In this post, a couple of other things I visited while in Lithgow sightseeing. There was a festival on in the main street the first evening we were there, so I didn’t wander around the town proper. Maybe next time. If you are looking for something to do, however, the visit to one of the lookouts was definitely worthwhile!

Lithgow Blast Furnace

One of the relics of Lithgow’s original industrial past is the remains of the blast furnace. One of (if not the) first iron blast furnaces in Australia, at this site unprocessed iron ore from a number of local mines was turned into “pig iron” – slabs of essentially pure iron suitable for forging into products or conversion to steel. I went to the Blast Furnace on my previous trip to Lithgow (about 15 years ago) and wanted to revisit it to see if I could capture a better feel for the place. Sadly, I think I failed in that respect. However, it was worth visiting again and I think some significant work has been done to make the site more accessible.

Iron from here was turned into steel locally, as well as further processed into other products. It was never hugely profitable, however, due to the costs of shipping in the high quality coal needed to fire the furnace, and in the 1930s production was relocated to Port Kembla where sea transport ensured ready access to required materials and shipping to markets.

Lookouts

Getting to the lookouts

The road up to the lookouts is signposted, and I followed it on a whim. I had no real idea what to expect or how far they were. It very quickly becomes dirt, and winds its way up the ridge on the south of Lithgow. It was not a difficult drive, however.

If you’re looking for it on eletronic maps, search for Hassans Walls Road. Don’t worry about the bit coming off Main Street, which has a strange crossing at Lithgow Street. Come up Lithgow Street and turn left at Kirkland Link (which merges into Hassans Walls Road shortly after). It’s only about 500m up Lithgow Street from Main Street.

Hassan’s Walls

This lookout appears to have been upgraded and modernised in the last decade or so. It is quite remarkable, and very accessible. The lookout itself is a raised metal walkway with good safety fencing. Definitely not difficult to traverse, although I don’t recall if there were steps that might stop it being wheelchair accessible. From here, it is possible to see over 180 degrees of view, looking south. Lithgow itself is not visible, being to the north, but the view out to the south of Lithgow is stunning. You need to click on the image above to see it in higher resolution. The full resolution image (not loaded here!) is 52k x 6k pixels and 132Mb.

Bracey Lookout

Further along Hassans Walls Road is another lookout – the Bracey Lookout. It’s quite a long way down a side road (on the left if you’re coming from Lithgow). The directional signs had gone missing when I was there, but I took a guess as to which road it had to be down, and managed to find it.

The lookout was constructed to give a view out over Lithgow itself, since Lithgow isn’t visible from the Hassans Walls Lookout. Looking between the trees, you can get a feel for what it might have once been like. It is now quite tree-d in and it wasn’t possible to get a good photograph of any parts of Lithgow through the trees. That’s a shame because I think it would be a fantastic view. Maybe the council could consider some maintenance work here to reenvigorate this lookout.

Links

• Blast Furnace Park (Lithgow Tourism website)
• Lithgow Blast Furnace (Wikipedia page)
• Hassans Walls Lookout (Visit NSW website)

Disclaimer

We attended the establishments and locations mentioned in this post as full fee-paying guests. Our hosts were not advised that we are semi-professional photographers or bloggers before or during our visit. It is our understanding that the tours and information we received were as normally provided to any member of the public. Actually the locations in this post are all free and open to the public, but the same point applies.

The views expressed in this post are mine and mine alone, and any errors in it are also all mine. Any recommendations made in this post are unpaid and are based entirely on my experiences during my visit. Your experience may differ, and I cannot be responsible for that.