Julian Worker – Travel Newsletter 1 – Portugal and Wales.

Welcome to the first monthly newsletter of this blog. My writing this month has been about Portugal and Wales.

I’m going to publish a book in the Travels through History series for Portugal (similar to the ones for Northern Spain, The Balkans, Southern France, 9 Greek Islands, North-East England, Poland and The Baltics, and Armenia). I was waiting until I’d been to The Algarve before proceeding. These books are travelogues and not travel guides. 

This is what I wrote for The Algarve

I flew down to Faro from Lisbon, though I could have as easily caught the train. Faro railway station is the terminus for trains from the north of Portugal as well as trains from the western end of the Algarve (Portimao, Albufeira, Lagos) and trains from the eastern end of the Algarve (Olhao, Tavira, and Vila Real de Santo Antonio). If travelling from Lisbon or Lagos to the Spanish border at Vila Real on the train, travellers have to change at Faro. 

The places I’ll describe in this section are all to the east of Faro, but I’ll start in Faro itself. There is a bus from the airport to the bus station in the centre of town and there is a timetable, but I remain to be convinced that the bus conforms to the timetable. The train station is about two minutes’ walk out of town from the bus station and the marina is about 5 minutes in the other direction from the bus station. 

  Having left my luggage at my hotel by the marina, I headed to the Cidade Velha “Old Town” / Vila-Adentro “Town Within” walking past many companies offering boat tours to the islands and beaches just offshore.  Entrance to the walled old town is via the Arco da Vila opposite the ferris wheel and the tourist information is just to the left of the arch as you face it from outside.

The old town is not that big and a visitor can probably walk through in about five minutes and be soon by the side of the ocean. There are a number of highlights in the old town though that are not to be missed. The first is the rather chunky cathedral (‘Se’) that is a mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles from the second-half of the 18th Century though parts do date back to 1251 when the cathedral was first built. The different styles are due to the English sacking the building in 1596 and the earthquake of 1755 that both caused a lot of damage. Climb the bell tower for views over the mudflats and the rest of the town of Faro.

The Municipal Museum started as an archaeological museum in 1894. The single most famous item is probably the Neptune Roman mosaic found near the train station. There are statues from the nearby Roman site of Milreu, Moorish lamps, Renaissance paintings as well as Futurist works by one of Portugal’s most famous 20th-Century artists, Carlos Porfirio. Outside is a statue of Don Afonso, King of Portugal between 1249 and 1279. 

Around the Largo da Se are other fine palaces including the Bishop’s Palace. There’s a number of good restaurants in the old town, all of them having outdoor seating where you can admire the local architecture at your leisure.

Walking almost due north and retracing my steps almost exactly, I found the maritime museum with its model boats and discussion of local fishing techniques. Just after the bus station, I headed to the right and zig-zagged through the streets admiring the pastel shades of the houses and their elegant corrugated iron balconies. I found the church of St Peter (Igreja de Sao Pedro) with its collection of roofs and then a little further on is the Igreja do Carmo which has a Chapel of Bones at the back. Someone had the idea of disinterring the skeletons of the monks from the cemetery and placing them tastefully around the walls of the chapel. If you’ve never seen a Bone Chapel before then it’s probably worth a look. I wonder whether the person who had the initial idea actually carried out the work, as I can’t think that the creation of this work of art would have been a pleasant experience. 

The Praia da Faro on the Ilha de Faro is the nearest beach to the town and is developed as a result with all the facilities you’d expect for a beach resort. There’s an ocean-facing side and a lagoon-facing side. 

The previously mentioned Roman site of Milreu (which seems to be pronounced Milrio) can be visited via the Estoi bus from Faro. This is the site of a large villa dating from two thousand years ago and is certainly extensive for a villa. The highlight is probably ‘The Temple’ with wonderful fish mosaics. There are bedrooms, latrines, and baths. It’s an exposed site and around 3-4 degrees Centigrade warmer than nearby Faro, so take a large bottle of water with you.

Five miles east of Faro and easy to get to on the train, Olhao is a charming town to wander around. Near the train station, under the lovely bougainvillaea bushes, is a war memorial to the Portuguese and Mozambican soldiers who perished in the first World War. 

