ORGANISERS of the first firing of a cannon at Battery Point in about 30 years were delighted with the turnout at Saturday’s event.

A crowd estimated by organisers at more than 200 attended the 9am firing of the 80-pound cannon, held to belatedly celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Royal Australian Artillery (now the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery).

Portland started the South West contribution to the national event, followed by Port Fairy at noon and Warrnambool at 3pm – the celebration was due to be held on August 1 but was postponed due to the coronavirus restrictions at the time.

The firing was conducted by a group from Flagstaff Hill, who wore period costume for the occasion.

They also gave the Portland event a bit of a twist, wearing pill-box hats in an effort to replicate part of the uniform of the Portland garrison artillery.

“We were very happy with how it went off,” said the group’s Steve Ivey, a key organiser of the event.

“There was quite a good crowd, that was something we didn’t expect.

“We thought ‘no-one’s here’ and they came from everywhere just before we were about to fire.”

And if the crowd was a surprise, so was the firing itself.

“When we fired it we heard a bang then the echo from the (GrainCorp) silos, so we heard it twice,” Mr Ivey said.

Glenelg Shire Council and the Friends of Battery Point group provided support to the event.

Friends of Battery Point chairman Andrew Bryant moved the cannon so it wouldn’t fire (a blank shot) directly at the silos, in an effort to minimise rebound that could affect nearby houses.

“It turned out there wasn’t much rebound anyway,” Mr Bryant said.

“They had to use a wick which they don’t normally, they’d usually use a pin but they were worried a pin would get stuck.”

Mr Bryant said he believed about 200 people turned out to watch the firing.

“It was a fantastic turnout and it looked good too with them (Flagstaff Hill group) dressed up and being precise about doing it,” he said.

Both Mr Bryant and Mr Ivey were enthusiastic about the cannon being fired more regularly – Saturday was the first time since the early 1990s, when Battery Point was the site of the Australia Day event.

“I’d like to see it fired on Anzac Day,” Mr Bryant said.

“If they did it after the 10am service maybe we could do a midday firing, but we’d need to get (the Flagstaff Hill group) over to do it.”

Mr Ivey said he hoped Portlanders enjoyed the event.

“They showed a lot of interest and came up afterwards and talked to us,” he said.

“We got the feeling there was a real interest in it.

“We’d hope it becomes more regular too, it’s probably the best of the forts in the South West because there’s more of it, and underground.

“It’s just a pity it’s locked up, but it is flooded under there.”