Close-up of the firing pin mechanism on one of the two 'noon gun' cannons in Cape Town, South Africa.

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Close-up of the firing pin mechanism on one of the two noon guns in Cape Town. The daily noon gun is Cape Town's oldest living tradition and the two cannons used are the oldest guns in daily use in the world. They have marked the midday hour in the mother city in this distinctive albeit noisy manner since early 1806. The cannons were cast in Britain in 1794 and still bear the royal crest of King George the third. The firing of the cannon was originally to give ships in the bay a means of re-setting their clocks accurately.

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Size: 3600px × 5400px
Location: South Africa
Photo credit: © Eric Nathan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: africa, cannon, canon, cape, close-, firing, gun, hill, historic, maritime, mechanism, naval, noon, pin, signal, south, town, tradition