The main road of central Olhao is called the Avenida Da Republica and it heads down towards the seaside. On the way, I visited the parish church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário and the Our Lord of the Afflicted chapel where, through the iron grille, visitors can see wax votive offerings left by relatives who were attempting to guarantee the safety of fishermen at sea. These offerings include wax effigies both of children and of various human limbs. 

Next is the Museu da Cidade with its collection of local industrial relics relating to the fishing industry and olive oil production, along with archaeological discoveries dating from the Bronze Age.

The next church is Nossa Senhora da Soledade. Inside are five altars, with Our Lady of Soledade in the centre. On the sides are the altars of Our Lord of the Afflicted, Saint Clara, Saint Luzia, and Saint Sebastian. The church has other names including the small church and the Church of the Dead, as it is used almost exclusively for funeral ceremonies.   

  By the sea are the two brick-built buildings of the Municipal Market selling vegetables, meat, fruit, fish, and other fruits of the sea. There is a good selection of cafes and restaurants around the outside. Heading eastwards, I walked along by the water and admired the small jetties in the shape of the prows of ships. A small market selling clothing and local trade products was taking place by a park with benches under the trees, where you could admire an odd sculpture of six ducks heading across the sand. 

Further along are the ferry ticket kiosks for the boats heading to the soft sandy beaches of the Ilha da Armona and the Ilha da Culatra. Three kilometres east of the town is the Quinta da Marim, an educational centre and headquarters of the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa. The three-kilometre long nature trail allows visitors to see storks’ nests and the remains of Roman saltpans as well as a tidal mill. 

Around seven kilometres further east is the fishing town of Fuseta (or Fuzeta). There aren’t too many sights in this town as it’s mainly a fishing centre with extensive beaches both in the estuary area and on the eastern end of the Ilha da Armona. The Praia da Fuseta on this island is reached by regular ferries shuttling back and forth from the fishing quay at the back of the campsite. 

The next town eastwards is my favourite along this coast, Tavira, 30 kilometres east of Faro. Tavira was founded around 400 BC and became an important port, trading with North Africa until the Rio Gilao river began to silt up in the 17th Century. There are 21 churches in the town dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The houses in the town mainly date from the eighteenth century as the town was reconstructed after the 1755 earthquake.

I headed north east out of the railway station towards the town centre making sure I kept east of the train tracks. I did a fair bit of zig-zagging around but I saw a sign for the Pousada Convento da Graca and I knew I was in the right area. The Pousada has bright yellow outer walls and so is useful as a landmark. Nearby are many sights. The Torre de Tavira is a former water tower built in the 1930s which is now a Camera Obscura projecting images of the town onto a large white disk. The Parish Church of Santa Maria do Castelo is just over the road. This church was once a major mosque and was founded in the 13th century after the Christian reconquest of The Algarve in 1242. It underwent major structural changes after the 1755 earthquake as only the clock tower survived. This church is next to the castle also founded in the 1200s and partly dating from the 1600s. The narrow walls of the castle afford lovely views over the town, but try not to look down too much. I went back to the church of Santa Maria and headed downhill to see the Church of Santiago or to give it its full title, the Igreja Paroquial de Santiago de Tavira, with a knight on horseback emblazoned high up on the wall above the entrance on Rua Dom Paio Peres Correia.  

This church was founded in the 13th century, built on an old structure from the Muslim period. At the end of the century, King Afonso III donated the patronage of the church to the Bishop and Chapter of Silves. Inside, you can admire the carved altarpieces from the 18th and 19th centuries and the paintings. Outside you will see the shell symbol of the Camino de Santiago and that’s because one of the many Portuguese Caminhos starts right outside the door of the church. This is the Caminho Nascente or Via Portugal Nascente and this route traverses the Algarve, the Alentejo and the Beiras for 650 kilometres before finishing in the historic town of Trancoso (inland from Aveiro), where the Caminho Nascente joins the Caminho Torres.

My next destination was slightly less distance, it was the Nucleo Islamico that exhibits items from Moorish times over three floors, including the Tavira Vase lined with clay figures and dating from the 11th Century. This museum is close to the Igreja da Misericórdia with its tiled interior and carved-stone doorway. The arched so-called Roman Bridge over the Gilao actually dates from 1667 though to be fair it was built on a Roman structure, so at least part of the bridge dates from Roman times. Looking seawards, I saw another bridge that made the river appear full though I later found out that it was erected by the army in 1989 and has never been replaced. 

