Over the next few days we will share with you a quick history of Newcastle from Tony Robinsons Time Walks Series 1 NEWCASTLE - EPISODE 5 - Part 1 NOBBYS HEAD Nobby’s used to be an island at the mouth of the river, first noted by Captain James Cook on 10 May 1770. This was the first reference to the place that would later become Newcastle. Nobby’s Island (now called Nobby’s Head) was first used as a place of confinement for the worst convicts, then later as a women’s prison. In 1818, Governor Macquarie ordered a pier to be built to join Nobby’s to the mainland to help protect the harbour. Naturally, convict labour was chosen to do the construction. The building of the pier was a hazardous job with the convicts having to work under all weather conditions, night and day. Many lives were lost to the sea during the 38 years it took to build. A meeting was held in Newcastle in June 1854 to protest against a perceived threat to remove the island in the interests of navigation. It is claimed that this was the first community activism in Australia. Nobbys was cut down from 62 metres to 28 metres instead and the lighthouse established there in 1857. On 8 June 2007, Nobby’s Beach made it into international headlines when a coal bulk carrier, the MV Pasha Bulker, ran aground during a major storm and it was beached there for 1 month. FORT SCRATCHLEY Fort Scratchley towers over Newcastle and the fortifications were built to protect Newcastles harbour and coal wealth. In WW2, the fort came under fire from a Japanese Mini Submarine. It was repelled by return fire from the Fort – this made Fort Scratchley the only Australian fort ever to return enemy fire. Unfortunately the Japanese sub in question was missed, and went on to sink another Australian ship later on in the war. The Fort operated up until 1972 when the army unit was transferred elsewhere. fortscratchley.org.au
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 23:00:01 +0000