What else do you do on top of a mountain except play tennis ?	Downwards	Looking towards the distant coast with Fortuna just RH of centre	View West	The rather insipid though edible strawberry tree

31st. October -2nd. November 2008

It's been another very noisy weekend because it was All Saints day which is a bank holiday here. Thank God they have buggered of now because for everyone not Spanish, it was a bit much to have to suffer. At least there won't be another bank holiday now until the Immaculate Conception on the 8th. December.

My friend Jose sent me a text that he was back from his honeymoon so I expect he will turn up in the next few days. Otherwise, the weather has been really rather crap. Today was nice and sunny (and warm) after torrential rain last night but the national forecast isn't looking good for the next few days with rain or snow just about everywhere.

Where I am currently, and where I plan to be over the next couple of months or so is never going to be really cold - even at night. However, the trouble is that once one has got used to nice warm weather for most of the time, it really does become very noticeable when it gets even slightly colder. The thought of suffering another British winter is something that doesn't bear thinking about.

The long struggle on the sample libraries continues and I have returned to some Kenneth Jones / Nicholson samples to see whether I can find those things that I am missing. So far some of the results are favourable and the way things are going, I should be able to produce an acceptable small three manual out of what they offer. Of course this isn't anything to do with the Romantic Willis and will be a separate instrument, but if one stop can be used which blends well with the original Willis then that will be fine.

Of course, it won't be original Willis but then again, many instruments by Willis weren't all Willis. Willis along with pretty much all the other builders throughout history wasn't one to go throwing out perfectly good ranks or part ranks of other builders in either new or reconstructed instruments if they were any good. Indeed I know that the "new" instrument by Jones and Nicholson that I have sampled had plenty of old stuff - the bass of the Salicional for instance is definitely by someone else and whilst repainted, revoiced and beautified, is still someone else's old Salicional bass.

The skill lies in being able to incorporate new / old and good stuff within otherwise original ranks - a beautiful Lieblich Gedeckt is precisely that - whether it fits into a particular tonal scheme is something that needs to be worked on. If it is necessary to provide a new top octave to replace a battered existing one, then so be it. What I got from Sanguesa was a mixture of good and bad but out of it, there is a very acceptable Gamba (which I was missing) and an Oboe which although not absolutely wonderful, produces an excellent Fagot 16' bass octave (which I was also missing) and no amount of pitch shifting of existing ranks or using alternative part ranks could provide.

The stuff I did at George's works is mostly for the bin but amongst the dross is a fine Waldhorn bass. That was the only part of the rank still extant but it was good. I have a couple of Cornopeans - both at 8'; one will remain as it stands as an 8' but the other which is slightly less prominent needed a 16' bass to make a perfect Waldhorn and this I have now found. If I really want to go to town, I can "re-voice" pretty much anything to fit but it's so nice to find say just one octave of an otherwise unremarkable stop that fits perfectly into the scheme of things.

Sadly this is the way of pipe organs and very few builders have ever produced an instrument that is all good. Remember that I am not producing some historical facsimile of a known instrument - I leave that to others......what I am trying to produce is a typical British Romantic organ with the emphasis on Father Willis qualities. If I have to use stuff from other builders and it fits then I am definitely going to do so.

Many Willis instruments used Tierce mixtures to the exclusion of any other mixture and whilst these are still valuable, modern day trends tend to eschew their universal usage in a specification. Even Father Willis moderated his mixtures in later years so that the typical "Stainer" mixture appeared which was a sort of half and half. In St George's Hall Liverpool, a typical original mixture of V ranks was along the lines of 12:15:17:19:22 but listen to them today and there is no hint of any tierce in their make up. Similarly, a recently rebuilt F.W had tierce mixtures when I first played it many years ago but now they are unisons and quints only. In most cases I intend to provide the separate Tierce as an individual stop and following Audsley's advice, "if there is a Tierce in the division, it is unnecessary to duplicate it in the other mixtures".

It's all a very complex procedure and playing through what I have done shows that I am now heading in the right direction. Hopefully, I shall be able to release a really good British Romantic organ in the not too distant future - heaven knows, it's taken me long enough.

19th-30th. October 2008

My internet connection is about to run out so I will have to be quick in writing this. Suffice it to say that work continues on. The weather has been crap but nothing compared to what it has been elsewhere especially in the north of Europe. It's supposed to be really nice down here at this time of year but the temperatures have dropped and the cold North wind is blowing down the freezing conditions of regions not so many leagues from here. Imagine that where I was only 3 weeks ago in fairly pleasant weather is now under a blanket of several feet of snow !

it's still quite pleasant down here but not half as pleasant as it should be.

