2013 - BRIDGET THE MIDGET

Tribute To Hancock

21st December 2013 By roychinnor2 Comments

It occurred to me that I haven’t said much about my stay here in Gran Canaria and speaking to one or two people at the Car Club it is clear that totally the wrong impressions are doing the rounds. So to put the record straight the following, in the style of the late Tony Hancock, is a typical evening: Scene: Sitting room of my duplex in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. Me, pacing the room wearing checked, knee length, shorts and a Trinidad short-sleeved shirt with a picture of a Hawaiian Sunset. “Grief, another day of rain. May as well be back in the UK where at least I had an umbrella.” “Wonder if I can get a refund from Primark for this shirt. I’ve hardly worn it. Indoor wear only!” Long pause follows, then a big sigh. “Typical; Gran Canarias’ most important annual classic car show and they choose the one day when a cyclone strikes. Stuck here with the roof down and a...

No Dry Humour Left

12th December 201317th March 2020 By roychinnor2 Comments

Whilst sitting here musing in my ‘duplex’ in Gran Canaria, I am reflecting on, why here? Come to that everything is reflecting thanks to the INCESSANT RAIN! Ah yes, I came here to escape the English winter. I am reliably informed that during the first two days of last week we received a whole year’s quantity of rain. Since then we have had three sunny days and dull cloud for the rest of the time. Now, according to the weather bureau we have our very own depression. Oh lucky us, it’s caused by the weather…. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that a Canary Island hurricane is brewing up just in time for the Christmas Season. In fact I have already made preparations naming, it aptly for this island, “Puff, the Magic Drag-Queen” Yesterday the authorities announced that all the schools on the island would be closed today because of the extreme weather forecast (I thought it was only the NUT’s...

Second Gran Canaria Update

20th November 201317th March 2020 By roychinnor2 Comments

I have now been on the island for two months, which is a third of my sentence served. Mr Innes at the Car Club has quite rightly taken me to task for not posting anything on here for several weeks and I should have enough time spare to do so. I have settled in really quite well and developed a weekly routine. I have joined a very well equipped gym and go there Monday and Friday mornings, and depending on other activities some Wednesdays. I go into the interior of the island once a week and walk around the mountains which are beautiful with some great views. The island is very varied in its vegetation with the north being really quite green and the south, very barren. I have fallen in with a group of classic car enthusiasts and attended a couple of their Sunday displays for the general public (similar to the shopping/garden centre event the MGCC do). There are some...

Gran Canaria Update

11th October 201317th March 2020 By roychinnor2 Comments

On arriving on Gran Canaria I wasn’t totally convinced that staying for six months was really a very good idea. Certainly you can’t fault the climate, with the onset of winter the temperature has dropped to mid/high twenties, but the tourist industry here is so big that most of the islands culture is difficult to find. However, I am beginning to find my way around and the interior of the island is excellent for walking, climbing and generally exploring. The island has three separate climatic systems; the south of the island is very similar to mid-north Africa, the centre of the island receives a little rain and a great deal of cloud and the north of the island is Mediterranean. The centre is mountainous with the highest point just under 2000 metres. The mountains are fairly barren but have deep valleys that are well populated with tropical vegetation and pine woods. The wild life (as opposed to the night life which is...

The Fat Lady Is Singing

14th September 201317th March 2020 By roychinnor6 Comments

The ferry trip from Cadiz to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, was civilised by any standards given that it was forty hours long. Bridget found it a breeze. In Cadiz the queuing, bureaucracy and high temperatures took its toll and when some cars started to queue jump I could not help myself from jumping in front of them, thankfully bringing them to a halt, and berating the second in line, the first having escaped. He rather sheepishly slunk away and even though I hadn’t achieved anything, other than establishing that the British queuing system is right, returned proudly to Bridget. Later that evening, following the consumption of a well-deserved dinner, I suddenly felt that I was being watched. I looked up and some 20 feet away a slightly merry gentleman was grinning and when he realised I had seen him called out “Mr MG. You shouted at me and I am in terrible trouble”. We soon established that he was the driver...