From the Maitland Mercury report:
Underneath the thick, dead lantana and piles of dirt, 14-year-old Nattina Phelps knew a piece of Greta’s history lay waiting to be uncovered.
The year 9 student and a small team of helpers have uncovered hundreds of sandstone steps thought to be built by convicts at the Hunter River Reserve in Greta.
Nattina said she thought convicts may have built the stairs to collect goods from boats that stopped on the river.
But Convict Trail Project executive director Elizabeth Roberts, who has been compiling the history of the convict-built Great North Road from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, said this was unlikely.
Only row boats could access the river at Greta, with Morpeth the last stop for steam boats.
Ms Roberts instead suggested the stairs may have been built as a path to collect water from the river or to use the river as a swimming hole.
Full article by Courtney Garnham available at Maitland Mercury, 05 Dec, 2011.
