A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Free talk via Zoom on Tuesday morning, 22 March: WW II Civilian Internment in Hong Kong. "Our two speakers, Martin Heyes of Hong Kong and Julien Lehoux of Montreal, will tell you about Hong Kong’s civilian internees and how they lived during their imprisonment, the complex negotiations to repatriate the Canadians among them, and the impacts on their lives after their return to Canada."
   
• Final-year university student Kai Hei asks for 5-10 minutes of your time, to complete a questionnaire. It will form part of their final-year thesis on heritage conservation and related online communities such as Gwulo.com.
   
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • What was the name of the building on the right in this photo of MacDonnell Road in 1957:
    

    Our flat in MacDonnell Road, by Chris Addison
    
     
  • Looking for photos of Stanley in the 1960s
     
• Readers' memories of:
   
  • Billy Tingle teaching swimming at the LRC, and Saturday Sports in Central
     
  • North Point Ferry pier and bus terminal
     
• The online archive of the South China Morning Post is available online again to readers with a Hong Kong Public Library card. If you don't have a card, Annelise has kindly offered to help with searches.
   
• 1852 journal: This 39-page Chinese-language document is a journal kept by a Christian evangelist, Chen Dui (陳兑), detailing his daily activities in Hong Kong for a few months in 1852, when he travelled around the colony, seeking converts and distributing Bibles and religious tracts.
   
• Bob has been out exploring again, and shares more "unusual items found discarded on the slopes of The Peak", including this Watsons torpedo-shaped bottle, rescued from a thirsty tree that had a tight hold of it:
  

  Watsons Torpedo, by bob
  
   
• Upgrade update: I'm currently working on re-vamping the website's menus. The goal is to make them as simple as possible, while keeping all the important information easily available.
  They have to meet our different visitors' needs, e.g. a new visitor who's browsing is different from a researcher looking for information, who's different from a regular reader who wants to add information to the site.
  Finally we also need to take into account that what works well on the computer screen I normally use, may be difficult or even impossible to use on the smaller screens of tablets and smartphones.
  I'll keep at it ...
   

Places
 

Hong Kong island
 

• Central Star Ferry Pier (2nd Location, Connaught Rd off Ice House St) [1912-1958]
   
• Commanders Residence (was "Headquarters House"), 11 Barker Road [c.1978- ]
   
• Hong Kong Swatow Christian Church (1st Generation) [????-????]
   
• 2, Park Road (3rd generation) [c.1963-????]
   

Kowloon
 

• Honor Hotel, 2-12 Pilkem Street [????-????]
   
• Sky Theatre / 樂都戲院, Hung Hom [1961-1973]
   
• Valley Road Estate [1962-2001]
   

New Territories
 

• Sek Kong Families' Village [????- ]
   

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • Where exactly was Luna Park located in North Point?
     
  • What did it cost to buy a two-bedroom flat in the late 1950s in Hong Kong?
     
  • An old friend, Peter RASMUSSEN
     
• Readers' memories of:
   
  • Lighthouse keeping
     
  • Life in Hong Kong as a Navy family in the 1950s
    

    Street view, by Chris Addison photos
    
     
  • Royden Court military quarters, Causeway Bay
     
• One of the simple ways we can make Gwulo a better site is to quote the sources of the information we share here. I've written some brief notes on why it's important, and tips on how to do it well.
   
• Upgrade update: I disappeared down another rabbit hole last week when I realised that the "What's new" page in the new version of the website software doesn't include photo pages in its list. Since "What's new" is the most-visited page on Gwulo, and photos are such a key part of the site, that had to be fixed. I finished working on it over the weekend, so now it's back to the more mundane work of tidying up the site's appearance. Hopefully no new surprises this week!
  
   

Places
 

Klaus has discovered that the Star Theatre in TST was created by disassembling the old Victoria Theatre on Hong Kong island, transporting it across the harbour, and re-building it in TST. As he notes, once you know the story the similarities between the two buildings are clear to see:

1919 Victoria Theatre, by eternal1966c1

1920s Star Theatre, by Moddsey

Hong Kong island
 

• The Gap [1843-1949]
   

Kowloon
 

• Honor Hotel, 2-12 Pilkem Street [????-????]
   
• Wuhu Street children's playground [????- ]
  

  wuhu_children_playgound1.jpg, by simtang

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • The location of Farm Lot 17, Pokfulam
     
• Readers' memories of:
   
  • Finding opium pots on Stonecutters Island
     
  • Klaus shares his collection of sugar cubes from Hong Kong's hotels and restaurants. It's an unusual type of ephemera - can you add any more to the collection?
     
• Highlights from recent issues of the daily Wartime Diaries email:
   
  • Today in 1944 was the day American fighter pilot Donald Kerr boarded a junk to escape Hong Kong. He'd been shot down over Kai Tak, parachuted to safety, then hidden from his Japanese pursuers for several weeks with the help of local guerillas. Read the whole story from his journal.
     
