Tymon Mellor: If Government documents are to be believed, the inspiration for the Plover Cove Scheme came from the Director of Water Supplies, Mr T O Morgan while swimming in the sea at Plover Cove[i]. His idea was to convert the sea inlet into a fresh water reservoir by damming the inlet, pumping out the sea water and impounding fresh […]
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Tymon Mellor: Following the completion of Pok Fu Lam Reservoir in 1871, the City of Victoria (modern Central) had a secure water supply throughout the year. However, within a year it was already recognised that the supply would not meet the growing demands of the population. A number of proposals were prepared to develop the Tai Tam catchment and supply […]
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Tymon Mellor: At 11.39pm on the 3rd August, 1972 Mr M. McMillan, a construction superintendent became the first member of the public to drive from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon through the new cross-harbour tunnel. The tunnel project was a first, not only for connecting Hong Kong to Kowloon, but also for using private capital to finance the project under a […]
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Tymon Mellor: At the turn of the 19th century, railways and steam ships were changing the world and demanding new infrastructure to support them. With the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway – British Section in full swing, attention turned to the location of the terminus station in Kowloon. There were many competing requirements for the location; resulting in the site […]
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Hong Kong Water Supply – The East River Scheme Tymon Mellor: Following the failure of the 1963 summer rains, it was clear that Hong Kong needed additional sources of drinking water. With no natural major rivers, the obvious choice was to extract water from the East River, some 60km north of Hong Kong (now known as the Dongjiang River) and […]
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Tymon Mellor: The former mine at, and which was to give its name to, Mui Wo or Silvermine Bay, was arguably one of the most important mines in Southern China at the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed using private money and was a showcase of modern technology. It was hoped this would be the start of a […]
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Tymon Mellor: On the 20th October, 1905 the Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan wrote to the Colonial Office in London confirming that the route to be adopted for the Kowloon Canton Railway (British Section) would follow the eastern alignment via Shatin, rather than the western alignment via Tuen Mun, and which would have eight stations within the Territory. Now all they […]
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Tymon Mellor: The year of 1921 was a good year for the growing population of Hong Kong Island; it would be the last year[i] until 1982 when there were no more water shortages[ii]. With the completion of the Tai Tam Tuk reservoir in 1917, doubling the total water capacity, the Colonial Government was confident there would be a sufficient water […]
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Tymon Mellor: At the end of the nineteenth century, the great world powers were all trying to expand their spheres of influence within China. The approach of the British was to use Hong Kong as a marine trading hub, enhanced with the provision of a railway network thus extending the Colony’s commercial reach into the Chinese hinterland and connecting with […]
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Tymon Mellor: At the end of the Second World War, the returning British forces found a Japanese radar station on the top of Tai Mo Shan. This discovery highlighted the technical strength of the Japanese military. The theory behind radar had been established in the 1920’s with developments in Britain, US, USSR and Japan. However, whereas the British and Americans military […]
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