i-Cable invited me on to their Wish TV programme (小事大意義) to talk about old Hong Kong photos, the Gwulo website, and one of the site's most touching stories.

The video starts at the Peak, using old photos to show how the famous view has changed over the years. Then we visit my home to look at how I work with the photos, before heading outdoors again to look at changes in Wanchai.

The second section switches gear to to talk about Gwulo's wartime diaries project, and in particular R. E. Jones's diary. Long-term readers will remember his daughter Rae contacted Gwulo, and read her father's diary here for the first time. Rae joins the video to talk about her experiences, ending by telling us how the diary helped her to understand, and finally to forgive, her father.

The dialogue is mostly in English, but the introduction and several voiceovers are in Cantonese. I've included translations to English below, courtesy of the reporter, Lam Lam Chu (朱琳琳). I've also posted links to the photos and stories mentioned, in case you'd like to take a closer look at anything we covered.

A big thank you to Lam Lam and to the cameraman, Jay (柳志輝), for all their good work:

(e-mail subscribers: if you can't see the video, please click here to view it in your browser)

Translations, and links to further information

• 00:01 [Translation]

  There are many skyscrapers next to Victoria Harbour. But do you believe that more than a hundred years ago, there used to be a beach on Tsim Sha Tsui? There were even turtles coming ashore to lay eggs.

  Wow, interesting. I've never heard about that. I only know that Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower used to be the KCR station.

  I interviewed David, who collects a lot of Hong Kong old photos, some were even taken in the 19th century. He looks at the photos details like a detective, to discover the stories in it.
   

• 00:35 [Photo] c.1886 View over Central and the Harbour

   

• 00:48 [Extra information] More photos of HSBC's headquarters (2nd generation)
   

• 01:15 [Translation]

  David is British, but he may be more familiar with Hong Kong history than the native Hong Kong people.

  Because he collects a lot of old photos of Hong Kong, the change in Victoria Harbour is one of the series.
   

• 01:25 [Photo] 1920s View down the Peak Tram line

   

• 01:30 [Photo] c.1946 View over HK harbour from May Road

   

• 01:33 [Photo] 1965 View over Central & Harbour from The Peak

   

• 01:44 [Extra information] More photos of the KCR Terminus Station
   

• 02:44 [Translation]

  David has collected nearly 2,000 old photos in these 10 years. He looks at each and every photo carefully to discover the stories behind.
   

• 02:56 [Photo] 1919 88th Coy R.G.A. Junior N.C.O.'s

   

• 03:15 [Photo] c.1935 Des Voeux Road Central

   

• 03:35 [Translation]

  He acts as a detective to find out the year and location of the photos through detailed observation. Fashion from different ages is one of the hints. 
   

• 03:42 [Photo] 1907 Tennis in Hong Kong

   

• 03:55 [Photo] 1920s Lady in sedan chair in Statue Square

   

• 04:05 [Translation]

  But even if David has good eyesight, not every mystery can be solved. If you want to locate the year and location, you have to seek help from other people.
  
  David created a historical photo database website, where everyone can post old photos and edit information.
   

• 04:24 [Photo] 1950s Centre Street, Sai Ying Pun

   

• 04:48 [Extra information] Gwulo's books: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, and Volume 4
  I've published a set of four books sharing some of my favourite photos and stories from my collection.

   

• 05:10 [Translation]

  Living in Hong Kong for 30 years, David witnessed changes in Hong Kong himself. He finds taking and keeping photos are important to preserve history.
   

• 05:20 [Photo] 1923 Damaged trams on Arsenal Street

   

• 06:01 [Translation]

  David's old photos unveil the change in Hong Kong. He also collects war diaries in Hong Kong. One of the diaries belongs to a British man who was in Stanley camp during WWII. He nearly divorced when his wife found this diary. 
  
  In her seventies, his daughter found the diary she thought was destroyed forever. Reading the diary helped her understand her father more.
   

• 07:07 [Translation]

  David posted the diary on gwulo.com, hoping to reach R.E.Jones' family.
   

• 07:27 [Translation]

  In R.E. Jones' diary, in addition to the life in Stanley camp and wartime news, he also wrote some romantic secrets.
   

• 07:46 [Translation]

  During the three years in Stanley Camp, R.E.Jones had two romantic relationships. The first one started In 1942, he wrote down Morse code.

  The second one lasted for one year, he mentioned her almost everyday in the diary.
   

• 08:19 [Translation]

  After the liberation of Hong Kong in 1945, the diary ended when R.E.Jones went back to the UK. David never knew R.E.Jones' choice between his affair or his family.
   

• 08:50 [Translation]

  In 2013, a lady called Rae left a comment on gwulo.com, saying that she is the daughter of R.E.Jones. Her appearance answered David's question. 
   

