Aerials continued

I decided to test the light and conditions for a mid day aerial at this spot.  Probably a good time and better than early morning or late evening.  I lost sight of the drone again when I had it half way along Nobbys beach which seems to happen if I get distracted taking photos.  Hey ho but at least my piloting overall is improving.

This view is out from Fort Scratchley which you can see front and centre with the city and harbour behind.  Those  red roofs are the cafe and club house of Nobbys Surf Lifing Saving Club.

To the left you might recognise the Cowrie hole and if you look closely you can see the igloo that I photographed last night with Newie baths behind it.

What I was interested to see in this shot was the soldiers pool which you can see at the front formed by a  ring of rocks.    I managed to find this out about it:

Location
Shortland Esplanade, Newcastle, NSW, 2300, Australia
(Latitude South 32 degrees 55 minutes 32 seconds, Longitude East 151 degrees 47 minutes 38 seconds)
Historical notes

1850-1879
Male and female bathers had to use separate areas of Newcastle’s beaches or bathe at separate time and agitation for public sea baths grew. Railways connected Hunter Valley coal mines to the port of Newcastle and later simplified travel between Newcastle and the Hunter Valley settlements. The Great Northern Railway carried around 30,000 passengers in 1857.
1880
s
The Newcastle Borough Council permitted bathing in the ocean behind the Newcastle Hospital at any hour, provided bathers wore ‘suitable bathing dress’ , dedicated six acres of rock beneath Signal Hill for public baths and  began constructing the Soldiers Baths. In June 1882, heavy seas washed away the partly constructed baths.
Opened in 1883, the Soldiers Baths consisted of large rocks forming a seawall defining an oval pool 180 yards long with a floor of coal shale and sand.
1890s
Newcastle was ‘the great emporium of the coal trade in the southern hemisphere and the port of shipment for nearly all the wool grown in the northern and north-western districts’ of the colony of New South Wales.
To defend that trade, Newcastle was strongly fortified. The guns from Fort Scratchley on Allen’s Hill and other guns on Shepherd’s Hill defended the coast, the harbour, the city and its coal supplies.
Early twentieth century

Storms damaged the Soldiers Baths and a build-up of  sand made the baths unswimmable. By 1907, neither Newcastle’s indoor Corporation Baths nor its Soldiers Baths were considered fit for use. The Soldiers Baths were, however,  still being used in 1909,  when a cliff overhanging the baths gave way and soldiers bathing in the pool were lucky to survive.


I am out for dinner tonight so will catch you all tomorrow.  Have a great weekend.