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Around Town

Industrial Heritage in Dispute
Rethymnon Coffee Morning Bugle - Building the Community Centre
It goes without saying that ‘preservation of heritage’ is a big thing here on Crete. Those of us who live in the Old Town know that if we want to do up our houses, we can’t move without consulting the Archaeological Department. Rightly so, of course, to preserve the Venetian and Turkish architecture—and, of course, those old Minoan ruins that go before….But what about our more recent heritage? (And, before you ask, I’m not talking about a certain bar that closed in the ‘80s ) Here in Rethymnon, this is currently the subject of great debate. Before the mass tourism boom, Rethymnon wasn’t just a quaint little ‘folk-lore’ place. It was a town with industries (soap, oil, and barrel making are just a few examples), and therein lies, if you pardon the cliché, the Tale of a Town. Due to new apartment blocks and hotels, there is precious little of this part of Rethymnon’s heritage visible to the public eye today. So, the news of the possible destruction of the industrial chimney on the plot of land in Koumbé has caused intense concern.

The State Land Service has notified the County Council of its intentions to demolish the chimney after it was judged to be unsafe. This chimney is one of only three that survive in Rethymnon. An application to the State was made over three years ago to designate this chimney as a ’recent monument’. However, no progress has been made. There is a problem regarding ownership. The chimney comprises part of a complex that belonged / or still belongs to the Agricultural Co-operative of Rethymnon (depending on who you talk to). However, it was built on the sea-shore. Current National law states that ’beach-land’ is State land.’ Yet here on Crete, this really is a moot point. We say: “Save the chimney”.

Malia Protests

Not exactly around town, you might argue (Malia being East of Heraklion), but the effects of the really disgusting behaviour of certain ‘Brits’ on holiday on Crete in this particular ‘resort’ has had a knock-on effect on several parts of the island for any number of years. In fact, two members of the editorial committee do remember, in a previous life, meeting up with a friend (now a prize-winning journalist of international repute) in 1990 who had been sent out to Crete to file a report on this very same issue. Furthermore, in 1985 the place was already being cited as a ‘No-go’ area during the summer for any decent foreign citizen who had half a brain in their head and wanted to find out something about ‘Real Crete’. Plus ça change, or so they say. Well, finally, THANKFULLY, the penny appears to have dropped. Malia has now had enough of the ‘Lager louts’. Late in July, hundreds of local residents, including the Mayor, took to the streets saying they were fed up. GOOD. NOW CLOSE DOWN ALL THE BARS SELLING ‘FISHBOWLS’ THAT ENCOURAGED THOSE IDIOTS TO COME TO MALIA IN THE FIRST PLACE. Then I might actually pay a visit to the Minoan Palace there, which I hear is particularly fine. End of rant.

Sporting Update—AGOR: What’s the Score?

Not Basketball

As you will already gather, this month’s issue has already got a sporting theme to it—but this is a local NEWS story, so it goes in this section. As we went to press, it was still not clear which division AGOR (our local basketball team) would be playing in next season. “How so?” you may ask. “Didn’t you tell us in the June issue that because AGOR ended up third in the A2 division they had narrowly missed promotion?” Well, yes, but….the situation with last season’s champions of the A2 Division— ‘Sporting’ (team from Athens, which won promotion to A1) has changed somewhat. The previous owner of the team has left to go and manage AEK (Another Athens team, which is in A1 Division). The ownership of ‘Sporting’ is now in doubt, and it is not clear that they will be in a financial position to play at A1 level. So, it is faintly possible that our lovely Cretan boys will be promoted after all. Watch this space.

Sad Footnote: Rethymnon Fire-Fighting Tragedy

Many of you will know this already, but for those of you who don’t, forest fires on Crete in July had tragic consequences in the Rethymnon region. On 11th July, three fire-fighters from the Heraklion Fire Brigade lost their lives whilst trying to battle a blaze in the Rethymnon Nomos (district). The firefighters got trapped in a gorge near Doxaros — which is on the Old Road to Heraklion, East of Perama.
Words in such a situation seem so inadequate: still, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to the families, loved ones and friends of these really brave men. Our thoughts are with you.

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