• 09:49 [Translation]

  When the diary was destroyed, Rae was only 4 years old. Later they went back to Hong Kong. But her relationship with father was always difficult when she grew up.
   

• 10:48 [Translation]

  She searched her name in google 8 years ago, surprisingly found this diary which was supposed to be gone.
   

• 11:26 [Translation]

  David went to the UK and returned the diary to Rae.
   

• 11:56 [Translation]

  Her father's affair disappointed her, but the diary still helps her to understand father finally.
   

• 12:47 [Extra information] Additional information about R. E. Jones and Rae:

  • Daughter reads father's diary of wartime Hong Kong for the first time - after a 70-year wait - the initial contact with Rae in 2013
  • R. E. Jones's diary goes home - delivering the original diary to Rae
  • R. E. Jones's wartime diary - the contents of his diary
  • Stanley Internment Camp - more about the camp where Mr Jones and several thousand others were interned by the Japanese
  • The Wartime Diaries project - an overview of the project, and how to subscribe to receive daily entries from the diaries

If you'd like to see more photos and stories from old Hong Kong, please subscribe to Gwulo's free weekly newsletter.

A look at what's new on the Gwulo website...

General

• Exciting news if you're interested in the history of Stanley Internment Camp: Anthony Charter has generously given permission for his father's journal to be shared on Gwulo. John Charter was interned at Stanley and kept a very detailed journal, giving valuable information about many aspects of camp life. A shortage of paper meant that every space in the journal was filled, with pages returned to several times to find space for new writing. That makes the written journal very difficult to read, but Bill Lake has painstakingly typed up the text and reassembled it so we can easily read it in the order it was written. It will be some time before the whole journal is online, but you can already see the first few entries, and if you subscribe to the wartime diaries you'll be sent the rest of the journal in the daily emails. Thank you to Anthony and Bill for making this possible.
   
• Bob has found two mystery objects while out metal detecting, and asks if anyone recognises what they are. Here are the suggestions so far.
  
  
  
   
• Thanks to Jonathan for posting the last two sections of his grandfather's memoirs of National Service in Hong Kong, 1948-49. Events include nearly being killed (on two occasions!) by faulty orders and / or equipment, and the tense wait for the expected invasion by Chinese troops.
   
• Kowloon memories from the 1950s
   
• Leonard has posted a 1930s home movie showing a selection of Kowloon scenes.
   
• Unhappy memories of flying on BOAC with young children in the 1960s.
   
• Daniel has posted directions to see the re-discovered section of the old Aberdeen-Stanley Road. It has been mentioned several times lately, with special note of a couple of handsome stone bridges.
  
   
• Readers are looking for information about:
  • 1950s photographers Jimmy Foo, and Roy Tsang
  • Ships sailing from Hong Kong to Australia in the second half of 1981

Places

• Photos added from recent visits to military relics:
  • Kennedy Town PB 1
     
  • Pillbox near Wanchai Gap
     
  • Shing Mun Redoubt
     
  • Tai Tam Fork Battery
     
  • Wong Nai Chong Gap PB 3
     
• Hong Kong
  • 14, Broadwood Road [1916-????]
     
  • 189, Des Voeux Road Central [c.1958-c.1993]
     
  • Central Clinic [1907-1997]
     
  • Hong Kong School for the Deaf (1st generation) [c.1935-c.1947] on Babington Path, and the replacement which was in Kowloon: Hong Kong School for the Deaf (2nd generation) [c.1948-c.2003]
     
  • Another War Department Boundary Stone has been found near High West, WDBS #2. It's one of several that have been found in the area.
     
  • Water Tank South Western Mount Davis [????- ]
     
  • Does anyone recognise this building, likely up at The Peak:
    
     
  • Or this one:
    
     
  • Or can explain what this curious building near the Tai Tam Byewash Reservoir was used for:
    
     
• Piers
  • Piers usually stay put, watching boats come and go. But the first Blake Pier has had a surprisingly mobile life, spending time at three very different locations:
    1. off Connaught Road in Central,
    2. in Morse Park in Kowloon, and
    3. in Stanley Bay, where you'll still find it today.
        
• Kowloon
  • Prat Avenue [1920- ]
     
• New Territories
  • Two identical stones on the north and south shores of Lantau Island mark the points at which the pre-1997 sea boundary with China touches the Island, the South Lantau Obelisk [1902- ] and Lantau North Obelisk [1902- ]
     
  • Shatin Heights Hotel [1955-1980]

People

• Stanley Camp internees:
  • Agnes Campbell DUCKWORTH (née CRAWFORD) [1892-????], and daughter Joan CRAWFORD (née DUCKWORTH) [1916-2014]
     
  • Brabazon Henry Collis HALLOWES [1884-1958]
     
  • Thomas Alwyn HUGHES [1899-????], policeman
     
  • Lionel MCRAE [1898-1986]
     
