Bob Bolling 's Website in Galicia, Northwest Spain

THIS GROUP PLAYED AT RURAL FIESTAS AND OTHER CELEBRATIONS. THE PICTURE ON THE LEFT WAS SCANNED FROM
THE ADVERTISING FLYER ON THE RIGHT. THE YOUNG TROMBONE PLAYER IS A NEIGHBOR OF OURS. HE'S 81 YEARS OLD NOW.

The photos in the display clearly indicate how isolated this area was before the 1970s. For example, you don't see any cars - or paved roads - in the pictures taken outdoors. This was, and still is, an agricultural area but almost nobody had a tractor 30-35 years ago. Cows pulled the plows and their hay was cut and baled (or stacked) by hand. Farming was damned hard work.

Today, there are fewer farmers in Ambroa. Retirees still grow a lot of their own vegetables but very few derive much income from it. Most of the income-producing agriculture is dairy farming, for which Galicia is well-known. It's highly mechanized these days but it's still a lot of work and it's a 365 day-per-year job, since the cows have to be milked every day.

Photo Expo July 04
Miguel Ortega and some other public-spirited folks borrowed hundreds of old photos from Ambroa Parish families for display in the parish Centro Sociál. Some of the pictures date back 100 years or so, when life in rural Galicia was a lot different than it is now.
THERE WERE GROUPS OF PHOTOS DISPLAYED ON 3 WALLS. EACH GROUP WAS PROTECTED BY A SHEET OF PLEXIGLASS.	ALMOST ALL THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN BEFORE COLOR FILM WAS AVAILABLE, BUT THERE WERE A FEW PHOTOS FROM THE 50s AND 60s.
MARIVI'S MOTHER PROVIDED THIS AMBROA SCHOOL PHOTO, TAKEN IN 1930. MARIVI'S FATHER (CIRCLED) WAS BORN HERE. THIS GROUP PLAYED AT RURAL FIESTAS AND OTHER CELEBRATIONS. THE PICTURE ON THE LEFT WAS SCANNED FROM THE ADVERTISING FLYER ON THE RIGHT. THE YOUNG TROMBONE PLAYER IS A NEIGHBOR OF OURS. HE'S 81 YEARS OLD NOW. The photos in the display clearly indicate how isolated this area was before the 1970s. For example, you don't see any cars - or paved roads - in the pictures taken outdoors. This was, and still is, an agricultural area but almost nobody had a tractor 30-35 years ago. Cows pulled the plows and their hay was cut and baled (or stacked) by hand. Farming was damned hard work. Today, there are fewer farmers in Ambroa. Retirees still grow a lot of their own vegetables but very few derive much income from it. Most of the income-producing agriculture is dairy farming, for which Galicia is well-known. It's highly mechanized these days but it's still a lot of work and it's a 365 day-per-year job, since the cows have to be milked every day.