Victoria Lines staircase ‘discovered’ by Maltese climbers

Dec. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- From the substantial amount of soil, vegetation and screed dumped from the quarry above, this section of the staircase appears to have been hidden away for many decades, and its existence was only noticed accidentally by the club’s Environment and Access Officer Roland Sultana, during a recent climbing activity.

The initiative, which was undertaken in collaboration with and under the supervision of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs (MRRA), saw the participation of 15 members of the MRCC who for the best part of a day worked hard to uncover the whole length of the original staircase from the valley floor to the rim of the nearby quarry, most of which was buried under a mass of soil and vegetation. Commenting on this initiative, MRCC President Andrew Warrington remarked on the fact that an important part of Malta’s military heritage had been uncovered for the appreciation of the general public, while the staircase would also facilitate access to climbers visiting the area.

The Victoria Lines defensive wall, a major feat of engineering in its time, was built by the British colonial administration between 1870 and 1899 as a first line of defence for the island. It crosses several valleys and descends steeply down the sides of these, posing a challenge to the original builders in making it possible for soldiers defending the lines to travel back and forth rapidly along the length of the Lines. To tackle this problem, great skill and effort was dedicated to the placing of wide staircases, sometimes hewn out of the rock of the valley sides, along the defensive wall in the parts where it fell steeply into valleys.

Regrettably, the Victoria Lines are currently not very well preserved. According to Andrew Warrington however, “the voluntary efforts of just 15 people in one day made a big difference to a small section of the wall. Imagine what could be achieved through a systematic effort aimed at restoring the wall to its original state”.

The MRCC works for the benefit of the climbing community and is engaged in several environmental and infrastructural projects in close collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs. For more information about the MRCC please visit http://www.climbmalta.com.

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