WAGS 2023.10.11: A Bridge Over Absent Water

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The Leader´s Report

 A modest contribution given various circumstances.  Please note I will be on other duties next Wednesday then I will be away so will only be able to do anything again on  22/11. 

Walking on once where there was Water...
...or maybe...  From  A Bridge over Absent Water (suitable introit !)

A modest representation of WAGS, John & Hazel, Maria and Rod gathered at Café Silva in Vale de Fuzeiros on yet another warm autumn day.  


We drove along to the Barragem de Funcho and over the bridge which, in the absence of water, now hardly seems to serve any purpose. Perhaps one day its time will come again!  Our mission was to walk along the dried up R.Arade and the bed of the lake.
Actually we had done this once before many years ago following another drought but this time the level was even lower.




So off we set along where the river once flowed, passing on the way a number of rather forlorn looking boats and other riverside paraphernalia awaiting the return of water, and above the erstwhile high water mark,  a number of structures and other erstwhile floating items which reminded one that this was once a thriving waterside park.






 Now all was silent...not a bird, not a beast, not a sound of human life. Rather agreeable really. 


The Arade Shark

The intention was to reach the old sunken school building which we had walked past a few times  and visited on foot once before during the last drought.  In view of the advancing hour we decided to cut that out and retrace our steps.

So near and yet so far


Had we not done so indeed we might well have missed the one event of the walk! We had noticed a car parked close to where the lake water actually started. As we approached it on our return a canoe scraped along the final few inches of navigable water.  







 Maria, but of course, engaged the occupant in conversation. It turned out he was a naturalised Portuguese of Egyptian origin, and a canoeist of international standard. Residing in Loulé, this was  now his training venue. After this exciting diversion we wandered back to our car. And so ended what must have been a record breaking WAGS walk...not even quite 5k and a cumulative height gain of about 1.5m indeed. Well, we don't want to overdo it to start with but we must do better next time!  Still, mission achieved....but it will take a very wet winter for the Barragem to fill again.

The Track and The Statistics






These figures hardly merited any lunch but on our return to Café Silva we were greeted by Paul and Myriam and indeed by the most welcome sight of  Hilke, who seemed well on the road to recovery after her unfortunate fall...good to see her looking so much better.

Rod

The Lunch

A menu choice of fish and chips, feijoado, veal, or omelette;








All inclusive, €10 per head.



Rod left early, so Myriam grabbed two desserts



From the Archive


This is the old sunken school when the barragem has water. When we visited it previously, in 2009 I think, there were also drought conditions and we were able to walk up to it. A substantial, two-storey building, it is now marked on Google Maps as "escola submersa"..

Hazel and Dina explore the interior

Some of he group photographed from the roof.

From the left, Hazel, David Littlewood, Chris Whittle, Tina Fielder, Paul Vismé, JohnH, Maria, Antje, Frank Watson, Terry Ames, Yves, Dina, and Rod

Closing Music, of course





Comments

  1. Myriam16 October 2023 at 14:59

    Very sad indeed!
    These photos should be published by the Câmaras for the public to realise the seriousness of drought!

    ReplyDelete

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