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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James Chan: This advert from the Hongkong Government Gazette of 9th January 1886 caught my eye. Further investigation brought up the announcement shown below the advert, published in Australia and New Zealand, warning readers that Norman Electric was an “unmitigated fraud and swindle” and exposing one Emil Bassett of New York who was operating under the alias Marsh Bassett. I […]
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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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HF: “Francis Richard Marsh was born on the 30th August, 1876, and was educated at St. George’s School, Harpenden. [He was the son of Richard Brewster Marsh and Alice Marsh] After receiving his practical training with the Coalbrookdale Co. he was employed for a short time as a draughtsman by Ferranti, Ltd. In 1899 he joined the staff of Preece […]
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Tymon Mellor: Farming in Hong Kong has always been a challenging vocation; small field sizes, labour intensive, often rugged terrain and unpredictable weather. In good times two crops of rice could be grown a year but with erratic rainfall and the expansion of the reservoir catchwaters system, the agricultural community were under pressure. They wanted infrastructure investment to support farming […]
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IDJ has kindly provided this brief history of Hong Kong Electric’s Ap Lei Chau Power Station, together with all of the images shown here which he has collected over the years. IDJ says the book A Mountain of Light, The Story of the Hongkong Electric Company by Austin Coates, says very little about the Ap Lei Chau Power Station apart […]
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“The exact year in which the flight of grantite steps at the southern end of Duddell Street in Central was constructed is not known, but a series of maps of Hong Kong from the period indicate that they came into existence between 1875 and 1889. According to the records of the Hong Kong and China Gas Co., the four gas […]
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James Chan: While walking around the Tai Tam reservoirs on 11th January 2018 I came across a sign on the Tai Tam Waterworks Heritage Trail, see below, which began: “Before the 1860s, Hong Kong relied on primitive sources such as wells and streams for its water supply. Although the Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, the first rainwater facility, was enlarged in […]
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HF: “The third reservoir in Hong Kong, the Wong Nai Chung Reservoir, was built at Tai Tam Reservoir Road in Wong Nai Chung in 1899. The reservoir dam followed the topography of the valley. It was 50 feet high, 270 feet long and was boomerang-shaped. The reservoir had a small water storage capacity of just 27 million gallons, only 38% […]
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Additional information plus several images added. Special thanks to IDJ. Contributors: Amelia Allsop, HF and IDJ. Amelia kindly personally sent the two drawn images shown here and gave permission for other images to be used in this article. Amelia was, at that time, the Manager – Research and Business Communications, at the Hong Kong Heritage Project. In 1903 China Light […]
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