WAGS 2023 05 31: No Walk To Blog, So Time for a Little Blog History

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A walk was on offer for Wednesday 31st May but, what with several people travelling, and others with overriding commitments, the offer was not taken up. So, with no walk to blog, now is the opportunity to give a little blog background or history.

You will no doubt, I am confident enough to say, remember that on 23rd April 2023, Paul posted a comment of approximately 450 words on the Blog “Return to Herdade de Parra.” Even so, I am sure that neither he nor you will mind if I repeat what he wrote here, and I quote:-.


“'. I notice the blogs are becoming highly pictorial, which is another example of "Plus ca change...." May I take anyone who reads as far back as the comments to the earliest blogs which I inaugurated in February 2006 almost exactly a month before John and Hazel arrived in the Algarve. This Blog asked the question @What For??, and indeed, over the last 17 years we have seen how the blog and the AWW/WAGS organically developed, yet never really achieved the reaction and comments that I had hoped. Perhaps it was that most of our members were dinosaurs, and while they had mastered the art of reading and looking at pictures at an early age, they were paralysed there and could not work out how to reply.

"This is the first ever:

https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-for.html

“One picture and a few words from me - Nul comments, and ergo no answers to the question!

"The second blog consisted of no pictures, a walk description and Alleluia ,the first ever Blog Comment from Mike! 13 walkers 5 dogs, and in those pre GPS days a Trial of the Bamboo diagrams conducted by Janet under the supervision of myself. Despite her propensity to chat and take her eye off the diagrams, with a little prod here and there we made it, and generally deemed a success, though from records, the only ones who took to the scheme were Mike and myself.
Here it is.

https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/wednesday-8th-february-2006.html

“I don't intend to go on but to prove my point that not much changes, the 3rd blog was a retrospective of the 2005 Christmas lunch, and consisted of 1 picture and 3 sentences! Voilà:-

 https://algarveww.blogspot.com/2006/02/2005-christmas-walk-and-lunch.html


“And back to regular blogging in the early days. the next blog was one picture with a single sentence beneath.

“Soon the first account written by someone other than myself - Myriam and I were away and David Littlewood sent me a note (no Pictures) which I duly posted on the Cyberspace.

"Didn't mean to make this a complete history, but just to note after the high days and glory days of the AWW, John is reverting somewhat to the format of lots of pictures with one or two sentences. And why not? He has no help and precious little response. The aim is the record and it is sufficient to do it visually with minimum explanation and occasional videos which we have learned how to post.

“And the future: I hope to see audio/video blogs as soon as someone figures out the technology. Or maybe podcasts, with designated weekly speakers sitting round a table with beer in hand discussing the walk and making humorous banter a priority, Volunteers?”

Well, there you are for a start; I will try to find some other old links for my next blog. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to take up Paul´s suggestion and provide audio/video blogs (I believe that it´s called "vlogging"), please get in touch with him. Comments, as always, are appreciated. 

I hope that the links given above do actually work when you click on them, sometimes they can be tricky, and that you will enjoy reading these original efforts. Incidentally, the first one - the "What are blogs for " one - makes reference to the now almost totally forgotten navigation system which Paul invented - the Bamboo Diagrams; that really is history now. Today, of course, we have GPS and apps on our phones. Does anyone still remember how to use an Ordinance Survey map? And the 2005 Christmas Lunch one - they didn´t even photograph the food! What were they doing?

I can´t let this be a blog without at least one picture so I will try to find something from some of the Round The Corners to remind us of what we used to take in our stride in those days, Gordon´s Gully and The Salema Wall of Death among them. 


Here they are.





And of course, our blogs now have music. I cannot be sure but I would guess that Paul pioneered that innovation as well.








Comments

  1. Myriam10 June 2023 at 05:54

    Yes, when we think back, there are some unsung pioneers in our walking group. Without their efforts we would not have been able to enjoy the beautiful countryside of the Algarve. Without the Blogs we would not be able to remember what we have achieved! It will provide us some sort of pride and fond memories when we are fully retired from walking. Without the selfless leaders, most of us would not have the pleasure of walking in the hidden gems of the interior. I am most grateful for those who blazed the trails, those who organised the walks, those who blogged, those who walked! We are a jolly group who enjoyed each other's company!

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