TANGER, TANGIER.
North Africa.
To:- George's Travels and experiences whilst stationed in Gibraltar on National Service.
Weekends if time was available we could also take the
GIBEL-TARIK Ferry over to Tanger
You can see the vast expanse of beach in Tanger
the square looking building just back from the beach is the railway station. From there you could catch the train, to Tetuan, Meknes, Fes, Rabat, and down to Casablanca, etc or you could go by coach.
An essential part of anyone's visit to Tanger is to promenade along the beach, from the Railway Station, the beach extends along a curve for several kilometers which you can see in the picture above.
Above the Avenue D'Espagne, Tanger in the 50's,
You can see the beginning of this avenue in the picture above this one.
An Old Postcard of the Palais du Pacha, Tanger.
The Mosque in the town by the Medina
Old Postcards Above and below showing
Typical street scene's of Tanger in the 50's
An Old postcard of the Entrance gate to the Market (the Souk)
The market Tanger in the 50's
Fruit market in Tanger
Arab Solitude on the Beach in Tanger 1953
100 Franc currency notes used in 1953 in Maroc this one issued on the 9th January 1950.
Between 1920 and the late 1950's, Tanger was a playground for those seeking adventure, the rich and famous like Winston Spencer Churchill, who was an avid and highly skilled painter, using the activity both as a relaxation and as an intense part of his life, visited the area on his way to Marrakech, other famous people including Barbara Hutton the Woolworth heiress, Truman visited, also those seeking a tax haven. When Spain relinquished Tanger back to Morocco in 1960 its duty-free status went with it, and the city lost a great deal of its charm.
I
went to Tanger on a whole number of occasions in 53/54 to buy 18ct gold items
(second hand old gold scrap) that could be melted down in Switzerland, then
assayed to make 18ct gold watch cases as in 1953 Switzerland had a quota system
and shopkeepers could not purchase sufficient quantities. I always took
the GIBEL-TARIK
Ferry over to Tanger from
Gibraltar.
An
Indian shopkeeper in Gibraltar needed watches to sell and the only way was to
purchase sufficient old gold that could be melted down and made into watchcases.
The other problem was that 18ct gold watches needed to be "pink gold"
for the Latin market and tourists. Whereas in Switzerland 18ct gold watches were
mainly of yellow gold, gold alloyed with bronze, as opposed to the pink gold
(alloyed with copper) required for the Gibraltar market.
The watchcases were made in Switzerland and then shipped to Gibraltar.
The Shopkeeper then received by separate shipment all the watch
movements, watches boxes and guarantees etc.
My function in my spare time was then to assemble these, what we call
"case ups" and test them; we had a waterproofing machine that had been
sent over from the Swiss factory so that every thing met with the specifications
required for Guarantee.
I
established connections with a number of old gold dealers in the Medina and
around Tanger, I always carried my eyeglass with me so that I could look for any
hall marks, a small file, and my acid testing kit to ensure that it was gold and
not 18ct plaque. Moroccan dealers
were a shifty bunch, I always bought small quantities, then took it to the Hotel
Minzah near the Medina were it could be locked up for me in a safe. When I had a
sufficient quantity in the hotel safe, arrangements were made by the Indian
shopkeeper to have me picked up in Tanger then fly me back to Gibraltar.
I always stayed at the Rif Hotel, this was some distance along the sea front past the Railway station, quite a walk along the coastal road going out of Tanger, this hotel seems to have been used and was a favourite of Winston Churchill when he visited Tanger, he would use this hotel on his way to Marrakech where he painted many canvases. The Rif Hotel in Tanger was in a wonderful position, right across the street from the sea. The rooms were modern, clean and the beds very comfortable. The staff were very friendly indeed and got to know me very well with my frequent visits. They always seemed to have a room ready for someone. I never booked just walked in and I was shown a very nice room with en-suite.
Mineral
water or Cans of pure Orange Juice became a part of daily ritual during my
visits to Morocco. Only if you are a local do you dare to drink out of the tap
in Morocco or from one of the many water pumps..
I
arrived one Friday and went out buying, I went to the fruit market first to get
some apples and bananas then proceeded to the medina and met with one of the
dealers Mohammed, he had collected quite a few items for me and I set about
testing and looking for hall marks on the items of old bracelets, bangles,
broken earrings, long gold chains, broken watch cases etc.