  • On yesterday's date in 1943, John Charter wrote down the long and involved process of moving to a different room in Stanley Camp, with each change triggering a ripple of moves for other people in the camp. He ends the day's journal entry: "This happened again and again all over the camp and I know for certain that to re-billet the 55 British from the Dutch block more than 200 people had to change about."
     
  • It is free to subscribe if you'd like to start receiving these daily Wartime Diaries emails.
     
• Upgrade update: I've finished the work on the search page, and have also made some improvements to how we navigate through the 30,000+ photos on Gwulo. You can get a preview of the changes in the video below (please click here to watch it on Youtube if the video doesn't show up in your email).
  
   

Places
 

Hong Kong island
 

• New answers to the request for information about 'Magazine Gap Bridge'
   
• North Point Ferry Pier (West) [1979- ]
   
• Tunnel Entrance to Gardens Service Reservoir (Hong Kong Botanical Gardens) [1933- ]
   

Kowloon
 

• Abandoned grade 2 historical red brick cottage
   
• Fok Tak Temple, Bulkeley Street [c.1279-c.1945]
   
• Fortuna Court (Hotel), Yau Ma Tei [????-????]
   
• Pink Champagne Restaurant [????-????]
   
• Spring Deer Restaurant [????-????], famous for many years for its Peking Duck, but recently went out of business
   

Islands & New Territories
 

• Cheung Hue North Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Engine Room, Tsing Yi [1933-????]
   

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Readers' memories:
   
  • Football in Hong Kong in the 1960's
     
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • When did postcard publisher Sternberg first print their addresses on their postcards?
     
  • Japanese wartime tunnel at Black Point
     
  • These stone tablets along the Ngong Ping Ancient Trail:
    

    Ngong Ping Ancient Trail, by pyktsang
    
    
    

    Ngong Ping Ancient Trail, by pyktsang
    
     
• Men's hairstyles, 1890-1900
   
• Upgrade update: I've spent the last week investigating bugs - the fix for a bug might be a few seconds edit, but finding out which line of code to edit can take several days! e.g. over the weekend I was trying to work out why certain pages don't appear in the search results on the new site. I've tracked it down to some pages having a slightly 'odd' configuration, as a result of coming from the older version of the software. I've worked out the fix, so the next job is to report that back to the project that builds the Drupal software we use to run the website. Much like Gwulo, Drupal is an open-source project, relying on volunteers to share what they know and make the project better for all.
  I'll continue working on the search this week. It already has improvements over the current search, but I hope I can also find ways to add in more of the new features you've asked for.
   

Places
 

Hong Kong island
 

• Storage unit at the old Dairy Farm site in Pokfulam
   
• Heung Hoi Mansion, Wanchai [1964- ]
   
• Magazine Gap Bridge
   
• North Point Ferry Pier (East) [1963- ]
   
• Tai Ping Theatre (1st generation) [1904-1930]
   

Kowloon
 

• Argyle Street Camp for Chinese Interned Soldiers / POW Camp / Barracks [1939-????]
   
• Swindon Bookshop on Nathan Road (second location) [1962-????]
   

Islands & New Territories
 

• Japanese Tunnel (?) Chi Ma Wan [????- ]
   

People <Read more ...>

A look at the latest additions to Gwulo...
 

General
 

• Readers' memories:
   
  • Exiting Beacon Hill railway tunnel to the north in the 1950s/60s
     
  • Hong Kong Stadium 1960's
     
• Readers are looking for any information about:
   
  • Miss Jones living in the Westbourne Villas on Bonham Road, 1901-3
     
  • Does this concrete slab on Ho Man Tin Hill Road have anything to do with the railway or the ex-RAF property nearby?
     
  • Could this old bridge on Tai Tam Reservoir Road have anything to do with the original roads to Stanley?
     
• Upgrade update: This week’s work sees improvements to how we add tags and connections to pages. Please see the video below for details (or if it doesn’t show up in your email, please click this link to see it on Youtube).
  
   
• Here's a photo I received last week from the printer I use. It shows a framed print, a copy of Photo 18 from my first book, ready to send to a customer. This scene, 'View over Central in 1922', has been a popular choice for framing. (You can see the selection of Gwulo's photos available for framing in the online catalogue.)
  
  
   

Places
 

Hong Kong island
 

• Birds Bridge [c.1883- ]
   
• Former Hon Wah College Site at Ching Lin Terrace [1965- ]
   

Kowloon
 

• Empress Hotel (Kowloon) [1963-1992]
  

  1973 Empress Hotel (Kowloon), by Eternal1966
  
   

New Territories
 

• Ma Liu Shui / University Station [????- ]
   
• Needle Hill Tungsten Mine [????- ]
   

People <Read more ...>