Pinewood PF Cell, Lung Fu Shan [1900- ]

Hi Rob,

The location seem right next to the Lung Fu Shan Country Park Plantation Site No. 2.  I will definitely take a look next time I'm in the area.

Best Regards,

T

Folks,

I was observing the hill from a ferry when I was on my way to Cheung Chau last Saturday.  A trigonomatrical Station could be seen from the harbour: a white column in the woods.  I checked against GeoInfo Map a moment ago and found this trigonomatrical station sits along the path between the ruin and the Pavilion.  So at least there is still a very small opening among the woods.  Don't know how bad the path would be.  This guy went to the trigonomatrical station in 2008.

Best Regards,

T

There's a white dot shown on the satellite view, between the top of the hill and the marker. I wonder if that's the trig station?

Rob notes that the marker is just an estimate of where the PF Cell is, but it shouldn't be too far away.

Regards, David

Hi David,

I think you should be able to see that somewhere near your home if you live in the upper floors and looking towards the right direction.  Or, tr to go up Mount Davis.  I think you should be able to see it from the west too.  I was able to do that while on the ferry last Saturday.   The Trigo station is VERY visible from the harbour, even with naked eyes.  If you bring a scope then it would be even easier.

Best Regards,

T

Folks,

If you use Android mobile devices and if you want to look for those Trigo Stations, you might like to take a look at this applicaiton.  Don't know if it has anything to do with the Trigo man though.  :-P

Best Regards,

T

Hi Thomas, I can't see it from where we live, but I'll watch out for it next time I'm walking up that way.

Regards, David

Here are some photos and a short video from yesterday's visit to the Pinewood Position-Finding Cell. After heading down from the trig point on the slope of Lung Fu Shan, here's the first structure we saw:

We're looking at the front corner of the first / highest building. I'll call them bunkers, as they are all dug into the hillside. Originally just the upper front section would have been visible above ground.

There are four bunkers in a line down the slope, one below the other. They all have a very similar layout, though it looks as though there may have been two different designs.

You can see the bunker's roof has collapsed:

Here's the main opening across the front of the bunker:

It has some channels cut into the base of the opening. I'm not sure if they're original or not. Here's a close-up:

Next we come to the second bunker. Its roof has also collapsed:

Here's the view looking down into the bunker. You can see the old pillars that would have supported the position-finding equipment.

Here's a close-up of the edge of the roof, showing its construction. The bottom layer is corrugated iron (much thicker than the corrugated iron we see today, but a similar shape). Originally it ran flat, acting as the bunker's ceiling. Now the section that has collapsed is bent downwards. Above the iron was poured a layer of concrete, and over that was a layer of earth.

Looking down at the front edge of the bunker, you can see it was built as a concrete shell with a brick lining.

As we'll see later, the brick-layers worked to a high standard, with very neat work. Looking at this photo, the small openings and surrounding concrete we saw in the first bunker (and we'll see in the third bunker) aren't there. I'm not sure if they were there there originally but have since collapsed / been demolished, or if this bunker was a different design with a larger opening. Something to take a closer look at on another visit.

Next is the third bunker, the only one with its roof still in place:

It has the same style of openings as the first bunker we saw. Though this one has had some concrete added more recently:

I guess squatters lived there at some point after WW2, and this extra concrete is one of their modifications.

Down the slope again, we come to the fourth bunker. There's not much left to see, as the roof has collapsed and it has been filled in with rubble:

But the edge of the front wall is still clear to see. Here it runs down the centre of the photo:

Again there's no sign of the smaller concrete openings we saw on bunkers 1 & 3. So perhaps bunkers 2 & 4 were a different style with a wider opening.

Looking in the rear corner of the bunker we see where the original entrance was:

And beyond the entrance is some very neat stonework:

curving round to this:

A long staircase linking all the bunkers together, relatively clear of plants, and easy to climb. Up the steps to the next level and we're back to bunker #3, the one that is in the best condition. Here's a video of how it looks inside:

Up the steps again and here's the entrance to the bunker #2:

The roof has collapsed, but the three columns are still standing:

Looking out of the bunker back to the staircase, it's clear the walls were just built as retaining walls, to hold back the slopes. They weren't built with any thought of defence against an attack by ground forces.

The next section of staircase is more overgrown, but still easy to walk along.

You can see a stone block in the middle of the staircase, that has fallen down from one of the walls. Despite the walls' sturdy construction, the tree roots and rain are starting to take their toll.

A short climb and we're back level with the first bunker again.

There's one last section of stairs, then the path levels out:

We headed back up hill to the trig point, but the path should lead round the hill til it meets one of the present-day concrete paths. Something to check on a future visit.

This was the first of four sites we visited yesterday. More to follow.

Regards, David

Great Photos!

I was just wondering what the purpose of a position finding cell is? Is it part of the fortress rangefinding system? And if so, is it any different than a fire observation post or AOP.

In addition, what is the difference between the FOP and AOP? (is the AOP just not part of the fortress rangefinding system).

Regards

Is there a glossary of terms/uses for these structures? I couldnt find any by Rob on his list. 

Since there are also structures like BOP and FPR that I dont understand the exact differences between and exact functions.

Any info would be great

Regards

Hi There,

You might like to take a look at this as those mentioned in the link would most likely be more or less of the same design as those found in Lung Fu Shan excapt those in Portland UK were not stacked upon each other.  The interior (or what's left of it) look very similar.

T

See http://gwulo.com/node/24630 and http://gwulo.com/node/11929

Thanks for the second link David. Very useful! And thanks T for the info.

Regards

Aidan

Made a visit here today and suprised how well preserved some of the cells are, particularly Number 3 cell which is still complete.  All still have the three legs for the plotting tables.  I have the GPS plots which I will post when I have sorted them all out,  In the meantime, a rough plan.  FInd the steps and it is easy.

Plan to Beltchers PFS.jpg, by Johnc