Belmont, New South Wales

Belmont is situated on a sandy peninsula formed by the Tasman Sea on the east and Lake Macquarie, the Southern Hemisphere's largest salt water lake, to the west. The geology of Belmont is mainly quarternary sand in the southern part of the suburb and Upper Permian in the north. The Permian strata has an abundance of insect fossils which are world renowned and have been studied intensively on and off for 100 years. Over 170 new species of insect have been discovered in the tuffaceous chert bearing the fossils.

1 Aborigines
2 Modern facilities
3 Coal
4 External links

[edit] Aborigines

The area around Belmont was inhabited by the Awabakal People. Traces of middens of shellfish, axe grinding grooves and place names can still be seen here. In 1825 Reverend Lancelot Edward Threlkeld established a mission on a small parcel of land on or near the current Technical And Further Education site, formerly Belmont school. He established small scale farming of wheat and Indian Corn and employed the local aboriginal people to help him. While doing so, Threlkeld recorded the language of the Awabakal and produced the first serious works on aboriginal language, its grammar, usage, and relation to other aboriginal languages. The mission closed after a few years and Threlkeld moved to the Western side of Lake Macquarie.

[edit] Modern facilities

Belmont is home to many shops, restaurants and many other amentities. It also has a northern part called Belmont North. Belmont and the surrounding area include quite a number of primary and secondary schools.

Until May 2006, Aeropelican operated scheduled passenger services from Belmont Airport to Kingsford Smith International Airport. The discontinuation of these services has all but closed the airfield, with owners seeking to develop the land. However, Belmont Airport has now been taken over by the owners of Warnervale Airport. The tar runway will be ripped up and a concrete runway laid. They are looking to resume a commuter service to Sydney in early 2008.

[edit] Coal

Diesel railcar prepares to leave Newcastle Station for Belmont, c1972

John Darling Colliery

Many collieries, large and small, sought coal from the coal seams which were plentiful in the Belmont area, the largest of these being the BHP's John Darling Colliery at Belmont North. The New Redhead Estate & Coal Mining Company operated a railway until recent times from Belmont to Adamstown, a suburb of Newcastle, where it joined the New South Wales Government Railways Main Line. The railway carried passenger trains as well as coal trains and served several collieries. Also, situated on a spur line just south of Belmont railway station, was a large railway coal loading facility, whereby motor trucks from collieries as far afield as Swansea, New South Wales, could load their coal into railway trucks for transporting to Newcastle's port. The smaller collieries closed due to the 1960s - 1970s slump in the industry, the last being Belltop Colliery. The larger collieries closed later.

[edit] External links

Belmont, New South Wales is at coordinates 33°02′13″S 151°39′36″E / -33.037, 151.66 (Belmont, New South Wales)Coordinates: 33°02′13″S 151°39′36″E / -33.037, 151.66 (Belmont, New South Wales)

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