Returning to Malta

Tomorrow, I shall be returning to Malta after an absence of 56 years.

At the age of eight, my widowed mother married Douglas Rogers and we moved to Birżebbuġa where he was in charge of the Shell Oil Installation. We moved into the Shell Company House next door, which I remember so clearly.

Blissful days of childhood followed - I had my own little boat moored off the rocks opposite the house, I fished and played on the rocks with the local children.

School days were spent initially at the convent of the Sacred Heart where I remember Mother Gafney and Mother Christiana. Several school friends' names come to mind - Louise Cachia, Natalie Spiteri, Esterina Archidiacono, Cecilia Caruana to name a few.

Later on, I went to the tiny Chiswick House school where the headmistress, Mrs Galea, ran an international school.

At one stage there were only three children in my class but it was all very enjoyable. Weekends were always spent at the Marsa Club where, with my parents, we ate curry lunches on the verandah and watched polo during the afternoons. Three wonderful years were spent on the island, years I shall cherish forever.

Those were the days before the demand for package holidays and hotels had evolved. I think the only hotel on Malta at that time was the Phoenicia and I know I am going to find it very hard to recognise most places with the huge development which I understand has taken place.

This short visit will be special in three ways. Not only will I be able to search for the old haunts of my childhood and visit the memorial of my father, an RAF pilot, John Rushbrook de la Coze, killed during the war in 1943, but we shall be visiting my husband's old university friend, David Smith, who has now retired to the island.

It is a visit we have wanted to make for many years and at last it is really happening.