The Albany Gun Collection Crew
The Organisation
The Albany Gun Collection/Preservation Crew is a loose organisation of people who want to see our old guns restored and maintained. It includes anyone who shows an interest in what we are trying to achieve:- City Council Workers, Work for the Dole Participants, members of the Community, Fort Volunteer, Antique Dealers, Farmers and Scrap Dealers.
The Raw Material
In the early 1980's there were about a dozen guns lying about Albany, in Parks, Farms, Council grounds, all here over 100 years old and had strong Albany connections. Some were Large coastal Artillery pieces, some were Ship mounted cannons, some Field cannons were found also and the more commonly found signalling cannons. By 1984, inquiries had started to come from the Eastern States - "If you don't want these guns, we will have them" This got the Albany Town Council going, and the council's first project, the 32 Pound cannon, now at the "Amity" replica, was completely restored. This got the ball rolling, but not very fast. A 9 Pound Rifled Muzzle loading Field gun was partially restored, but the project was ceased due to the fact that the carriage wheels couldn't be made.
Then in 1986, the town council decided to restore the Whole Princess Royal Fortress, including gun restoration. Much funding went into this and the results were excellent. A volunteer group was formed to look after various other guns and prepare them for display. However, this group did not last long. They rebuilt one 18 Pound Carronade, but all the members were busy in their own lives to continue the project. Weekly working nights dropped off, and the project folded.
The Re-Formed Strategy
In 2002, Co-operation between Peter Madigan (Albany City Council), Malcolm Trail (Local Studies), Trevor Mulvey (Job Futures Senior Co-Ordinator) and Paul Beattie (Green Corps Senior Co-Ordinator) organised to re-form the project, and finally resulted into a Work for the Dole project being initiated. With the Restoration having being dormant for over 15 years, it was time to pick up the pace, the Senior Co-Ordinators appointed a Supervisor to get the Restoration projects completed, Thus Mr John Drummond was appointed to complete the projects.
Results at Last!
Since the Administration and allocation of appropriate staff, Funding and Resources, over 3 Projects within the last 8 months have been completed, Three small Cannons have been rebuilt, a 9 Pound Rifled Field gun has just been completed, Maintenance had also been completed on the Coastal and Naval guns at Princess Royal Fortress during the latter months of 2002.