3. How do you prove you are

a Fiscal Resident

4. Personal Tax Income:

a) Income subject to taxation

b) Who has to declare tax?

c) Income exemption

d) Fiscal deduction

e) Fiscal changes 2013

5. Non Resident Tax

6. Case Studies

7. Inheritance tax: Resident &

Non-Resident

8. Case Study

9. What is the Complementary

Tax?

As you can sees is going to be, a

long and complicated evening so

we would like to start Promptly

at 19:00.

Mario Blanke.

ASOCIACIÓN EL VALLE DEL EMBALSE COMMITTEE

2012-13

Chair: Anne Dibden - 605826358 Vice Chair & Head of Social : - Jane Harris - 633615154 Treasurer: Terry Frost - 697569141 Secretary: Stewart Common - 647076177 MEMBERS

Linda Kemp: - 951167088 Elaine Edwards: - 647076177 Lyndsey Padley: - 628655801 Carol Jackson: - 635291532 Kim Rogerson: - 696126204 Judy Maycock:- 673847608

Editor: Susan Jones - 680407894 Almoner: Christine Goreham – 635361233 INFORMATION.

NEWSLETTER EDITOR [email protected] WEBSITE - www.el-valle-asociacion.com

A representative of the committee is usually on duty between 11am – 12.30pm at Mis Tapas (“BILLY’S BAR”) during Friday Market - Chiringuito Antonio

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