Newsletter No - Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Lithgow Small Arms Factory to celebratecentenaryLITHGOW Small Arms FactoryMuseum will celebrate thecentenary of the establishment ofthe factory which went on to be thesource of much of Australia’sdefence equipment for World War 1and 2.An exhibition of pre-federationcolonial weapons will be presentedby the Lithgow Small Arms FactoryMuseum in conjunction with theAntique Arms Collectors Society ofAustralia from September 20 toOctober 27.A series of centenary workshoptalks will be conducted over theweekend October 20-21.For more information on theseactivities contact the Lithgow SmallArms Factory Museum by e-mail tolithgowsafmusesum@ozemail.com.auor by telephone to (02) 6351 4452.BRIEF HISTORY OF THESMALL ARMS FACTORYThe Federation of the Australianstates in 1901 resulted in a uniformdefence and armed services policybeing implemented.When the British Army adopted the.303 calibre short, magazine Lee-Enfield rifle for general issue to itsforces colonial governments were“asked” to standardise and submitorders to the UK for the newweapons.It was proposed in Australia that thecountry should be more selfsufficient and manufacture its owndefence needs in its own arsenaland a number of sites wereconsidered for Australia’s first riflemanufacturing facility.The government received an offer in1904 by Mr W Sandford of EskbankIronworks to lease land, supplycheap coal and prepare his plant toproduce the steel required for themanufacture of rifles if Lithgow waschosen.The Lithgow Progress Associationalso made representation to theHonorable Sir Joseph Cook MP onLithgow’s behalf.After considerable investigations bythe defence department andinspection by Lord Kitchener in1909, Lithgow was chosen as thesite to establish a small armsfactory.The ready supply of steel and coalfor power were the main factors butit was also believed that Lithgowwas beyond the range of the navalguns of the day.Engineer Commander WilliamClarkson of the Royal AustralianNavy was seconded by the defencedepartment to supervise alloperations.A suitable parcel of land waspurchased and the contract to erectthe factory buildings was let to thefirm of Jones and Allman early in1910.The contract for the power plantwas given to the State GovernmentDockyard.World wide tenders were called forthe supply of suitable plant tomanufacture 1,500 rifles perannum. Despite there being threeBritish tenders, the contract wasawarded to the Pratt & WhitneyCompany of Hartford Connecticut.,USA because of its assurance itsmachinery was designed for the“American method of repetitionmanufacture” which is now knownas “high precision massproduction”. Included in the contractwas the supply of machine tools,tooling and gauges as well as thetraining of six craftsmen in America.The factory was officially opened bythe Governor General, BaronDenman on June 8, 1912.The level of employment grewrapidly from 25 to 300 in 1913 andthe onset of war in 1914 broughtincreased production, extra shiftsand a labour force which reached1,150 by the end of hostilities in1918. The factory was the largestemployer in Lithgow and continuedpioneering the techniques of massproduction with precision tools andhighly trained personnel whichenabled it to produce all ofAustralia’s weapon needs.Rifle production declined in the1920’s with a resulting reduction inthe work-force but production of the.303" Vickers machine guncommenced in a newly erectedbuilding circa 1924 and staffnumbers began to rise.The 1930s’ depression causedmore reductions in staff with thefigure reduced to around 250employees. Despite muchopposition from the private sectorthe factory began to undertakecommercial production in anattempt to retain its workforce andkeep the factory operational.A rifle fan display at the Small Arms Factory, LithgowThis work included the manufactureof Western Electric ‘talkie’projectors, reverse engineeredsheep shearing hand-sets,Slazenger golf clubs, spanners,sewing machines, police handcuffsand many other non-military items.Continued page 18HERITAGE 14July - August 2012
Tribute to Bills horse troughsPatsy Moppett an individual member of BMACHO and a heritage consultant at Yethome whocontributed this article writes: ‘Following up on previous articles in HERITAGE about Bills horsetroughs, I would like to add a little more information. Having developed an interest in them elsewherein NSW and Victoria, I began to notice them a little closer to home’BILLS horse troughs are located inmostly in country towns throughoutNSW and Victoria, although thereare some to be found in themetropolitan area.They were a feature of theDepression years, and none weremade after 1940.Many had a small dog drinkingtrough attached to the side. Theaverage daily drinking waterrequirement for a horse is said to beabout 50 litres.Other troughs are showing signs ofwear, and with most people notbeing aware of their significancethey are sometimes inadvertentlydestroyed.Some are still in pristine condition intheir original locations, and othershave been relocated to sites nearmuseums etc.Many of the troughs have had to bemoved to make way for road works,and many were destroyed ordumped in rubbish tips.Many were saved from this fate andhave found their way into privateownership and with tender lovingcare are still preserved today.They are very much sort after itemsfor features in gardensSome have been relocated tosporting grounds and are used fortheir original purpose for wateringhorses, or for garden beds.The two at Narrandra are classicexamples, being located at the ponyclub grounds as a flower trough,and at the show ground, possiblystill being used as a drinking trough.Within the Blue Mountains there areseveral, at Medlow Bath,Glenbrook, Warrimoo andWentworth Falls.Another unrelated trough is locatedat Lawson, being donated by Mrs. RD Meagher to “The dumb friends ofman” presented to the BlueMountains Shire Council in 1921.The Glenbrook trough has beenwell documented by John Low,historian, in the March-April 2011edition of HERITAGE.The history of their troughs andtheir origins with George and AnnisBills was related admirably by JohnLeary, OAM in the January-February 2010 edition ofHERITAGE.The troughs at Medlow Bath andWentworth Falls are of standarddesign.A Bills horse trough at Wentworth FallsThey are mostly a water area, acistern with an iron lid being at oneend.There is the additional small watertrough for dogs and cats at the righthand end.The pedimented section at the rearhas the usual terrazzo panelnearing the Bills’ name.The trough at Warrimoo is the sameusual characteristic design, butlacking the small side trough forsmall animals.The trough was relocated in 1999from the highway frontage, and nowsits within a small park, where itssignificance is somewhat lost, awayfrom where horses would normallyhave passed through.Much of the wider research into Billstroughs can be attributed to thework of George Gemmill, who hastravelled all over with his dogHamish, recording andphotographing them.George is the” keeper of thememories” and has recorded over310 locations where the troughsmay be found in NSW, Victoria,Western Australia and from GreatBritain. He has yet to find any inSouth Australia or Tasmania.As a young boy and growing up inNewport, Melbourne Australia,George sold papers on theWilliamstown short road ferry. Hecan remember a Bills trough whichwas in a park over the road from theNewport Hotel near the bus stop.As lads they used to meet aroundthis spot, and the trough was usedby the few horses which were stillbeing used to deliver bread, milk,ice and wood around Newport. Thiswould have been about 1948.HERITAGE 15July - August 2012
Page 1: HERITAGENEWSLETTER OF THE BLUE MOUN
Page 4: Historians and friends congratulate
Page 7 and 8: Miles and her matesin the Mountains
Page 9 and 10: Volunteer Defence Force lostits “
Page 11 and 12: Paddy Ryan left his mark in stone,
Page 13: Magnificent old giants at Mount Tom
Page 17: Cemetery walk remembers Gallipoli h
Page 20: Timbuktu World Heritage shrine unde

Newsletter No - Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?