PW_3_2024

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Later we wandered back into the centre and enjoyed a meal in Irish Town. The people of Gibraltar are friendly, and the town has a nice, relaxed atmosphere. The next morning, we headed up the Rock, which is a 426 metre high lump of Jurassic limestone that is now a nature reserve. It houses, the famous St Michael’s caves, numerous military gun batteries, a Moorish castle, skywalk, suspension bridge, nature trails and tunnels from the great siege and WW2. It is also home to a troop of barbary macaque monkeys. They are used to humans and sit around posing happily for photos. I made the mistake of attempting to take a picture of my Gibraltar IPA Challenge coin with an ape in the background. This one seemed occupied with eating some fruit on a railing, A perfect background so I thought… however the second he saw the shiny coin he pounced! Fortuitously, he just examined it, had a little bite and discarded it. We opted to walk around the sites and then down the castle steps into town, you need to be fit to tackle this due to the inclines and steps. They do offer taxi and bus tours for those not so energetic. After walking a total of 20km and climbing the equivalent of 70 floors we headed back to the hotel pool to relax. I had also arranged to meet Nicholas from the Gibraltar Defence Police in the hotel bar where we discussed policing on the rock and exchanged patches and coins. It was interesting to learn how they work together with the RGP and the Spanish authorities, along with what life is like on the Rock. It’s just a shame I didn’t have time to take up the offer to head out with the marine unit for the day. Definitely worth mentioning the IPA beer garden and club, it’s located just behind the main police station, they do food at breakfast and lunch, have a collection of historic police items and also offer patches and coins for sale. If you’re interested in history and considering a city style break, I highly recommend spending a few days exploring Gibraltar.

POLICE WORLD Vol 69 No.3, 2024

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