Staff at Salamander Bay Recycling recently recovered the map of Port Stephens, dated from the 1830s, and found an excited recipient in the museum association.

Gerard McClafferty, general manager of Salamander Bay Recycling, said that the map had been uncovered by staff in among a load of items that had been dropped off at the centre by an unknown resident.

"We do receive a wide range and variety of items that are dropped off at our centre, which has become a great place for Port Stephens residents to donate their old unwanted treasures after a clean-out," he said.

"All treasures will find a great home, either recycled, broken down as scrap for resale, or passed to a worthy community recipient, as was the case with this map."

TMA's chairperson Ian Farnsworth said that the museum was open to accepting historic and cultural items from the public.

"We were over the moon to take delivery of this rare find and it is hoped that historical pieces from Port Stephens' interesting past would continue to be unearthed," Mr Farnsworth said.

"The find puts a slightly different spin on things - by promoting two community associations and encouraging treasures from people's Christmas clean-out."

The museum,meanwhile, will host a temporary display of some of its collection at d'Albora Marinas from December 21 to January 8, 2021. It will be open at Broughtons at the Bay each day except Christmas Day from 10am to 4pm.

Chris Peters from TMA said that the association had made quite a few advances with the pop-up exhibition.

"The TMA has produced 13 historical banners and three historical panels. It will also present nine large banners from the Australian National Maritime Museum on the subject of 'Submerged: shipwrecks around the Australian Coast'," he said.

"There will be a collection of historical artefacts and videos on display, talks from local historians and an introduction to the Tomaree Museum Project.

"We are expecting over 70 people at the launch, including representatives of local government, tourism, National Parks, environment and history groups."

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