Path between Robinson Road and Conduit Road | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Path between Robinson Road and Conduit Road

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Submitted by Wang Min Er on Tue, 2020-03-17 14:44

I wonder if anyone would remember a walking path between Robinson Road and Conduit Road. From Conduit Road, one would keep walking down this path with concrete steps, all the way to Robinson Road not far from the Catholic schools mentioned so many times by Gwulo authors.

Likewise, to reach Conduit Road, or at least the back of one apartment building on Conduit, one would also walk up this path. This particular apartment building had two suites each floor, but divided into many households, especially the lower floors. The parking lot often had Volkswagen Beetles possibly because of Germans living there while on assignment.

Midway, on the right side as one walked up from Robinson to Conduit, there was an old, large apartment building with many households. This building enjoyed a front yard overlooking Robinson Road and buildings in that direction.

On the left side, if one were walking up again to Conduit, one would see apartment buildings on the other side. I don't remember the street name but these buildings would be separated from the walking path by just a low concrete wall.

This is an incredible memory I have held since childhood, but I haven't been back and certainly don't have any photos.

Any help in the form of memories, maps, photos, and names of places would be deeply appreciated. Thank you.

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Submitted by David on Tue, 2020-03-17 16:01.

There are some good maps of that area at http://www.hkmaps.hk/mapviewer.html eg the "Map 1950".

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Tue, 2020-03-17 20:56.

Thank you, David.

I will keep looking for relevant archives, including maps from that period.

 

 

Submitted by lc on Sun, 2020-03-22 14:36.

I'm wondering if you are referring to the walking path outside 105 Robinson Road? If you are on Robinson Road, you go up a driveway leading to 105 Robinson Road. As you go up the semi-circular driveway, there was a low-story (possibly 2-3 levels) apartment building on the right side, but that has been replaced with a high-rise now. If you keep going up,the path would be directly in front of 105 Robinson Road, also known as Jade Garden. I believe it still exists. This might be the apartment with the low concrete wall you mentioned. As you walk up the pedestrian only path, there is a small gate with stairs on the left side that leads you to Woodland Gardens (I think 62 Conduit Road). If you keep walking up the path, it's the concrete steps you mentioned, with a storm drain on the right side.  You exit the path next to the circular driveway to Woodland Gardens. Is this the path?

If this is the path, check google map street view for 105 Robinson Road. That driveway is still there unchanged.

Submitted by Jeremy Austin on Sun, 2020-03-22 16:32.

I lived in Conduit Road in the late 70s and remember walking down the path to Robinson Rd and also onwards to Central. I believe the location is where the Mid-Levels escslator now reaches Conduit Rd. There was (is?) also another set of steps closer to Castle Rd.

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Sun, 2020-03-22 22:36.

Thank you, Jeremy.

I am very happy to hear about this. It may be very close to where I lived long, long ago.

It makes sense that there is now a Mid-levels escalator right where the walking path was.

But Castle Road? I am not sure if I remember that. Could that be further uphill if I checked the map?

Still, I deeply appreciate this information. Thanks again.

 

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Sun, 2020-03-22 22:59.

Thank you so much, lc, for such vivid descriptions, with focuses on 105 Robinson Road and 62 Conduit Road.

If I remembered a driveway as opposed to a walkway, could that driveway have taken one up a small hill to what you have identified as Jade Gardens where there were nice apartments?

What you have mentioned may indeed, be what I remember, but perhaps my parents wouldn't have allowed me to explore very far, and I can't remember how large the storm drain would have been, or how much foliage there was around it.

But I do remember a fair bit of foliage on Conduit Road near our building. If the address was indeed 62 Conduit Road or near it, I cold check it out on the map.

I am very grateful to your notes and will check out each part. Thanks again.

 

Submitted by lc on Mon, 2020-03-23 06:22.

"If I remembered a driveway as opposed to a walkway, could that driveway have taken one up a small hill to what you have identified as Jade Gardens where there were nice apartments?"

Yes! So the driveway starts up from Robinson Road, it's about a half-circle uphill and ends at the entrance to Jade Garden. Right outside the entrance, if you make a sharp hair-pin turn to the right, that's the pedestrian-only path (it's a rather steep hill) that takes you to Conduit Road, next to 62 Conduit Road. The part with the steps near Conduit Road was always covered with thick foliage.

If you lived on 62 Conduit Road, to get there with a car, you have to use the circular bridge-like driveway connected to Conduit Road to get to the complex. Anyway, I hope this is what you are looking for.

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Mon, 2020-03-23 22:26.

Thank you so much, lc!

What you have described is the closest ever. I am hoping to find photos and better maps of all the places you have mentioned.

There are three things I need to consider:

1. I honestly don't remember the street address of my apartment building on Conduit;

2. I was probably a bit small to take in and remember everything in my surroundings; and

3. My family didn't have a car, and that we walked almost everywhere, even down to the piers from Conduit.

However, at that time, in my childish mind, I probably thought the waterfront was south and Conduit Road was north. Why? Probably because it was all uphill from Queen's Road as if one was going north.

