TREASURES from a time gone by have been unearthed by Tamworth's museum volunteers, as they take on the monumental task of unpacking boxes which have been in storage for decades.
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The recovery of some electrical items amid the demolition of the Paradise Pump Station has also bolstered the Powerstation Museum's bounty for when the iconic facility reopens.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the centre to shut its doors, but now some restrictions have relaxed, volunteers are making the most of the time.
Stacks and stacks of boxes, which had been in storage, are being sorted and their contents catalogued on computers.
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The group of museum volunteers is hoping some of the new finds might make up some new displays when the doors reopen to the public.
"We don't know what's in there until we open the box," volunteer Michael Page said.
Mr Page said he was surprised to unearth some lamps in the storage boxes, which he believes date back more than a century.
"We found some lamps that we didn't know existed, and we've got 12 of them," he said.
"These are hand-blown lamps, these are from around 1880 I think they were made, and those 12 we've got are most likely the only 12 left in existence.
"It's certainly a find."
Mr Page and the passionate group of Powerstation Museum volunteers have been meeting up once a week for the past month or so to go through the stockpile.
Tamworth Regional Council's park project on King George V Avenue has also unearthed a piece of old equipment destined to end up at the Peel Street museum.
The century-old Paradise Pump Station has been torn down, and the Powerstation Museum is in possession of some parts.
"We got a switchboard full of instruments and old switch gear ... it had all the circuit breakers, relays, starting gears, all that sort of stuff," Mr Page said.
Asbestos in the structure of the building meant not much more could be saved.
"When we had a look, it had been razed to ground level, there were no walls or anything, and the only thing sitting there was the switchboard and motors, and everything else like the structure of the building was gone," Mr Page said.
He's been working at the museum for years, and said it's nice to see pieces of Tamworth's older times restored and displayed.
"If things like this go to the rubbish tip, they are gone, and that's a piece of history you don't ever get back," Mr Page said.
The Powerstation Museum has been open to the public by appointment only and volunteers hold high hopes it will be back to regular opening hours in the next month.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
