Tal-Ħandaq

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Tal-Ħandaq is an area in Qormi, Malta. It is a low hill. Situated on the left side of Mdina Road in Qormi, in the old days it was a rural area, with a few farms. In the 1800s the British established a barracks up the hill. Eventually this was changed to host the Liceo Vassalli Junior Lyceum.

In the 1980s, the MEPA started to issue permissions for houses to be built. However after some residents settled there, plans were changed and the Tal-Ħandaq area was changed to an Industrial Zone and was renamed to Tal-Ħandaq Industrial Estate'. Nowadays, although there remain some residents and a few farms, the area has flourished with an extensive number of small businesses, the most common being Panel Beating and Spray Painting, Stoneworks, Steelworks and Woodworks. There is also a film studio.

[edit] Etymology

Tal Handak is the British phonetic spelling of the Maltese town Tal Handaq located in the district of Qormi. In Maltese the letter Q is silent however British people often pronounced Maltese words containing the silent Q as if it were an English word. For example Qormi (correctly pronounced Ormi) is pronounce "Kwormi" by some British people. Similarly Tal Handaq (pronounced Tal Handa') was often pronounced Tal HandaK by British Forces personnel.

Between the years 1947 to 1978 the Royal Naval Secondary School for British Forces children was located at Tal Handaq and a number of printed documents relating to the school employed the more comfortable (to the British) spelling of Tal Handak.