Japanese Tunnel Sir Cecil's Ride [????- ]
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This tunnel discovered by Craig:
I took a walk along Sir Cecil's ride at the weekend and came across a Japanese Tunnel. I found it near Breamar Hill, where there is a short cut with a ramp connecting to the Quarry Bay Jogging path. If you take the long way around, about half way I saw what appeared to be a blocked up tunnel. After some careful excavation (a few swift kicks) I managed to open up to very top to have a peek inside. I forgot to take my torch with me so I didn't get a good look. I also found what I believe was the other entrance on the other side of the hill, but it was concreted up.
Extra notes from HillWalker:
Hi Craig
I found the tunnel entrance on Sir Cecil's Ride you described. My shiny new GPS (Christmas present to self) puts it at N22.28649 E114.20519. (I'll try to mark it on a map.) I stuck my camera in and took a couple of flash photos. The reflected flash washed out the image a bit, but you can clearly make out the smooth cut stone walls and curved roof. I took another one with torch only. It appears to extend at least 10 metres. Around the hill I found the other entrance as you described, blocked with cement.Cheers
HillWalker
Craig:
I was about to go back this week armed with my torch to have a decent peek inside, however you've saved me a trip. From your photos it looks like the tunnel just goes straight across to the other side of the hill, with no side-chambers or other connecting tunnels. If you continue walking along Sir Cecil's Ride and join up with the Wilson Trail, then there is another small tunnel that is also blocked up. It is passed the second lot of Japanese Cooking stoves (between markers W017 -W018). I did take a couple of photos but there really isn't much to see and you cannot distinguish much.
Hillwalker:
Regarding your tunnel on Sir Cecil's Ride, it appears to go straight in about 5 to 10 metres, then I reckon it turns to the left. The other entrance seems a bit further on, so potentially there could be some nooks and crannies hidden in there. I guess it will remain a mystery until someone grabs a shovel to open up that entrance.
Photos that show this place
 2010 |
 2010 |
Comments
"Japanese" cooking pots?
Interesting stuff, but the cooking pots are not Japanese are they? The boards there describe them as built by the defenders of HK as a means of feeding people if an evacuation was needed from the urban areas, but they were never used.
re: "Japanese" cooking pots?
You're right, they were built by the British as part of Hong Kong's Shelter Areas. More info about them here.
Tunnel along Sir Cecil's ride
Lat week Sunday I paid a visit to this tunnel with Craig and another friend. As described above, there's a small entrance (A) with a tiny opening, then back around the bend is what looks like a larger, concreted-up opening (B). I'd missed (B) when we walked past, but luckily Craig was there to point it out:
The opening at (A) was just large enough for me to wriggle inside, and take a look inside. The tunnel does bend around as guessed above, and leads to a wider section right behind the concreted entrance (B).
But.. I took a different torch in this time, had my new camera on the wrong settings, and didn't do my usual trick of talking out loud to myself as I walked along. So... unfortunately the video I took inside is useless.
I was relying on the video to tell the story, so didn't get a firm memory of what's inside. But I think there were just the usual alcoves, not any long side tunnels leading off from the main one. We'll have to go back again sometime, preferably on a drier day!
Tunnels
So I grew up in Hong Kong in the late 70's and we lived at Summit Court. We would play constantly all day in the hills behind the Breamar Hill mansions. We would snake hunt, smoke cigars and swim in the water pools up there (below and above the bridge on that path directly behind the apartments). I remember sitting for hours and watch planes land at Kai Tak. In those days, the paths on those hills weren't named and very few people walked or hiked there. We discovered this specific cave (both entrances and used old red kerosine road construction lamps that we stole to investigate the interior of the caves. We played war games with pellet gunds and would use that cave as the "prison". I recall that they had unsual bugs and spiders on the ceilings which scared the crap out of us. I visited HK in 1992 and took my video camera with me to film them and found them boarded up (but no concrete). Playing in those hills are one of my fondest childhood memories. We lived in mid-levels off Robinson road for a while and we hike and play in the hills above Conduit road and recall a large APO but no caves over there.
Re: Tunnels
Hi there,
Back then, I believe only Sir Cecil's Ride was named in the area by the government.
Best Regards,
T
re: Tunnels
Thanks for the memories - they must have been great places to play as a kid. I grew up near the sea in Wales, and there were a bunch of old coastal forts from the 19th century that we'd go and play in. The big thrill was always going down into the 'dungeons', the old tunnels and bunkers that were cut into the hillside. Early visits were with a friend's older cousin (probably all of 12 or 13, but he seemed like a grown-up). He'd buy a household-size box of matches, and off into the tunnels we'd go, striking matches for light as we went.
Once, aged about 10 we went on a school trip to see an exhibition in the local library. One exhibit was a scale drawing of all the tunnels under the fort we visited most often. I thought at the time how amazing it would be to have a copy of that plan, and see what 'secret' tunnels we were missing. That was probably the starting point for this website!
Back to the local tunnels, and you'll be pleased to hear the tunnels still have plenty of the unusual bugs left, and they are still scaring the crap out of visitors to the tunnels - there's a good example at the 2:35 mark in this video.
Regards, David