Not surprisingly; walking in Gibraltar is like walking in a giant medieval fort. You can enter via the main road but you can also take the “original entrance”.
Following the tunnel you end up on Casemates Square, that got its name from the bunkers and bombproof barracks. The square is now lined with pubs, restaurants and shops.
Walking further South along the Western wall we stumble across the American War Memorial, integrated into the main wall in 1933. It commemorates the alliance of the US and the UK in their naval exploits in the vicinity of Gibraltar during WWI. In 1998 a second bronze plaque was added to commemorate the WWII Allied invasion of French occupied North Africa in 1942.
In 1816 a recreational area for the soldiers that were stationed in the fortress was commissioned by General George Don. Over the years this developed into the Botanic Gardens. A small zoo was added in 1994.
We were on our way to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve on the top of the rock. We took the cable car up, and walked our way back down.
Besides the military, Gibraltar has four main sources of income: 1) Due to its VAT status it provides cheap fuel to the ships that pass this busy strait. The ships anchor in the bay and fuel barges come alongside for fuelling. 2) Financial services. 3) The naval dockyards providing maintenance and repair facilities to the commercial shipping industry. 4) Tourism.
The cable car station is integrated with a restaurant, souvenir shop and viewing platform.
The Barbary macaques are one of the attractions on top of the rock. The name Barbary refers to the Berber People of Morocco. The British have not introduced the macaques to the rock. According to records, the macaques were already present prior to the “reconquista” of Gibraltar from the Muslims. It was during the Islamic period that the macaques may have been introduced.
Douglas Path is a trail originally cut to facilitate troop movement and runs north-south along the top ridge of the rock, connecting a series of military installation. The patch provides excellent views of both sides of the rock
The opening scene to the James Bond movie The Living Daylights (1987) was filmed on Gibraltar. It was the frist James Bond movie with Timothy Dalton as 007 . The opening NATO exercise teaser, infiltrated by the Russians, was filmed mostly on the Upper Rock.
The O’Hara’s battery is built in 1890, at the highest point of the rock near the south end. The guns from O’Hara’s Battery and Lord Airey’s Battery were last fired in 1976 during a training exercise. More recently, the gun and infrastructure at the O’Hara’s Battery site were refurbished and opened up to the public.
We re-entered the city via the gates at South Bastion at the southern end of the city wall. This fortification was initially build by the Spaniards. A (small) statue of Lord Horatio Nelson stands below the wall, erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his victory and death in the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.
We went to the “100 Ton Gun Napier of Magdala Battery” directly south of the port, passing the naval shipyards along the way.
Around 1870 these enormous weapons were developed for the Italian navy and later for the British fortifications in Malta and Gibraltar.
It took a crew of 35 men to operate one gun. 14 men out of 35 were required to handle the ammunition only.
A well trained crew could fire one shot every 6 minutes.
The gun is front-loaded. It turned to the right side of the gun-pit to receive the charge. Then had to be turned 180 degrees to the left to receive the projectile. Under the left and right loading chambers were lifts to lift the ammunition in front of the barrel and rams to punch the ammunition inside the barrel.
The gun was moved into position via hydraulic rams and chains. It never saw war-time action.
After WWII the era of the battleships was over and with it the need for heavy shore-side guns. Nature of warfare changed and the major threat thereafter came from the air.
On our way back to our floating home we visited the Gibraltar museum. Much of what we learned and saw there is incorporated in the two posts about Gibraltar. I particularly liked the “aquarel photo” of Gibraltar made after the reconstruction out of the ashes of the “Great Siege”.
In the meantime a box with parts had arrived in the marina office so we could go to work. The most important project was to secure the escape hatches with a temporary fix as prescribed by the manufacturer. We installed two aluminum strips in the upper corner of the window frame, drilled a hole in the acrylic window and clamped everything with SS hardware and kit to keep it waterproof. Those acrylic panels will no longer fall out. Note this is a temporary fix. The windows will be completely replaced under warranty once GOIOT catches up with the backlog.
One of our own projects was to improve fire safety on board. In each of the two engine wells and in the generator locker we installed a Mabo automatic extinguisher and a smoke alarm. The Mabo cartridge “explodes” when the temperature rises to 84 degrees C and fills the enclosure with extinguishing vapour. All three smoke detectors are RF linked. All three detectors will sound the alarm simultaneous when only one of them detects smoke. We need lots of noise when things go wrong.
We received confirmation from the dealer and the yard that the boat was safe to sail, so………..we could leave!
To celebrate we indulged in a Sunday brunch aboard Sunborn Yacht Hotel, Dubai style.
