AWW The Early Years of Digital Photography 2002-2009
This is apparently the oldest Digital photo I have, December 3rd 2002 at the first RTC.
Mike, Ian S. Hedley, Paul, Myriam, Carla, George, Neil. Rod was selling his house and walked out to Torre de Aspa to meet us at lunchtime
Well, we had had a few years of roll film or cartridge film, very selective photography and trips to the Portuguese equivalent of Boots the Chemist, when the digital era hit the Wednesday Walkers. My first camera in 2001-2002 was a Konica Minolta, very low tech and low resolution by today's standards, but we were freed from the need to be selective when snapping and had no time at all to see the result on the camera screen, and soon afterwards we could view them in all their magnificence on a fuzzy computer screen.
Now, many thousands of snaps later, I am ruing the profligacy of our early digital attempts, as with the best will in the world, I was unable to edit or discard a photo that might take its place in history - 'when I could get round to it',
Storage space has ceased to be a problem, so the amount of photos and vids has expanded to fill it.
These are about 100 examples from the early years, in as close to date order as I could get them. I won't caption them all but remember there were few photos 2002-2005 when the blogs started.
RTC 25-26 November 2003. Rod, Paul, Maria, Ian S., Trevor. Myriam had an injury and didn't walk but drove backup.
Farewell Walk Casa Mariposa. On 05.05.2004, Myriam and I held a walk to say goodbye to our villa near Meia Praia. One of the first Beach Walks followed by a lunch took place. It was fairly gloomy for May. As you can see, the AWW was quite strong with plenty of active dogs, none of whom could read the signs banning them from the beach.
RTC 17-18 November 2004. Ian S. Terry, Jill, Ian W, Mike, Myriam, Paul, Rod, Antje, Lindsey, Chris, Andrew
RTC 6-7th December 2005. Gordon, Ian S., David, Terry A, Mike, Ian W. Myriam, Rod, Paul.
Myriam was the only lady walker this year, and the bag ladies declined the opening photo.
In 2005 we started the Xmas walk and Lunch series which was well attended at Patricia's on 14th December. We even made it to a Trig Point.
On 22nd February 2006, we went to Sagres with Maurice to draw the final cistus marker at the end of the Algarve Way. After we went to Cafe Baia, our RTC breakfast stop, for a beer or two.
On 10th March 2006 we had a Farewell to Maurice and Esme including a short walk and finished up in Casinhas.
Following are a series of photos, hopefully in date order illustrating some of the groupings and walks from 2006 to 2009.
Its not all sunshine. 03.05.2006 Barao Sao Joao
29.03.2006 Bordeira
19.04.2006 somewhere near Salir
My daughter Tanya and friend visited, Gack appeared and Ian Clarke Simpson .26.04.2006
17.05.2006
24.05.2006 Foia with Ian S.
High on Foia
Ponte da Piedade 07.06.2006
06.09.2006 Casinhas
Romeiras Ramble, 13.09.2006, Hazel, Myriam, Ian S, Terry M, Janet, John H
Apres Walk,at Cafe Ourique, after Fonte Santa walk led by Ian S. 20th September 2006
27th September 2006 David's walk near Ameixal: David, Ian W, Hazel and Gack
Carrapateira again, October 2006
4th October 2006, Aferce. The Hopes in the foreground
01.11.2006 at expensive bar at top of Lagos Avenida after circular walk to Luz
8th November 2006 Sta. Margarida Walk
22nd November 2006, the Three Peaks, this is at the start near the helipad in Monchique. Mike being presented with the Order of the (Lost) Boot. He had dropped it outside a bar in Pereira the previous week and it had been recovered by John H.
Trigpoint near Pereira 15th November 2006. Hilke's first walk
29th November 2006, Barragem de Bravura. The fatigue cannot be detected from the photo, but Rod had just led a 'Training Walk' of 32.35 km in 6hrs 28 minutes in anticipation of RTC 2006 the week after
RTC 2006 After breakfast on 2nd Day - very early
Another Xmas Walk -20.12.2006 Several went for the soft option of skipping the walk.
This and the following are the walks in 2007. At Cafe a Taberna on Alcalar road after Stan and Elaine led us round Morgado do Reguengos
17.01. 2007 a DL walk from Covoes that necessitated paddling
Same walk, only 5 plus me made it to the final TP.
31.01.2007 Mike Marmelete Walk which he persuaded Antje to lead by proxy using a Bamboo Diagram.
07.02.2007 A cold and windy Obligatory Trig Point Photograph (OTPP) at Carrapateira led by Chris and Antje
14.02.2007, Romeiras. A preponderance of new gaiters
21.02.2007 Amarosa Amble
28.02.2007 Starters at Pereira
14.03.2007 Town Square Querenca
07.03.2007 In the forest of Barao S Joao
06.06.2007 Mike's walk from Cafe Cansado in Arao
09..06.2007 A summer lunch walk from Benagil
Sparrowfart at Casa Espargosas on 24.07.2007
05.05.2007 Bensafrim area
Salema and about to attempt Gordon's Gully 12.09.2007 Note Janet is holding the official AWW Safety Rope, donated by Andrew after Lindsey's mishap the previous year
The aforementioned mishap climbing out of Gordon's Gully on RTC 2006
Same walk after climbing out of the Gully in 2007, - no casualties
September 2007, at Monte Ruivo Trigpoint near Pereira. Mike is still climbing Trig Points - spot the geocache!! This was taken to show Maurice that we were still climbing trigs.
