A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Regular readers will recognise Stephen Davies, as he has helped answer many nautical-themed questions here on Gwulo. His new book was published earlier this month: Transport to Another World: HMS Tamar and the Sinews of Empire
   
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • Charles WILKINSON [1906-????], Principal or Head Master of St. Patrick's School in Quarry Bay
     
  • The location of this 1949-50 photo, and any information about the 40th Infantry Signals Regiment in Hong Kong:
    

    ken_field_kitchen_hong_kong2b.png, by JiffT
  
   
• Upgrade update:
   
  • I've re-run the whole upgrade from scratch, fixing the last few bugs that appeared along the way. The real upgrade is ready to begin!
    
    Tomorrow, Tuesday 31 May, I'll set the gwulo.com website to be read-only. You'll still be able to view all its pages, but won't be able to add or edit anything.
    
    After the old server is set to read-only, I'll make a copy of it, run the upgrade again, and then upload the upgraded site to the new server at the hosting company. Once the new server is ready (hopefully before the end of this week), I'll post a message here on Gwulo.com to give you details of how to access it.
    
    I plan to run this old server and the new upgraded server in parallel for several months. The old server will continue to be a read-only snapshot of the site from 31 May, and the new server is where we'll add new content. Once the new server is running smoothly and all major bugs have been fixed, the old server can be retired.
  
   

Places
 

• Hong Kong
   
  • Broadwood Terrace [????- ]
     
  • Line-of-Gaps / Kennedy Town PB 4 / LPB 19, Kennedy Town [c.1941-????], another pillbox has been discovered!
     
  • Rope Works, Kennedy Town [1884-????]
     
  • Shelter at Peel Rise Rest Garden [c.1919- ]
    

    north_side_of_shelter., by gw
    
     
• Kowloon
   
  • Chater Bungalow [????-????]
     
  • Hung Hom Ferry Pier for Hung Hom / North Point service (2nd generation) [1963-c.1979]
     
  • Lei Cheng Uk Swimming Pool [1971- ]
     
  • Steam Laundry, Yau Ma Tei [c.1905-????]
     
  • Wuhu Street children's playground [????- ]
     
  • "Yau Ma Tei Wells" Road [1899-????]
     
• New Territories & Islands
   
  • Chung Shan Terrace [????- ]
     
  • Coast Watching Station "Yellow", Cheung Chau [????-????]
     
  • Nan Fung Cotton Mill, Tsuen Wan [c.1954- ]
     
  • Tsuen Wan police station (previous version) [1959-c.1991]
     

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Graham Heywood's diary of his experiences as a POW in Hong Kong has valuable lessons for us today.
   
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • Tanka People of Hong Kong
     
  • The story behind this photo. Wayne writes: I'm standing front row - left, but have no idea what I'm doing there. Guessing this is 1954. No idea as to the event, but hoping someone might recognize themselves (or someone they know).
    

    party.jpg, by Wayne Carew
  
   
• Upgrade update:
   
  • Forums, Jurors Lists, Organisations, and Streets, are all working on the new site. That's a major milestone, as now all the main functionality of the current site is available on the upgraded site. The first and longest phase of the upgrade is now finished.
    
    The second phase is to repeat the upgrade on the live site, and make it publicly available. First I'll re-run all of last year's work again from the start, and check we end up with a working site. (There's always a risk that some of my more recent changes have broken some of the earlier work.) 
    
    Once I can reliably upgrade the test server I'll run the upgrade on the real server, to see if there are any hiccups there. Then the last step will be to put the current site into read-only mode, and run the upgrade again to make sure the new site is right up to date with all the latest information from the current site.
    
    That will end the second phase and mark the start of the third phase, when I'll ask for your help to start using the new site and let me know what bugs you find. (The current site will continue to be online and available for reference, but we'll only be able to add new content and comments to the new site.)
    
    Looking back through my notes, I started the upgrade at the beginning of March 2021, so this first phase has taken many months of work. I'm crossing my fingers that phase two will be much shorter and take just weeks.
  
