Further to the letter by John Sammut Tagliaferro (April 16) in which he describes in detail what really remains of the original Porta Reale bridge, may I further add that in the late 1980s the Valletta Rehabilitation Project removed the remains of the drawbridge from the basement of the Auberge d'Italie, which was being cleared, and took it to the stores at Fort St Elmo.

The wooden drawbridge was in a very bad state of conservation but most of the iron works were the original. It is a pity that no one has considered this drawbridge to be an important artefact.