  • Maude Annie MINHINNICK (née ARMSTRONG, aka Maudie) [1888-1972]
     
• Other:
  • Captain ANSARI: notes by Lt. Col. Rawlinson
     
  • Captain FORD: notes by Major Charles Boxer
     
  • Flt. Lt. Gray: notes by Major Charles Boxer
     
  • George William GEGG [c.1876-1920], "a well-known racing enthusiast"
     
  • Po保 LAU 劉 (aka Matthew Lau / Matheus Lau / Lau Tze Chun / 劉寶 / 劉為善 / 劉瑪豆)[1880-1925], one of the founders of Wah Yan College
     
  • Edwin Charles TREGILLUS [1861-1941], spent 40 years in the China Maritime Customs
     
  • Looking for Gerald Blakey, 54 Field Independent Squadron
     
• The Scottish Masonic Quadrille Association. (The Quadrille is "a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies".)

Photos

Submarine L27 Changing propellor.jpg, by William Richmond Fell

1989 Royal Visit - First Day Cover, by Moddsey

1997 Final First Day Cover Issued in the Colonial Era, by Moddsey

1959 BOAC Training Flight - Passenger Ticket, by Moddsey

1930s Nathan Road, by Moddsey

1931 Waterloo Road Nullah Car Accident, by Edwin Tregillus

1930s Leighton Road, by Moddsey

1930s Gloucester Road, by Moddsey

Typhoon wreck off Cheung Chau, from 1964 HK Annual Report.

2007 Airbus 380 Harbour Flypast, by Moddsey

1980s Happy Valley Aerial View, by Moddsey

Harbour Office and Wing On Store 1960s, by uwm

Old Hong Kong One Cent Notes, by Moddsey

Carmicheal and Co. 1894.jpg, by danielwettling

Queen's College, by Arnold Wright

1978 Central GPO, by Eternal1966

HK HongKong_KennedyTown_1974, by David Pirmann

Commanders of HMS Tromp and HMS Hertog Hendrik (Dutch navy) - April 1920,
by Unknown photographer

HK-standbeeld-Royal Theatre.jpg, by schultie

HK memorial 3.jpg, by schultie

Unveiling the Cenotaph, by schultie

1930s Hong Kong Brewery, by eternal66a

Click tosee all recently added photos.

This week's story begins like many on Gwulo: seeing something new on a walk and thinking, "That's a bit odd ..."

We'd just walked uphill from the lower Shing Mun Reservoir, and noticed there was a large metal pipe running alongside the path. When the path levelled out the pipe ended abruptly, pouring water out into a concrete channel.

The channel is a short one, soon disappearing into a tunnel in the hillside.

It seems odd to have a pipe pouring water into a channel like this - why not just continue the pipeline? And where does the water go to after it enters the tunnel?

The next part of the walk followed what had looked like a catchwater on the map, but it raised more questions. It must have taken significant work to build the catchwater, so why has it been allowed to fill up with the sand and gravel that had washed in? And why was there a concrete barrier across it, separating it from the channel to the tunnel?

I turned to the modern map on the government's HKMS website to see if it has any answers:

We'd crossed the lower Shing Mun Reservoir via the footbridge marked (A). The water pipe also crosses the reservoir at that point, then the footpath and pipe run up the hill together (B). The pipe ends at (C), and the channel enters the tunnel at (D). The derelict catchwater we continued along is marked (E).

The map doesn't show where the tunnel leads to after (D), but I'm sure the government maps used to show the route of tunnels. I turned to the excellent collection of older maps on the Hong Kong Maps website and yes, the tunnel is clearly shown on the older maps such as this one from 1987.

It shows that the water runs southwest from (D) through the tunnel (F) under Smugglers Ridge, out in to the open again at (G), then back into a longer tunnel (H) that runs south under Golden Hill. The destination is the Kowloon Service Reservoir at (I). The map also shows that the footbridge and pipeline at (A) were already there in 1987.

An older map on the site shows how things looked 30 years earlier, in 1957.

This time there's no sign of the footbridge or pipeline at (A), so we know they're relatively recent additions, and not what the tunnels were built for originally. The lower Shing Mun Reservoir hadn't been built, either, though everything else looks much the same. One small difference is that this map gives names to three of the sections:

• (F) North Tunnel
• (G) South Conduit
• (H) South Tunnel

They don't give (E) a name, but if it followed the above pattern it would be the North Conduit. I note the mapmakers call it a Conduit, carrying water, rather than a Catchwater, collecting rain that runs down the hillside. This conduit begins at the dam of the main Shing Mun reservoir, so were the tunnels and conduits built to carry the water from that reservoir?

Maybe not, as turning the clock back again, this map from 1928 shows the tunnnels were already in place before there was any reservoir at Shing Mun.

The conduit (E) continues off the top of this section, so lets follow it back to where it begins.

