Mark Williams-Thomas suggests Madeleine woke, wandered and was abducted.

[pegasus]

BTW this junction (Rua 1 Maio / Rua Teixeira) was location of one of the appeals for information on Crimewatch it is where two men were seen talking loudly then walking away quietly at about 11pm.
 
Go to interactive map at http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Madeleine-McCann-s-parents-delighted-response-BBC/story-19935283-detail/story.html hover over the 23:00 event and you can watch a short video of the two men at this junction.

[pegasus]

(snip)... The interior of the manholes which Heri photographed portray only small apertures for drainage ...(snip)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZmXrfctJQE/UBKsIqaj67I/AAAAAAAABUw/mhvFnXCdMH4/s320/manhole03.JPG

Running under the middle of each street are usually two drains. One is the foulwater drain (Heri's photos). The other is the rainwater drain which IMO is larger diameter pipe (possibly as large as the pipes at the shore outlets).

[G-Unit]

If you look at that round manhole in road at the middle of junction Rua 1 Maio / Rua J Teixeira see the ring around it of different tarmac, that means (most of the large round manholes in PDL are the sam.) at some date the cover and the frame have been replaced (as per RM statement).

Also see there is another round manhole on the pavement on SE corner of this junction. A manhole on the pavement surface is probably more likely to be left open than one on the road surface? (no risk of damaging cars). Also more likely to be walked on by a pedestrian?

It could be either, I suppose. Both are dangerous unless they were fenced off somehow.

[pegasus]

It could be either, I suppose. Both are dangerous unless they were fenced off somehow.

Another interesting one is at the north end of Rua H Baptista because
1 Fits location description of tourist RM (on a junction of a road parallel to supermarket)
2 Was maybe? on route of tourist [Name removed] from tapas to town?
3 Is in the area that was being resurfaced in May 2007
4 Is on a mainly pedestrian area 
Here's how it looks now (obviously replaced with a fancy new cover and frame when they resurfaced this road in early 2007) ... photo to follow ...

[G-Unit]

Another interesting one is at the north end of Rua H Baptista because
1 Fits location description of tourist RM (on a junction of a road parallel to supermarket)
2 Was maybe? on route of tourist [Name removed] from tapas to town?
3 Is in the area that was being resurfaced in May 2007
4 Is on a mainly pedestrian area 
Here's how it looks now (obviously replaced with a fancy new cover and frame when they resurfaced this road in early 2007) ... photo to follow ...

Why, do you think, was Kate McCann adamant that Madeleine didn't wander?

[Lace]

Why, do you think, was Kate McCann adamant that Madeleine didn't wander?

I think Kate McCann came to the conclusion that Madeleine didn't wander from a number of things.

The open window Kate said Madeleine wouldn't have opened it,   the fact that the sliding doors were closed,  the safety gate was closed and the gate at the bottom of the steps was also closed,   Kate didn't think Madeleine would close everything behind her,   remember the safety gate was at the top of the steps,   what child would turn around and close a gate at the top of the steps in the dark?    Plus Madeleine's shoes were still in the apartment.

[jassi]

Why, do you think, was Kate McCann adamant that Madeleine didn't wander?

Maybe she preferred to blame someone else for Madeleine's disappearance.

[ShiningInLuz]

Another interesting one is at the north end of Rua H Baptista because
1 Fits location description of tourist RM (on a junction of a road parallel to supermarket)
2 Was maybe? on route of tourist [Name removed] from tapas to town?
3 Is in the area that was being resurfaced in May 2007
4 Is on a mainly pedestrian area 
Here's how it looks now (obviously replaced with a fancy new cover and frame when they resurfaced this road in early 2007) ... photo to follow ...

It isn't/wasn't mainly pedestrian.  It had what was then the only Indian in town, the Maharajah.  A string of shops, including the (then) only chemist and little Baptista, plus the commercial centre (where the video rental shop was).  That is why it has many parking spaces.

[slartibartfast]

Maybe she preferred to blame someone else for Madeleine's disappearance.

In a nutshell.

[Mr Gray]

In a nutshell.

in your opinion

[G-Unit]

I think Kate McCann came to the conclusion that Madeleine didn't wander from a number of things.

The open window Kate said Madeleine wouldn't have opened it,   the fact that the sliding doors were closed,  the safety gate was closed and the gate at the bottom of the steps was also closed,   Kate didn't think Madeleine would close everything behind her,   remember the safety gate was at the top of the steps,   what child would turn around and close a gate at the top of the steps in the dark?    Plus Madeleine's shoes were still in the apartment.

do you have a quote where she said all that please?

[pegasus]

It isn't/wasn't mainly pedestrian.  It had what was then the only Indian in town, the Maharajah.  A string of shops, including the (then) only chemist and little Baptista, plus the commercial centre (where the video rental shop was).  That is why it has many parking spaces.

IMO Rua H Batista in May 2007 had the surface removed ready for resurfacing.
BTW the manhole I am talking about is this one see photo.
As you can see it is now on a pedestrian surface, not parking, see bollards.
What we see now is the new design cover and frame (partly inlaid with cobbles to make it look nicer), but back in early May 2007 it would have been the old style cover and frame.

[mercury]

IMO Rua H Batista in May 2007 had the surface removed ready for resurfacing.
BTW the manhole I am talking about is this one see photo.
As you can see it is now on a pedestrian surface, not parking, see bollards.
What we see now is the new design cover and frame (partly inlaid with cobbles to make it look nicer), but back in early May 2007 it would have been the old style cover and frame.

Weren't all open manholes and other excavations checked in the morning of the 4th? By the construction workers?

And if MM had fallen in the one opposite the Tapas Bar that night which I doubt was uncovered anyway, plus 4 yr olds are not always so unaware they wouldn't spot one, and avoid it, wouldn't the scent dogs have signalled right there?

Perhaps SY have used some of ther budget to dig up all manholes in the vicinity?

[pegasus]

Weren't all open manholes and other excavations checked in the morning of the 4th? By the construction workers?

And if MM had fallen in the one opposite the Tapas Bar that night which I doubt was uncovered anyway, plus 4 yr olds are not always so unaware they wouldn't spot one, and avoid it, wouldn't the scent dogs have signalled right there?

Perhaps SY have used some of ther budget to dig up all manholes in the vicinity?

Next morning two small trenches were checked before they were filled in. I don't see any evidence that even a single manhole was checked in those early searches - why would anyone bother checking if the cover and frame had been put back over the previously open hole?

[mercury]

Next morning two small trenches were checked before they were filled in. I don't see any evidence that even a single manhole was checked in those early searches - why would anyone bother checking if the cover and frame had been put back over the previously open hole?

Ok thanks
The  impression I got was that were a huge amount of roadworks going on at the time...so it's hard to believe just two small trenches were checked and no manholes just opened, whether they had been opened and reshut nor not,  seeing as how thorough the police were in the initial searches and investigations and the fact they were looking for a wandered child

IIRC the cadaver dog was taken along the whle route of those roadworks? Albeit a few months later (at least according to a newspaper - no compared this to the routes given in the police files)