• Home
  • Articles
    • Front Page
    • General Interest
    • Special Interests
    • Snippets
    • Mayoral Notes
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Competitions
    • Sydney Royal Easter Show Giveaway
  • Our Community
    • Our People
    • Question of the Week
    • Jobs in the Central West
    • Be Seen
    • What’s On
  • Special Interests
    • Women In Business
    • Rural Round Up
    • My Place
    • Health & Wellbeing
    • Loving Local Living
    • Just a Short Drive
    • Real Estate
  • Sports
    • Bowls
    • Cricket
    • Equestrian
    • Footy Tips
    • Golf
    • Netball
    • Rugby League
    • Rugby Union
    • Soccer
    • Touch Football
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Page
    • Advertise with us
    • Testimonials
    • Submit an Article
    • Subscribe to the Parkes Phoenix

Parkes Phoenix

New Look For 100-Year-Old Cannon

May 9, 2019 By Maggi Barnard

The 100-year-old German Feldkanone has been restored and recently returned to Cooke Park with a brand new coat of mid grey paint and two new wheels.

A wheelwright from Bywong in NSW, Mark Burton, made the wheels to the original specification, and Councillor George Pratt undertook the rest of the restoration work with the help of Council workers at the depot.

The project took about 16 months to complete.

George explained the cannon was painted in its original mid grey colour, which matched the colour of German uniforms at the time.

The colour also helped to camouflage the cannon during winter time when it snowed.

On Tuesday Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack visited Parkes to see the end result as he was instrumental in assisting the Parkes RSL Sub-Branch to get a Commonwealth grant of $9,500. The Parkes Shire Council contributed $1,000 as did the Parkes RSL Sub-Branch.

“We need to conserve these monuments,” said Michael of the cannon that was offered to Parkes after an application to State Government was made for it.

“It is a magnificent WWI relic and is now completely restored for people to see,” said Parkes RSL Sub-Branch secretary/treasurer Paul Thomas. He thanked Michael for his timely and generous support in assisting the local Sub-Branch and making time to see the end product in Cooke Park on Tuesday.

Paul and George both thanked the Parkes Shire Council for its valuable assistance. Paul could not praise George enough for his commitment to the task. He also said the work of Mark Burton, the wheelwright, was outstanding and he was a credit to his industry.

The cannon was officially dedicated by Parkes Mayor Ken Keith OAM and the town’s Anzac Day ambassador Lt Colonel David Heatley at the recent Commemorative Service.

Filed Under: Articles, General Interest

Latest Print Editions

Click here to download the recent issue (308) of The Parkes Phoenix (2.5MB PDF) – 20th May 2021

STAY CONNECTED

The Parkes Phoenix would like to thank you, our Facebook friends, for your continued support and readership!

SEARCH THE PHOENIX

Recent Articles

  • Riverina Campaign Launch In Parkes May 20, 2022
  • Better Together May 20, 2022
  • More Funding For Parkes CBD Activation May 20, 2022
  • Our Young Gal – Emma Hando May 20, 2022
  • Giant Effort To Stage ‘Big The Musical’ May 20, 2022

CONTACT THE PHOENIX

Address
7/113-127 Rankin Street, Forbes NSW 2871

Editorial Phone –  0403 080 085
 editor@parkesphoenix.com.au

Sales Phone – 0476 110 953
sales@parkesphoenix.com.au

View our Privacy Policy.
View our Conflict Resolution Process.
View our Ethics and Complaints Policy.
Want to advertise with us?
Information on our Community Promotions.

Submit an Article

We are always looking for new articles of interest to the local community.

Please feel free to submit an article for possible inclusion in a future issue.

To submit an article, click here to use our online article submission form.

Recieve the Phoenix via email

* indicates required

Copyright © 2022 · Website setup by WebSysMan