Touching Paradise
Jon N. DaviesIn the early 1960s my paternal grandparents, Gwilym and Doris Davies, bought a plot of land in the mountains above Fuengirola, on the Costa del Sol. Here, they transformed a barren wilderness into the grounds of a villa Mar-y-Sierra, and its attendant bungalow La Vista, complete with luxurious gardens, and a screen of trees. By 1963 the house was complete, and here they would live until returning to the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, a period of around 15 years. This book is a Special Edition to enlarge upon the previously published Little Book, and allow the landscape-orientated photographs to be seen in greater detail, as well as to include an additional 20 or so photographs, including a section dedicated to their cats, with more space for personal memories and reminiscences. At least four times in my early childhood I would visit Mar-y-Sierra, and it was as natural to me as driving by car to South Wales to visit my great aunt, or to Biddulph to visit my mother's parents. The memories I have are mainly from 1976, when I celebrated my sixth birthday out there, and 1977, which was the last occasion we would visit.
ISBN: 978-1915692931
From the Book
A selection of photographs from Touching Paradise, with notes from the author.
Grandma and Grandpa
Gwilym Davies had been a detective in the Metropolitan Police, and Doris Davies had risen to be a headteacher at a London secondary school. They were my grandparents on my father's side, and in the early 1960s they decided to retire to Spain, which was then opening up and offering good terms for foreign settlement.
Mar-y-Sierra
They bought land in the mountains above Fuengirola, in the Costa-del-Sol, down the coast from Malaga. There, they and a team of Spanish builders transformed a scrubland wilderness into a magical villa, surrounded by beautiful gardens. Once complete, the villa was named Mar-y-Sierra (literally Sea-and-Mountains, but sounding much better in Spanish). Its interiors were cool, with marble floors, and the garden boasted a swimming pool, and an array of solar panels.
The Swimming Pool
In the early 1970s, our family holidayed at Mar-y-Sierra at least four times. The above photograph of my mother and me in the pool was reprinted from some of the very few surviving negatives, bringing the amazing colours back to life. I can still remember, over half a century on, the feel and the smell of the water, and the coarse grass underneath my bare feet as I got out. Curiously, some of Grandma and Grandpa's cats liked to go for a dip in the pool, and swim across it to cool off.
Our Happy Family
Our last two holidays there, in Summer 1976 when I had my 6th birthday there, and in Summer 1977, are the two most memorable to me. I remember the smells, the toys, the TV in Spanish, the garden paths, the orange trees, the pool, the bedroom which I shared with my sister. The above photograph of us all was labelled by my Dad in the album as "Our Happy Family" and was clearly taken by my Grandpa, as my Grandma can be seen in the background.