Saturday, 26th May 2007

Listening to Timmy
inside the chapel of San Mikiel at Bumarrad

The rambling season came to an end in a grand manner in Bumarrad on the warm afternoon of Saturday 26th May with some 90 participants eagerly following marine archaeologist Timmy Gambin and attentively listening to what he had to say.

It bemused one and all how this unassuming village en route from the populated Mosta to the popular seaside resort of St Pauls Bay, hides within its bosom so many unique features by virtue of its nature as an alluvial plain. Its importance throughout the ages is evidenced by the archaeological remains of the Tal Qadi temples from the prehistoric times to the Roman catacombs that were used over and over again, and the Roman complex of agricultural produce at San Pawl Milqghi, by the medieval chapels and the old rural buildings and salt pans dating from the Knights of St John to the flood management systems and defensive constructions engineered by the British during the last two centuries. Amazing how such a busy thoroughfare one frequently transgresses but never stops to admire. Now that it has been explored by our members, it promises to receive many more stops and reflections.

Best preserved of the Roman catacombs at Salina

It was a privilege to hear Timmy explain how the wide expanse that the ramblers crossed from the Burmarrad church to the St Michael chapel, used to be a harbour, documented in Italian shipping guides of the 15th century and empirically enforced from core samples of marine shells dug out at various points, that throw light on the original depth and nature of the basin and how this changed over time. It was explained how the inhabitants were continuously adapting themselves to the environs, getting accustomed to the whims of nature and accepting flooding disasters they know come every decade or so, truly ruining their crops and surfaces but also enriching their fields with the nutrients of the new sediments. This was the reason why the majority of farmers in the fertile plain are against the insensitive and badly planned trenching of a canal that will enable the rain waters to rush to the sea. Such a project will upset the delicate balance attained over the years by the existing ecosystem, both on land and in the bay of Salina.

Tal-Qadi megaliths

The programmed circular route had to be cut short of the detour through Wied il-Ghasel to Ghajn Rihana, as the places of interest encountered took much time in detailed description. Timmy was given a merited round of applause when he brought the cultural walk to an end at San Pawl Milqghi, well behind schedule.

Timmy winding up the walk at San Pawl Milqghi