It runs along the side of the valley, running parallel to the Shing Mun River. The conduit begins at a small dam across the river (J), just north of Pineapple Pass. This map gives it the label 'Open Conduit'.

So, we know the tunnels and conduits were all in place before the reservoirs were built, and were already here by 1928. What were they built for?

Maps won't give us the detail I'm looking for, instead we'll need some documents: it's time to start typing likely search terms into the Hong Kong Government Records Online (HKGRO) website. No results for north tunnel, but a search for south tunnel returns one result, and it looks like a good one:

• GA 1924 (suppl) no.158: Tenders invited for North and South Tunnels, South Conduit and Contingent Works

It describes the tender as “Shing Mun Scheme - First Section - Tender for North and South Tunnels, South Conduit and Contingent Works”, and says it is for "the driving and necessary lining of two tunnels, approximately 2,160 feet and 4,680 feet in length through Smugglers’ Ridge and Golden Hill respectively, the Construction of an open conduit approximately 2,000 feet in length".

So we're looking for information about the Shing Mun Scheme, in the early 1920s. Although the HKGRO search only returned one match, I guess it has more information available. The old documents on that site aren't all in great shape, so often the scanned copies aren't clear enough for the HKGRO computer to recognise all their words. Instead we'll need to read through them manually, to see what we can find.

Large construction projects were organised by the Public Works Department (PWD), so their annual reports are a good place to look.

As I hoped, the PWD reports for 1922 and 1923 both mention the project, but only have a brief mention of preparations being made - it's the 1924 report that spills the beans. It describes a grand scheme, to be built in several phases (the 1924 report calls them 'sections'). The first phase included the work shown on the 1928 map, starting by intercepting the Shing Mun River, and diverting its water via the conduits and tunnels to the Kowloon Service Reservoir. This wasn't all for Kowloon's benefit, though. The water would continue via a series of pipelines and reservoirs to Tsim Sha Tsui, through the first cross-harbour pipeline, then uphill to the last reservoir in the chain: a new reservoir to be built in the Botanical Gardens, conveniently situated just above the Governor's Residence.

The second phase would see a large new reservoir built in the Shing Mun Valley. Most of the northern conduit would vanish from sight under the waters of the new reservoir, but the last section (E) would still be used. It would deliver the water from the new reservoir into the tunnel and on to the Kowloon Service Reservoir and beyond.

Returning to those initial questions, we now know where the tunnel leads to, and why the derelict conduit - not catchwater - was originally built: first the conduit delivered water from the Shing Mun River via the tunnels to the new service reservoir, then after the Shing Mun Reservoir was built it carried water from there instead. At some point another route was developed to carry the water away from the main reservoir, meaning the conduit was no longer needed and was allowed to fall into disrepair. That could have meant the tunnels would also become unused, but instead they had a new lease of life when the later pipeline was built that still pours water into them today.

(If we have any water experts reading, do you know the source of the water we saw pouring out of the pipe?And does it run continuously, or only as needed? The day I took the photos was the third time we'd walked past there, but I don't remember seeing water pouring out on the first and second visits. I'm not sure if that's an accurate memory though, or if I just wasn't paying attention on those earlier visits.)

More waterworks:

• The original plans for the Shing Mun Valley Scheme are described in item 213 of the PWD's Annual Report for 1924.
• The Shing Mun Valley Scheme was the latest round in a long-running competition between the PWD and Hong Kong's thirsty and ever-growing population: The PWD would finish a new reservoir, providing plenty of water for all. Then the population would surge and soon there would be water shortages again. The PWD would start work on the next reservoir, and the cycle would repeat.
  In 1929, Governor Clementi gave a long speech to Legco that includes a summary of the history of Hong Kong's water supply up til that date, and ends with the latest plans for the Shing Mun Valley Scheme. It's a good read for an overview of Hong Kong's early struggles to provide water for all.

More exploring:

• If you'd like to see the pipe, tunnel, and disused conduit, I've marked the route we walked on this copy of the North East & Central NT sheet of the Countryside Series maps (click for a larger copy of the image). We started from Tai Wai station at the right, then walked along the north shore of the lower Shing Mun Reservoir. We crossed the footbridge (A), climbed up the first staircase to the end of the pipe (C), then followed the disused conduit (E) til we came to a second set of steps that brought us up to the top of the main reservoir.
• There are several options for where to walk next after reaching the main reservoir. I recommend following section six of the Maclehose Trail as it takes you past the Shing Mun Redoubt, a wartime relic from WW2 with tunnels that are easy to explore.

More stories:

• There are many more stories of old Hong Kong in my series of books. 

A look at what's new on the Gwulo website...

