Pretty much everyone of a certain age has a story about Lynch's Prawns.
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"It's a part of Newcastle history," said artist Daniel Joyce, who has almost completed a mural at the site.
"I remember it when it was Lynch's Prawns. I'm starting to show my age here," Daniel said.
Daniel, who has been fishing since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, said: "I remember coming in with the old man to get some green prawns. We'd catch live bait and whatnot".
Blake Forrester, who runs Lynch's Hub on the site, commissioned Daniel to paint the mural.
Blake said Lynch's had been "a focal point for the Novocastrian community from the time they started in 1935 until the time they called it quits in the mid-80s".
"The story of Lynch's has been a big part of what we've been doing here, retaining the name and that sort of thing," he said.
The mural was "our homage to the local urban community".
It features an old photo of Pat and Aina Lynch, who ran Lynch's Prawns.
"When I was a kid, I used to ride into here from Wallsend with my fat little mate Ian and we'd go fishing behind the old co-op," Blake said.
"We'd spend any money we had on ice cream and soft drink and stuff like that.
"In the heat of the day, we wouldn't want to ride back to Wallsend so we'd be looking for the bus fare.
"We'd stand behind Lynch's and try to sell yellowtail that we'd caught to people going in to buy bait. He came out and chased us away on more than one occasion."
He said the foreshore was unrecognisable from when he was a kid.
"Scratchleys was there when I was a kid, but you wouldn't recognise it today."
Lynch's was the only structure "remotely recognisable from when I was a kid".
"I wanted to do something that retained the structure that's been a landmark of the harbour since I can remember. I wanted to do something grounded in who we are.
"Anyone that grew up in Newcastle has some sort of connection to Lynch's.
"The most important thing about Newcastle is the Novocastrians. They're the biggest asset Newcastle has ever had."
Seeing Stars
![The centre of the Milky Way. The centre of the Milky Way.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/3AijacentBN9GedHCvcASxG/c5769d4c-4330-486b-80b0-54bcfb8243a9.jpg/r0_253_3927_2461_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's a great time to see the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.
Col Maybury's Kurri Kurri property - known as Frogolla - is a great place to see it.
Col - president of the Astronomical Society of the Hunter - has invited the public to see the stars from his property at 21 Brooks Street on Sunday at 8pm.
Col will use lasers to point out the starry sights.
"High above will be the giant constellation of the scorpion [Scorpius]. Below it is the galactic centre around Sagittarius," he said.
"The bright planet Jupiter is just below and the ringed planet Saturn low to the horizon.
"The large running emu of Aboriginal fame [from the dreamtime] will be visible, pointing to the Southern Cross.
"The galaxies of the large and small Magellanic Clouds [two irregular dwarf galaxies] will be visible low to the south."
Sunday is the winter solstice - the longest night of the year.
Those who wish to attend can park in the streets outside the property and walk in to ensure light doesn't affect the view of the stars.
For more details, contact Col at colmaybury@bigpond.com.
Chopper Mystery Solved
We reported on Friday that Dudley aviation enthusiast Bill Hitchcock had noticed a helicopter hovering about in his area lately.
We asked readers to solve the mystery and they came through for us.
Mind you, some folks wondered if the police were searching for a crook on the run.
City of Newcastle chief Jeremy Bath had the answer. He told Topics that the helicopter activity was part of Ausgrid's hazard reduction work.
Ausgrid was using the choppers to pinpoint potential defects that may pose a bushfire risk.
"The helicopter crews use radar imaging equipment and high resolution photography to identify potential bushfire hazards," an Ausgrid statement said.
"The radar sends and records 300,000 pulses every second to create a three-dimensional representation of the network and is capable of identifying [tree] branch heights with an accuracy of within two centimetres."
This fits nicely with another topic from Bill Hitchcock.
He suggested Australia should be using Canadair CL-215 flying boats to fight fires.
"It's a no-brainer," he said of the water-scooping aircraft, which carry huge amounts of water.
Australia does have some water-bombing aircraft to fight fires, including air tankers and helicopters.
But in last summer's fires, ScoMo had to call in more from the US.
And former fire chief Greg Mullins told the ABC in January that more homes could have been saved if Australia had more water bombers. He, too, recommended the CL-215 aircraft. Seems like Bill is on to something.
IN OTHER NEWS:
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- Kicked, punched, head-butted and spat on: Hunter hospital staff say assaults are under-reported
- Former Knight wins negligence claim over botched knee surgery that ended his career
- Hunter job market performing better than most after May lift
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