My wife and I have just returned home from Gozo. This was our first visit for seven years and we were interested in what we would find seven years on.

Gozo is a pretty island at this time of the year and we quickly headed for the cliff paths. Here, as ever, we found a riot of colour which, with the removal of bird trapping nets, was a vast improvement both in terms of the flowers we saw and the general accessibility of the paths and tracks. In the past, one used occasionally to see orchids but these have yet to reappear.

Much of the island remains the same: many roads are still very bumpy but the newly-constructed carriageways are excellent. Unlike many parts of Europe, driving remains a pleasure in Gozo even if one’s teeth rattle a bit from time to time!

We visited Xlendi. We were very sorry to see that many of the pavements appear to have been constructed so that restaurants could take them over, cover them in and occupy them up with tables and chairs.

When we last visited, there was great excitement when one of the beachfront establishments had been forced by the council to demolish a structure encroaching onto the footpath.

The council now seems to have lost interest and the result is that pedestrians have to risk their necks on the roads.

Xlendi has, I am sorry to say, greatly diminished charm, which is indeed a pity.