After some time, I had checked all these and weighed them, Mohammed
and I agreed the weight and a price, I put the items into a bag and sealed
it with sealing wax.
Mohammed
and I then went to another Moroccan friend of his who had various items that I
could test, Mohammed agreed the weight with me of all the tested items and we
put them into an envelope and sealed it. Mohammed
wrote the agreed weight down for his friend and I agreed a price, Mohammed told
his friend that we were going back to his place and he would be paid later. When
we arrived back at Mohammed's we put the envelope with his package.
I went back to the Hotel Minzah to get the money to pay him.
When I arrived back he had the usual Arabic tea ready for me, we sat and
drank the tea with pistachio nuts, I had one of my apples and a banana.
On
leaving his place I made my way back to the Minzah quickly ensuring that I was
not being followed, the assortment I bought was locked up for me.
I
walked back to the Railway Station where I could sit on a seat looking out to
sea for a while.
After
an hour or so had passed I took a leisurely stroll along the coastal road
heading back to the Rif. After some while walking along the road I heard female
voices on the other side of the road, I looked across and saw two females in
their Grey Abayas and Sheilas with white Yashmaks (white veils) they were
laughing and giggling.
I
carried on walking and eventually arrived back at the Rif, I went to the bar and
the barman poured me my usual glass of ice cold orange, I sat near to the bar
looking toward the entrance. A little while later I noticed that the two ladies
or girls as you do not know what is in those Abayas!! Were sitting in the
foyer talking to one another.
I
asked the barman if he would get them a drink and tell them it was from me, he
went over to see them, there was an outburst of giggling and laughing, he came
back and said, yes, they would like a fruit juice, he poured these and took them
their drinks. I finished my orange
juice and he poured me another
I
went over to them, said Buena's Tardes (good afternoon) and we opened up
conversation in Spanish and French they did not understand English, they spoke,
French, Spanish and Arabic. They both had young hands and gold bangles round
their wrists, obviously they were young around my age probably.
They
asked me where I was from and I told them Inglaterra, they chuckled went mmmm,
where did I learn the French that I knew, I said Paris and Versailles.
They asked if I liked Morocco, oh yes I replied, especially Tetuan, Meknes, Fez,
Rabat and Casablanca.
After
some time talking together one of the girls stood up and said that she was going
and wished me Adios y otro Tiempo. (Bye,Bye
another time.)
I
sat with the other girl and asked her name Yasmine, I ordered some more to
drink, we talked and laughed for quite a while.
Keep
on drinking all this orange juice, I needed to go to the loo in my room, so I
mentioned to her that I was going to my Room, she watched where I went and then
to my surprise followed me. We went up in the lift and to my room, When we
entered the room she asked where was the toilet, she quickly made her way there,
and was in the toilet for quite some time.
I
was busting to "pay a penny" as they say, when she came out I
immediately went into it, I was also able to clean my teeth and freshen up. I
expect she also freshened herself up as the towel had certainly been used.
I called the barman to send me up a gin and tonic and another drink for her, we chatted for some time about Morocco and Rabat, which seemed to be her favourite city she sat on the side of the bed her yashmak (white lace veil) showing sensual, dreamy sparkling eyes whilst I sat in the armchair.
After some time had passed and it was getting darker, I needed to pay another penny, go to the loo, when I came out I found that she had removed her Sheila,Yashmak (white veil) and Abaya, to my absolute surprise standing before me was a really beautiful girl with long jet black shiny hair with such smooth tanned skin. She threw her arms around me, we spent some time together.
We eventually got dressed, I freshened myself up, had a shave and invited her out. I suggested that she would know a fish restaurant where we could go together, she took me to a very small restaurant where we could sit opposite one another, as it was late we were virtually the only one's in there, her eyes sparkled all the time she was talking to me, they were extremely seductive.
I
had never seen an Arab female keep on lifting her veil to eat, the meal of
swordfish cutlets laid on a bed of green salad was fantastic, very nicely
presented. I had a glass of red wine whilst she only drank the mineral water. It
was a very enjoyable unexpected afternoon and evenings experience.
She asked if she could meet me again, we made some arrangements of how to contact me from the Rif.
