At the end of August we received from our Project Manager, Antonio Marconi, the first pictures of the work that had been begun on clearing a road up to the castle. From base to castle gate the track was about 1.5 kms, and completely overgrown. IN some place it was no more that 1 metre wide, and in other there was barely room to place your feet side by side.

Antonio’s pictures showed that the main track had been widened to almost double the width of the large path we had struggled to climb back in January. The engineers had cut into the rock, and flatten the main track with a digger. Small irrigation ditches had been created across the track to ease the flow of any rainwater and minimise the possibility of the track being washed away in the unpredictable winter months ahead.

The most progress had been made on the stretch between the bend and the castle itself. A major clearance operation had been undertaken and, where formerly there had been small trees and overgrown bushes, these had been uprooted, and in its place the original earthen track was once again laid bare. Half way up this stretch, and about 100 metres shy of the castle itself, a small flat area - big enough to take a couple of lorries - had been created, which now housed the site office.