General

• Last week's newsletter about the Tai Mo Shan raindrops had several interesting comments where readers added more information about the waterworks. My favourite was a 1926 newspaper clipping, reporting that a party of schoolboys from DBS had been taken on a guided walk through the new water tunnel under Golden Hill, all 4,850 feet of it. It ends that the boys "were naturally very pleased to learn that they were the first boys to go through the tunnel." I can't imagine that type of outing being approved by health & safety today!
   
• Only eight more pages left to finish typing up the 1936 jurors list - can you spare half an hour to type up a page?
   
• Readers are looking for information about:
  • Which regiment replaced the 14 Regiment Royal Artillery at Sek Kong Camp when the 14 Regiment left for the UK in 1962?
     
  • Building Inside Victoria Peak Radio Station Office
     
  • Old school house, Ma Mei Ha Village [????- ]
     
  • Mystery marker stone [????- ] near the border with Shenzhen
     
  • Mystery fort and mini tunnel on Lamma
     
  • 28 Tai Hang Road [????-c.1962]
    28 Tai Hang Road, by Philk
    
     
  • Hong Kong's Latin American Chinese Community in the 1930s-1950s
     
  • Looking for photos of Charles MAY [1817-1879]
     
• Answers to previous questions:
  • Another location confirmed in the 1930s home movie
     
  • Details of ships sailing from Hong Kong to Australia in 1981

Places

• Hong Kong
  • Hotel Singapore [????-????] on Hennessy Road
     
  • Japanese Tunnel Above Governors Walk near Two Gated Caves [c.1942- ]
     
  • A cluster of waterworks buildings at The Peak, consisting of the ruined quarters building, their incinerator, and the reason they were there, the Peak Service Reservoir [1897- ] (which likely has the same type of beautiful brick arches as the ones that were recently discovered in the disused Service Reservoir at Bishop's Hill).
     
  • The outlines of the War Department Lots on Mount Davis, and on the hillside between Lung Fu Shan and High West are taking shape as more of their boundary stones are discovered.
     
  • Tam Kung Temple, Shau Kei Wan [1905- ]
     
• New Territories
  • Hung Shek Mun abandoned village
     
  • BP16 Custom Hill [????- ]
     
  • Royal Warwickshire Regiment Stone (1961) on Lamma
     
  • The North Conduit and the North Tunnel, built in the 1920s as part of the waterworks for the Shing Mun Valley Scheme.

Book news

• Gwulo's books are now available at the Art & Culture Outreach bookstore, on the 14th floor of Foo Tak Building, 365-367 Hennessy Road (see map). That's opposite the junction with Tin Lok Lane, between Wanchai and Causeway Bay.
  It's a crowded part of town, but when you get up to the bookstore's floor it's surprisingly open and airy. If you visit now, check out the stairwell from the 14/F down, where they have an exhibition of some of the many different nationalities included in the Dear Hong Kong book.
   
• Back at Gwulo HQ, our flat smells of printers' ink again! We'd got down to the last box of Volume 3, so we ordered a reprint and it was delivered this week. Thanks to Suk Woon for keeping a careful eye on the printer, to make sure these second 1,000 copies look just as good as the first.

People

• Stanley Camp internees:
  • Daisy TURNER [????-????]
     
  • Margaret Mary WHITE (née WOOLLEY) [1907-1983], together with her children Eleanor Mary Aston WHITE [1936-1992] and Timothy Peter Aston WHITE [1941-????]. (Her husband George Alexander WHITE [1902-1973] was a member of the HKVDC, and so was a POW.)
     
• POW:
  • William Stanley GEGG [1920-1996], a signalman in the HKVDC
     
  • Frank Burt MINHINNICK [1887-1966], Captain Royal Navy (Retired)
     
• Other:
  • Mabel Lilian Lowbridge MAY (née SHACKLETON) [1885-????], mother of Arthur May
     
  • Fredrick Charles MOW FUNG (aka Chung) [1882-????]

Photos

1970s Tao Fung Shan Chapel & Porcelain Workshop, by Moddsey

1930s Nathan Road, by Moddsey

1960s Hollywood Road, by Eternal1966

1930s Nathan Road - Drapery Emporium, by Eternal1966

1954 RAF Kai Tak, by Eternal1966

1920s Rosary Church, by Eternal1966

1960s Hennessy Road - Wanchai, by Eternal1966

1927 Sacred Hill (Sung Wong Toi) - 1st Battalion of the Cameronians, by Eternal1966

Wreck of S.P. Hitchcock 1906, by Texas Tech University

In the track of the terrible typhoon which swept over
Hong Kong recently , by The Library of Congress

