Tymon Mellor: Galena ore, the main source of lead was first discovered at Lin Ma Hang in around 1914. As described in Part 1, a number of attempts were made to commercially exploit the lead ore, but they all failed. That was until Mr Morrison Brown Yung took an interest in the site and introduced modern mining methods to extract […]
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Tymon Mellor: When you look at aerial images of Hong Kong, there are always interesting features to note. The 1963 aerial image of Tolo Harbour reveals a number of grounded vessels – what is their story? On the 1st September, 1962 Typhoon Wanda, one of the most severe storms to hit the territory, made landfall. With maximum wind speeds of […]
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Tymon Mellor: The development of the Shing Mun Valley for its water resources was first proposed back in 1924, and this led to the development of the Shing Mun reservoir. The 1924 study identified the opportunity to build a smaller reservoir down-stream from the main reservoir, but this was not progressed. It took the post-war water crisis for the Government […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1961 the Plover Cove scheme had developed from a simple water supply reservoir into an integrated water management scheme, linking local sources with the new Mainland water supply. The scheme would also go on to provide the first road tunnel through Beacon Hill as a by-product of the new supply pipeline. This one scheme was about to […]
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Tymon Mellor: The first water supply and distribution network for Kowloon commenced operations on the 24th December 1895. The source of the water was from a series of wells, providing a daily capacity of 232,000 gallons and supporting a population of 13,200. By 1898, the demand for water was out-stripping supply; a new water source was required along with additional […]
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Tymon Mellor: We take for granted the Hong Kong rail transport system; barring the occasional but rare incident, it operates reliably and efficiently every day for 365 days a year. The system is so efficient that we forget about the enormous efforts required in the development of the lines, the complexities of the designs, the challenges of construction and […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1955 mineral prices were on the rise and there was a large influx of new population into Hong Kong, mineral extraction and mine development was a growth industry. Sensational mining stories and corruption were not uncommon. In April, 1955 an amateur geologist, Corporal William Bruce Harries, of the Royal Army Educational Corps discovered a deposit of Beryl […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the completion of Tai Tam (Upper) reservoir in 1888, the city of Victoria now had a secure water supply. The “big reservoir at Taitam” would have sufficient capacity to support the population of 146,000; but now it was time to improve the supply networks[i]. However, with a growing population, unreliable rainfall and the introduction of residential water […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the rapidly increasing population in the post war Hong Kong, the availability of fresh water once more became a major problem. The poor financial situation had limited the territory’s options to overcome this, but after much discussion work commenced on Tai Lam Chung Reservoir in 1952. Before construction was complete, it was clear additional supplies would still […]
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Before the British took over the New Territories in July, 1898 there were no roads but an extensive network of footpaths paths or Chinese Roads across the territory. These paths provided connections between the villages and to the sea shore for marine transport. The first topographical map of the New Territories, published in 1904 describes the paths as “Chinese roads about 4′-0″ […]
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