When it opened in 1901, Woolwich Dock was the largest in Australia.It was in deep water, and close to Cockatoo Isalnd, the major shipbuilding and repair centre in Sydney Harbour.
Labourers spent four years carving the dock into solid sandstone. Horses pulled carts loaded with earth and stone, and grazed nearby (in an area still called 'Horse Paddock' today).
The dock operated until 1958, repairing and maintaining a range of vessels from tall ships to steamships and large naval vessels.
Tomorrow: A closer look at that sandstone overhang up at the end.
Sydney's steamship Sally stood safely snapping some solid sandstone!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures Sally . Thank you sharing the history behind this Woolwich Dock . Its quite an interesting one .
ReplyDeleteInformative post with solid images. I particularly like the first and the last where we get a sense of place and size.
ReplyDeleteExcellent pictures; imagine cutting through all that rock without the technology we have today. A lot of blood, sweat and tears....
ReplyDeletecute pictures, i am also planning to visit sydney in december. i need an advice is december the right month to visit sydney because i have heard that winter and summer season are very different in australia than rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI believe this particular dock was operated by the Army 32 Small Ship Squadron as their base and also as the home port of the Army Ship AS3051 John Monash up until 1974
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