Cartoons and Illustrations by Steve Bonello
  • Home
  • Drawings & Graphics
  • Editorial
  • Cartoon Strips
  • Illustrations
  • Unpublished
  • Scrapbook
  • Blog
  • Contact

A Maltese Fascination with Size

30/11/2014

0 Comments

 
PictureOne large Lady....
There appears to be a certain fascination with size in Malta, a fascination which too often inherently implies that big is beautiful. It seems almost an implant in our collective genes and I suspect it goes back a very long way too…

Clearly Malta’s first settlers must have thought big was beautiful. How else to explain their munificent representations of the mother goddess in so many of their statues?  The various portrayals that have come down to us all show the female form in, let’s say, quite generous proportions: large pendulous breasts, enormous hips, and what can only be kindly described as ample thighs. Decidedly if big wasn’t beautiful it was certainly a representation or longing for bounty and plenty but the suspicion remains that the Maltese Neolithic man loved his women big…

Women aside, Neolithic man loved big stones as well. The largest of the monoliths at Hagar Qim is a full seven metres long and weighs more than 60 tons - how these people handled such huge weights remains very much a mystery.


Picture100 Ton Gun at Rinella
Some millennia later the Knights continued to fuel this predilection for the huge and colossal. They encircled the main cities with miles and miles of bastions. More than seven kilometres of walls girdle Valletta and Floriana, while the Cottonera Lines stretch to some four kilometres, completely encircling the three cities of Birgu, Isla and Bormla from the landward side.

The British also seem to have humoured this Maltese love of all things big and wondrous. They regaled us with what remains to this day (bar perhaps Saddam Hussein’s never realized super gun) the largest gun in the world. The Armstrong Whitworth Company produced just twelve of its huge 100 ton guns and only two survive to this day: one is in Gibraltar while the other is the centrepiece at the meticulously restored Fort Rinella.

The gigantism fetish later manifested itself in large buildings – particularly church domes. Mosta started this trend with a gigantic one that is still the third largest unsupported dome in the world. The dome was completed in 1871 and has an impressive diameter of over 36 metres – that’s five metres more than St. Paul’s in London.  A century later the village of Xewkija decided to go for something similar – not quite as large as Mosta’s, but at 28 metres diameter and financed by the parishioners of a village with less than 4,000 people it’s still a feat – a huge one excusing the sorry pun.


Picture
The era of large church building now seems past. In its place is a curious pique among towns and villages to get their names in the Guinness Book of World Records. Obviously the Maltese will never go for the smallest this or that of course. It has to be B.I.G.

In 2011 the Lily Fireworks Factory of Mqabba built the largest Catherine wheel in the world measuring 32 metres in diameter – almost as much as the Mosta Dome! The villagers made sure a rep from Guinness was there when it was set alight and the record was announced to wild cheering. Qormi entered the record books a year later with the largest wine glass in the world measuring 12feet 8 inches in height and 6 feet 8 inches at its widest point. It is unlikely that anyone actually lifted it for a sip. Probably that would have made for yet another record. And just last year Zabbar took up the whole length of Sanctuary Street to set up the world’s largest dining table measuring 360 metres and hosting 800 diners. There were no reported complaints of the food arriving cold at the furthest parts of the table, but if there were they would probably be justified ones…

Talking of food, it is unfortunate that the Maltese consistently top the list of the most obese people in Europe. The Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest in the world but unfortunately the inroads made by fast foods have affected the way in which we eat to a high degree. Certainly one record not to be too proud of.



