Friends of The Victoria Lines Trail aims at increasing awareness of the Victoria Lines and their potential to be developed into Malta's first National Trail.
The Victoria Lines Trail would offer a new and innovative tourism product whilst providing an unparalleled recreational open space for the locals. It would also act like a shield to protect both this heritage asset per se as well as the beautiful countryside it traverses from further encroachment and destruction.
The Victoria Lines is a complex network of fortifications built by the British Armed Forces during the second half of the 19th century consisting of a number of different military elements - forts, batteries, entrenchments, stop walls, searchlight emplacements and howitzer positions and a continuous infantry line that connects them together. They were strategically built on the edge of the Great Fault and span across the whole width of the island of Malta; some 12km from Fomm ir-Riħ in the west to Pembroke in the east.
A walk along the Victoria Lines is a unique experience which reveals the stunning beauty of Malta's natural landscapes, offering breathtaking views of our islands. Furthermore, the landscape traversed by the Victoria Lines is literally dotted with numerous archaeological and heritage sites spanning different historical periods.
The initial objective must be to secure unimpeded and safe access along the whole length of the Victoria Lines, with the ultimate goal of establishing a properly managed National Trail within the necessary framework to sustain it on an ongoing basis.
Friends of the Victoria Lines Trail has been conceived on the initiative of Jane Caruana and Ray Cachia Zammit. Jane Caruana has a BA(Hons) degree in Archaeology, is a certified personal trainer and has an innate passion for trekking and the outdoors. In 2017, she obtained a Masters Degree in Cultural Sustainability & Tourism from the University of Malta which included a dissertation entitled ‘The Victoria Lines National Trail: a proposal for the development and management of a new self-guided heritage trail and an innovative tourism product for Malta.’. As part of her dissertation research, Jane interviewed Ray Cachia Zammit who from 1995 to 1997 was the coordinator of an international network, led by the Mosta Local Council and funded under the EU Medurbs programme, which addressed the subject of Heritage Tourism with a special focus in Malta on the Victoria Lines. In 1996 Ray was the editor of a book about the Victoria Lines and in 1997 he was the organiser of a programme of activities to mark the centenary of the Victoria Lines. Jane and Ray decided to join forces to work towards their common goal: the Victoria Lines Trail.