THE ROCK - A-Z CHALLENGE

I am late on parade today with my A-Z post, so it's a good thing I had it planned!

To those of us who live here, Tenerife is sometimes known affectionately as THE ROCK. and let's face it - there's an awful lot of rock about.
BUT when people say "Steady as a rock" they are using an inaccurate simile, as the inhabitants of my village discovered eighteen months ago.

Parque de la Reina has its own motorway access – No22 if you want to explore – but in November 2013 it was blocked by a ROCK FALL that just missed crushing a car and the young couple inside.

There is a banana plantation perched on top of the cutting and I suspect that decades of watering were responsible for bringing down the wall.

The Cabildo chopped back the rock and were part-way through building a RETAINING WALL when there was a second collapse – fortunately at night so no workmen were injured.
The road was closed for months.

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION

REMEMBRANCE DAY – the Tenerife branch of the RBL – sadly now closed due to the increasing age of its few active members and an increase in the amount of paperwork demanded by Head Office – hosted a REMEMBRANCE SERVICE at Westhaven Bay, Costa del Silencio, for many years. One year the crew of a British Royal Navy ship joined us - that was a day we shall never forget – and other guests have included Ricardo Melchior, President of the Tenerife Government.

These photos show how locals and visitors remember the fallen, Tenerife-style.

LAUNCHING A WREATH INTO THE ATLANTIC IN MEMORY OF THOSE LOST AT SEA

THE WREATH IS BIO-DEGRADABLE

AND AFTER THE PARTY WE FACED THE LONG PROCESS OF COLLECTING UP THE TINS AND COUNTING THE MONEY!

TUESDAY NEWSDAY - 1914-2014

This is the official crest of the Royal British Legion, of which there are branches all over the world - even here in the Canary Islands. The actual branch is in Tenerife  and we have less than 20 members, but our Welfare Officers cover the entire archipelago. They have occasionally had to fly to other islands to assist an ex-serviceman or -woman in difficulties.

The Royal British Legion is a charity that exists solely to aid British ex-Servicemen and their dependants, and the poppy is sold in memory of the poppies that sprang up after WW1 on the devastated ground over which so many thousands of young lives had been lost. BUT it is important to remember that the RBL caters for ALL ex-service personnel, not just WW veterans - there are still men and women being injured and killed today, and they or their dependants need our help.

This year 2014 is the Centenary Year of which much has been made on the media, but for anyone who doesn't know what it's all about by now - 1914 was the start of the Great War, which subsequently became known as World War One. It was billed then as "The war to end all wars" - would that this were true!

My husband Don has been Chairman of the Tenerife branch of the Royal British Legion for the past twelve years but is now about to hand over the reins to some (slightly) younger hands. It is fitting that Don's last act as Chairman was to oversee the 2014 Poppy Appeal in which we hope - fairly confidently - that we have again won the Noel Rogers Trophy for the branch which raises the most money per member. Last year we raised around eleven thousand euros - yes, you read that right - 11,000+ euros!

I took the following photographs at our Remembrance Service which was attended by around 450 people, including the British Vice-Consul Helen Keating, a representative of the Tenerife Government, Jesus Morales Martinez, many ex-servicemen living out their retirement in the sun, some who fly out specially each year to join us, and hundreds of people of many nationalities including British, Spanish, Belgian, French and German.

You had to arrive early to get a seat

An ex-Royal Marine conducted the service

I read the Act of Commitment in Spanish

Isn't this a beautiful setting? Westhaven Bay holiday complex in Costa del Silencio, Tenerife. The Belgian owners make us welcome every year in memory of the help given to their country by Britain in WW2.

The Last Post and Reveille still give me goosebumps!

Having no Cenotaph, we cast a wreath on the waters in memory of those lost at sea.

Helen Keating, British Vice-Consul, with a group of Marines

A lovely surprise - the local Spanish under-16s Rugby Team turned up!

Duncan wasn't the only Scot but his was the only kilt.

Jesus Morales of the Tenerife Cabildo, Helen Keating, Vice-Consul, Paul Grey, RBL Vice-Chariman, and Don Young, RBL Chairman, standing beneath a Standard 'liberated' from Gibralter, which we all thought was too good a photo opportunity to miss!

Meanwhile back in England my younger grandson Leo carried his Cub Group Standard in procession through the village. There is hope for the future if the youngsters are taught what the results of war really are.

LEST WE FORGET

NEWSDAY TUESDAY

It's been hot week on The Rock with temperatures up in the 30s - just when we thought it was safe to turn off the fans and get out the blankets!
Unfortunately the heat also tempted people to take risks in the sea, and an elderly man became the eighth drowning victim of the season.





On Saturday morning the sunrise was gin-clear and the Tenerife branch of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Launch party was hot hot hot.
We raised 375 euros with our efforts, so it was, as they say, worth the sweat!

but this morning there is cloud and a hint - not a promise, mind you, just a hint - of rain to come.

Many locals would welcome it - looking at these cat-tail grasses and succulents releasing their feathery seeds into the atmosphere, it's no wonder we're all sneezing!

And of course, Hallowe'en is almost upon us. It took me aback to stumble upon this sight in a Chinese emporium in Las Galletas - a nasty reminder of the dreadful murder in a similar shop a couple of years ago.

I bought a witch's cloak - much more suitable at my age - and a huge bag of sweets for the trick-or-treaters.

 Happy Hallowe'en!

BUFFALO - 100 word fiction

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead of us - my OH has been Chairman of the Royal British Legion Tenerife Branch for the past twelve years but is retiring this year. Before then he hopes that our members - all 17 of us - will win the Noel Rogers Trophy for the most Poppy Appeal money collected per capita. We have won it seven times in a row - last year we raised over €11,000. - and other branches haven't even come close!

