The most well-known street on this island is undoubtedly Strait Street in Valletta popularly known as Strada Stretta.

This not to mention the fact that the street sticks like a fossilised icon in the collective memory of most members of the British forces and other navies that had spent time at The Gut as British servicemen. Alas the street is now deserted.

Strada Stretta: It-triq li darba xegħlet il-Belt (Strait Street: The street that once breath life into Valletta) written by George Cini has just been published. The book is the first of its kind as it provides an oral history of this infamous street through a series of interviews with some of the most colourful protagonists who worked or knew this street well. During the book launch which was held at the Castille Hotel in Valletta, Fr Peter Serracino Inglott said that the oral history contained in this book consists of a mine of information on the social fabric of this side of Valletta.

Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, who has for the past 20 years been pushing for the street to be rehabilitated through art, culture and theatre said that time is running out unless immediate action is taken to revive this part of Valletta.

“Although there are studies on rural parts of Malta, it is important that studies about the urban side of the island are taken in hand. Strait Street is one such subject,” Dr Schembri Adami said.

Strait Street is but an alley that was full to the brim with bars, music halls, restaurants and lodging houses.

Wine, women and song were the ingredients that made for such an allure. The fascination was akin to that of mythical sirens that tempted weary mariners.

Prior to the Second World War, the street was alive with the sound of swing. Smartly dressed musicians won their stripes down The Gut as they accompanied showgirls and other entertainers brought over from England, the US and Hungary among other places.

The amount of money that was made in Strait Street is beyond comprehension when one considers how poor people were at the time.

“For example, not taking tips into account, musicians earned £7 a week when the average weekly wage of a civil servant was about £1.10s. Through the use of tokens, barmaids made loads of cash for the drinks they ordered on their own behalf and on behalf of clients.

“It was the type of alley one visited to seek vices of all kinds,” Mr Cini said.

The book includes photographs printed for the first time and vivid watercolours by Paul Caruana that spice the stories by some of the key players of Strait Street of yore.

Strada Stretta: It-triq li darba xegħlet il-Belt was designed by MediaMaker Ltd and printed at Progress Press by Allied Publications. The book can be bought online by visiting and clicking on books.

For further details contact George Cini on 9943 0578, email: [email protected]