The South China Sea, for instance, would be south behind all the hilly areas at the sandy bays.

Thank you again for all your inspiring help.

Submitted by isl644 on Mon, 2020-03-23 12:31.

I have lived in or near Conduit Road for most of the last 40 years. There are I believe 4 routes for walking between Conduit and Robinson Roads. They are from east to west:

1) the steps adjacent to the escalator, which would have been adjusted during its construction which opened in 1992,

2) the steps/paths either side of Valiant Park, 52 Conduit Road, which meet behind the building and run down steps to Robinson Road between Robinson Mansion and Robinson Crest,

3) the 105 steps next to the top end of Castle Road,

4) the steps/path/road whch starts between Imperial Court, 62G Conduit Road, and Woodland Gardens. 62A-F Conduit Road,

Ian

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Mon, 2020-03-23 22:33.

Thank you, Ian.

Your notes are wonderful as four different pedestrian routes are described.

I am inclined toward 52 Conduit Road, and will search for more information about this location.

Over 40 years, you must have seen a lot of development and change on both Robinson Road and Conduit Road.

I am very grateful to your detailed notes. Thanks again.

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Wed, 2020-04-08 00:49.

Dear Ian,

I have read your descriptions again, and thought really hard about the concrete steps in my memory.

I remember they started from Robinson Road and ended behind the building where I lived, with the back entrance under a ramp for cars. While living there, I saw many Volkswagens, and got the impression that they belonged to Germans working in Hong Kong.

But I was probably a bit young to take in everything in my surroundings. It was 1964 and my family lived briefly on Conduit Road with relatives for about a year.

Then we lived in another part of the city before moving to Canada within a few short years.

It would be more helpful if I could recall the Conduit Road address. But since I can't, I will just estimate that the steps in my mind would be closer to 15 than 105 Robinson Road, if the numbers began from east to west.

The cluster of Catholic schools would be on the other side of Robinson just further east. But on the side with odd numbers, a hilly road leading to a group of nice apartment buildings would also be just east of the steps I remember.

I looked a few times at the photo of 15 Robinson Road, and it seems familiar. I have learned here that there are still people living in that building. I wonder if it used to be next door to a convenience store that sold ice-cream and soda pop? If so, my younger sister and I knew it!

Does any of this make sense? I am hoping another search would find something for me. However, I would accept the wistful fact that Robinson Road had completed been altered with no trace of the concrete steps I remember.

Submitted by isl644 on Tue, 2020-04-07 17:40.

Hello Wang Min Er. I still live in Conduit Road. This morning I visited the stretch of Robinson Road which from the description of your memory the steps would have been located. The stretch is straight, perhaps about 80m long, running between two bends. The eastern bend is near the Bishop Lei International House, and the western bend is at the juntion with Mosque Street. From east to west the buildings today are: Regal Crest (9 Robinson Road), Roc Ye Court (11), No.15 - no name, Golden Court (17-19) and Good View Court (21). No 15 is the only building left from your time and the only low rise - and is obviously of pre-WW2 vintage.

There is today no steps leading up from Robinson Road towards Conduit Road in this stretch.

However, when I studied some old maps in 'MAPPING HONG KONG - A Historical Atlas' by Hal Empson, 1992, I found a map of this area dated 1936-1946. This does indicate a flight of steps roughly between where Regal Crest and Roc Ye Court are now. These steps rise up approximately 1/3rd of the way on plan towards Conduit Road in 3 flights. They end at the boundary between two ILs (Inland Lots). The map also appears to indicate a narrow driveway, running east to west back from the top of the steps towards Robinson Road, opposite Mosque Junction. Today this driveway is an access ramp for buildings in the middle row of buildings between those on Robinson Road, and those on Conduit Road. Although not shown on the map, I would not be surprised if there had been a continuation as a path from the top of the steps between the two ILs up towards Conduit Road. 

These steps clearly disappeared at some point in redevelopments after your time.

Hope this makes sense.

Ian

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Sat, 2020-04-11 07:28.

Thank you so much for your detailed notes that are very helpful.

I am very grateful for your help, and think I have finally got very close to the concrete steps from childhood memories.

Yes, straight with two bends uphill, Mosque Junction -- they all ring a bell. I am talking about steps on the odd-numbered side of Robinson Road near a street that might have been Mosque Junction. I can't wait to check out some maps now.

Thank you for telling me more about 15 Robinson that is still a low rise occupied by people. It must be quaint inside. I should try to check out the units and their interior designs, too.

I really appreciate your notes today and thanks so much for scouting out the locations for me.

I only have two more questions to look into befoe feeling 120% happy!

1) Was there a convenience store close to 15 Robinson (where my younger sister and I were taken to for ice cream and soda pop)?; and

2) Would anyone know about the Volkswagens on Conduit that might have belonged to German people working in Hong Kong in the 1960s?

On that note, I am checking out maps and more photos.

Thanks so very much, Ian.

Submitted by austinroad on Tue, 2020-07-14 17:14.

