It took only one word from the historic and articulate article by Giovanni Bonello, ‘The rise and fall of Britannia Circus in Floriana’ (October 1), to go down memory lane and rekindled the fine moments I spent conversing with my mother, Maria, on events and traditions that occurred decades ago.

The real reason was the mentioning of one of the brewers that were on the market at that time, namely Younger & Co., which was also available at the Elite bar, in Mosta.

My grandparents, Francesca and Angelo Agius, owned and lived at the Victoria Hotel, which they inherited from their parents and was situated in 371, Strada Reale, Mosta. This narrow road was renamed Curate Calleja Street.

Victoria Hotel had some rooms that were hired, especially to officers and pilots who were stationed at Ta’ Qali airfield. The Elite bar/restaurant, whose front door was on the square facing the church, was interconnected with the hotel at the backyard, so it was very convenient for the hotel clients.

My grandmother, better known as Ċikka ta’ Barabanja, was a great cook and she was an expert in preparing Maltese food, rabbit, fish, pasta and was famous for her daily prepared ravioli, qassatat and fresh cheeselets.

She was also very good at preparing sweets for different social occasions. My mother used to help her at a very early age, even when she got married and had children.

Well before the war, the Elite bar, as its name suggests, was only frequented by “il-puliti”. My mother also recollects that some of these puliti, accompanied by their families, would, on a nice Sunday morning, go to St Paul’s Bay, at the time a very popular fishing village, to buy fresh fish and then return to Mosta to have them cooked by Ċikka.

When I tried to get more information about the ‘Younger’ beer in Mosta no one seemed to have ever heard about it.

Probably only the puliti knew about it but it was surely available at the Gillieru restaurant in St Paul’s Bay.