TWO MIDDLE-AGED LADIES IN ANDALUSIA

By Penelope Chetwode

Although Two Middle-Aged Ladies in Andalusia is one of the best books that have been written about this region of Spain, not many people know of it. This is surprising, since it is such a little treasure of a book, and well worth reading.

One of the middle-aged ladies of the title was the author herself, Penelope Chetwode, (the wife of the late Sir John Betjeman) and the other was a twelve year old mare, called La Marquesa. She belonged to the Duke of Wellington who owned a farm near Llora. Together, on a November morning in the early 1960s, the two middle-aged ladies set off on a riding tour through the north-western part of Granada province, heading due east to Cazorla, in Jaén province. Their itinerary, inspired by famous nineteenth century travel writers such as George Borrow and Richard Ford, was to take them through what were then some of the remotest parts of the provinces, the intention being that they spend the nights in posadas (inns which accommodated horses and other animals) in various towns and villages on the way. The rapid modernisation of Spain means that many of these places have altered considerably since the 1960s and what were then run-down and semi-deserted pueblos are now thriving villages.

Their first night was spent in Moclín, el escudo de Granada (the shield of Granada). Chetwode describes the looming Moorish fort and across the vega to the south, the “great range of the Sierra Nevada, the peaks powdered with the first falls of snow.” From Moclín, they journeyed across wild countryside along rough tracks and precipitous mountain paths, out of Granada and into Jaén. Accommodation for travellers in those days was basic, and sanitation primitive. Chetwode overcame the discomfort of cold bedroom floors by laying down folded brown paper to do duty as a bedside mat. She also had to contend with leaning washstands, distorting mirrors and other uncomfortable and impracticable items of furniture. The village customs she encountered, such as matanzas (pig-killings), are still practiced today. The author faithfully recorded every mouthful she ate in the course of her journey; many of the traditional dishes she mentioned are still enjoyed. As a recent Catholic convert, she dutifully attended mass in the villages and towns in which she stayed.

Undaunted by the rough terrain and precipitous drops, La Marquesa behaved very well indeed, apart from her decidedly unfriendly attitude towards the pigs with which she sometimes had to share overnight accommodation. She was often admired, and when people asked if she was for sale, her rider had to explain that she was on loan from the Duke of Wellington.

Although she encountered very few people on her solitary ride, in the villages and towns Chetwode befriended all kinds of people, including innkeepers and their families, fellow guests, parish priests and helpful members of the Guardia Civil. She wrote: “Touring on a horse seems to bring out all the best in the characters of the people you meet and you do not see them for long enough to get on one another’s nerves.”

Chetwode quoted on the first page of the book the words of Sir Thomas Aquinas : you cannot love a horse because it cannot love you back. When, at the end of her adventure, she went to say goodbye to her companion, the other middle-aged lady, La Marquesa merely flattened her ears and turned away. Chetwode wrote: “Can I really love her when so obviously she does not love me back?”