The land of goshawks and leper turtles

 Happy New Year! Well it was until 1752 in England. We are following the road, small fields hug it and the broken terrain crowds in.  





We are crossing the border. To be honest this seems wrong..  We have a decent river which really ought to serve.  Nothing adds class to a border than having to cross over a bridge.  At least there is a pile of stones nearby.  Just down the way is Castell de Sant Joan d’Algars.



The stones consist of a church and a castle ruin.  The earliest mention of the fortress is in 1153, when the Count of Barcelona donated the castle of Miravet to the Templars.   Apparently Alfonso the Troubadour got a bit miffed with how slow the Templars were in developing the area and gave land gave land to other people and it all got a bit tetchy. When the Templars were done for, in 1318, the place was given to the Hospitallers.  The castle had been badly damaged by the eighteenth century.  That’s it.



As we have entered Catalonia let us say a thing about it.  In 843 the region was part of the Kingdom of the West Franks. In the 10th century the County of Barcelona and its neighbours went their own way.  In 1137 Barcelona and Aragon united as a single monarchy.  Within that the Principality of Catalonia had its own institutions and existence.  





The river, the main feature of our day, gets a mention in the 1845 Gazetteer.


ALGAE: river of the province of Tarragona, Jewish part of Gandesa, rises between the borders of Aragon and Catalonia, next to the municipality of Arnes, which it fertilizes in its E. and NE direction, as well as part of those of Llades, Caserras, Almudefar, Algás, Pabara and Nonaspe, at which point it is joined by the Matarraña ria, and that of Ribarroja, draining into the Ebro a very short distance from the latter.




The river is home to leper turtles, otters and Bonelli’s goshawks.  Let us look out for them an admire the works that have been done in cleaning the channels since the floods of 2013.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Mini Pieces of Supposed tuna

Image
  Pina de Ebro has something for everyone who enjoys the architecture of Spanish pueblos.  It has the tiny lanes, on which houses have been rebuilt for generations without a care for the needs of the modern motorist.  We have the pathways which have been tiled over but once were dirt tracks.  We have the modern suburban developments of low rise houses and 80s hopefully aspiring shacks.  First all, however, we have a park. One thing we noticed, especially with a small boy in tow, was the number of parks with interesting play equipment.  This is because, in Spain, people seem to like children.  This does make them a semi-public property and people feel free to indulge them with sweetmeats and pass comments. ‘I think sucking thumbs makes children look ugly’ said one elderly woman.’ My Spanish for ‘well desiccated prune face, no one asked you’ deserted me.  The play equipment is in the Plaza Pilarin Artigas.  Honestly I’ve looked and was giving u...
Read more