Birtle River Walkway
Birtle is in a relatively
stoney area, and many of the buildings in the town made of stone were locally
sourced. Lime’s adhesive qualities made it a key ingredient in cementing these
stones together. Limestone, too, is prevalent in Birtle, but to get lime from
it, it had to be heated to very high temperatures. The lime produced in Birtle
was also used for whitewashing. There were two important producers of lime in
Birtle’s early years, John Haines and John Shepherd, who supplied a wide area.
Both had kilns on their homesteads, but in 1895 John Shepherd moved part of his
operation into town. The Shepherd kilns fell into disuse, but in 1993 an effort
was made to clear the area and commemorate them as a point of interest on a
riverside walkway. Other traces of Birtle’s lime producers include stone
buildings still standing in Birtle, such as the Shepherd house itself on the
southeast corner of Main and 9th Streets.
