Standing proud and marking the north side of the Straits of Gibraltar is a steep, knife-edge limestone crag, rising to over 1000 feet. For the Mediterranean mariner it is Mons Calpe the northern Pillars of Hercules. Paired with North Africa's Mons Abyla, they mark the portals of the open Ocean. Not surprisingly the Rock has been of massive strategic importance, controlling and registering sea traffic between the sea and ocean. Historically it is the Moors and Spanish who vested their power on this rock. The current British presence is now much diluted from the dark days of the Second World War but now represents an anachronism within the European community. In the latter years of Franco's power it was a critical place, the border was closed, only to be reopened when Spain entered the new Europe.

But beyond these political machinations the rock outcrop presents other features of interest. Its flora and fauna, with a visitor-focussed tribe of Barbary apes, a protected, lush vegetation on the steep southern slope and a complex of natural caverns. In visiting St Michael's Cave, with a Cathedral chamber over 250 feet deep, it is the tall columnar, stalagmitic formations that demand attention. The acoustic qualities of the cavern have been even formalized into a concert venue. But generally the visitor bypasses the deep history of Gibraltar's many caves.

Over 150,000 years ago Neanderthal families made use of the cave system as living quarters, for ritual and probably burial purposes. Archaeological excavations since the mid 19th century, and most recently in the 1990s, have revealed the tool kits, hearths, refuse and even the bones of these early hominids. One episode of habitation coincides with Ice Age conditions when sea level was as much as 100m lower than today. The Stone Age food refuse of shellfish, ibex, auk, seal and even roasted pine nuts presents a choice menu reminiscent of our own Caledonian Star!