Battys dawn mists. | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Battys dawn mists.

Battys dawn mists.
Submitted by Andrew Suddaby
Authors: 
Peter Keeley

Peter took this after he came off the night shift and described it as looking Eastwards towards Mt Parker, with a few peaks in the New Territories just visible above the mist.

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Thursday, October 1, 1953
Gallery: 
Keeley, Peter (1952-55)
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Comments

Submitted by gw on Mon, 2019-02-18 22:08.

Hi Andrew,

Apologies for being pedantic, but I think this photo was taken looking west as the sunset over Lantau. Two reasons. Firstly, the ridgeline of the oddly shaped hill in the middle of the photo. It rises then levels off symmetrically on both sides, then there's a bump in the middle.The same ridgeline can be seen in the photo below which was taken looking west.

The Peak
The Peak, by john.brewer

Secondly, the large white building seems to be the same as the one towards the top of your "RAF Batty's 1958" photo below, which was also taken looking west. 

R.A.F. Batty's 1958
R.A.F. Batty's 1958, by Andrew Suddaby

 

Submitted by Andrew Suddaby on Mon, 2019-02-18 22:25.

Hi Geoff,

That's a puzzle as in many ways I agree with you. However, Peter definitely timed the two misty photographs to when he came off a night watch in the early morning and wrote, 'Both pictures show Mt Parker plus one or two of the peaks in the New territories.'  That being said, he wrote the notes some years after he took the photograhphs and, as I personally know, memory can be a fickle thing.  I'll leave the comments as they stand and we'll see whether any further thoughts are expressed.  Keep up the detective work.  Being as accurate as possible is a good thing and as you probably know, I have been wrong even with several of my own photographs and long held memories!  Best wishes, Andrew

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2019-02-19 19:56.

Just to add. Looks like Lamma Island on the extreme right. 

Submitted by Andrew Suddaby on Tue, 2019-02-19 20:19.

Hi Moddsey and Geoff,

I find this all very confusing, but I'll happily go along with whatever you both think.  Should I change the title and if so to what?  One puzzle is - what is the enormous conical hill at the back of the old sepia photograph that shows the original pavilion at Batty's Belvedere and the zig zag path.  From that angle it would seem to be much higher than the actual Peak, where the old Signal station and  R.A.F. Batty's were. Best wishes, Andrew

 

Submitted by gw on Tue, 2019-02-19 21:42.

Hi Andrew,

The hilltop in the background of the sepia photo is High West.

The hills behind which the sun is setting in Peters photo are on Lantau, including one which is appropriately called Sunset Peak!

Submitted by Andrew Suddaby on Tue, 2019-02-19 23:25.

Thanks Geoff.  I'm now orientated!.  Andrew