macca

On 19/08/2023 at 16:43, Mal C said:

Dia nueve / Día diez 

hi folks no post yesterday as I just didn’t have time, but where I left off was leaving Sarria at 5am in the morning, we like to make hay while the sun isn’t there to hound us. 
 

so Sarria to Portomarin, 22k, done and dusted, we walked like wind that morning! Portomarin is a town I have history with, but only in that last time I walked here with a big group of pilgrims we opted for a ‘completario’ ruta, and ended up walking far further than we had wished! This time Liza and I crossed the Rio Miño, which was at least 10 meters lower than it normally is, and entered the town via a set of stone steps, the whole town is on a kinda plateau, which you walk upto, never seen a town like it. The central ‘iglesia’ is a really good one, I thought it had a touch of the ‘Norman’ in its square design, check out the pics. 
 

We kicked our boots around here for a bit then made a decision I knew was coming, as it is, we were always behind schedule, even with squeezing 5k in extra a day, we need to get ahead so we can collect our car at the Santiago train station on the morning of the 23rd, which means we need to get to Santiago on the 22nd. So to make this happen, we took a taxi to Palas de Rei, a town which I was all but happy to walk out of, some towns click with you, some don’t, simple. 
 

We walked another 4K to a small pueblo called San Xulion do Camiño. The albergue we found was called ‘Albergue Turístico “O Abrigadoiro” which very loosely translated means pilgrim that wears or is wrapped in a / the coat. Abrigar means to wrap or bundle together, and the ‘adoiro’ part refers to a person… it’s a great Albergue, food was spot on, we also met Anabele, from Manley in Sydney, we have both been Sydneysiders 15 odd years ago, so we had lots to chat about. This girl however was something else in the walking department, she was looking to do Saint John PDLP in the Pyrenees to Santiago in 21 days, that’s 3 weeks to walk 800 plus kilometres, she normally did high thirties to 40 plus km per day. With no rest day, that’s some going, we all fell to sleep about 9pm, and when We awoke at 5am, she was gone. 

today day ten of our walk had taken us 30k into Arzúa, a really nice town, then another 6 to 7k past, and we found a place called Casa de Heidi, run by Ralf, two cats, a dog and of course Heidi. Nice spot to stop as it’s Lizas birthday today, 27 again, also our wedding anniversary, so we are going to kick back with some Estrellas Especial, and some nice food. I always ask if they serve Alhambra Oro (gold) and of course they always look shocked you have asked, they don’t serve that southern s**t in Galicia! But us having lived in the south, We gotta ask! 
 

today has also been a first in the weather front, it has totally pissed down, sorry rained all day. We wondered about packing ponchós, glad I did now.  Autumn has arrived in Galicia, the leaves are all turning and the wind over the last few days has carpeted the walkways and gardens with colour, it’s actually lovely to walk through, but it’s been sticky as well with a pack. 
 

we met a lovely guy from France a few times, there is always a cat and mouse chase going on, I always make a joke of it, I always found it easier to speak to strangers personally, especially when it’s nout to do with the things I do or am into, northern soul springs to mind! Lol

anyhow this guy started his walk over a 1000k ago, he stated walking on 30th June… likes rugby and was thrilled to know we live in Wales, you know the Welsh are always out talking about the weather and the price of butter, and staring at tv on a sat afternoon  

We also hit the 100k to Santiago marker, check out below, big number that as we were told every Spaniard and his dog will be on the walk after Sarria, they were not joking, we passed massive groups of 20 plus school children, big groups of folks mainly doing day walks, or legs, so you pack a small bag, an umbrella and even your wellies if you wish, send your cloths ahead to a pre booked albergue and take your time, you can imagine the hardened pilgrims behind rushing in, yep we have bragging rights! Lol  silliness aside it’s a problem for folks like us as everyone is booked up, but I have always kept to one rule, get past the big towns, and the pilgrims thin out, that’s where you get the better digs.. and generally they are cheaper. 

we stopped at a Panadería called ‘Manso’ nice place but there must have been some all night rave or something as the cafe and the street was full of drunk teenagers, mix in pilgrims with back packs and ponchos and it’s madness… glad we got out of that town! 

jumping back to our taxi yesterday, a necessary evil I’m afraid m when we started walking again, we felt very odd, all the folks we knew bar a few were behind us, and liza literally said I wonder what happened to Krazy Kim, I looked at the side of the tunnel we were in and there she was, ‘Cymru am Byth’  that put us right back in the game! Funny how stuff like that happens. 
 

Luego  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Norman style is known in Spain as Románico. It encompasses roughly the same period of construction as the great Norman cathedrals and churches in England. Love the simplicity of it. We’re quite lucky in Galicia to have some excellent examples. Arzúa and Melide are famous for cheese and octopus respectively. Sometimes we jump into the car and drive to Melide from Coruña just for an octopus sesh. No place like Galicia for polbo á feira, of course. In Santiago de Compostela one of the best places for pulpo is O Bochinche near the Porta do Camiño, in Rúa San Pedro, well away from all the tawdry shite and rip off joints near the Cathedral, lol. 

Hola, nice trip you’re having, I see. I’ve lived in Galicia (Pontevedra & A Coruña) since 1991.
My father-in-law, now 86, did the French route several times and the Primitive twice, a real tough nut, back in the early 90s, his final hike being the Vía de la Plata from Seville to Compostela. Huge respect. My knees wouldn’t take it now but I am considering the e-bike option, lol. Buen Camino!! 

