Made by hand!

Today, with our U3A group, we visited Callosa de Segura in the Murcia Region. It is a smallish inland town, which has traditionally been very dependent on agriculture and some basic manufacturing.
The Town Hall opened up the Municipal Museum for us, and we were able to see how the people, not all that long ago, harvested hemp and after some basic treatment.......soaking in water and combing the fibres..
......were able to manufacture baskets, mats, ropes, fishing nets, chairs and shoes (espadrilles)
In general the men did the hard physical, hot and dusty, work of cutting and threshing the canes in the fields.....while the women sat in small groups, in the streets of the village, twisting and braiding the fibres, which could then be made into the many different articles, and used or sold in the vicinity.
Donkeys were the beasts of burden......no lorries at that time!

Very little is made in the town today.....most ropes, nets, shoes etc are manufactured using synthetic materials.