Brisbane, QLD


Monday, January 9, 2017

FORT LYTTON

On a grassy outpost near the mouth of the Brisbane River lies Fort Lytton, the heritage listed remains of Australia's only surviving moated, 19th century fortress.
From 1881 until the 1938, Fort Lytton was Brisbane's front line of defence. In a time of uncertainty and world unrest, the fort was built to protect residents from naval attacks from the Russians and the French, located on Noumea only three days sail away.
Fort Lytton became a major training base. Thousands of soldiers trained there for the Boer War, WW1 and WW2. In WW2 the fort became part of a much larger defence system to prevent enemy ships entering the Brisbane River. The fort is a typical 19th century garrison, a pentagonal fortress concealed behind grassy embankments and surrounded by water filled moat.





 Bill operating the famous six inch Armstrong disappearing gun. The gun had hydraulics to lift it up and then lower to be reloaded.

We had a tour guide, who was an actor, He was taking the part of a past Captain Harris. He related many stories about WW1. He also explained how this disappearing gun was operated.

I loved his boots and gaiters. He strutted around like a typical captain in those days. 


17 comments:

  1. Hello Diane, really interesting to see. The fort has a long history in defence and training then - so many lives passed through those buildings. It looks to be kept in a good state. I like the stone and brickwork too :D)

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  2. How interesting to see a building with so much history attached.

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  3. My geographical knowledge of Brisbane and the nearest coast line is poor, so off to the electric map now to see where this fort is.

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  4. The guide seems to enjoy his job very much. I like those "socks" :)

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  5. Hello, what a neat tour of the fort. The guide is great! Wonderful photos. Enjoy your day and the week ahead!

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  6. I love old forts like this, there are 3 in Savannah GA where I am from. and it is really fun when they play act like this guy did. interesting shoes and gaiters.

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  7. That's strange, it looks like a fort I have seen on Eastbourne beach, (also built against the French)

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  8. The Captain was really getting into character, not a bad way to earn some money between the bigger roles ☺ Another fascinating trip Diane.

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  9. Sound like an interesting day out. Love the photos. Have a good week t'other Diane

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  10. History reveals how basic the ideas of protection were still in use barely 160 years ago. Look at where we are now in ideas of defence. Thanks for this interesting peak into a past timr far away.

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  11. I love these kind of old places. It is sad but fun to imagine how active they used to be.

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  12. who knew?! I had no idea that such a place existed there?! Very interesting Mum!

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  13. interesting post Diane. i too didn't know about a fort in that area.

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  14. Since George and I love history (especially military history), we have visited many similar forts in our country... VERY interesting.... Thanks for sharing.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  15. I remember going there on a school excursion.

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  16. Tours like this are such a great painless way to learn history. Fun.

    I love those yellow flowers in your header shot.

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  17. This is an awesome piece of history! How cool that it is preserved so well.

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