Preserving Hong Kong’s Industrial Heritage
Rediscover stories from Hong Kong’s industrial past, published on this date in previous years.
Tymon Mellor: Following the Second World War, in 1949 the Royal Air Force established a permanent airfield at Shatin,with a 350m long concrete runway, coordinates 05/23 and a small control tower, along with building and hangars made of corrugated steel. With the growing tension in China, during the 1950’s the British Army Air Corps operated Auster AOP.9 spotter planes from the […]
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HF: Our recently posted article, S. H. Dodwell, Managing Director of Dodwell and Company Ltd, linked below, includes “At the present moment he, (Dodwell), is Chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Corporation, the Union Insurance Society of Canton…” I had not come across the latter and was intrigued. The Union Insurance Society of Canton (commonly known as the Union) […]
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York Lo: Metro Cars (新英華汽車) and Austin automobiles in HK (1953-1970) Left: Metro Cars building in Tsuen Wan in the 1960s; Right: ad for Austin’s A40 model in 1959 (WKYP, 1959-4-14) Before the onslaught of Japanese automobiles in the 1970s, British cars dominated the roads of Hong Kong and Austin was a particularly popular brand in the 1950s and 1960s, represented […]
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Dan Waters: In 1957 I led a class of building students to a building site in Central District, Hong Kong, to see an exhibition of Acrow, tubular steel and tubular aluminium scaffolding. The exhibition aroused interest in the industry and elsewhere and there were those who prophesied that the use of bamboo scaffolding was drawing to a close. But while […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent the Naval section of a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) Waichow Intelligence Summary (WIS 24) dated 23rd March 1943. This covers shipping movements in and out of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two during late January to late March 1943, a longer period than is usual in this type of report. There are a […]
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Lawrence Tsui: I have extracted a little bit more from Paul Tsui’s Memoir: The light rail ran three times a day shuttling between Fanling & Shataukok. The railway was narrow gauge. It followed what is now the Shataukok Road, with a passing siding at Kwan Ti [now spelt Kwan Tei]. On race days at Kwan Ti, additional shuttles were run […]
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Stephen Davies: I have a strong feeling that Hip Tung Wo Engineering Works may have been involved in the building of German design diesel engines under Japanese supervision at Taikoo Dockyard during World War Two. Three of these were acquired after the war, I don’t know how, by Mr Fu Tak-iong who had got in on Macao gambling pre-war. To boost business […]
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Hugh Farmer: “Today, under a plan formulated in 1989, the three remaining operational quarries in Hong Kong are being rehabilitated to form green areas for future development. Shek O (completion in 2009), Anderson Road (2013) and Lam Tei (2015) quarries are being rehabilitated under contracts that involve major recontouring to soften the appearance of the angular quarry profile, tree and […]
» Read moreOur article, SS Tak Shing – reconditioned SS Sai On at Cheoy Lee Shipyard, mentions that the Tak Shing “is owned by the Tai Yip Company of Hong Kong.” My book Changing Places – The Remarkable Story of the Hong Kong Shipowners” has one mention of Tai Yip on page 93.
» Read moreKlaus Liphard has sent a link to a Powerpoint Presentation about American Marine Boatyard in Hong Kong… Source: Grand Banks History – agbm
» Read moreHF: This is one of the most early-built factory estates in Hong Kong. It was built between 1960 and 1965. From 1973 onwards it was managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority.(1) Sources: The Hong Kong Memory Project
» Read moreContact the company? Founded in Hong Kong in 1874, Leigh & Orange (L&O) has continued to thrive as a significant force in the markets it serves for nearly a century and a half by providing its clients with a consistent focus on quality. With an unsurpassed depth of experience in a wide variety of building types, the firm prides itself […]
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