The Unsung Heros

Between the 1920s and 1950s, islands with fewer than 25,000 inhabitants could mandate that able boded adults of both genders provide two days of manual labour. This was called Personal Labour (prosopiki Ergasia) a statutory civic duty run by the community councils, tailored to maintain vital infrastructure depending upon exact local needs. This included cleaning and digging out communal springs and stone paths (calderimia) plus building and clearing the trails connecting the kalyvia across the island.

For those who had moved away, the municipality allowed a fee to be paid (antitimo) equivalent to two days wages so somebody else could be employed.

During my years of finding and reinstating these calderimia, I could tell the difference between the good and the bad workmen. Some were works of art, exquisitely pieced together. First a trench was built, then the stone fit together like a puzzle, then filled in with smaller stones to prevent vegetation from growing through. Upon finding various stretches of calderimi, once all the shrubs had been cut away, it was just a question of getting hold of the edges of the vegetation then pulling very hard. It would come away in one turf piece, revealing the beautiful stones beneath. I might add, this took the Skopelos Trails volunteers weeks of toil. The calderimia were built wide enough so that two loaded mules could pass each other.

This volunteer system could do with being reinstated as labour costs prevent the council from employing full time workers and our newly signed trails are at risk of becoming overgrown as my organisation is scaling back the service we have provided over the last 30 odd years. The Personal Labour system was officially abolished in 1995.

So far, we have found 5 Trail Angels; residents who have volunteered to be responsible for a portion of trail near their homes. The areas covered so far are Karia, Kimissia Kambos end, Michalakis, the municipal tip down to Glysteri and Paleo Klima village down to Kosta beach. Please let me know if you would be prepared to be a Trail Angel.