Some concrete reasons to Henan-Valle.

 We are turning back on ourselves because I missed the turning. It will mean we won’t go to the Hotel Villa de Gor.  Come on, that does sound like a Hammer House film; probably in Hammer’s waning period.  Before we do that, yesterday we went past an oddment, there is a picture, and I thought I better tell you about it.

On top of a former railway bridge pillar is a statue of Jesus. Vlad has described it for us .’The structure on which the Sacred Heart of Jesus sits is the support for the previous bridge over the Río Chico on the old railway line from Guadix to Lorca. Today, that bridge is located in Dúrcal and is known as the Tin Plate Bridge, the only cantilever bridge in Spain belonging to the Eifel school. It was removed due to fears that it wouldn't support the weight of the railways due to the unstable terrain. Passengers on foot were made to disembark on the other side of the bridge over the Gor River, and the route was later changed. This was the reason for its sale to the Granada Electric Tram Company…’


So, back down a track and the track will become so tracky that some of it is not on Streetview.   We are going along the Camino de Gor.  Sorry, I still find that funny.


We are heading for Henan-Valle.   Almost 300 people live here, and why not.  Their patron saint is Saint Louis of France.  Now, he has being a late August saint going for him - 25th August - but it means he didn’t get the saintly gig till 1297 so presumably he was a bit novel still after the Castilian take over.   Louis was very devout.  He gave to the poor and mutilated the lips and tongues of people he felt were blasphemers. He also ordered the burning of Jewish books.


Turning into town and passing the monument to immigrants.  As has been well documented. Rural Spain has had many migrants over the centuries, be it from abroad or from country to town.


There is a preserved communal washing area.  Seems you can’t be a proper pueblo if you don’t get one of these and spruce it up.  Carlo summed it up two years ago. ‘An emblematic place is the Laundry where all the families gathered to wash clothes, fetch water and other daily chores.’ That’s the most anyone has to say about it.


Let us end the day with a concrete contractor.  At the Placas Jimenez de Haro we find nine reviews and 4.7 stars.   Lucas reckoned ‘A very formal and, above all, very professional man with a very friendly manner. If I need to build another ship in the future, I'll definitely call him.’   Francis thought ‘Great pressure always adapting to the client's needs’.  I’m thinking Google Translate is not doing good service here.


Tomorrow we push on to Guadix.








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