Before GPS technology trig stations, which are more commonly called trig points, were used to determine the exact shape of the country for mapping purposes and are generally located on the highest piece of ground in an area so they are clearly visible.

Mr Scott said unfortunately these days most have fallen into disuse as the land department no longer maintains them.

“There is one on the top of Mt Royal that you can’t even see anymore because it is covered by foliage,” Mr Scott said.

He said the particular trig station he repaired was originally marked out by the Royal Australian Survey Corp in 1938 for the purposes of creating an accurate topographical map of the Hunter Valley.

 Mr Scott, who has been a surveyor in the area since 1975, knew  it needed repairing but it wasn’t until it came to the attention of his bushwalking group, who regularly walk in the area, that he got around to getting the job done.

“The lady who owns the land, Rosaleen James, was keen to have it repaired and kept reminding one of the members of my bushwalking group, Teresa Price, that it needed to be done.

“So I contacted the lands department who supplied me with a new vein and we replaced it,” he explained.

The vein is the stainless steel pillar plate (see photo) that sits on top a triangular concrete pillar that marks the trig station, he said.

Mrs James said it was great the group finally got around to repairing the trig point that had been damaged in a storm in the 1980s.

“It took quite a few years to co-ordinate the repair but now it is done it looks so much better,” she said.