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14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 JULY 2018 NEWS Heritage in a pool The story told by the Sliema baths THE postcard images depicting the Maltese seaside consist of breath-tak- ing natural wonders like Ghar Lapsi in Siggiewi, picturesque beaches like Ghajn Tuffieha in Mellieha and Ramla in Gozo and beach fun in overcrowded beaches like Ghadira. Overlooked or simply viewed as cu- rious coastline features of little sig- nificance are a number of man-made rock0cut pools, popularly known as "baths" along the Sliema and Qui-Si- Sana coasts, Marsamxett and Birzeb- bugia. Yet their slow erosion fails to trig- ger the same emotions which saw the Maltese mourn the dramatic collapse of the Azure Window. Although less visually spectacular, these baths too have a story to tell. It is a story which fewer and fewer people recall. And the pools have not escaped the attention of tourist-oriented web- sites or guides, which tend to further obfuscate these memories. In 2016 the Sliema pools made it to a Guardian list of the top 10 seawater pools in Europe, which claims that these were dug in the sixteenth cen- tury… even if these probably date back to the 19th or early 20th centuries. Other websites even refer to the "Roman baths" of Sliema. But as the TheCultureTrip blog points out, "the pools are commonly referred to as Ro- man Baths or Fond Ghadir… however, they probably date to the much more recent Victorian era". A Victorian legacy The story told by the baths may be related with the "invention" of the seaside as a leisure venue associated with the health benefits of bathing, by the British landed gentry of the eight- eenth and nineteenth centuries. Little has been written on the inven- tion of the Maltese seaside before the arrival of hordes of tourists, which transformed it after the 1960s, chal- lenging social mores on female bodily exposure – a fact that prompted Arch- bishop Mikiel Gonzi to call on George Borg Olivier to introduce a "morality police" to clamp down on bikinis. Taking a dip was probably a natural thing to do in a sun-drenched Medi- terranean island like Malta since time immemorial. Yet rock pools tell a story of swimming rituals akin to those of Victorian Britain where the health benefits of bathing were recognised, but bodies, especially female ones, had to be kept hidden from view. In Eng- land this led to the invention of the bathing wagon: four-wheeled carriag- es, covered with canvas, which enabled the bather to descend into the sea con- cealed from the public view. Carving a bath on the coastline Not much has been written on the history of the Maltese baths except for some sketchy recollections by folklor- ist Arthur Grima who in 1992 wrote a brief article on the journal l-Inwara. He recalls that up to the 1930s "when- ever you see a woman at the sea you would have thought that she had fallen in the sea as she would have been fully clothed." The "rich" also used to have "baths" dug in the vicinity of their summer homes to ensure maximum privacy. This suggests that from its very incep- tion sea-side culture was intertwined with the attempts of the rich to carve up private space on the public coastline. The rock pools dug by bush hammers were constructed for this purpose: having a hole in each corner where a wooden pole was in- serted serving as support for a blanket that covered the bathers. The blankets served two purposes: protection from the sun and pry- ing eyes. But although screened from view "they still used to wear oversized swimming suits." Two steps were also dug in the rocks to facilitate descent into the water while digging a narrow trench from which seawater could en- ter into the "bath" ensured water cir- culation. The baths were only three feet deep in a way that people who do not know how to swim could still en- joy the sea. In fact up to this day young children and those who have not yet learned how to swim often use baths. Although the "baths", as the rock pools were popularly known, belonged to the landed gentry, some were rent- ed out to the public. In Rajt Malta Tinbidel Herbert Ganado recalls the Marsamxett baths known as "Tas- Sur Tankred", being rented out on an hourly basis. By the 1950 and 1960s the "baths" in vicinity of the Excelsior hotel in Mar- samxett were still popular among chil- dren from Floriana and Valletta. But by that time the baths were no longer covered and were mostly fre- quented because they offered a safer and more sheltered environment. Popular memories Elderly Slimizi still recall a stretch of JAMES DEBONO