Re: The photos and current discussion on the NT Pagoda (Tsui Sing Lau ??)
- this 'still' frame is from the same 8mm film and was taken just prior to the footage of the pagoda, if not the same day then probably the same week in 1948.
I am presuming it is a crossing somewhere on the border - does anyone know?
(I've uploaded another two photos of the same building and fencing.)
Suziepie
Date picture taken
14 Feb 1948
Shows place(s)
Comments
If it is a crossing, the best
If it is a crossing, the best known crossing is at Lo Wu:
http://gwulo.com/node/9944
Though the photos we have aren't clear enough to give a firm match.
Given the Union Jack that is flying it should be some sort of government building. I wondered if it's a police station, given the sturdy fence around it. My first thought was the Pat Heung police station: http://gwulo.com/node/22571
However the ledge that sticks out from the wall doesn't match, so it can't be that.
Regards, David
Fire station
If Roland Brooks was the Deputy Chief Fire Officer it would fit in easily for him to visit fire stations.
Perhaps we should be looking for barbed wire fences around fire stations, starting with the NT?
Takwuling Police station?
This building is not at LoWu: it is Takwuling (打鼓嶺) Police station - current structure built about 1937, with additions being made during the 1950s and 1970s. The original Police station at this location (of which no trace now remains) was built in 1905.
The station's thick tree cover were sandalwood trees growing within the station compound; these have long ago been cut back and/or removed.
There is a very small (reputedly the smallest in Hong Kong) fire station opposite this Police station, positioned a few metres behind the photographer. This fire station seemingly dates from rather more recent times than the Police station, probably late 1940s or early 1950s.
Although not an immigration department controlled border crossing, to the north of Takwuling Police station there is a bridge between Hong Kong and the Mainland, used by farmers to cross and tend fields and crops.
Re: Ta Kwu Ling
Not sure if the pagoda that can be seen in the cine film is also located in the area of Ta Kwu Ling. There is a set of current photos of Ta Kwu Ling Village here
Re: TaKwuLing
Hello moddsey, thank you for your comment: the pagoda seen in the film is probably Tsui Sing Lau (聚星樓) near Tin Shui Wai Railway Station. It is indeed a goodly number of miles away from Takwuling and (as you surmise) it is not at all visible from Takwuling.
However, the building currently under discussion is Takwuling Police station. The location of the nearby fire station would fit in nicely with Roland Brooks (was he not Deputy Chief Fire Officer) being in the area.
There are some excellent photos among the massive bunch of 140 or so that you posted. In the interests of strict accuracy, it must be noted that those photos are not actually of Takwuling village as such, but are rather of a number of different villages and locations in the area. From what I recognise (the photographer entering via the checkpoint on Ping Che Road) villages in the shots seem to include Tong Fong, Kan Tau Wai, Heung Yuen, Heung Yuen Wai, Chung Yuen Ha, Chuk Yuen New Village and Lin Ma Hang to the east of the area, plus San Uk Ling to the west. There are also some interesting shots of one or more police posts (possibly Muk Wu and/or Pak Fa Shan - they look similar, and without context are difficult to differentiate) and also photos of fortifications from the second World War and the Korean War. It would add greatly to the historical record if the photos could be grouped by location and a summary of what is being photographed added as a caption.
Kind regards.