While strolling through the streets of Tarxien, anonymous blocks and garage doors are disturbed by one particular façade: a beige and green mural dotted with drawings of military aircraft and ships.
The proprietor, Joseph Cachia, known as “Piti”, painted the mural himself. The military theme of the mural is only a taste of what’s inside.
The heritage motorbikes, aeroplane shells, old telephones, antique cups, military helmets and fossils seemed endless.
His late wife would insistently complain about the amount of junk in the garage but Cachia always contended that his garage was his space while his wife had the house, he joked, with a twinkle in his eye.
Cachia started his collection in 1954, when he was just a boy, following in the footsteps of his father, who also used to collect British memorabilia. Since then, he has continued to amass different collector’s items.
“When I was young, I’d see my father collecting British military items. I also scoured the streets and fields to find items and collect,” Cachia said.
“That stays with you,” he said.
Like his passion, his nickname runs in the family. His great-grandfather used to obsessively smoke a pipe (pipa). Over time, his nickname changed from “Pipa” to “Piti” and that stuck, he reminisced.
Cachia was raised in Bengħajsa, close to a British military base, leading to his special interest in military items.
“When going to school on foot, I remember seeing soldiers entering or leaving their base, I remember looking at aeroplanes and military trucks. All these items I have bring back memories of those days,” he said.
As he led Times of Malta on a tour of his two-tier garage, the 77-year-old stopped to show some of his precious items. Among them is one of several World War II era air raid sirens which still would do a fine job of warning bystanders of the oncoming enemy.
When I’m here, I feel like I’m in heaven
A foldable bicycle used by paratroopers when jumping from aircraft, and a piece of a German aeroplane are only two other examples.
Climbing up the ladder to the makeshift second floor, Cachia showed off an original helmet used in Malta during World War II that was painted to resemble rubble walls.
Although focusing on British era memorabilia and artefacts, Cachia's oldest items are fossils going back millions of years,and a cannon ball dating to the era of the Knights of St John.
Cachia owns two other garages where he stores memorabilia. One is full of antique bicycles used by military personnel, police and the postal service and the other is filled with Land Rovers and Jeeps all dating back to the bygone British era.
He spends as much time as he can surrounded by his treasures, often eating his lunch on one of his motorbikes.
“I am happy here,” he said.
“When I’m here, I feel like I’m in heaven. I don’t have children of my own, so I consider these things as my own children. There’s no better place for me than here.”
Throughout the years, many have been shown around the one-man collection. Tourists and locals alike would often be invited in to have a look, especially before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cachia said.
“Everyone comments and often people are left mesmerised,” he said, adding that he always jotted people’s comments.
NOT SELLING
Many have asked him to sell some items, but he has almost always refused.
“If I wanted to sell the items, I’d have done so a long time ago,” he said.
Cachia's mechanical skills have come in handy throughout the years.
“When I was a young teenager, I built a go-kart from scratch. The vehicle had the wheels of an aeroplane and a water-based engine... they even published a story about it back in 1964,” he said.
Many of his old motorbikes are in working order, licensed and declared as roadworthy, he said while trying to switch on an 80-year-old bike which needed a few tries on its kick-starter before rumbling again like it would have done in the 1940s.