Hong Kong, Kowloon & Whampoa Dockyards, Hung Hom [1868-????]

Hi there,

I remember when I was a kid and when the Hung Hom Bay had not been fill up, the Ferries would skim along the dockyards' drydock gates before they either turn west towards Wanchai, or straight towards North Point.  Every nut and bolt of the gigantic gates would be visible.

If you want to imagine where exactly were the ferry piers.  That would be simple.  After the Hung Hom Railway Terminus was built, a foot bridge was built to link up the Hung Hom Bay area.  The foot bridge still exist and still in heavy use.  The old piers were just beside the bridge, slightly southwards.

The water front of the dockyards should be approximately along the modern day Hung Hom South Road.

Best Regards,

T

 Trying to track down information on PWD Workshops which were sandwiched between KCR Workshops in the north and Chatham Rd. to the south, almost directly across the road from the Cable and Wireless Station in Hung Hom. The residence was above the workshop and the property had a relatively large garden.

Chatham Road Cable & Wireless Station

Chatham Road Camp and the hammerhead crane at Hung Hom Dockyard can be seen.

These shots were taken early morning as I walked around the Hung Hom Dockyard and Ferry Wharf precinct in January 1976.  I was staying at The Holy Carpenter Guest House in Dyer Avenue and enjoyed looking around the area as the locals were going about their daily business.

Here are the different ways they're labelled on maps in the Mapping Hong Kong book:

From: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol. 30 (1990 ), page 233-34

HONG KONG HONGS WITH LONG HISTORIES AND BRITISH CONNECTIONS by DAN WATERS 

Nevertheless, it has been claimed the first 'great firm' to be established in the Colony was really the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, although the industry had its origins, regionally, in Canton. That is why the word Whampoa (a place in Canton) is included in the above name. The firm is No.I on the Register of Companies. Austin Coates maintains in his book, "Whampoa, Ships on the Shore", that the formation of Union Docks (which was absorbed into the Hong Kong and Whampoa Docks in 1870) in 1863, was

"... the most significant commercial and industrial moment in Hong Kong's history."

When it opened, in 1868, it gave the Colony a new orientation. The first vessel the Docks built was the 46-foot launch, Duncan, for their own use, which affectionately became known as Old No.1 .

There's a bit more about the opening on page 83 of Whampoa Ships on the Shore:

As the completing touch, when the Union Dock at last opened, and on 15 August 1868 the first ship entered, the pumps refused to work, and nothing in the ingenuity of man would make them do so. The small pump used in building the dock - by pump standards a toy pump - had to be used, and it took hours and hours.

I can certainly relate to the photo showing Whompoa Docks and the C & W Radio Station. My grandfather worked at the Docks and my uncle at the Station both before and after the war. I vividly recall the Docks while passing by on the Hung Hom/North Point Ferry and seeing the station travelling along that part of Chatham Road though I never entered either of those places. 

The western part of the dock was demolished around 1978 to make way for the Hunghom bay centre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunghom_Bay_Centre

https://gwulo.com/atom/41721

The remaining eastern part was demolished in early 1990s with the last mansion of Whampoa garden finished in 1991. This is what you expect when the company was acquired by Li Ka Shing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whampoa_Garden

In GeoffWhere's  photo One can see a shop with an orange sign. On the right hand side of it was a shop with a white sign. This shop was a store selling snacks, soda, cigarette etc. It was the predecessor of the famous "Shi Sun fast food restaurant". It became the fast food restaurant by taking over its orange neighbor. Your photo gave us a missing link in the history of this retaurant. Now we know the transition took place after 1976. The following link shows how it looked like in the 1980s, 2017 and now. It closed down in 2017.

https://gwulo.com/atom/42025

Workers leaving dockyard.