So, with the Official Launch this Saturday, poppies to distribute, collecting boxes to round up, the Remembrance Service to organise, and the AGM to attend, the OH is a bit stressed, and my writing has had to take a back seat.

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Therefore I wrote this week's 100 word story in a coffee break half-way through shopping for groceries. Thanks as always to Rochelle for the photo prompt.

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/

BUFFALO

Each photograph identified a building on the skyline but Buffalo ignored them. He climbed over the barrier to the beach where, with wavelets lapping his boots, he could open his memories.

Instead of buildings, trees and totem poles scraped the sky; tendrils of smoke pinpointed his village and their nearest neighbours a mile away; kayaks bobbed on the lake and water-birds soared.

Then a siren burst his dream and a patrolman said, “No-one’s allowed down there – go home.”

“I fished this lake before you were born,” Buffalo said, but he went.

Overnight all the photographs were obliterated by tribal symbols.

Please leave a comment - I promise to anwer them all!

D-DAY TENERIFE-STYLE

Many people celebrated D-Day with solemnity and taste, which is right and proper - after all, far too many of England's youth didn't live to see the end of the war 70 years ago.
The Royal British Legion helped the injured then, and are still helping them and their dependents now, including the only branch in the Canary Islands - our branch - which is in Tenerife.

We are suitably solemn at our Remembrance Day service, which is attended by over 350 people annually, but today we partied at Our Place Bar, Costa del Silencio.








We had entertainers, all of whom gave their services free on their traditional day off. Singers and comedians -


Andy's Chubby Brown was very funny (and very rude, but we were warned in advance!)



and there was a barbecue - don't they say, "Never trust a thin cook"?











and a raffle, complete with obligatory fondue set, run by the lovely Diane -

and of course, as this is Tenerife, there was Bingo, which was won by Lol - the lady who single-handedly raised almost 2000 euros last year by persuading the customers at her till that they didn't actually need their change.


This is Kelly, our Poppy Appeal Organiser - not one to hide his light under a bushel!
As soon as the Remembrance Day Service is over he grows that beard to magnificent proportions and plays Papa Noel to local orphanages.

The final score for today has yet to come in, but we reckon we raised about 500 for branch funds.
Not bad for a membership of less than 20.

POPPIES, PICTURES & PLAYSCHOOL

 POPPIES There aren’t many left of the servicemen who fought in World War Two, but there are still servicemen and women being injured today. This is why the Royal British Legion in Tenerife supports the POPPY APPEAL. 

There are only a handful of us – my OH is the Chairman – but 2012 was the fifth year we won the Noel Rogers Trophy for the overseas branch that raised the most money per member.

It helped that we were invited to sell poppies on the cruise liner Mariner of the Seas when it called into Santa Cruz. We were given lunch and a guided tour, including the bridge, before we stood in the sun for a couple of hours while the passengers re-embarked after a day ashore. 

"Gee! Is it Veterans' Day already?" one American asked, and donated all his left-over euros.

PICTURES

Only a few years ago I would have had to PORE over library books to find the PHOTOS I wanted to help my research. Now all I have to do is to ask the internet the correct questions.

Photographs of common people in the early 1900s were difficult to track down – only wealthy people could afford cameras then – but find them I did.

 Such faces! Black and white or sepia are so much more evocative, aren't they?

On the other hand there were lots of photos of WW2, and those of Dunkirk beaches,with lines of men snaking into the sea are gut-wrenching even now.

My local photo for today is of the nearest PLAYSCHOOL. Those handprints create a lovely image of a caring environment. Unfortunately, my friend recently found a toddler wandering in the street, and she discovered, after carting him round the local shops and bars, he had escaped from this Guarderia un-noticed. We can only hope they have taken this lesson to heart.

REMEMBRANCE DAY, TENERIFE STYLE

 The Royal British Legion Tenerife Branch held its annual Remembrance Day Service this morning at Westhaven Bay, Costa del Silencio, courtesy of the Belgian owner Nele.

Branch Chairman Don Young, who did his National Service with the Royal East Kent Regiment "The Buffs", welcomed Senor Ricardo Melchior Navarro, the President of the Tenerife Cabildo - the first time we have been honoured by the presence of a member of the Spanish Government.

Here is Snr Melchior, wearing a poppy.

Rick Farmer, an ex-Royal Marine, led the service, various members of the Tenerife Branch read lessons and led the Intercessions, and I read the Act of Committment in Spanish - always a nerve-wracking two minutes - especially as the service was being broadcast over Coast FM.

Below is a photo of Rick with Kelly, our Poppy Appeal organiser, and Diane Grey, one of our members.

A lady trumpeter played the Last Post before the Silence, which on some occasions has been broken by an aircraft passing overhead on its way to Reina Sofia Airport, and then a few of us went very carefully down some dodgy steps to the rocks below the terrace and placed a wreath in the sea in memory of Servicemen lost at sea.

This is Mary, a former Wren, who read one of the lessons, and Earle, a former Royal Marine who was selling poppies at our local British supermarket all week.

There aren't many of us - we have a membership of 17 of whom half do all the work - but for the last five years we have won the Noel Rogers Trophy for the most Poppy appeal money raised per head. Last year our total was about 9,000 euros.

Paul Grey on the left of this photo is an ex-Army man, Vice-Chairman of the branch and Welfare Officer - everyone has to wear several hats with so few working members!

The superb venue and the great atmosphere draw a large crowd - it's impossible to count heads because once all the seats are taken there are people standing at the back, round the sides, sitting on the sea wall and beside the pool - but we printed 350 service sheets this year and didn't have enough.

Afterwards, of course, there is time to relax with a pint, or a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate cake.

The smile on my face might tell you how delicious the cake was!