Immerse yourself in Newcastle\u2019s military history and check out one of the best\u00a0whale\u00a0watching vantage points\u00a0when Fort Scratchley reopens to the public\u00a0on weekends\u00a0from 4 July.
\nFollowing the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, visitors will\u00a0once again be able to explore the\u00a0grounds of the historic Fort, which has been standing sentry over Newcastle\u00a0since 1882.
\nNewcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said she looked\u00a0forward to the site reopening.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic that\u00a0both locals and\u00a0visitors\u00a0can\u00a0once again\u00a0explore one of Newcastle\u2019s most iconic landmarks and learn more about the important role Fort Scratchley played in our city\u2019s history,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cVisitors may also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the humpbacks currently migrating north along the coastline, with the Fort headland offering one of the city\u2019s most spectacular vantage points for whale watching.\u201d
\nAccess will be granted to the outdoor areas of\u00a0Fort Scratchley, allowing self-guided tours\u00a0around the barracks and above-ground defence structures, while visitors\u00a0can\u00a0witness the time-honoured tradition of\u00a0the\u00a0firing the gun at 1pm on weekends.
\nThe large grassed headland is also ideal for those wanting to enjoy a picnic or take advantage of the\u00a0panoramic views of the ocean and harbour.
\nCapacity limits will apply for those who want to visit the museum exhibition rooms, gift shop or onsite caf\u00e9, while guided tours\u00a0of the historic tunnels\u00a0and group bookings remain temporarily suspended.
\nNewcastle Councillor Peta\u00a0Winney-Baartz\u00a0said the staged reopening of the\u00a0Fort\u00a0will\u00a0allow visitors to access many of its unique experiences whilst ensuring the health\u00a0and safety of volunteers and the public.
\n\u201cWhile it will be wonderful to\u00a0visit the Fort, I remind visitors to\u00a0continue to practise physical distancing and follow the\u00a0signage,\u00a0floor markers and direction of\u00a0the\u00a0dedicated volunteers from the Fort Scratchley Historical Society, who will be monitoring capacity to ensure it remains at a safe level,\u00a0\u201d\u00a0Cr Winney-Baartz said.
\nFort Scratchley will reopen\u00a0from\u00a010am\u00a0to 4pm\u00a0on weekends only,\u00a0from Saturday, 4 July.\u00a0General admission entry is free\u00a0and no bookings are\u00a0required.
\nA\u00a0range of enhanced hygiene measures are being implemented at the site, including\u00a0touchfree\u00a0hand sanitiser stations at entry points\u00a0and\u00a0increased cleaning regimes during operational hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Immerse yourself in Newcastle\u2019s military history and check out one of the best\u00a0whale\u00a0watching vantage points\u00a0when Fort Scratchley reopens to the public\u00a0on weekends\u00a0from 4 July. Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, visitors will\u00a0once again be able to explore the\u00a0grounds of the historic Fort, which has been standing sentry over Newcastle\u00a0since 1882. Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes … Continue reading “History and humpbacks on offer as Fort Scratchley reopens to the public”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}