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Memories of an Octogenarian

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Kernock:
At our regular 6 O'clock Club on a Friday night at the Weary Friar we chat about the many things one does over a pint or two.  One member is a long time visitor to SS and in fact introduced me to the village in 1988.  Over the years, as a Notary, he has helped many ex pats in the village on legal matters and is known by many residents and locals, having spent over two years of the past 30 enjoying the life there.  I often mentioned the Forum to him and printed out a few pieces of which he had an interest. 

About a month ago he told me he would write a few lines about his life in SS.  Last Friday at the ‘Club’ we talked among other things about the demise, and possible extinction, of Plymouth Argyle Football Club, (where he was a past Director in the days when Malcolm Allison and Bobby Moncur were Managers)  in addition to saying the final copy for the Forum would be sent to me this week.

Sadly, the following day, on Saturday, Peter had a heart attack and died.  I thought it would be fitting to send this to you as a tribute to someone who really loved the village.  As a senior Elder in our little Cornish village, he will be sorely missed, as he will, I am sure, to his many friends and acquaintances in SS (sorry Peter Agios Stefanos following his gentle rebuke at the end of his piece!).  RIP Peter.

PS.  If any of you who knew Peter and would like further information please e mail me richard@kernock.co.uk

PPS. I have had to adapt the following from a PDF.  Apologies for any typographical errors and its format!




Peter Skinnards notes

I have read the various recollections of regular visitors to Agios Stefanos and, as one ofthe Iong-term visitors, I thought it right be of interest to add my own recollections.

As some of your readers know, I am a lawyer in the UK and in 1978 my firm was
instructed to form a travel company known as ‘lios Island Holidays', which is still
trading today. This company was created by a lady of Greek background, Nita, and her
husband Eric who was working in television in Plymouth at that time. Having formed the
company, my wife Shelagh and I were invited by Eric and Nita to visit Corfu the
following year, 1979, as guests of their company. I had visited Corfu some years earlier
(when on a cruise) but had no idea of the whereabouts of Agios Stefanos. We duly
accepted the invitation and thus began a love affair with the village and its people,
which has continued to the present time.

On our first visit we were recommended by Eric and Nita to stay at the Hotel Nafsika,
opened, I believe, by George and Theodora in 1978 following their return from America,
What fun it was in those days, with not many tourists, and with few locals speaking
English and few tourists speaking any Greek - but we all got by! People grumble about
the roads today, but in those days the roads to the village were really just Country
tracks. When waiting for friends to arrive, we used to sit drinking in the Nafsika garden,
looking across to the top of the hill where the road comes from Avliotes, waiting to see
a cloud of dust to warn us that a bus or car was on the way to the village!

In those days the village was centred around the old part, with the three tavernas of
Manthos, The Waves and The Golden Beach. What we of that era refer to as ‘Sunset
Strip’ - where the modern development has taken place - did not then exist and the
village virtually ended at the cross-roads (where what we knew as the ‘Bus Stop
Taverna’ - ie George’s - still is).

Along past The Condor and the Thomas Bay Hotel etc, right up the hill past Romanza,
was then all open country.

Over the years we have always stayed ln the old village, at the Nafsika, the Golden
Beach, Manthos' Apartments by the Church (long before Fedra and Christina's) and
then when Michalis Mouzakitis came home from ‘the ships' and built Anatoli apartments,
we began to stay there with him and Katie and have done so ever since.

The old harbour was the only facility for boats and the beach did not have any facilities
whatever - not even deck-chairs. I have several photographs of those days, showing
the undeveloped beach, often with a herd of goats brought down from nearby fields.
Those of us who began to holiday there regularly would in those days form working
parties to clear up areas of the beach from seaweed and other debris.

From 1979 to date, my wife and I have visited every year (except 1983 when our
daughter Bethany was born) and when I was younger, I normally came three times a
year - first for the Greek Easter, then some Weeks in the summer with the family and
friends and then again on my own in October, with the excuse that I was going to help
my Greek friends close up the Island for winter! '

Travel to and from England was not easy in those early days and we frequently had to
travel from our home In Cornwall to Heathrow, then fly from Heathrow to Athens, then
catch the local flight from Athens to Corfu - and the same in reverse. Over the years my
family has followed our lead and my son Nick, my eldest daughter Sally, my grandsons,
my nephew, niece and other relations have all visited and maintained the family
tradition (only last summer we had a family party of seven, plus numerous friends).
Thankfully, we can now fly from Exeter or Bristol.

During our thirty plus years of visits, we have enjoyed many friendships with the locals
and have forged friendships with many ex-pats and other regular visitors who share our
love for the place. In the early days I used to accompany Michalis to visit his parents in
Avliotes. His father was a veteran of hard times in the Second World War and was
considerably older than me. He would ask Michalis ‘when is the old Englishman coming!’
and we would sit happily for hours on his terrace, not speaking a word of each other’s
language!

We have introduced countless friends to the village since 1979 and I did suggest some
years ago that the locals should consider appointing me as ‘Honorary Mayor’ For my
services to local tourism!

May I add a grumble from an old man!  So many people now refer to the village as `San
Stefanos' - this is a modern appellation, introduced by travel companies and other
businesses to ‘freshen the image’ and to distinguish it from the other Agios Stefanos on
the north-east coast. The correct and true name of the village is Agios Stefanos and can
we long-time visitors please discourage the use of the name of ‘San Stefanos’, which is
quite out of place in this lovely old part of Corfu. Your contributor Tony recently
published some photos which he described as being of ‘San Stefanos 1983-96' -
 I
challenge him to produce any evidence of the use of that name in 1983!

PETER SKINNARD

Jules:
What a lovey recollection of times gone by in our favourite holiday resort. May he rest in peace having created so many memories for his family as well

debra:
Wonderful memories -would love to hear more - so sad he's no longer here

Jimbo:
That's a lovely account. I totally agree that it should be Agios rather than the Spanish-sounding San.

I wish I'd had the chance to interview him on camera. The story of the evolution of these Greek villages is fascinating. Some get the balance right, some get it disastrously wrong. Think Kavos, Laganas etc. But, of course, we can't expect them to remain picturesque and primitive. Άγιος Στέφανος has, it seems to me, got it just about right by not targeting high-volume teenage drinkers but generally older people who have probably got more money and more brains.

Still - a good age to go. 'stin ygia mas. 

don:
I too would love to hear more of what Agios Stefanos was like both before and as it developed. I really enjoyed reading Mr Skinnards reminiscing. It's a great pity he was unable to share more memories with us.

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