Crockham Hill September 2023 Newsletter - Flipbook - Page 10
in the world. We’re now in the nearest town – still with stunning views and
welcoming neighbours. Did we say town? It’s another village really . . .
At ten in the morning we hear the strangled toot of the baker’s van;
everyone piles into the square by the fountain to buy breakfast loaves and
buns and have a chat. We’re used to eating breakfast at ten, and lunch at
three . . . we know better than to expect to see someone at the town hall
between 11 and 12 – they’ll be having coffee.
At midnight every Saturday, the black-cloaked figures of the Hermandad
de la Aurora emerge from their church with their collection of guitars,
flutes, and whistles to patrol the streets and still-heaving bars proclaiming
the gospel and gathering donations for charity, a sort of Andalucían
Salvation Army. Traditions here stretch back hundreds of years, the high
point is Semana Santa – a combination of utmost solemnity and intense
fiesta. A believer or not, you have to experience it.
This is our village life now – but there will always be a part of us that is
Crockham Hill: we enjoyed some of the happiest times – and how could I
forget that it introduced me to Suzy, my future wife and sharer of
adventures? I was made welcome and happy in a small Kent village that is
so much more than a long road with fields and houses: here in southern
Spain, the architecture is different, but the feeling is the same.
Murphy was delighted to discover that yes, we do have pork scratchings in
Spain; they’re called chicharrones, and you get the best ones hot and
greasy from the street vendors. So we won’t be back, but we’ll keep in
touch, and treasure those happy memories.
Crockham Hill Gardening Club
Vivienne Cox
Garden club members were treated
to two fabulous gardens ablaze with
azaleas in a myriad of red, pink, gold
and white and many other
horticultural delights at Alex and
Hugh’s garden at Lewins Coach
House and Anna and Alfred’s
woodland garden at Kent Edge.
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