Mount Sugarloaf, also known as ''Great Sugar Loaf'', is a mountain in the lower

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, standing at 412 meters (1,352 feet), it looks over the cities of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Cessnock and Maitland. The summit of the mountain is in the Lake Macquarie suburb of West Wallsend and access to the summit is gained via this suburb. However, the mountain itself is also part of the city of Cessnock suburbs Mulbring and Richmond Vale. It is home to television transmitters that broadcast to the lower Hunter region. On 18 and 19 July 1965, the mountain received of snow. It also snowed on the summit in the winter of 1975.

Television transmitters

The mountain has two broadcast transmission towers. Since the 1960s their main function has been to transmit analogue television on VHF. In the 1990s two UHF analogue stations began to transmit from there. Since 2003, they have also been transmitting digital television in the UHF band (all digital television in the lower Hunter is on UHF). The analogue television transmitters (VHF and UHF) were switched off in November 2012. One tower, built to transmit the original

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

analogue television services of NBN Television on VHF Channel 3, transmits NBN and two government digital TV services. It is commonly referred to as the "NBN Tower". The second tower is transmitting the other two commercial digital (UHF) TV stations. The second tower is controlled by Broadcast Australia, being formerly run by the

National Transmission Authority The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) was an Australian government agency whose main roles were to regulate broadcasting, radiocommunications and telecommunications. The Authority took over the functions of the Australian Broadcasting Trib ...

. There are many other radio antennae on these towers, including 105.3 NEWFM (Newcastle's original commercial FM broadcaster – launching in 1989) and those belonging to Amateur Radio repeater and beacon stations.

Smaller tower

There is a third smaller tower that has many directional antennae, mainly used for telecommunications, but also for two way radio for emergency services and other similar purposes. It has Telstra markings on much of the equipment and sheds.

Aboriginal History

The Awabakal people called the mountain ''Warrawelong'' and it is a significant site for the Awabakal. It provides a vantage point to view all Awabakal lands and is an important teaching place. Sacred ceremonies are known to have taken place there. The shape of the mountain is said to look like a

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

and is the setting for a cautionary tale concerning the fate of two children at the hands of a monster called ''Puttikin.'' .

Gallery

File:Mtsugarloaf.jpg, Looking toward Newcastle from the Mount Sugarloaf carpark File:Mtsugarloaftower.JPG, Transmission Tower at Mount Sugarloaf File:Mt sugarloaf plaque.jpg, Plaque commemorating the first recorded snowfall on the mountain in 1965 File:Newcastle.jpg, Mount Surgarloaf (just left of centre) as seen from inner city Newcastle File:Mt sugarloaf.jpg, View from the top

References

External links

Photo of snowfall on Mount Sugarloaf, 18–19 July 1965
{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2019 Geography of Newcastle, New South Wales City of Lake Macquarie