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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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: 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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HF: On 9th March 2015 the SCMP published an article, A Reservoir of Memories. This included a brief description of Plover Cove Reservoir plus a number of photographs including two of HK Governor David Tench officially opening the reservoir on 20th January 1969. This article was first published on 10th March 2015. See: Task Force on Land Supply says no to reclaiming part […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong which was compiled in early 1945 for use by the Civil Affairs Committee which was to take on the rehabilitation of HK after the planned allied invasion. HF: The report is lengthy so I am going to divide it […]
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HF: This initial article about the Shing Mun Reservoir relies heavily on information found on the Water Supplies Department website linked below. Shing Mun was known for a time as the Jubilee Reservoir to celebrate the silver jubilee of King George V in 1935. The Shing Mun valley in which the reservoir is located has an interesting history in part connected […]
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HF: Desalination (or “Desalting” as it appeared to be called at that time) was a source of water in Hong Kong between 1975 and 1981. A large desalination plant was commissioned at Lok On Pai, near Tuen Mun, in 1975, but was decommissioned in 1981 because its operation was more expensive than importing water from Dongjiang in China. A Water Supplies […]
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James Chan: I was out walking during Christmas time around the Aberdeen reservoirs on Hong Kong island. I saw an AFC Department sign which said, “Aberdeen Lower reservoir was built in 1890 by Tai Shing Paper Mill. It was taken over and reconstructed by the government because of the Aberdeen Valley Water Scheme. It was re-opened in 1932.” I had […]
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Hugh Farmer: I have been unable online to find any images of the reservoir’s dams or of any other man made structures at the location and would be grateful to be sent any a reader might find. Lau Shui Heung reservoir, built in 1968 as part of the Plover Cove Reservoir engineering programme, is a reservoir located within the boundary […]
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Stephen Davies: An interesting question to which I don’t know the answer, is what the provenance is of the gasometer that still stands (and I believe is in use for stand-by storage) back from the Tin Wan Praya waterfront just outside the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter West entrance (on the north shore). I’m fairly sure it’s been there as long as I […]
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