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Newcastle Museum New South Wales

Newcastle Tram 284

Newcastle Museum

Founded in 1988 and relocated to its current building in 2011, Newcastle Museum preserves the history of Newcastle. Situated in Honeysuckle and occupying old railway workshops, the museum opens Tuesday to Sunday. Closed on Mondays, except in school holidays, the museum is a great place to visit There is no cost to visit the museum.

How To Get There

Car parks on Wright lane and Honeysuckle Drive provide a convenient place to leave the car. These are pay-for-use parks, with ticket machines to buy tickets from. IF you are using light rail, the closest station is Civic.

Newcastle Museum Displays

Outside Displays

Several of the Museum’s displays are located outside the main building. They are easy to find, one being a camel sculpture and another a huge dragline bucket. The building itself has historical importance, previously used as a railway workshop.

Camel Sculpture Outside the Museum
Camel Sculpture Outside the Museum

Link Gallery

Located between the old Boiler Shop and Erecting Shed, the Link Gallery holds some of the larger exhibits in the museum’s collection. These include “The Buck” an 1870 J&A Brown Locomotive No4 and the 1890 pipe organ formerly installed in St Augustine’s Church, Merewether.

The Buck an 0-6-0 Saddle Tank
The Buck an 0-6-0 Saddle Tank
The Buck an 0-6-0 Saddle Tank
The Buck an 0-6-0 Saddle Tank

Fire and Earth

Illustrating Newcastle’s industrial past, this gallery has exhibits from the old BHP Steel Works and coal mines. The multi-level displays allow you to view them from different angles and appreciate these industries and the people who worked them.

Coal Loader (Jeffrey 44dd)
Coal Loader (Jeffrey 44dd)

Supernova

Founded by Professor Tim Roberts in the late 1970s, Supernova is a hands-on science experience for kids and interested adults. This area explores different aspects of science, allowing you to experiment and understand them with easy activities. An excellent place to learn about science while having fun.

The Globe in Supernova
The Globe in Supernova

A Newcastle Story

This area of the museum explores how Newcastle changed over time, from the original Aboriginal inhabitants, to the World War 2 shelling by a Japanese submarine to the earthquake of 1989.

Dedicated to the George and Richard Owens Collection, one room is full of colourful boxes and containers. This beautiful collection shows how brands were sold and presented in the past.

Newcastle Tram 284
Newcastle Tram 284
George and Richard Owens Collection
George and Richard Owens Collection
World War One Uniforms Newcastle Museum
World War One Uniforms
Axe Heads and Hammer Stone
Axe Heads and Hammer Stone
Fossilized Backbone Newcastle Museum
Fossilized Backbone

Model T Ford

Illustrating a problem many museums have is a rusty Model T Ford. Should it be left as found, or restored to its original condition? Would restoring it destroy its history and possibly lose important data?

Model T Ford Newcastle Museum
Model T Ford

What Did We Think?

We were surprised by the quality of the exhibits and had a great walking through the galleries. Anyone visiting Newcastle should visit the museum to help appreciate the city’s past. Well worth the visit!

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To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

Newcastle Street Art

Skull Street Art 402 King St Newcastle

There are several places to find street art in Newcastle, although it is not as widespread as in other cities. In the city centre there is a collection in Morgan and Newcomen streets.

Civic Lane near the old Civic Railway Station also has some interesting art works on the backs of some buildings.

Further afield, you can find some great pieces at Hamilton and Wallsend.

In addition to the street art, Newcastle has some amazing sculptures scattered around the city, so keep an eye out for them.

New Street Art March 2021

City Centre Street Art

Newcastle’s Pillar People

One of Newcastle’s initiatives to brighten up the city centre, is the Pillar People. These telecommunications pillars have been cleverly painted to represent local identities, or reflect the businesses they are located near.

There are over a dozen of them, see if you can find them all.

Painted Power Boxes

In a similar initiative to the Pillar People, electrical boxes around the city have been decorated with nautical themes. They brighten up an otherwise dull box. Look for the amusing mice, painted on some.

Newcastle Sculptures

Destiny Monument

Located on Newcastle Harbour on Dyke Point, Carrington, the Destiny Monument is difficult to reach because of its location. Dyke Point is part of the Newcastle Port Authority’s operating area with no public access permitted. The closest viewpoint from land is the Honeysuckle Footpath at Honeysuckle, where you can look across the harbour to the statue.

This nine metre tall bronze statue commemorates the 200th anniversary of Newcastle Port operations and was inspired by the figureheads of early sailing ships.

Destiny Statue on Newcastle Harbour
Destiny Statue on Newcastle Harbour

Hamilton and Wallsend Street Art

Located further from the city centre, these art works a more difficult to get to, as you will need a car. If driving past them, they are worth a stop to admire, as they brighten up and add interest to otherwise dull buildings.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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Our Town Model Show Newcastle 2019

HMAS Tobruk (L 50)

Our Town Model Show

An annual event held at the Newcastle Jockey Club, Our Town Model Show  caters for a wide range of hobbies from model trains and planes to doll houses and boats. Anyone interested in models making or collecting will enjoy this event, because everyone who attends is passionate about their hobby.

Model Trains

There was a great display of trains running with amazingly well detailed dioramas. The effort that went into constructing them was outstanding, making it just as interesting as the trains were.

Model Ships

The model boat displays were truly awesome. On static display was a range of 72 scale destroyers and other ships by Task Force 72. At around 2 m long, these huge models are amazingly detailed replicas of the original ship.

There was an indoor pond displaying remote controlled boats, which we found extremely interesting, because of the variety and detail of the ships. Many of them were zooming around, especially the tugboats which were very manoeuvrable. At 1:100 scale, these models show the dedication their owners give to their hobby to produce such great replicas.

Model Aircraft

Model aircraft were present in a huge array covering all eras of flight and different scales. There was a huge display showing the skills of the model builders.

Scale Model Aircraft Display at Our Town Model Fair
Scale Model Aircraft Display

Science Fiction Models

Science fiction models from Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Gundam were on display, making an interesting alternative to the “real world” models elsewhere at the Our Town Model Show.

Die Cast Models

An extensive display of Corgi and other brands of cars, buses and machinery catered for collectors of die-cast models.

Hobby Supplies For Sale

For anyone interested in adding to their hobby Frontline Hobbies had a huge stall with models for sale, which was great if inspiration struck you to build something as you walked around the displays.

A second had stall selling deceased estates was doing a good trade in model kits for anyone looking for some older models at a cheaper price.

Tools and accessories were available from Tinkering Tools, who had a large
range of high-quality products for sale.

If you got hungry, the NJC has its cafe operating and coffee snacks and meals were available

Parking was excellent on site and free, which was great and the walking distance to the fair was very short.

The entry fee of $10 each was good value for a few hours of entertainment and profits were donated to Benwerrin Rural Fire Service, so a good cause was supported too.

To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.

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