Bill Pavelin
Life is full of unexpected and unplanned events. This is the story of one person’s arrival in Alcoutim and his extended stay and integration into the life and events of the local area.
Peter was a well-known character in Alcoutim around 2000 AD. Instantly recognisable by his seafaring white beard and hair – perfect for the role of St Nicholas at Christmas time.
But his story began many miles away, in a land of frosts, ice and winter snow, in a small village in Essex, on the East coast of England. Flat, marshland, with rivers and small creeks which crept into the land – and stories of smugglers and seafaring folk who shipped bricks and horse feed and straw bedding up the River Thames to the centre of London. As a child he could see two shipwrecks from his bedroom window, heard tales from his uncle (who had worked on barges) and his love of the sea was already forming when he was very young. His was a childhood of war sirens and scurrying to air raid shelters, but also excitement, adventure and discoveries. There were bomber planes and V1 missiles and V2 rockets passing overhead on their way to London and that meant that there were parachutes, shrapnel live bullets and unexploded incendiary bombs to be collected and taken to school. No health & safety to worry about, just dire warnings from adults. Pity the poor teacher on Monday mornings as she got the children to empty their pockets of their newfound treasures. Bombs fell on each side of our primary school. For Peter and friends there were mechanical parts from crashed aircraft to be dismantled and understood.
But he was so much more! He was an accomplished engineer, building and racing motorbikes in his teenage years. He was a musician, who played many instruments, including a competent rendition on a wood saw!!! He was a carpenter and made accurate models of barges. He operated huge mechanical excavators and cranes. He captained barges up the River Thames and took part in barge races from the heart of London to the Thames estuary. He had lots of seadog tales of escapades on and off the boats. And then he ran his own barge company carrying corn from the docks in London to our local Essex mill
Once again circumstances changed and Peter moved onto a yacht in Essex and there, he was asked to transport a wooden boat, ‘Golden Miller’, from England to Portugal. So it was that he travelled across the English Channel and through the French canals to the Mediterranean and round to the River Guadiana, final stop Alcoutim.
He stayed, waiting to hand over the Golden Miller and then return to England. But the owner disappeared and couldn’t be traced. Peter stayed until his death in 2010 and is buried in the Alcoutim cemetery.
My name is Bill and Peter and I were neighbours and schoolfriends. When he wrote and told me where he was, I decided to see what he was up to and visit him. As I arrived, I looked up at the mill at Sanlúcar de Guadiana. Mules were walking in circles to remove the corn seed and people were separating the corn from the chaff by throwing it into the air. I felt the magic of Alcoutim.
Peter was involved in some way or another in many of the local celebrations, but his love of history was channelled into archaeology. He loved the digs, the community of archaeologists and the research into artefacts discovered.
Over the past 30 years I have revisited Alcoutim many times and there has never been an occasion when someone hasn’t remembered the character that was Captain Peter Carey.
How many people have travelled over the centuries up the River Guadiana, stepped ashore at Alcoutim and made this home? Peter was just one of them. How many more intriguing stories of new arrivals in this beautiful riverside town are waiting to be told.
Bill Pavelin
These are my personal recollections of a dear friend. My apologies for any inaccuracies or omissions.