   

Places

• Hong Kong
   
  • 1 Broadwood Road [????-????]
     
  • Rope Works, Kennedy Town [????-????]. Has anyone seen a photograph of its tramway?
     
  • Windsor Hotel / Connaught House / Astor House / St. Francis Hotel [????-????]. 13, Queen's Road Central was was a home to succession of hotels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
     
• Kowloon
   
  • Market Street Public Toilet and Bathhouse [c.1960- ]
     
  • Yau Ma Tei Market (1st generation) [c.1880-c.1957] and Yau Ma Tei Market (2nd & current generation) [1957- ]
     
• New Territories & Islands
   
  • Abandoned Mine near Lead Mine Pass [????- ]
     
  • Tin Sum Tsuen, Yuen Long [????-????]
     

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Follow several of Gwulo's photo-detectives as they pin down the location of the village in this old slide:
  
  
   
• Ship-breaking at Gin Drinkers Bay
   
• Memories of:
   
  • Living at Mount Nicholson Government Quarters
     
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • Any houses in or near Chung Shan Terrace that had swimming pools in the mid-1950s
     
  • The Portland Street Public Toilet and recycling point seems to be an old, brick-built building. Does anyone know how old?
     
  • If you were in Hong Kong in 1952, do you recognise any of the people at this birthday party?
    

    1952: My 4th birthday party in Jubilee Buildings, on the Veranda,
    ​​​​​​​by Ernest Robinson
    
     
• Upgrade update:
  • Timelines and Events are now working on the new server. I've simplified the display of a timeline so instead of the horizontally scrolling timeline with zooming in and out, I display a list of the timeline's events, ordered by date.
  • I've still got to upgrade the Forums, Jurors Lists, Organisations, and Streets, but the end is in sight!
     

Places

• Hong Kong
   
  • Cable hut, Deep Water Bay [????- ]
     
  • Chung Hom Kok Battery - No. 2 Gun Emplacement [????- ]
     
  • HMS Tamar Wreck site [1941-????]
     
  • Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Factory, Wanchai Road [1918-????]
     
  • Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Kellett Island [1940- ]
     
  • Wong Nai Chung Reservoir [1899- ]
     
• Kowloon
   
  • Coal yard, Lai Chi Kok [c.1926-c.1968]
     
  • Disinfecting station, Yau Ma Tei [c.1905- ]
     
  • Ginger factories on K.I.L. 629 and K.I.L. 631, Yau Ma Tei [????-????]
     
  • Oriental Brewery / Hongkong Ice Company, Lai Chi Kok [1908-????]
     
  • Reservoir, Yau Ma Tei [????- ]
     
  • Sanitary Department stables, Yau Ma Tei / Fo Pang [c.1912-????]
     
  • Soy factory, Yau Ma Tei / Fo Pang [????-c.1949]
     
  • 63 Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei [1950- ], home to the Mido Cafe
     
  • Yau Ma Tei Market (Market Street) [c.1880-????]
    ​​​​​​​
• New Territories & Islands
   
  • Haven of Hope Sanatorium and Hospital [1955- ]
     
  • Our Lady of Joy Abbey / Trappist Haven Monastery [1951- ]
     
  • Rock Carvings, Po Toi Island [????- ]
     

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Memories of:
   
  • Colonial rugby. Hong Kong in the Early Sixties. John D'Eathe shares his memories of rugby in Hong Kong during the years 1958-66. It was an exciting time, with rugby changing from a game played between the various teams in Hong Kong, to a one with a much more international flavour.
     