The Igreja do Carmo, full name Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, is a lovely church on the Largo do Carmo north-east of the Roman Bridge. The prosperity of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel de Tavira led to the construction of the church, starting in 1747 and taking forty-three years to complete. The church encompasses the Carmelite ideal of attaining Christian perfection, fostering the good of the Church, and the salvation of souls, with special devotion and prayer to the Virgin of Carmen. Nearby is the Catholic church called the Ermida de Sao Bras. Once located outside the city, this small hermitage of the late-mediaeval era was administered by the brotherhood of São Brás. The church comprises a single nave and chancel. It was reconstructed in the second half of the 18th century and given its current appearance. On the facade, the main highlight is the portal and the large windows have stonework frames from the Rococo period. Inside, there are two wooden statues, one of Our Lady and the other of the patron saint.

Six kilometres east of Tavira is another smaller town called Cabanas, named after the fisherman’s huts that formed the original settlement. The front street of the town where most of the cafes and bars are located faces the river estuary. A wooden walkway allows visitors to walk along by the estuary and enjoy the view of the fishing boats and the sands of the Praia de Cabanas on the other side of the water. 

I’m intending to do a ‘Travels through History’ book based on the Great Little Trains of Wales. There are eleven of these trains and I’ve just been on nine of them. To make the most of my Gold Card I have to visit the final two, The Corris Railway and The Brecon Beacons Steam Railway, before 2nd July 2025. That’s one of my travel destinations for 2025 sorted. 

One of my favourite steam train journeys was on the Vale of Rheidol line at Aberystwyth.  

The Vale of Rheidol Light Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 6th August 1897. At the time, it had one of the most up-to-date standards of narrow gauge construction, and passed through terrain where it would have been almost impossible to build a standard gauge line previously. 

The line was authorised as two distinct sections, the main line from Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge, and a harbour branch. I travelled on the line from Aberystwyth to the Devil’s Bridge. The construction was delayed due to the difficulty in raising capital locally, but finally started in 1901 under the direction of Sir James Szlumper in 1901. The railway opened to the general public on 22nd December 1902 and the original stations were at Aberystwyth, Llanbadarn, Capel Bangor, Nantyronen and Devil’s Bridge.

It was thought the building of the railway would bring prosperity back to some of the local lead mines. Some were reopened, the ore extracted and taken by the railway to Aberystwyth for transhipment by rail or sea. There was also a good trade in timber, which was used mainly for pit props in the South Wales coal mines.

In 1912, control of the line passed to the Cambrian Railways who in 1923 were absorbed by the Great Western Railway. Goods services were withdrawn completely, and the harbour branch closed. The winter passenger service was withdrawn in 1930, and the line closed completely from the end of the 1939 summer service for the duration of the Second World War.

Ownership of the line passed to British Railways in 1948, and it survived through threats of closure to become the last steam railway owned by British Rail until privatised in 1989. The railway is now owned by a charitable trust, who set about renovating and improving the locomotives, carriages and track and opening up some of the views not seen for decades.

The locomotives and carriages currently in use were built for the line by the Great Western Railway between 1923 and 1938. The Vale of Rheidol Railway is the owner of an extensive collection of historical narrow gauge locomotives and rolling stock. Several items from the collection are visible in the brick-built Engine Shed Display Building / Museum with exhibits being changed over time. When I went, steam locomotives of various sizes including Margaret, Drakensberg, and Fire Queen were on display. 

The carriages on the train I travelled on were coloured in the Great Western Railway livery of light yellow and brown as were the station buildings on the way to the Devil’s Bridge. Most people seated themselves in the closed carriages. I thought I’d like to sit in the open carriage and possibly take pictures of the landscapes along the route. Perhaps, I should have been suspicious as to why no one else came to sit in this carriage with me. Anyway we set off and the smoke from the steam engine was dispersing nicely except under the trees which form a canopy and don’t allow much smoke to pass through the branches. 

Then I saw the tunnel approaching.

I took a sip of water, swallowed, took in a large breath of fresh air, and closed my eyes. In my mind, the reason why I was alone in the open carriage became clear as the smoke filled the air around me. The tunnel wasn’t long and we were soon out in the sunshine. The greyness soon dispersed and we were back amongst the fields and the landscapes.  

Out of the nine train trips, the only two journeys that were remotely similar were the Bala Lake railway and the Llanberis Lake Railway.

More next month.