As regards work, I continue on with yet more samples and hopefully one day I will see the wood from the trees. yes, I had all but completed the former Great etc. but in playing it all back, something seemed to have been missed. The last few months have been spent working out just what it was that I had managed to lose. Now I think I have found it and the technique will be referred to as "gradually scaled attack" or something similar in the future. It has taken ages to work out the exact formula to achieve a natural sounding stop without the other problems associated with using this technique. Hopefully, this will bode well for my future workings though it does mean that much of what I had previously completed is now for the rubbish bin.

The only other fly in the ointment has been the dying of an old graphics card in my main computer which has meant the transfer of everything to a replacement.

I hope to replace much of this with some pics and a better diary than time allows at present.

17th. + 18th. October 2008

Working again: this time on more celestes and string stops.

16th. October 2008

Took the van in for the service which then left me several hours to kill. fortuna has little to offer so I cycled gradually back to Los Banos calling in on the way to an English run bar which was quite pleasant. I then spent a few hours in the gorgeous spa pool before returning to pick up the van.

Unfortunately, they were unable to find why the radio cum DVD etc. player wasn't working but confirmed that power was getting to the unit so it's obviously duff. Total cost of the service including oils and filters etc. came not to 80€ but 70€ inclusive of VAT which I thought was excellent and this wasn't some back street shed but the main Renault garage !

The gorgeous spa pool on site	It may be raining everywhere else but Fortuna is blessed

15th. October 2008

Unfortunately, Jose rang me to say that he wouldn't be coming because he was ill so I spent the day working.

14th.October 2008

Got a knock on the door by some bloke I didn't recognise and who turned out to be Jose without his beard and  a couple of stone heavier. ! Long chat over coffee complete with dire warnings about the Gitanos who have moved on to the site and whom he recognised - they won't be here long. I don't think that they will cause much fuss but nonetheless, he warned me to lock everything up just in case.

Looks like we are going caving tomorrow.

Otherwise, dropped down into the town to get some bits and pieces and enquired about servicing the van at the local Renault garage. They will do it on Thursday and it will be ready the same day. Cost ??? Approx 80€ including oils and filters etc. Why would one ever want to get it serviced in the UK ?

13th. October 2008

Carried on working on some more Celestes and waited in for my friend Jose who didn't show.

12th. October 2008

Quiet day being a Sunday - worked

11th. October 2008

Originally, I had intended to spend several days in Ruidera but I was so disappointed that I decided that one noisy night was enough. Thus I set off eastwards towards the Sierra de Alcaraz /Cazorla with the intention of stopping at the Nacimiento del Rio Mundo on the way. The "Birth of the World River" was a mere 5 km. detour from my road so I drove up to it in the by now, pouring rain.

The NDRM must be one of the most impressive resurgences in the world in that the river cave exit is at the top of a 300' cliff. The best time to see it of course is during snowmelt in spring or winter but nonetheless, despite the fact that the waterfall wasn't the great "chorro" that it can be, it was still a very impressive sight.

From there, I continued on in the pouring rain finally arriving in Murcia in the late afternoon. The rain stopped and although the clouds were still in evidence, the sun was attempting to shine through. What was very noticeable was the sudden increase in temperature. I finally arrived back in Fortuna where I had been a year ago and after a quick visit to the supermarket arrived at the campsite.

What a difference to the previous campsites of the last few days. La fuente was always reasonably priced which is why I stayed for six weeks before but they have reduced prices slightly this year and they now have WiFi (albeit at an average charge). The receptionist recognised me immediately and even knew my name. She threw her arms round me and gave me a kiss as did the lady cook in the restaurant / bar. In fact, everyone recognised me which was very nice.

I was very happy here before although there isn't that much around in terms of architectural interest and I feel almost like coming home. What's more, I have Spanish friends who live here and the difference is that my Spanish is now pretty fluent whereas nearly a year ago it wasn't. I don't know how long I will stay here but it will certainly be for a while.

And finally, it's warm both in the day and at night and when the current "Gota Fria" or cold front has gone on Monday, the sun will shine and it will be really very pleasant indeed.

10th. October 2008

Unfortunately, Richard had to return to the UK but in the time he was here, we saw much that was worth seeing. We drove up to the airport and I dropped him off.

I then drove southwards through some initially rather hairy traffic around the Madrid ring roads. The journey across La Mancha was not overly inspiring and very, very windy which created a constant haze of dust. Finally, I arrived at the Lagunas de Ruidera which proved to be utterly disappointing since the drop in the water table through extraction has left both them and the Tablas de Dalmiel in a rather unimpressive state. the Lagunas should be like Plitvice in Yugoslavia but they are a very, very poor equivalent (even if the water was flowing).

The campsite was noisy with neither mobile phone signal or any form of internet access and although the restaurant and bar were open for the weekend otherwise, the nearest anything else was a good 10 kilometres away.

