King's Road, Quarry Bay

Wed, 12/11/2019 - 16:04

Screen capture from the 1960 Hong Kong series starring Rod Taylor. This shows the view looking west up King's Road from the approximate area of today's Kornhill development.

I know the building on the hillside was part of the Tai Koo refinery, but does anyone recall what it's function was?

You can see afew more images from the sequence here.

Date picture taken
1960s
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This pic is taken from the foot of the path up to Stanley Terrace.

The building shown did not relate to the refinery, but rather to Swire's China Navigation Co., who used it for officers waiting between ships.  I think also Taikoo Dockyard for singles temporary accommodation.

The Taikoo Club tennis court was immediately adjacent to the west.

Phil - I am almost certain it was built early post WWII. Don't know when it was demolished, but would be no later than 1976 when the foothill where Stanley Terrace stood was levelled - it most probably went to make way for the initial Taikoo Shing apartments development on the dockyard (and sugar refinery?) site. - Geoff  

Just thought to comment on the above as also being the backdrop to something that both my mother and father used to talk about when I was a lad. After separately (they did not know each other at that time) being taken prisoners of war earlier in the day from Stanley Terrace, (Taikoo Dockyard quarters which were on the hill on the opposite side of the cutting) they, together with many other men, women and children, including soldiers, were lined up against the cutting by the Japanese troops. I will always remember my mother telling me how she and many of the others who were in the line were crying and praying as they thought there were all going to be shot - especially when the Japanese test fired the machine gun which they had placed in the middle of the road in front of them. Whilst being held there my mother also witnessed a member of the dockyard's security unit being shot down near the adjacent  'West Gate' (I seem to recall her saying he was an Indian guard). Eventually a Japanese officer on a horse came up the hill from the direction of Quarry Bay and ordered the soldiers to march the prisoners off to start their internment - in the Nissan huts at North Point.