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El Colmenar - Estación de Gaucín: El Colmenar is one of the railway pueblos in the Valle del Guadiaro. The railway was built in the valley from Algeciras to Ronda. Many of the towns and villages in the valley are found high up on the sides of the Sierras for defensive reasons. The picturesque railway pueblos in the valley bottom expanded to serve the larger towns in the hills above. El Colmenar  is also known as Estación de Gaucín. It previously used to run its own affairs but now comes under the juristiction of Cortes de la Frontera. The journey down from Gaucín is along quite a narrow twisting road. we have been told that this area is especially lovely in May as it is a blaze of colour with hundreds of different wild flowers in great numbers.
We crossed the Rio Guadiaro and had to stop, as it looked so beautiful.
The first shot is looking upstream, the second looking downstream.
We parked in a lovely road lined with a varied selection of trees including Palms and Paper bark maples.
We chatted to an English family on holiday the kids were fascinated with Spanish sweets and a small water feature with a few ducks.
There was also an aviary, a lot better I'm pleased to say, than the disgraceful aviary in Ronda. The peacock displayed every time we passed by. Unfortunately the wire cage spoilt the shot. We crossed the railway tracks to the station. Anyone getting off the train here thinking that they are in Gaucín are in for either a very long uphill walk or a very expensive taxi fare.
The first shot is looking 'upstream' to Ronda, the second looking 'downstream' to Algeciras. The station side of the tracks didn't look to have much to see or photograph ... only a Unicaja bank but every pueblo has one of them. So we recrossed the tracks and started walking.
Fortunately the railway pueblos are flat and easy on the leg muscles.
The next two photographs are of the prettiest houses in Estación de Gaucín. The first house is hardly visible beneath this vibrant bougainvillea (amazingly Jane isn't in the picture!)
The second house is a little easier to see. The front was planted with a lot of marigolds.
The next three photographs are of a small plaza and a nearby fountain.
The annual feria was about to start the next day for four days.
There was a buzz of anticipation in the air as the children rode around on their bikes reading the notices for the nth time and watching the rides and stalls being set up. We left the kids to watch the feria being set up and headed into the side streets. The next shot is an example of the type of housing in the older part of town. We'd found the plaza. There wouldn't be a Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) because the pueblo is no longer deemed to be big enough to have a council, but we were missing a church! All Spanish pueblos have at least one church. We looked for a spire, a bell tower but couldn't see one. Plucking up courage and practicing our Spanish before we asked, we approached an old lady and enquired about the elusive church.
She pointed over the railway track to the right of the station.
We thanked her, pleased that our poor Spanish had worked for once, we headed back across the tracks to find the church. Just as we were crossing the tracks (again!) Jane spotted this giant swiveling tap thingummy from the age of steam trains.
So for you steam railway enthusiasts here's a photograph of the giant tap thing in Estación de Gaucín. We headed to a bar for a well deserved beer.
We were sitting outside enjoying the early afternoon sunshine when a large 'stretch' minibus with black tinted windows pulled up. "It might be a pop star" Jane said ... "It might be Stevie Nicks"

(Jane is a huge Fleetwood Mac fan and lives in hope of one day meeting Ms. Nicks) "Sure pet" I said trying not to laugh. Just then a person as unlike Stevie Nicks as is possible got out and walked across to the bar.
A couple of minutes later she came out with a coke and some tapas, we invited her to join us. Her name is Luisa Tann and she works at the US naval base in Rota nr Cadiz.
Her work involves driving groups around Andalucía showing them the sights.
Today she had dropped a group of adults and children at the top of the hill near Gaucín. With a couple of local guides to show them the route they were walking to Estación de Gaucín!
It was quite a hot afternoon and the walk was scheduled to take five hours!
Luisa had to wait five hours in Estación de Gaucín and she couldn't drink because she was the driver.
We had a lovely chat and left Luisa with another four hours to wait. We spotted this fountain and tiled plaque about herb lore on the way to the car. We also noticed this suicidal grasshopper walking across the main road. It is about four inches long and is capable of very erratic flight for a short time. So why did the grasshopper cross the road .....? .. .. so it could watch the cricket! We liked El Colmenar (Estación de Gaucín). The tree lined avenue, pretty station, plaza, church and part of the old town were all lovely. We often drive to Estación de Gaucín and have a coffee in the bar before driving into the Alcornocales Cork Oak forest.