Tymon Mellor: Within the first 15 minutes of the opening of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel on the 3rd August, 1972 over 700 vehicles had driven through the tunnel, signalling the future success of the project and allowing the tunnel to become part of the Hong Kong DNA. But from the outset, construction of this new icon had many hurdles to overcome […]
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Tymon Mellor: As a key trading port for Southern China, Hong Kong harbour has always been full of boats stocking up for the next long journey. One question has always puzzled me, where did they get their fresh water? A look at the original maps of Kowloon provides an answer. The first map of Kowloon and the New Territories was […]
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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: With the end of the Second World War and the growing population of Hong Kong, it was clear that upgrading of the Kowloon – Canton Railway line would be required to accommodate the increase in passenger and freight traffic. The first priority was to provide a new terminus within Kowloon to accommodate the passenger and freight services. Following […]
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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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Introduction Tymon Mellor: Following the liberation of Hong Kong from the Japanese in 1945 the KCRC was operated by British Military Administration before its return to civilian control. Within a few months the line was operational and regular services re-commenced. As Hong Kong grew, so did the railway patronage, pushing the railway to the limits of the capacity of the […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the opening of the Hong Kong section of the railway on 1st October 1910 and the mainland section 12 months later, Hong Kong was now part of the expanding Chinese railway network. This would link Hong Kong to the new Chinese markets; bringing huge changes to the region and the world. Unfortunately, the world did not change […]
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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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Tymon Mellor: Looking at some old mapping of Tuen Mun I noted a ceramics factory in the area, see below: This looks quite a factory as the mapping indicates rails, so I suspect it is more likely to be a brick works that is mentioned in the early alignment studies (1905) for the KCRC: “There is one brick works in the […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1904, as the Hong Kong Island tram system was readying for operation, attention focused on the opposite side of the harbour on the development of a tram network for Kowloon. After many false starts, just when it seemed that work was about to start on a Kowloon tram network, the Government had a major change of approach […]
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