Forte de Almadena near Salema
Sarnardas Walk led by David 26th September 2007 at the Soidos Trig point
03.10.2007 Fonte Santa
10.10.2007 Bravura with Rod
24.10.2007 Romeiras Rediscovered starting at Gorgo de Fonte, and Rod kindly drawing attention to Ian's NZ hat for some reason. We had a couple visiting Hilke from Germany (Barbara and Werner) and he was subjected to various free consultations on the way round.
To absent Friends. A former walker, Ian Clarke Simpson who had moved to France had died and this was the day of his funeral. We had paused during the walk and stood in silence while an epitaph sent by his wife,was read. The Blog for this walk can be seen at
http://aww2007.blogspot.pt/2007/10/aww-24102007-romeiras-rediscovered.html
31.10.2007 Covoes to Alportel (lateral)
14.11.2007 Barao Sao Joao Cultural Centre at the entrance to the Mata Nacional
21.11.2007 Picavessa Trig Point - another RTC Training walk from Casa Benjamin, 25 km led by David.
07.11.2007 Madrinha Maddyness
RTC 2007: Start at Carrapateira 29.11.2007
The week after the RTC Ian S took us up on a short easy stroll from Rosa's Bar in the Odelouca area, which somehow involved a hefty ascent to a Trig point! - and these fit walkers volunteered. Some of us left the country to avoid it!
A gentler well-attended coastal walk from Benagil on 16.01 2008
06.02.2008 and 3 trigpoint climbers on the famous Don Quixote Walk led by Mike.
27.02.2008 David starts leading the Via Algarviana walk in stages. This is in Aljezur Market for the first stage.
05.03.2008, a first walk led by Brian from Ferragudo. Note the Tilley Hat count = 7 A record at the time.
16.04.2008.. An attempt to scale Picota from the Foz led by Ian W.
04.06.2007 An unusual walk for a number of reasons. Lindsey the Hon Sec had withdrawn admin support claiming it was getting too hot at the first week in June! Eventually it leaked that she was preparing for her daughter's wedding. Only 5 made it to the line in Romeiras, Leader and Chief Pap from Lagos, and Terry M, wife and daughter who drove nonstop from UK in support.
Blog at http://aww2007.blogspot.pt/2008/06/aww-04062008-five-do-romeiras.html
is very illuminating!
A magnificent photo from an unsupported timer camera of the port nav aid at the end of the mole at Meia Praia. 11.06.2008 I was determined to prolong the season without too much support, so organised this walk close to home. Historical Fact: This walk ended with a Full English Breakfast at Do Cais in the Marina and was a precursor of the current WAGS Walks.
The by now Traditional Sparrowfart Summer Breakfast Walk on 16.07.2008
10.09.2008 First walk of the 2008/2009 season, Begin at Benagil
17.09.2008, The Aguas Belas Circuit. Myriam was the main photographer as John H had not yet read his manual on the self-timer. We still had not perfected getting everyone to look at the camera!
At the Foz for another attempt on Picota 1.10.2008. The gender distribution was fairly equal in those days, 8 of each including the photographer. Things would change!!
8.10.2008 Don Quixote again from Raposeira - or was it Pancho Sanchez? The youngest (Maria) was sent up the TP.
15.10.2008 Arade area. A good turnout and Yes that is my GPS!!
22.10.2008, Aspa Circuit. A chilly day and this is in the carpark of the Trilho Ambiente before setting off. We had probably topped up caffeine levels at Cafe ZigZag in Vila do Bispo before moving here.
29.10.2008 Starting in Salir, probably led by Terry A. Lack of discipline shown by Myriam, Dinah Vitor and David in the start photo. A common problem.
Ian's Pole to Pole starting at Cafe Descansa Pernas in Monchique 12.11.2008. It may have been called this because of the Swahili 'pole pole', (slowly slowly) or because Ian had found some guiding poles on Foia erected by Polish workers to guide them to the radar installation. An erudite blog by John is at http://aww2008-9.blogspot.pt/2008/11/aww-12112008-pole-to-pole-or-memories.html
18.11.2008 was the first day of the RTC 2008, starting at Luz. This memorable photo was on the steps opposite the carpark. John tried to shoot on timer, but didn't make it up the steps, citing the earlyness of the hour.