1953 Connaught Road Central , by Eternal1966

1950s Sai Ying Pun Market (2nd Generation), by Eternal1966

1953 Queen's Coronation, by Eternal1966

1970s Shenzhen (Shum Chun) River , by Moddsey

1970s Peak Tower, by Moddsey

1936 Typhoon scene 1, by Eternal1966

TST_Panorama 1954, by Klaus

c.1920s Pewter cocktail shaker, by Jill

Tanks on the road , by Bails

Empire~State Theatre / 璇宮~皇都戲院 [1952-1997], by hkoldcar

Shek O Country & Golf Club, by hkoldcar

Tai Po Lookout, No. 11 Lookout Link, by hkoldcar

HMS Smiter arriving at Hong Kong, by dby

1990s Shophouse at Corner of Belcher's Street and Davis Street, by Moddsey

1990s Shophouse, 207 Des Voeux Road West & Centre Street, by Moddsey

1990s Shophouse at Corner of Lai Yin Lane and Tung Lo Wan Road, by Moddsey

1990s Old Building at 39 Pok Fu Lam Road, by Moddsey

1997 HMS Chatham, by Moddsey

1997 Cenotaph, by Moddsey

Central British School/King George V School Foundation Stone, by Moddsey

Castle Peak Road, San Hui, Tuen Mun, by Malcolm Trousdale

Central waterfront late 1880s , by Eternal1966

tuenmun, by Dennis DUNG

Click tosee all recently added photos.

I recently bought this small set of photos, showing men and women at work on Hong Kong's streets.

What: I can recognise the sugar cane for sale on the left, but what sort of snack is that on the right?

Who: The hawker is an older man, assisted by a young girl who is probably his daughter or granddaughter. There must have been another adult nearby, in charge of the sugar cane. (It can't have been the young girl as even when she stood up her shoulder wouldn't reach the pole!)

Both sets of tables and baskets have kept their shoulder poles attached, as though ready for a quick getaway, and the man and girl are looking in different directions. I wonder if they're selling without a license, and keeping a lookout for policemen?

"Hawking Offences" was by far the largest category of offences dealt with by Hong Kong's policemen in the early 20th century. The Police report for 1930 shows that over 45% of the total cases reported that year, 11,282 out of 24,931, were Hawking Offences.

Where: It's a sloping road with a stone retaining wall in the background that has a distinctive recess and pipe. Many of the old retaining walls still exist, so please let us know if you recognise it.

Who: Another man and his shoulder pole, though he looks to be making a delivery rather than selling as a hawker. His clothes have seen better days, with rips in his trousers. But maybe he isn't doing so badly as he is one of the few men in these scenes wearing shoes, and the only one I can see who is wearing socks.

Where: These first two photos aren't the sharpest, so we can't see all the details. But the pillar clearly shows "Ladies Tailor Hats Maker", and the sign resting against the pillar is also clear to see. Please leave a comment if you recognise them.

Who: The man sitting in the foreground is a rickshaw puller, waiting for his next customer. A colleague dressed in similar hat and clothes stands beyond him, leaning on the rickshaw. Both their hats have numbers painted on them, which I guessed would match the number of their rickshaws.

Unfortunately a rickshaw's number was displayed on the back of the vehicle, so it is out of sight. There is a number shown on the seat cushion, but ... it doesn't match either of the hats, so perhaps there's no connection after all.

On the right stand two more men. They wear similar, light-coloured clothes, so they're likely rickshaw pullers too. They wear different shaped hats though. That may be a sign they came from a different part of China, as Chi Ming Fung explains in his book Reluctant Heroes: Rickshaw Pullers in Hong Kong and Canton, 1874-1954:

An essayist, writing in 1937, spoke of an observable phenomenon of his own lifetime: rickshaw pullers of different hometown origins wore hats of different styles. As a rule of thumb, the bamboo hats of Hoklo natives were cone-shaped with sharp points at the top. Those with hats that were rounded and flat at the top were Chiuchow (Kung Sheung Daily News June 14, 1937).

Where: Another blank. The rickshaw rank I've seen most often is the one on Connaught Road, in front of St George's Building. But that doesn't match the background of this photo.

Instead we're looking at a wall with railings on top, with what looks to be a column or possibly a statue's plinth beyond. Does it ring any bells?

When: The seller dated these photos to "c.1930". I don't see anything to contradict that, e.g. the rickshaw's wheels suggest the photo was taken before WW2, as they're the type with wooden spokes, looking like wooden cartwheels. If I look down the list of photos tagged 'rickshaw' here on Gwulo, the earlier photos all show wheels like this. Then in the later, post-war photos, the rickshaws' wheels all look like bicycle wheels, using metal spokes.

A couple of Harrison Forman's photos, taken in 1940-41, capture the transition. Here's one, with the old style wooden wheel in front, and the new metal-spoked version following on behind.

Hong Kong, rickshaws on the street, by uwm

What: Here's a different style of shoulder pole, and a mysterious load. At first I thought it was a table being carried upside down, but if those are table legs they are very close together. Surely the table would fall over?

So now I think it is being carried the right way up. The "legs", are angled inwards so perhaps the tray in the centre somehow attaches on top of them?

