Shipwrecked Newcastle | Singleton Cinema Club

Next date: Thursday, 23 April 2026 | 05:00 PM to 06:00 PM

Join us at Singleton Public Library for National Trust’s Heritage Festival on 23 April at 5pm for a special screening of Shipwrecked Newcastle. Discover how Newcastle — once the fifth‑busiest port in the world — earned its reputation as one of the most dangerous.

Discover how the city earned its reputation for perilous seas and dramatic maritime losses. Created by the acclaimed Stories of Our Town team, this documentary brings the region’s past into sharp, compelling focus through powerful storytelling and meticulous research.

At the turn of the 19th century, Newcastle Harbour in New South Wales had become one of the busiest ports in the world—an impressive achievement matched by the dangers faced by ships navigating its entrance. Combined with the frequent arrival of intense east‑coast lows, the harbour’s hazardous conditions contributed to the hundreds of shipwrecks that occurred in and around its mouth. Many of these wrecks carry stories of courage, ingenuity, tragedy, and occasional folly, and this documentary brings those stories to the screen in detail for the first time. 

Created by Stories of Our Town, the film features an ensemble of historians, professional divers, journalists and a maritime archaeologist, weaving together expert insight with a rich visual tapestry. The production draws on an extensive collection of library images, archival footage from NBN Television, and rare material from private collections. Viewers are also taken beneath the surface, with underwater sequences that reveal these historic wreck sites up close—made possible through the contributions of both local professional divers and dedicated amateur diving enthusiasts. 

No need to book for this program!

When

Location

Singleton Library, 8-10 Queens Street, Singleton, 2330, View Map