10.12.2008 An early Xmas walk and lunch from Patricia's .The usual inattention.
17.12.2008, a tough walk from Romeiras for the purpose of checking my epic Sudoku Symphony of the Serras Geocache series. Dona Aldina of Casa Pacheco made the start photograph.
04.02.2009 A very wet walk from the Foz, but not up Picota this time.
It was still raining on 4th March. Another sodden walk from Cafe Snack Bar Goncalves in Pereira.
11.03.2009. The sun is back. Hilke and Hedley led a joint walk from the unnamed Blue Cafe in Senhora da Verde.
03.06.2009 Ian's end of season walk involved a lunch and started from Benagil. Of course, the turn out was good. A once only opportunity to witness John H in shorts.
11.11.2009 Up and running, this is the first photo I have of the 2009/2010 season at Cerca de Velha, so I must have been away until then.
18.11.2009, Terry A led from a bar in Corte Garcia near Salir, I think.
25.11.2009 I led one of my Forest walks near the Mata Nacional of Barao Sao Joao. This is the only trig point. If the photo were to be taken today the scenery would be filled with huge power generating fans.
2009 is closing. This was taken on the Xmas lunch walk on 18.12.2009
The last walk in 2009, on 31st December was for a lunch organised by David. Unfortunately the preceding week's weather had been awful, it didn't improve, and only 9 turned up at Casa Benjamin for Dinah's mince pies before the walk. Many more turned up for the lunch. Geraldine philosophically remarked that if she had wanted to walk in the rain, she might as well have stayed back in Edinburgh.
The blog post is at
http://aww2009-10.blogspot.pt/2010/01/aww-30th-december-2009-nine-who-dared.html
This seems a suitable place to call a halt to this photo essay which contrived to show the variety of walks the AWW enjoyed and the number of different walkers that came and went. For me these were the Golden Years of my association with the AWW, and with the aid of these pictures, we may not forget so quickly.
I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.
Abraham Lincoln on progress
If you have got this far then you must be deeply interested in this segment of the AWW saga. The best way to gain more detail and a better insight into the walkers and their proclivities is to read the Blogs. For reference I will include the links to the complete set of my Blogs, until John took over completely, followed by a season or two of Yves,
Here Goes:
The First Blog appropriately entitled 'Algarve Wedesday Walkers' started with a post on February 13th 2006 entitled 'What For?. Blogging was fairly new and the host sites were certainly not so sophisticated. I chose Blogger, and the first posts were mainly pictures with comments. There were 72 posts and over 5000 page views in this Blog which covered until August 2006, and not a full walking season. This can be found at:
http://algarveww.blogspot.pt/
Because of the way the Blogs were ordered in those days, to get back to the oldest post, ie 'What For' you need to go to the 'Recent Posts' column on the left hand side, and keep clicking on the oldest one at the bottom of the list when each page comes up until you reach the oldest.
The Second Blog, Algarve Wednesday Walkers 2006-7 had 107 posts and started on September 5th 2006, covered until 9th June 2007. Found here
http://aww2006.blogspot.pt/
The Third Blog ran from Sparrowsfart in July 2007 through to July 2008, 47 posts and 11,705 page views and can be found at:-
http://aww2007.blogspot.pt/
The Fourth Blog, for some reason included two Sparrowfarts, the 2007 and 2008 editions This Blog included many posts from John H and The Updulator, a pseudonym for David, mainly occasioned by my absences on overseas junkets, but also because I have always believed in spreading the load. There were 61 posts and 6000+ page views. It can be found here:-
http://aww2008-9.blogspot.pt/
The Fifth Blog, Algarve Wednesday Walkers 2009/10 started with the first walk of the season on 09/09/2009, a Very Auspicious Day. I was still looking for ways to share the wear, but the Blog continued until Sparrowfart 2010, 47 posts and almost 10,000 page views. This one is at:-
http://aww2009-10.blogspot.pt/
The next Blog for the 2010/11 Season was set up by me but almost entirely curated by JohnH, so I will leave it to him in his future (hopefully) addition to this long history.
Additionally, for those who enjoy the Blogs, between us we Blogged the bulk of the RTC walks I led. The early ones were consolidated into a TypePad Blog, having been transferred from the failed Vox Blog, which I had tried for some variation. This amalgamatedblog, arranged in a strange order can be found at:-
http://rtcblogs.typepad.com/blog/
This has in normal Blog Order the huge RTC 2009 and 2008 Blogs followed by the 2007 Photo Competition and RTC Blog and then the shorter Timeline Blogs starting RTC 2002 through to 2006 and the 2006 photo competition.
There is also a copy of the RTC 2009 Blog in Blogger, which is at:-
http://rtc2009.blogspot.pt/ and I think is easier to read.
Thereafter John blogged the RTC 2010 and RTC 2011 was blogged by Yves, so again I will leave that until the next segment. After this David took up the carrot or the stick and inaugurated a new 3 day walk down the West Coast. But that is another story!