Tymon Mellor: In the month following the publication of the Railway Development Strategy in December 1994, the Government invited the KCRC to submit a proposal for the Western Corridor Railway with a proposed project completion in 2001. KCRC had already mobilised the specialist skills needed to undertake the task and soon commenced the preparation of a detailed feasibility study (DFS) […]
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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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For anyone over the age of 35, and if you came to Hong Kong before 1998, you are likely to remember the first time you landed at Kai Tak. It may have been the dramatic approach from the north-west, skimming over the buildings where you could see the laundry hanging on the washing lines. Or if arriving over the sea, […]
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Tymon Mellor: On the 29th August, 1945 a small armada of British naval vessels under Rear Admiral Harcourt arrived off Hong Kong, ready to re-establish British administration in the territory. The following day as HMS Swiftsure entered the harbour, three Japanese suicide boats left Lamma Island to attack. Anticipating the move, aircraft from HMS Indomitable were on hand to sink […]
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Tymon Mellor: Kenneth Albert Watson or Ken was one of the territory’s great protagonists. He was a member of the Legislative Council, a member of the Urban Council and an active letter writer to the South China Morning Post. He spent much of his life trying make the territory a better place to live and actively encouraged the use of […]
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Tymon Mellor: Construction of the Kowloon Canton Railway included the excavation of the Beacon Hill tunnel through the Kowloon hills. At the time, the tunnel at 7,212ft or 2,198m was the longest tunnel in China and the fifth longest tunnel outside Europe. The southern and northern portals were remote from existing villages and sickness among the workers was common. To […]
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Tymon Mellor: The existing public camp site at Nga Ying Kok is located next to the Tai O coastal path on a series of small platforms cut into the hillside. The site is surrounded by trees and bush with an exposed water main running across the site. This quiet little backwater of Lantau in 1959 was to be the site […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1952 an application was approved for a Temporary Mining Licence number 18 on the Island of Lamma for the exploitation of Manganese. On the hillside above the village of Mo Tat a number of adits were excavated but no commercial quantities of the mineral were discovered. This article describes the abandoned mine workings on Lamma. The current […]
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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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Tymon Mellor: In 1938, Hong Kong Mines Ltd, under the management of Mr Laurie Nielson, established Lin Ma Hang as a modern and efficient lead mine. However, the Pacific War and occupation of Hong Kong by the Japanese resulted in the mine falling into ruin. The processing equipment was removed and the tunnels stripped of all valuable apparatus and temporary […]
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