An abridged version of the above article was originally published in the December 2014 newsletter of Chevron UK - Malta travel specialists since 1982. You may subscribe to Chevron's newsletter here
0 Comments

The Red Tower and the lovely road to nowhere

2/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The view from the road stretches to Gozo's Ta Cenc cliffs
In the far north of Malta and just off the main road to the Gozo ferry terminal, a minor road runs uphill to meet one of the most ‘colourful’ of the Knight’s fortified towers. St. Agatha’s Tower was built in 1647-8 to guard the short stretch of sea to Gozo, aided by St. Mary’s Tower on Comino. At some point in its life it was given a red coat of paint – no one seems to know exactly when or why – but this has inadvertently lent it its more familiar name – the Red Tower.  The tower is a square, robust one and when in use in centuries gone by it was normally manned by four soldiers, though it could accommodate a garrison of up to fifty in times of trouble. Last used during World War II as a glorified machine gun post, the tower had fallen into a sad state of disrepair by the end of the twentieth century. Luckily the NGO Din l-Art Helwa, the National Trust, took over its massive restoration and finally opened it to the public.

The Red Tower stands on high ground on the Marfa Ridge and probably its biggest draw is the open views from its rooftop. But once inside there is also a wealth of information on the structure itself, its history and its eventual restoration. Other information boards concentrate on the area itself, its topography, fauna and flora. The small tower shop stocks thyme honey from the area.

Picture
St. Agatha's Tower - more familiarly known as the Red Tower
Beyond the Red Tower, the narrow road continues to the edge of the Qammieh peninsula. It’s basically a dead end road but one which is a pleasure to walk and it’s not a longish one either – just over a mile in length. This short stretch of road is one of the most scenic on the island, bordered as it is by a rich garigue flora during the winter and spring months. There is an abundance of thyme and other aromatic herbs and in spring this area is one of the best for orchids, of which Malta has around a dozen species. There are understandably few trees on this windswept plateau but there are small copses of carob and pine in the more sheltered areas.

This road to nowhere opens up some spectacular views on the way. Starting from the Red Tower there are good sweeping views over Ghadira Bay and the nature reserve run by Birdlife Malta which backs the bay. Further on the views become more rugged – to the south there are wide vistas over the cliffs of the Majjistral Park while to the north the scene stretches to Comino and further beyond to Gozo and the magnificent white ‘wall’ of the Ta Cenc cliffs. The road ends somewhat ignominiously at a battered group of low buildings which once formed a radar station. Today most of the buildings are in ruin. 

Picture
The view in spring
The view over the cliffs from this spot – practically Malta’s northern land’s end – is of a massive boulder scree which tumbles to the sea and is the result of the erosion of the seemingly mighty cliffs. Though the road stops here one can make his way along the cliff top to Paradise Bay, which can easily be reached in about a half hour.  Some 400 metres to the north of the ‘road to nowhere’ there is another tiny road which runs parallel to it and can deliver you back to the Red Tower via a different, and equally scenic, route. 

Picture
Land's End

The above article was originally published in the November 2014 newsletter of Chevron UK - Malta travel specialists since 1982. You may subscribe to Chevron's newsletter here
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Addolorata
    Anthony Burgess
    Art
    Billboards
    Bio
    Bla Kondixin
    Boats
    Books
    Cartoonist Forum
    Cartoons
    Cats
    Cinque Terre
    Color
    Death
    Doodling
    Drawing
    European Union
    Exhibitions
    Failure
    Fireworks
    Flora
    Football
    Gaddafi
    Genoa
    George Fenech
    Gozo
    Hamrun
    Hiking
    Humour
    Il Bizzilla
    Illustrations
    Ink
    Interview
    Jobs
    Joy Division
    Krakow
    Ladies Of The Night
    Landscape
    Liguria
    Lija
    Majjistral
    Malta
    Marsaxlokk
    Merchandise
    Mordillo
    Motivation
    Mqabba
    Mugs
    Naples
    Nature
    Newspaper Cuttings
    Oslo
    Pens
    Photography
    Photoshop
    Pictograms
    Poland
    Promotion
    Ralph Steadman
    Riviera Del Levante
    Saint Francis
    Scrapbook
    Signs
    Skytime
    Staglieno
    Terror
    Travel
    Walks
    Wolverhampton Wanderers
    Work In Progress
    Youth

    Author

    Steve Bonello
    Malta

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2017
    October 2016
    August 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

Created by Steve Bonello