Very sad to hear this, and at 65 no age at all. I’ll always remember his name from the full page ads that Wigan Casino ran in Blues & Soul long before I got to go up there. He was also a friendly guy that never hesitated to share his enthusiasm for those classic sounds with the younger crowd. He’ll also go down in NS history as the guy that played the VERY last tune at Wigan which if I’m not wrong was The Night, perfectly matching the mood… RIP Steve. 

A thoroughly enjoyable read, thanks! Always been convinced I was born 10-15 years too late! 

Not because it’s a particularly great record, but an abiding memory I have of the man is with Margaret Mandolph’s Something Beautiful, when he used to play the intro twice over ‘cos it was incredible’... grinning to myself now just thinking about it... I’ve watched him two or three times in the last few years over here and he rocked the joint. Every time. 

On 22/01/2019 at 14:33, IanP said:

She put the hurt on you

Right. Thanks. :) 

On 20/01/2019 at 14:20, IanP said:

Interesting stories,  great stuff !

    I'm not sure if i went to a different venue,   during those later days,  judging by the 'empty' comments?    I went xmas 79 (heard 'what christmas means to me' - Stevie Wonder),   at the time when RS was on fire! I remember Rushbrooke playing Trade Martin,  so some of my faculties havent left me.  there were  Some fabulous records played that night......I Also attended two Oldies anniversaries and the 7th Anniv.      All 4 times i went, it was rammed

    Considering im very 'oldies' oriented ,    The stand out record for me at any of my visits, was  'Anything i can do'   Will Collins,    I've never seen a dancefloor bounce like that, EVER !

Which TM would that be? 

27 years and had only one record not arrive which was sent to Uruguay for some reason. Uruguay happened to be the name of the avenue I lived on at the time, so who knows. The record, worth a fiver, eventually wound its way back to the UK and the seller asked me to cough up for postage again for him to resend. I never bought from him again. 

Rank though not Top...

Dreams are made of this. Well done Pete. 

We could bang on about this for hours... 

Lovely bloke. Always ready to share knowledge with budding collectors like me. You could always spot him from way off as he was so tall and if I remember well, had a liking for big woolly cardies and polo-neck jumpers. When he worked for JM it was a pleasure when he picked up the phone as he'd let you down easy if a record had gone and even congratulated your taste and asked you if there was anything else you were after. I'm sure his warm attitude with punters helped JM snare quite a few extra sales. We've all bought and sold countless 45s at niters over the years but I'll always remember selling my Otis Smith on Perception to him one night at the Sheffield KGB. A sweet guy and as Arthur says, charismatic on the decks, even though some of his selections would turn me off, lol. Ben Zine!! 

2 hours ago, Peter99 said:

Still can't feel anything.

 

 

2 hours ago, Peter99 said:

Still can't feel anything.

 

 

Man of stone!! 

Agree with Roburt. One of the finest things ever committed to analogue tape. A rites of passage tune if ever there was one. I proudly own my sister's copy she'd bought from Boots on release. Sends me back to my first tentative steps on a dancefloor, a good year before I got into this here Northern thing. So what if the handbaggers love it? A stone classic in the true sense of the word. 

Did we get an intro? 

I was there in June and found zilch. I asked my SD host where the vinyl joints were and she dropped me off at two or three. Also tried a Sunday morning yard sale crawl up in the University Heights area. One guy had a huge box of classic Soul 45s, mainly 70s stuff, but all beaten to fook and sleeveless. It was hot and I got bored very quickly. 

The Nite Spot Bedford in 1980. Another Ken Cox job. Flak between Mods, those who thought they were Mods and progressive types dancing to Will Collins & Willpower. Interesting times. 

Ken Cox started the Fleet in June 78. He'd lost St.Ives the previous autumn, the last allniter being held in October from memory. He held an allniter at the Samson & Delilah ballroom in Norwich in January 78 as a stop gap or water tester. It didn't take off sadly. Love Naarwich. 

On Monday, January 18, 2016 at 18:47, Steve G said:

When did PSC stop running it then about 85? I know I stopped going about that time because it was really basic oldies, "Right Track", "Cause your mine" etc. every time, three times a night. Awful. 

The Javells and Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs even. Dreadful. 

Debbie Taylor should have been up there in lights... 

Garfield Fleming had a tremendous voice. Does he still walk this earth? 

12 hours ago, KevH said:

Macca,sorry bud i was joking about the vocal of ECC. The instrumental is the dogs.!!!

Hahaha... I have to say I do actually like the vocal. The fact that a lot of these Mecca/Cleethorpes shufflers have fallen from grace amongst the oldies crowd is kinda sad, I reckon. 

7 hours ago, KevH said:

The vocal of East Coast Connection is fantastic.!! Why we were subjected to the Instru is beyond me....Flip it you guys.!!

Def got Room to Grow in that suit. A "Mecca" suit if i ever saw one - big ballroom.!!

Too right!  I saw it being disparaged a while ago on a Facebook page dedicated to oldies. I gather 70s Mecca-Cleethorpes-Wigan etc monsters are persona non-grata among the oldies crowd. I can only conclude that these people either never did Wigan or came on board during the Mod Revival. Revisionists. 

And Cleethorpes too, East Coast Connection rules! Also huge at Peterborough's Wirrina allnighters in 1975, along with the aforementioned tunes + Betty Wright Where's The Love, Falbala's Magic Band, that Control Tower thing on Motown. Them were the days... I'm going off track, sorry.