CLUBS NEWS
ROSSENDALE RAMBLERS
ON Wednesday, August 8, 22 ramblers survived a challenging 10 or 11-mile walk from Kettlewell, enjoying spectacular limestone scenery.
Then on Sunday, August 12, 10 of our members joined a further 15 walkers on a nine-mile walk from the Pendle Walking Festival, starting from Barrowford.
This was a lovely walk over Wheathead Height, dropping down past Upper and Lower Black Moss reservoirs, with excellent views of Pendle Hill.
Details of our upcoming walks can be found in the ‘latest news’ area of our website at www. rossendale-ramblers. co.uk, or you can call us on 01706 561042 or email glynbr45@gmail.com.
BACUP NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY
IN the hiatus between our August and September lectures we are taking the opportunity to hold a book, DVD and vinyl sale. This was launched on Saturday, August 18, and will continue over the next three to four weeks on Tuesday afternoons and Thursday evenings at our premises on Yorkshire Street. All items are in excellent condition, with many bargains available.
ROSSENDALE PROBUS CLUB
ROBERT MacDonald gave an illustrated talk on his recent visit to Chile.
This country, lying between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean in South America, extends for more than 2,600 miles from north to south, but is only 125 miles on average from west to east.
Robert’s journey by plane into Santiago, the capital, enabled him to see magnificent views of the Andes. He then travelled west to Valparaiso on the coast.
This is the main port of Chile and the main naval base. There he was introduced to the art of street painting, where the whole street, including steps and terraces, is painted in a spectacular way – a feature he would encounter again in other towns.
A journey south of just over an hour took Robert to the Lake District of Chile, an area of lakes, forests and fertile land in the valleys, set against a background of the Andes mountains with snowcapped extinct volcanoes.
European immigrants, including Germans and Austrians, were attracted to this area to farm from the early 20th century. The architecture of their houses reflects the origin of the occupants.
From the Lake District, Robert travelled northwards beyond Santiago to the drier part of Chile and the Atacama desert. On the way, he visited La Serena on the coast, the second oldest city in Chile.
Unusual sights there included pelicans, sea lions and vultures on the beach and cooking in the open air using metal ovens heated by the sun.
Arica, the northernmost town on the border with Peru has on average only 0.03 inches of rainfall a year. In Iquique, a fishing port just to the south, the locals said it had rained last year for about 10 minutes. With such low rainfall, the houses had almost flat roofs and many were made of only hardboard.
Before he left the Atacama Desert region, Robert visited the mining museum in Copiapo which told the story of a nearby copper mine where 33 miners were trapped over 2,000 feet underground for 70 days in 2010. They all escaped by being hauled to the surface in cylindrical capsules and the incident was headline news across the world.