11th Annual General Meeting 2005
Carmona, Spain
Sunday 23rd October - Cortijo de 'Arenales', Morón de la Frontera, Provincia de Sevilla
Covering an area of 3,000 hectares, this family estate contains meadows, pastures, and scrubland with large areas of holm oak, grazing areas for herds of deer, wild goats, boars and fighting bulls. Also raised on the estate are farm horses and polo ponies, as well as dogs. A large portion of the estate is given over to olive orchards, and the rest is devoted to dry farming. There is a stretch of cork oaks in the process of reforestation. Recently completed is a large artificial pond for irrigation.
Victoria Ybarra, Condesa de la Maza, started her garden in 1958 and has been developing it since as both her family and her devotion to the garden increases.
Preparing for a trip around the estate.
View towards the entrance to the house and garden.
No matter what ones feeling about bull-fighting, the sight of these magnificent
creatures was awe-inspiring. The Cattle Egret, a small white heron, co-exists
with the bulls, riding on their backs to eat skin parasites and catching insects
disturbed by the animals.
The traditional ochre-coloured wall decorated with a tile-backed sink and climber.
Moron de la Frontera, Provincia de Sevilla
A large agricultural estate with a large garden created in the 1950s in a design of clipped hedges forming "rooms" and including a beautiful dining pavilion, following the tradition of Torres Balbas and the Alhambra. The paths are formed of alvero, a typical "paving" of layered and pressed clay of a characteristic ochre colour, also used to tint whitewash for trim all over this part of Andalusia.
A cheerful hedge of Bouganvillea.
Photgraphs by Davina Michaelides, Alisdair Aird and Fleur Pavlidis
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