9th. October 2008

(The campsite at Toledo was overpriced and really very poor. Not only was it very expensive but only one small ablutions block was open, there were only 4 water points for the whole site and the nearest restaurant or bar was a good mile or so walk away in the city since everything on the site was closed. The night before, we had walked into the city and found it very difficult to find anything open apart from a rather expensive restaurant which whilst being very good was rather too expensive for what it offered).

We walked back into the city in the morning and found a really delightful place. Although Segovia and other cities are very attractive and interesting, Toledo is really rather special. Everything seems to blend harmoniously and every street presents a new and interesting vista.

The Jewish synagogues and the former mosques are very beautiful and the cathedral is vast. It's actually a bit overdone as regards pretty much everything but nonetheless rather spectacular. Apart from the two main "Choro" organs bristling with en chamades, there is also the Emperor organ built into a stone case plus at least two other small chamber type instruments. So, Toledo is definitely a city worth discovering and worth visiting on more than one occasion.

A rather noisy night followed with loads of Spanish in tents

8th. October 2008

Drove the few kilometres to the "Valley of the Fallen" which was free on Wednesdays to EU citizens. Richard had mentioned that on flying in, he had seen this huge cross and there it was in front of us. What can one say ? The Valley of the Fallen is rather stupendous. Set amongst forest, one arrives at the car park where the 400' + cross sits on a bunch of rugged rocks. Directly below is this huge columned entrance into what must be one of the most extraordinary churches on earth. The Basilica is basically a huge tunnel into the mountain which ends at a enormous dome. To give some idea of the scale since no photos could be taken inside, it is larger than either St Peter's in Rome or St Paul's in London.

A full mass was in progress when we entered with half a dozen priests and a boys choir accompanied by organ. both Richard and I debated as to whether the organ was digital or pipe. It was very difficult since the acoustics were so huge - sometimes it sounded slightly digital other times not. Richard remarked that the choir sounded one hell of a lot better than those in Rome. When we finally got to the dome after the mass was finished there was indeed a large pipe organ behind a rather uninspiring pipe front but the actual organ we had been hearing was an Ahlborn ! Just goes to show that in the right acoustics, if two very experienced organists and organ builders have difficulty deciding whether an organ is real or counterfeit, it rather puts the whole thing into perspective for the average parishioner who doesn't really know what an organ should really sound like. The whole place had a slightly weird atmosphere and was utterly breathtaking and fascinating.

On to El Escorial from there and yet another mind blowing place which actually houses the largest organ in Spain. The monastery cum Hapsburg palace is huge and definitely well worth a visit although sadly the chapel and basilica were closed for restoration. Apart from all the El Greco paintings, it was stunning to see some very famous other paintings hanging on the walls.

Looking towards Madrid from the Picode la Miel area	Not something you see over a city everyday	Valley of the Fallen 1	Valley of the fallen 2
El Escorial 1	El Escorial 2	El Escorial 3	Eescalona Castle on the way to Toledo

We then drove onto Toledo.

7th. October 2008

We set off in a westerly direction and since it was not too far, we drove over the mountains towards Segovia. On the way, we stopped at a very pretty monastery which was closed and decided to carry on to Segovia. The road took us way up into the mountains to about 5000' where we passed through the famous ski resort of Navacerrada before descending via the San Ildefonso Gardens into Segovia. Parked up a fair distance from the city near the aqueduct and walked in.

Whether it was the fact that the weather was somewhat cloudy or that I had been there before, Segovia didn't have quite the impact it did on me the first time I visited earlier in the year. We did all the sights and returned to the van to travel on to El Escorial.

Huge campsite at El Escorial with nothing open and the nearest restaurant a good 9 km. away. However, it was pleasant enough.

6th. October 2008

Left Aranjuez to drive to Madrid airport and pick up RDS calling in at a PC City on the way to get some ink for the printer.  Interesting to see the rather more informal dress of the Spanish as opposed to PC World in the UK. otherwise it looked pretty much the same apart from everything being in Spanish.

Arrived at the airport in good time for a recce and found that it would be relatively easy to pick up RDS when he arrived. Drove off into the nearby suburbs and got completely lost looking for a decent supermarket before finally arriving back very near the airport to await a call from Richard. Panicked a bit when far earlier than expected, I looked at my mobile and found one call missed and one message. Tried calling from both phones but to no avail. However, the airport was a mere minutes drive away and when I got there and used my Spanish phone RDS answered - in fact he was only a few yards away.

Drove off northwards to a campsite about 35 miles away which was situated by some beautiful razor shaped mountains and "set up camp". Lovely meal in a very nice restaurant / bar a few hundred yards from the campsite before settling down for the night.

5th. October 2008

Another quiet day working. Met up with some charming Austrians who invited me over for a drink and a very pleasant evening ensued.

4th. October 2008

Samples !