Looking closer at that tray, it contains a couple of metal dishes, and a chicken enjoying the ride. Is this some sort of cooking apparatus? Though one chicken wouldn't feed many customers, so the 'hawkers selling food' explanation doesn't sound quite right.

There are some Chinese characters on the base of the frame. Do they give any clues what it was used for?

Where: This is a much sharper photo than the previous ones, but unfortunately the background is out of focus so we can't read either of the signs on the wall. If you can see anything that identifies the location, please let us know.

That covers all the men in the set. Next time we'll take a look at the three photos of women at work.

Trivia:

The photos in this set look like the commercially produced photos that were sold to tourists who'd paste them into their photo album. The eBay seller probably acquired the album, removed all the photos, then sold them individually or in small lots like this one.

Further reading:

• See more photos on Gwulo tagged:
  • chicken
  • hat
  • hawker
  • rickshaw
  • shoulder pole
• There are lots more photos and their stories in my Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell series of books

A look at what's new on the Gwulo website...

General

• Memories of sailing to and from Australia on the MV Changshain the 1950s and 60s, and details of cargo / passenger service between Singapore and Hong Kong in early 80s.
   
• The 1946 Typhoon
   
• Readers are looking for information about:
  • Kirsty is looking for access to Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of the journal Hong Kong and South China Builder, covering the early / mid 1930's
     
  • Guy is looking for any evidence that the Royal Navy used Double Haven as an anchorage
     
  • Chris Potter is hoping to contact Carolyn Philips (previously Carolyn Blake), ex-Stanley Camp. Chris and Carolyn were both interned in Stanley Camp as children, where their families shared one small room.
     
  • Did the British military train with live ammo in Hong Kong's country parks?
     
  • Where was the photographer standing to take these photos of the SS Conte Verde aground after the 1937 typhoon?
     
• Updates & answers:
  • Notes added about 28 Tai Hang Road and its owner. Also Phil has updated the photo to show more of the road. The 1960 movie panned across the scene, so Phil has combined multiple frames to give his wide-angle view.
     
  • In the comments to last week's Men at work in the 1930s, that upside-down table is identified as being used to serve roast pig (also see these comments), and the rickshaw rank was outside the entrance to the Naval Yard on today's Queensway.
     
  • The mysterious pile of granite blocks & columns near Baguio Villas have been identified as coming from the old Asia Life Building that was on Queen's Road in Central.
     
  • Several readers added information about the Latin American Chinese Community 1930s-1950s

Places

• Hong Kong
  • ARP Portal No. 60 below Monmouth Terrace Playground above Star Street [c.1941- ]
     
  • Harlech Road [c.1904- ]
     
  • Japanese Tunnel in Pinewood Battery Area Lung Fu Shan [c.1943- ]
     
  • The Hong Kong Electric Co. Ltd Kennedy Road Substation [????- ]
     
  • Nine Arches Buildings 15-23, Connaught Road [1903-c.1962], first home of the SCMP
    • Fung House (first generation) [c.1957-c.1982]
       
  • No 2 Tank [c.1860-c.1913], part of Hong Kong's early water supply
     
  • P & O Pier (first generation) [c.1875-c.1895]
     
  • Spring Garden Lane Pier [c.1880-c.1910]
     
  • Stone Nullah Lane [c.1850- ]
     
  • Small unknown construction below unpaved trail to Pinewood Battery Heritage Trail [c.1905- ]
     
  • Three successive, and very different uses of the land just below the junction of Hospital and Bonham Roads:
    • Unknown / No. 8 Police Station (2nd generation), IL598 [????-1925]
       
    • Basketball Court [????-????]
       
    • Yu To Sang Memorial Secondary School / Central and Western District St Anthony's School [c.1959- ]
       
• Kowloon
   
  • Hong Kong Observatory Signal Tower - Kowloon Hospital [????- ]
     
• New Territories
   
  • The South Conduit and the South Tunnel, built in the 1920s as part of the waterworks for the Shing Mun Valley Scheme.
     
  • Rosary Mission Center [1939- ], a Roman Catholic Church in the Sai Kung countryside, and the site where the Hong Kong-Kowloon Independent Battalion of the East River Guerrillas declared its establishment on 3 February 1942.
     
• Islands
   
  • Cheung Chau
     
    • A Cave Inscribed with Romantic / funny Poems
       
    • European house #11 [????- ]
       
    • Ruined house on IL 58 [????- ]
       
  • Lamma
     
    • Wong Chuk Kok 97 Beacon [????- ]

People

• REPATRIATION NOTICE No. 66 lists people leaving for the United Kingdom during the first week of April, 1946, on board the S.S. Strathmore.
   
