Valetta is a lightly populated locality in the

mid-Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions o ...

region of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It is located in an

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

area on the southern side of the

Ashburton River / Hakatere The Ashburton River / Hakatere is a river in the Canterbury region of New Zealand, flowing across Mid Canterbury from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean. The official name of the river was amended to become a dual name by the Ngāi Tahu Cl ...

. Another river, the

Hinds River The Hinds River (Māori: Hekeao) is a river in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its north and south branches drain the eastern flank of the Moorhouse Range, part of the Southern Alps, and their confluence is near Anama and Mayfield. T ...

, is to Valetta's southwest. Nearby settlements include

Mount Somers Mount Somers () is a small town in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand, nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps. The population in the 2021 census was 160. Due to its scenic location, it has seen growth in the number of holi ...

to the northwest,

Anama Anama may refer to: Places * Anama, New Zealand, a sparsely populated locality in the Canterbury region of the South Island * Anama, South Australia, a locality and historic pastoral run in the Mid North region * Anamã, a municipality in the Brazi ...

to the west, Mayfield to the southwest, and Punawai to the southeast. Its name is a misspelling of

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

, the capital of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Valetta was formerly served by the

Mount Somers Branch The Mount Somers Branch, sometimes known as the Springburn Branch, was a branch line railway in the region of Canterbury, New Zealand. The line was built in stages from 1878, reaching Mount Somers in 1885. A further section to Springburn was ...

, a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that diverged from the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

Tinwald, New Zealand Tinwald is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand, located approximately south of Ashburton, from which it is separated by the Ashburton River / Hakatere. The town was named after Tinwald Downs in Scotland, birthplace of an early European residen ...

, just south of Ashburton. On 3 October 1882, the

Westerfield Westerfield is a village in Suffolk, England. It lies about two miles north of the centre of Ipswich in the East Suffolk District, and is served by Westerfield railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Amenities Westerfiel ...

to Anama section of the line opened with a station in Valetta. Passengers ceased to be served by the railway on 9 January 1933 due to declining patronage as a result of increased private ownership of motor vehicles, but freight traffic stayed steady until after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It then declined to the point where the line was no longer profitable and it officially closed on 1 January 1968, though

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

was railed from Valetta until April 1968. Some remnants of the railway still exist in and around Valetta: the station's

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before, after, and during loading to and unloading from a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, althou ...

, minor bridge abutments, and some of the line's

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

.David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

, 75-6. Valetta has been identified as potentially at risk in the event of a major flood. Construction of flood protection stopbanks along the southern branch of the Ashburton River is proposed but currently on hold.Linda Clarke
"Many will pay less with ECan rates"
''Ashburton Guardian'' (9 March 2007), accessed 12 December 2007.

References

{{Ashburton District, New Zealand Ashburton District Populated places in the Canterbury Region