Hi Craig, I was up in this area yesterday, and took a look at these.
They looked like tunnel entrances in the photo, but close up they are very shallow entrances, just a couple of feet deep. If you stoop down and look inside you can see a chimney rises up. And if you climb up on top you can look down into a large brick-lined bowl above that chimney.
Here coral is brought ashore to be fired in lime kilns which stand behind the beach; curious little lumps of stuff like green bottle-glass may be found in the rubbish heaps near the kilns; these are formed by the fusing of sand and lime.
There is a good overview of lime kilns and the making of lime in Hong Kong here.
Now that you mention it, it does remind me of the old kilns I've seen up in Hoi Ha Wan (Sai Kung park).
I only managed a quick look at the kilns as I was holding up a car load of people who wouldn't have been impressed with me disapearing into the hillside.
On the HK Mainland Defence book, I'm heading out on Monday for a long hike around Tai Mo shan and Tai Po, So I'll be keeping an eye out for anything of note worthy.
Craig, thanks again for pointing these out. I've walked along that road a few times and don't remember seeing these before - tell your fellow passengers their delay was well worthwhile!
And yes, as I searched for info on lime kilns there were a couple of mentions of them at Hoi Ha Wan, so I think they'd be similar.
I grew up near the coast in Wales, and there are still a number of old lime kilns along the shores there. Different shape but same purpose.
Comments
Kilns, not tunnels
Hi Craig, I was up in this area yesterday, and took a look at these.
They looked like tunnel entrances in the photo, but close up they are very shallow entrances, just a couple of feet deep. If you stoop down and look inside you can see a chimney rises up. And if you climb up on top you can look down into a large brick-lined bowl above that chimney.
Here's a note about the area from the Dec 1935 copy of The Hong Kong Naturalist:
There is a good overview of lime kilns and the making of lime in Hong Kong here.
Kilns/ Tunnels
Well done MrB.
Now that you mention it, it does remind me of the old kilns I've seen up in Hoi Ha Wan (Sai Kung park).
I only managed a quick look at the kilns as I was holding up a car load of people who wouldn't have been impressed with me disapearing into the hillside.
On the HK Mainland Defence book, I'm heading out on Monday for a long hike around Tai Mo shan and Tai Po, So I'll be keeping an eye out for anything of note worthy.
Kilns
Craig, thanks again for pointing these out. I've walked along that road a few times and don't remember seeing these before - tell your fellow passengers their delay was well worthwhile!
And yes, as I searched for info on lime kilns there were a couple of mentions of them at Hoi Ha Wan, so I think they'd be similar.
I grew up near the coast in Wales, and there are still a number of old lime kilns along the shores there. Different shape but same purpose.