Alvis Centenary Tour Down Under, 20/3-7/4/2019: Day 11 30/3/2019 Leura to Cowra

Day 11

We woke this morning to our first gloomy cold morning and it had been raining quite heavily through the night. Over breakfast the cloud started to lift and the rain eased into more of an annoying drizzle. We had to pack up and "some how" our luggage appears to be getting heavier?? Dale set off to "retrieve" the car from the distant carpark.

I, on the other hand, decided to splurge a little and purchase a really lovely "rabbit" from the resort store. Finally, packed up we headed off on the scenic drive out of the Blue Mountains which took us via Lithgow heading for Cowra.

Heading out of the Blue Mountains - rain had now eased.

Our morning tea stop was the Lithgow Small Arms Museum and finding it was not difficult as all the surrounding streets were name after firearms....Rifle Street, Enfield Street etc so we knew we were in the right area.

With the drizzling rain we were permitted to park under the large archway between the two factories. Mike and Jan in the MGB, Bob and Lesley in the 12/50 and Trevor and Judy in the Speed 25.

More arrive (Kay and David in the Speed 20, David and Bev in the Speed 25) and it is now getting quite cold.

The last of our group arrive (Pat and Michael in the 12/50).

The Museum is on the site of the original Government Arms Factory built in 1912. Small arms are still produced on the site by a French company but the majority of the factory complex is empty and used only for storage. The museum currently occupies just three of the original buildings and they are continuously improving their display.

Over morning tea, Mike and Richard decide to "tread the boards". The old canteen is quite massive in size.

The old machine shop still stands and is part of the museums collection of period buildings. It houses a collection of old machinery.

The museum itself houses an enormous collection of not only small arms but also the machine tools used to make them and a variety of other items which the factory produced over the years. This included the block for the P76 Leyland, Pinnock sewing machines and various other items. The second building is the original cafeteria and then a third building has a large collection of machinery used in the manufacturing process. They very proactive group are hoping to eventually have a number of pieces of machinery operating but at the moment they are static displays only. The visit gave a fascinating insight into manufacturing in Australia in the early to mid 20^th century

A Model of the Facility in its final configuration

Our group gathers for morning tea in the old cafeteria

Slide rule - B.C. computers for those that remember that far back.

Rifle display.

Selection of handcuffs made and improved by the Small Arms Factory

Margaret ponders ...now which one should I choose?

Smith and Wesson 44 Magnum

Grabner 2.7mm The smallest gun in the collection.

Rifling machine

Colchester lathe brings back memories

It is hoped to have some of the machinery is made operational in the near future

Leaving Lithgow we continued to Bathurst, where some of us drove around the historic Mount Panorama Racing circuit. A public road when not closed for racing.

Mount Panorama

Bend as you approach the top of the mountain

It gets pretty scary down the other side even at 60 Kph

The "S"es approach!

Then a visit to Abercrombie House, a stately home on the outskirts of Bathurst. Originally built for an early Governor of NSW, the home had been empty for a number of years and almost derelict when purchased by the current family in the 1950’s. The Morgan family has done a magnificent job in bringing the property back to life.

Garden statue

Alvis line-up

We partook of a lovely lunch before taking a tour of the house. Before we set off we were given an excellent history lesson from the current owner Christopher (son of the original purchaser who also still lives on the property). He was accompanied by David on the fiddle and between them set up a lovely walk through the history of the property.