Hot Stuff ! EarthCache
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Yorkshire is famous for its limestone formations which scatter the countryside of the region. This earthcache aims to draw your attention to one of the products of the rock – quicklime, which is the result of burning the limestone rocks.
Although the Yorkshire Dales may not today suggest a hive of industry, in years gone by the natural rocks of the area were frequently utilised and here you are brought to certainly the largest, and most impressive example of quicklime extraction I have ever visited.
The works were originally created where the cliff face was very close to the Settle – Carlisle railway. This allowed maximum efficiency – the stone quarried, burned and loaded straight onto the railway, and of course the coal would arrive by this method. The co-ordinates for the cache will bring you to a small car park. Here the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have provided an excellent trail around the site, which will allow you to see the remains of three different types of lime kiln, plus inclined tramways and tunnels. One kiln in particular is the best preserved of its type in the country, and in fact is quite rare so it is well worth a visit.
To walk the whole trail you will take in some slopes and steep steps and due to the nature of this industrial site you should exercise caution and common sense. You will locate some of the answers you need from the information boards around the trail; you may need to conduct further research for any questions you can’t answer on site. Please allow 30-60 minutes to look around the site properly and enjoy all the points of interest.
Lime Kilns are not an uncommon site within the country. Mankind has always had a use for lime and it has been used since ancient times in building mortars, and certainly has been used in agriculture since the 1500’s. The triple draw lime kiln you can see at this site is perhaps the most common, resembling those you will often see remaining today, dotted through the countryside. This one unusually was cut into the rock and brick lined. The limestone and coal were tipped in at the top and gravity used to bring the burnt lime eventually out of the doors at the bottom.
Another kiln that exists on the site is the remains of a Spencer Kiln. Although little remains, this once impressive kiln was steel lined and the coal and limestone were burned in separate chambers. However, the kiln you will enjoy visiting the most is the hugely impressive Hoffmann Kiln. Built in 1873, the huge kiln enjoyed 66 years of production before finally closing in 1939. A similar kiln had been constructed at Ingleton (which still remains but is in poor condition) – this was designed to be a bigger version, indeed one of the largest ever built in the world. The kiln offered 22 separate burning chambers and the workers would manually cut and place the limestone in the chambers. Coal was mixed in and the stone burnt, with more coal added from above. A complicated network of flue pipes allowed very precise temperature control. The kiln could be burned continually and it took an average of 6 weeks to complete a full circuit. Today when you visit the site, you will find although the chimney is gone, the roof is still completely intact allowing you to walk through the hugely impressive chamber. It is written that the chimney was to be demolished at a grand ceremony in 1951, but it fell the day before the planned event.
- To claim this earthcache you must send me a message containing all the answers to the first four questions below. Do not answer them in your logs. You should take the time to fully answer all the questions. Remember, you may need to research elsewhere anything you don't find on site.
- If I do not receive the message, I will contact you to double check before deleting the log if the information is still not received. I may consider deleting logs if the questions are only partially answered. Please send the answers at the same time as posting the log.
- Only question five should be answered in your log.
(1)
At what temperature does the reaction occur for the production of lime, and at what temperature was it most commonly produced and why?
(2)
Please estimate the total length of the Hoffmann Kiln.
(3)
Many lime kilns provided quicklime for building and agriculture, but the Hoffmann Kiln produced a high quality/grade of lime. Give some examples of some of the sweeter uses it had. Also find out which of the three was the most efficient, and which produced the most pure product, and why.
(4)
Water now flows out of the old horse tramway tunnel that sits behind the Hoffmann kiln and below the limestone face. The water is also bringing out other mineral deposits. What do you think they are and where have they come from? Please describe these deposits, you might even dare to touch them and describe what you feel.
(5)
Please try to think back to the industry age and create a picture in your mind of what it would have been like to work in the Hoffmann kiln, perhaps stacking limestone or shovelling coal. Please include some description in your log about what the conditions must have been like and the thing you think you would have least liked about the job.
A photo is no longer mandatory under geocaching guidelines but it provides good proof that you visited the site and I strongly request visitors provide one from somewhere while visiting if at all possible.
However, please do not include any pictures of the tunnel mentioned in question 4 or your log will be deleted, for obvious reasons!
Many thanks to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for their permission, help and assistance with the placement of this earthcache. Please note this is a scheduled monument so please treat it with every respect.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Guvf vf na rnegupnpur. Gurer vf ab culfvpny obk ng TM, lbh zhfg rznvy va gur nafjref nf bhgyvarq va gur znva yvfgvat.