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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Tymon Mellor: The year of 1963 was an exceptionally difficult for water supply in Hong Kong. For the fourteen months between November, 1962 and December, 1963, the total rainfall was only 901mm, as compared with an average expectation of 2,220mm. Severe restrictions were imposed on water consumption with the house supplied service being cut to four hours every fourth day. […]
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Tymon Mellor: The Lion Rock Tunnels are a key part of the Hong Kong road network, linking Kowloon to the New Territories, allowing goods and people to move across the territory. However, they were not originally conceived to serve vehicular traffic but as tunnels to carry large diameter water mains from the Shatin Treatment works to new service reservoirs in […]
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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: 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: 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: Between 1923 and 1933, four Canadian geologists mapped and documented the territory’s geology. This resulted in the first geological map being published in 1936, along with a memoir published much later in 1952. In the post war environment, the high population growth and economic development required new and extensive infrastructure, in turn requiring a better understanding of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: In the summer of 1920, the Governor of Hong Kong decided that a geological survey should be undertaken of the territory to establish the economic resources of the Colony. The exercise was planned to be completed within 12 months. However, finding suitable personnel and a series of unfortunate events delayed the survey. It was not until 1936 that […]
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Tymon Mellor: Hong Kong was built from stone and bricks, all held together with a cement mortar. All these materials were locally made using the natural resources Hong Kong could provide. The New Territories are rich in clay, which over the years has been used for pottery and brick manufacturing. The use of air dried bricks for house building was common, and fired bricks have […]
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