11.05.2019 Levadasuche in Gaula

Course

In the area of the tunnel of the Levada dos Tornos above Pico de Gaula, which can be bypassed on the outside and has curious caverns and channels on the outer side, a levada feeding in and another leading away caught our eye on the Madeira forum, and they needed a closer look. The main question was really whether the levada inlet before the tunnel, the channels and the path outside the tunnel, and the offtake fed by the Levada dos Tornos after the tunnel are connected to one another.

From Pico de Gaula I walked on the levada as far as the offtake beside the steps down from the Levada dos Tornos. The offtake itself is hard to see; it is hidden behind a stone in the levada. The sluice lies under a locked cover, and it is not possible to open it.

From here, on the bypass path around the tunnel, to the levada remains under the rock face. Beside the channels there are still more levada fragments to discover! Then to the other end of the tunnel, and here to the inlet of the small levada. The water in the small levada is led straight into the Levada dos Tornos. A black-and-blue pipe crosses over the large levada and disappears into the path alongside.

On along the small levada, rising gently, to the current Madre. The water is taken here from a small stream, and a little more water spills from a metal pipe as well. The black-and-blue pipe also shows itself briefly again here. The old levada path continues, rising a little more steeply. In front of a small water hut the black pipe appears once more; the levada itself is dry, and the channel is destroyed and overgrown. The path becomes steadily harder to walk; fallen trees block the way. After that comes a gate, then it continues in the open along a meadow, and you come to the Ribeira da Metade. Here the masonry Madre of the levada can be seen, fairly intact. The water is still impounded, but led back into the stream bed over the wall by a pipe.

Here I turned round, and went back to Pico de Gaula by the same path. At the crossing of the Caminho da Levada dos Iróis, the Caminho do Pico Sul and the Rua do Pomar, the water can be diverted with a sluice onto the side branch along the Caminho do Pico Sul.

The main branch follows the Rua de Pomar for a few metres and then turns off north. You can follow the levada well. It is somewhat overgrown as far as a small stream course, and then back to the Rua de Pomar. This is crossed, and after rounding a small lombo the levada follows the road and ends in the area of the Levada do Pico das Eiroses.

After this exploration it was clear to me: this is a levada in its own right, the Levada do Pico de Gaula. It already existed before the Levada dos Tornos was built, and was cut through by it. I have set out how the water is allocated in the description of the Levada do Pico de Gaula.

Distance: 3.8 Km, 100 Hm ascent, 100 Hm descent

Start: 15.30 Pico de Gaula

End

16.40 Pico de Gaula

Condition

As far as the tunnel, broad and comfortable; after the tunnel, as far as the active Madre, a little brambly, but acceptable; after that increasingly blocked until shortly before the old Madre, then open again and easy to walk. The terminal branch by the Rua de Pomar is somewhat overgrown and narrow

Remarks

The path to the Ribeira da Metade continues through a second gate as far as the ER 102.

The black-and-blue pipe showed itself briefly once more later, before Pico de Gaula. I suspect this is a buried drinking-water pipe