For your first question, there was a store named 「安記士多」(On Kee Store) probably on 11 Robinson Road (Today's Roc Ye Court). You may find its photo in the video: https://youtu.be/Jn4UD1aKHiQ?t=260 (4:20)

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Tue, 2020-07-14 20:39.

Thank you so much, austinroad, for this awesome piece of information.

When I thought this childhood memory had probably gone with all the developments on Robinson Road, you found the name of the convenience store for me, with personal comments from a young journalist who actually remembers the location.

I am a bit overwhelmed by this discovery as if it's all surreal. Yes, I believe On Kee was the name of the store that was very close to a cluster of Catholic schools.

From the video, I now know On Kee was run for a long time by a small family who worked very hard for their success. Where would their descendants be now, I wonder.

The video certainly shows buildings near the location that is completely changed, but when I first saw a photo of 15 Robinson Road, I thought it looked very familiar.

Thank you so much for not forgetting my question. I am very happy that I can now remember the convenience store as On Kee.

Submitted by lc on Wed, 2020-07-15 00:43.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I just want to say a quick and big thank you to austinroad for that youtube video. I passed by that stretch of Robinson Road every day to and from school. Seeing it just brought me back to a far more pleasant and simpler times. You really made my day.

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Wed, 2020-07-15 10:43.

Dear lc,

Right on; images of On Kee Store bring back incredible memories from long, long ago.

I actually didn't go to the store a lot because both my younger sister and I were kindergarteners new in the city, and that we only went there occasionally with adults. But more memorably, our first visit to On Kee was to get ice-cream and soda pop.

My family and I lived with relatives on Conduit Road for about a year, then moved east to Causeway Bay before moving again, this time to Canada within just a few short years.

I couldn't imagine a youtube video on On Kee, but feel ecstatic that it exists. To hear the young man's remembrance of the store owner and his family, my regret is not having known them, even though they must have been hardworking folks who made a living by running a convenience store.

Now that I have learned so much more about On Kee, I can imagine how hard the family worked. They must have got up at an ungodly hour every day to provide "essential" services, especially to students from nearby schools whose parents made sure they always had enough allowance to spend at On Kee.

To me, Hong Kong's On Kee Store is a priceless slice of social history. I am so happy I got enough courage to ask the question, and that I have been fortunate enough to get such a wonderful answer.

Thank you so much again, austinroad.

Submitted by cj7618 on Wed, 2020-07-15 12:30.

I studied at Sacred Heart Primary School and Secondary School over 14 years from the 60's to the 70's. Together with my school mates, we frequented On Kee Store during my primary school years. I moved away from Hong Kong and returned 12 years ago. Imagine my surprise when one day about 10 years ago I took a taxi and started chatting with the driver to find out that he was the owner operator of On Kee.

He was very pleasant and chatty. He told me he was doing very well and drove taxi as a pastime. His 2 daughters went to Sacred Heart and if my memory serves me well, his son or sons went to Raimondi. They had all graduated from universities and were doing very well. I was very pleased and told him of the fond memories I had of those years.

I wish I had taken his contact but it I didn't. I am happy to share this little vignette with former On Kee patrons.The days of a gentler Hong Kong.

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Wed, 2020-07-15 19:15.

Dear cj7618,

Your story is truly surendipitous when I was just wondering yesterday about On Kee's owner and his family.

Without knowing their names, I am delighted they were all doing well twelve years ago. It's incredible that of all the cabs in Hong Kong, you rode in one driven by the store's former owner, who updated you on life after On Kee. How extraordinary!

Your story is also an amazing piece of information for my question about "the convenience store near 15 Robinson Road".

What I have learned over the last day or so from you, lc, and austinroad is a childhood memory and history lesson embedded in each other.

Thank you for sharing your delightful story.

Submitted by gwaifei on Sat, 2021-10-16 09:51.

From your description, I think you might be referring to No. 10 Conduit Road where my relatives had lived till the late 80's when it was redeveloped into high rise  residential blocks. I remember walking up from Robinson Road, besides the store called 蘇記 next to 正大花園 to their flat via the concrete steps, leading to the back entrance of the building which was a garage. There was a very steep driveway leading to Conduit Road. One of the beetles you remembered might have been owned by my uncle. Heard from my relatives that there were indeed Germans living on the upper floors, who worked for Jebsen. Pity that there weren't many photos taken at that time. Now that I'm a heritage conservationist and would love to dig in more about this building architecturally. 

Submitted by Wang Min Er on Sun, 2021-10-17 20:41.

Thank you, Gwaifei.

All your memories take me back to the enchanting places that I have asked about.

After all these years, no one in my immediate family can confirm "10" as our brief address on Conduit Road, but you may be correct.

We have lost touch with the relatives whom we stayed with for about a year, but "10 Conduit Road" does ring a bell.

I agree with you that a few photos of the place would be wonderful, especially the Volkswagen Bugs.

At least we have memories that I will try to keep for as long as I can.

Thank you so much again for your lovely notes.