  • Shatin Heights Hotel
     
  • Recollections of C. Douglas Johnston, Lieutenant, Royal Rifles of Canada 1941-1945
     
  • 1951 Christmas party at Jubilee Buildings
     
• Missing copies of the Wartime Diary emails.
  The Wartime Diary emails weren't sent out on four days last week, while the Gwulo website was being moved to a new server. If you'd like to fill in the gaps, here are the missing pages. (The 1945 dates cover the news of Germany's surrender reaching the Stanley Camp internees.)
  • 77 years ago (1945): 5 May, 6 May, 7 May, 8 May
  • 78 years ago (1944): 5 May, 6 May, 7 May, 8 May
  • 79 years ago (1943): 5 May, 6 May, 7 May, 8 May
  • 80 years ago (1942): 5 May, 6 May, 7 May, 8 May
     
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • The 1st generation City Hall's floor plan
     
  • Wong Oi-chau 黃靄洲, and his ginger candy
     
• Upgrade update:
  • The move to the new server is all finished - apologies that it took several days rather than the several hours I'd originally expected. As far as I can tell everything is working properly, but please let me know if you find anything is broken.
  • The new server gives us additional RAM and disk storage, so we'll be able to run the old and new versions of the website at the same time during the upgrade.
  • I've spent the last week getting the Diaries working on the new site, and also made some improvements that make it easier to navigate a diary's pages. Next on the to-do list are Timelines and Events.
     

Places

Kowloon

More of Kowloon's industrial sites:
 

• Cattle depot and slaughterhouse, Hung Hom [c.1892-c.1908]
   
• Ginger factories on K.I.L. 629 and K.I.L. 631, Yau Ma Tei [????-????]
   
• Ginger factory, Kowloon [c.1894- ]
   
• Glass works, Hung Hom Bay [????-????]
   
• Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Factory, To Kwa Wan/Ma Tau Kok [c.1914-c.1999]
   
• Tannery, Ma Tau Kok [c.1920-c.1958]
   
• Tien Chu chemicals factory, Ma Tau Kok [????-????]
   

New Territories
 

• 15c/22 Milestone at Castle Peak Road, Tai Lam Section [????- ], one with an unusual design
   

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Memories of:
   
  • 1958-65: Creating the first Mandarin Hotel. John D'Eathe worked at Hongkong Land during that period, and gives a detailed account of how the hotel came to be. (Also see this video taken during the hotel's construction.)
     
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • How old is this stone marker near Luk Keng:
    

    Stone Marker 朱藍山界, by Paul Tsang
    
     
• The 'explosion' reported at the West Point gasometer in 1934 wasn't actually an explosion.
   
• Upgrade update: A slight change of plan - I've finished the core pages for Photos, Places, and People, and had originally planned to open up the new site for feedback when I got this far. I've decided it is better to get the rest of the pages (Organisations, Streets, etc.) working before I open up the new site, then I can concentrate on responding to feedback instead of trying to juggle that with finishing the other pages. I'm currently working on the 'Book / Document', and 'Page(s) from Book / Document', and then will work my way through the other page types until they are all done.
  At the same time I've put in an order to the hosting company to move us to a larger server, so it has enough space to host both the current and the upgraded websites at the same time. The Gwulo website will be offline for several hours during the middle of this week, while the hosting company makes the changes.

Places

Kowloon

LizB has been busy documenting Kowloon's industrial sites. If you can add any photos, facts or memories to these places, please click through to their page and leave a comment there.
 

• Benzene godown and storage tanks, Tai Kok Tsui [????-????]
   
• Brewery, Cheung Sha Wan [c.1915-????]
   
• Coal yard, Lai Chi Kok [????-????]
   
• Nan Yang Cotton Mill, Ma Tau Kok [1947-????]
   
• Oil-cake factory, Sham Shui Po [c.1920-????]
   
• Ropeworks, Ma Tau Kok [c.1926-1947]
   
• Smelting factory, Sham Shui Po [c.1917-????]
   
• Steam Laundry, Yau Ma Tei [c.1905-????]
   
• Tar macadam depot, Middle Rd, Kowloon [????-c.1931]
   
• Wood oil refinery, Canton Road, Yau Ma Tei [c.1926-c.1955]
   
• Wyler Textiles Mill, Ma Tau Kok [c.1947-????]
   

New Territories
 

• Herman is identifying potential sites for more of the New Kowloon / New Territories boundary stones
   

People <Read more ...>