Motril

Beowulf
Tom Fenton and Faith Ressmeyer
Sun 23 Sep 2012 08:01
36 43.426N 3 31.688W

Up at 4.30 boat time (BST) and two hours sailing in the dark. First light at 6 and sunrise at 7. A clear sky and about 4 knots of wind from behind us. No use at all, and we motored for all but one hour of the day when we had a short burst of a northwesterly which allowed us to sail at 3.5 knots. But we were heading for our penultimate rendez-vous, with Heather and Dave Purdey, who have a house two thousand metres up in the hills above Motril, the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. A narrow road climbs steeply between ravines, to a village that perches dizzily on am impossible precipice. The views at night of the lights of villages and the regional market town are a delight, as are the glimpses of the village houses, packed close together and embodying some occult knowledge of the moorish architects that makes for cool streets and lower rooms when it is hot, but allows them to huddle together for warmth in winter. But the night views do not prepare you for the majesty of the landscape at dawn. The house itself is, like the village, tall and narrow, irregularly shaped rooms piled on top of each other on four stories, unexpectedly spacious, and a terrace at the top which you would never want to leave. The house is right. Right in a way that has something to do with architectural traditions that go back centuries and are rooted in knowledge of and respect for this extraordinary environment. It will be hard to leave here.
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Tom Fenton
49 Manor Road
Wivenhoe
Essex CO7 9LN

07740 928369
01206 825188