3rd. October 2008

Cycled into the town. What can one say about Aranjuez ? I had imagined this fantastic place where rodrigo had inspiration to write the gorgeous Concierto. Yes, it does have a wonderful palace which gives it the name of "The Versailles of Spain" but apart from that there isn't much to recommend it. I thought it was just me but speaking to other people, they seem to echo my thoughts. Fontainbleau has a stunning palace but the town itself isn't vastly exciting however, it's an improvement on Aranjuez.

Yes, it's a pleasant town. Yes, it has beautiful gardens and many trees but the most accurate description that I can provide is to imagine a place like Milton Keynes or Welwyn Garden City a couple of hundred years in the future. All of the trees will have grown up and the lakes and fountains will have matured along with the architecture of current times. Indeed, I imagine that in future years that the likes of Milton Keynes will seem to be a pleasant oasis amongst a sea of as yet unbuilt surrounding towns and cities. Certainly in comparison to places like Almeria it is definitely attractive but the one thing it doesn't have is that traditional soul and heart.

I can't say that I like Seville particularly or Granada, Malaga etc. but at least these cities (apart from the mess of their outskirts), have an inner charm and character especially around the historical parts which are rewarding to discover once one gets past the ugliness of those outskirts. Aranjuez was merely a load of fields a few hundred years ago where they decided to build a palace and plant lots of trees. The town was built on a grid plan around the palace. There is no cathedral, there are only a couple of "Georgian" style churches, there are really no other great stately houses and there is no atmosphere that one can find in the likes of Segovia or Avila etc.

2nd. October 2008

Time to move on to Aranjuez which will put me fairly close to Madrid. Left Cuenca and drove westwards. Got as far as Tarancon, a rather uninspiring little town, where I got into a few problems. There were just no signposts for anywhere at all. Having got into the centre, logically I made my way through in the hopes of finding the right road out. It was somewhat tight in places and eventually I ended up on the periphery of the town hoping to find my way on. No such luck - the roads led me straight into the weekly market and a dead end. Having turned around with great difficulty, I finally stopped in the middle of the market and got out of the van to ask for help. Loads of market stall holders came up to offer advice and they spent several minutes discussing which was the best way for me to extricate myself from the mess that I was in. Much advice and contra advice given as to the best route with dire warnings of how tight it was this way or that.

Finally I ended up in something a bit wider and asked a postman who told me that I was still going the wrong way and that I needed to go a different way. So I spent almost an hour getting thoroughly lost and into some rather tight places before I found the road onwards. It's at times like this that I really thank God that I don't have a bigger van or I am towing a caravan !

Finally on the road towards Aranjuez, I stopped at a Mercadona supermarket where I found the first fresh milk that I have seen in several months as well as various other things that I haven't come across for a long while. I still find it hard to comprehend that the further away you are from the actual milk producing areas of Spain, the easier it is to get fresh milk. It is almost impossible to buy fresh milk in the north.

Finally arrived in Aranjuez which turns out to be a very attractive town with the campsite a short walk away from the centre.  Got tooted on the main roundabout in town for not giving way to someone coming onto the roundabout but there were no signs indicating that entrants to the roundabout have right of way. However, it was a polite toot - more of a "by the way" comment with a smile than an obstreperous "Oi ! What the ^&*% do you think you are doing" one.

Lovely Category 1 campsite by the River Tagus which unlike the "Nacimiento" is now actually a respectable river with water in it. It's also a lot warmer here since it's only about 2000' up as opposed to 4000'. Aranjuez (famous of course for the concerto), is known as the "Spanish Versailles". So far it seems to be a rather nice place and I shall be here at least three days before I have to brave the Madrid traffic to pick up RDS on Monday.

1st. October 2008

I have now been away from the UK for exactly a year. What a year it has been in many ways. I have seen a pretty good amount of Spain in all of its seasons and apart from Galicia, I have visited every province. I remain convinced that it is one of the finest countries on earth and that it is a place that I would one day wish to live in. Yes, it has a few problems but overall, it is a country of tremendous beauty where the people are the kindest, most polite, friendly and welcoming that one could wish to find anywhere.

There are some ugly parts - mainly on the overbuilt Costas or on the outskirts of cities, There are little annoyances which defy any rational thinking but these are so insignificant that they cannot ruin what is otherwise a perfect place to be.

Enough of the waxing lyrical............

I drove the few miles up to the Ciudad Encantada and apart from being a little confused as to where the entrance was on account of the upside down map, I entered and found a very interesting little place. It's not quite as impressive as El Torcal down in Andalucia but it is worth the visit. Like show caves, there are plenty of fanciful names for the various formations and one or two rather defy the descriptions given to them. On the way back I stopped at the Ventano de Diablo or Window of the Devil which provided a pretty view.

The main symbol of the park	Just another big rock	The Toboggan Run	The Sea of Stone
The Convent	The Hongos (toadstools)	The Theatre	View from the Ventano de Diablo

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