Peter Ogden, BARRENJOEY BATTERY (SEASCAPE 2026)

Found between the mouth of the Hawkesbury River and Pittwater, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park’s West Head was a key strategic location during WWII – it could protect the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge and Woy Woy railway tunnel, as well as the approaches to Sydney. Home to two 4.7-inch ex-naval guns, an observation post, ammunition storage and searchlights, it was also the only defence system in Australia that had an inclined railway to service it…and at an angle of 50°, inclined it was! Descending the Army Track, you can only see a faint remainder of the concrete sleepers, but the concrete gun positions are still there…and at sunrise they look incredible. More so because of that view…straight across to Barrenjoey Headland. I guess if you’re going to be stationed in a concrete gun emplacement, this is the place to do it.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.