Tuesday 21 January 2014

Newsletter #2 - Jan 2014

The January 2014 issue of our Newsletter is now available. The newsletter contains updates to the Library, research requests, guest speaker round ups etc. It will be published as and when required.

If you would like to have an electronic copy emailed to you when it becomes available, please email me at:

The newsletter will also contain updates to the Library, research requests, guest speaker round ups etc. It will be published as and when required.

If you would like to have an electronic copy emailed to you when it becomes available, please email me at:

Thursday 16 January 2014

Video - Construction of the Stockton Bridge

This is a fascinating historical video released by the NSW Roads and Maritime Services division. It was originally made by the NSW Dept of Main Roads to document the construction and opening of the bridge in the early 1970's. It's typical of the film of this type for the period, but a very interesting watch nonetheless. It includes film of one of the last vehicular ferries, the Koondooloo.  It runs for about 17 mins.


Friday 10 January 2014

Rocket Brigade and Lifeboat Service Memorial Dedicated

The members of the Newcastle Lifeboat Service and the Rocket Brigades were about 350 over the course of their 136-year existence and are often forgotten in the Hunter’s maritime history. Many men from Stockton were members of these groups over the years, and our long time member, Eric Pitt is a descendant of James Robert who served on the crews.

On the 13th Dec 2013, a new memorial was unveiled on the Newcastle coast to remember the dangerous work done by these brave volunteers.

Eric Pitt with the new memorial to the Newcastle Lifeboat
Service and the Rocket Brigades
The Rocket Brigades formed in 1866. They were split into north and south divisions, based either side of the harbour and crews didn’t have the luxury of a boat. Instead, they trudged heavy equipment, including a rocket launcher designed to fire ropes on to stranded ships, along the 30-kilometre stretch of Stockton beach. The Rocket Brigades were last involved in a rescue in 1974 when the iconic Sygna was lost – the wreck is still visible from Stockton beach.


The articles below have some great photos of the new memorial statue and Eric features in the first one!

Friday 3 January 2014

Update on the Aurora

Following up on our recent post on the SY Aurora - recently a small group of negatives were found in the Antarctic which feature the SY Aurora. The full article can be found here - On Ice: 100-year-old negatives discovered in Antarctic .
"Conservators restoring an Antarctic exploration hut recently made a remarkable discovery: a small box of 22 exposed but unprocessed photographic negatives, frozen in a solid block of ice for nearly one hundred years."