• The 1942 list of casualties lists the men who died or were wounded from the Dockyard Defence Corps, Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, and Merchant Marine
   
• Betty Eva READMAN (née YOUNG, aka Yee Wah Yeung) [c.1930-1968]
   
• Robert George SUTHERLAND [1874-1947], worked at Jardine Matheson, Chieftain of the St Andrew's Society

Photos

Barker Road Houses 1931 (annotated), by Klaus

1954 Dairy Farm Ice Cream Seller, by Eternal1966

1954 Central waterfront, by Eternal1966

Damage to city done by typhoon Mary.1960, by fong.laikuen

1937 typhoon - Unknown tug, by achilles6

1937 typhoon - Feng Lee, by achilles6

1937 typhoon - Sunning, by achilles6

Tregunter Path Between Branksome Towers and Tavistock after
​​​​​​​Typhoon Rose (I think), by M_Marlowe

1950s Dairy Farm Silo, by Moddsey

Tsing Shan (Castle peak) firing range boundary marker No. 15, by simonho

Pinewood PF Cell 1st from south .jpg, by Chen QIAO

Click tosee all recently added photos.

We previously looked at photos of men at work, this week it's the women's turn.

What: This lady is surrounded by coal, with mounds of loose coal behind her, large baskets of coal on the left of the photo, and smaller baskets in the foreground. She is using a shoulder pole cut from bamboo to carry two of those smaller baskets.

Where: There aren't many clues to go on, but there might be a couple of masts in the distance on the right.

That would place the coal yard on the seafront, which makes sense: coal was delivered to Hong Kong by sea and moved around by human labour, so the shorter the distance it needed to be moved, the better.

Who: The people who used shoulder poles and baskets to move coal around were known as coal coolies. Most were kept busy unloading deliveries of coal from ships' holds, then either loading it into other ships' bunkers for use as fuel, or delivering it to the large steam boliers that powered Hong Kong. A smaller group worked for the household suppliers, delivering coal to customers' homes for use in cooking and heating, and I think that's what we're looking at here. It isn't clear whether the woman is just moving the baskets within the yard to add them to the stack on the left, or setting out on a delivery.

If you have Volume 4 of Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell, there's a photo of a woman delivering coal on page 28. She is clearly out on a delivery, as the photo shows her on a hillside path. She had even more strenuous work than the woman shown here, as she was carrying coal up to a customer's house on The Peak.

People carrying heavy loads on shoulder poles is one of the themes of Volume 4. While working on the photos for that book I'd noticed a division of responsibilities between the men and women, and wrote on page 33 that:

There are lots of photos [...] taken along the seafront and showing men carrying heavy loads on shoulder poles. But only men - I haven't seen any women among them.

Well...

Who: So although most of carrying work on the seafront was handled by men, and as far as I can tell the organised guilds of these workers were men-only, this new photo shows there were clearly women working there too.

This woman's work was even more difficult than carrying coal. Her baskets were probably just as heavy, but she also has to keep her balance to avoid slipping off the narrow plank and falling into the harbour.

What: She is carrying large baskets filled with some type of pots.

I think they're the type of clay cooking pots that we can still see around Hong Kong today.

Our last woman in the set is carrying a much lighter load...

What: The photographer captured the subject's face in the previous photos, but here he's photographed the lady's back. Remembering that these photos were taken for sale to tourists, I guess he had two items in mind that would catch their attention. First is the baby, wrapped up warmly and wearing a hat, and carried in a patchwork cloth carrier.

The second eye-catching item is the lady's plaited hair, so long that it almost reaches her knees.

Who: This lady works as a baby amah, taking care of her employer's child.

Back in the 1930s, one group of amahs that stood out from the rest were the 'ma je'. They came from the nearby Shun Tak area of southern China, and were famous for having taken vows of celibacy, and never marrying.

The ma je were known to keep their hair long, worn in a plait down the back when younger, or wound into a bun when older. They wore the sam fu stule of clothing, with a white top and black trousers.

The lady in this photo fits that description, but was she a ma je? The answer depends on whether having long braided hair and wearing the black and white sam fu was restricted to ma je, or was just a common look for amahs in general. The document linked below suggests the style was unique to the ma je:

They were easily identified by their plaited hair or hair bun and distinctive black and white samfu outfit.

But many Chinese women keep their hair long, and a white top is typical dress for an amah, so I'd guess the lady above could just as easily come from a different background and not be a ma je at all. If you can add any information about this, please could you leave a comment below?

Where: The photographer has chosen to have the subject sharp but the background blurred, which makes identifying the location difficult. Maybe somewhere along Des Voeux Road towards Sheung Wan?

As always, if you can add any more information or memories of similar scenes, please let us know in the comments below.

Further reading:

• Majie - a Singapore government publication about the ma je (pronounced majie in the Chinese dialect used in Singapore).
   
• See more photos tagged:
  • shoulder-pole
  • amah
  • baby carrier
     
• You'll find many more photos and their stories in my Old Hong Photos and The Tales They Tell series of books.