Gulf/Concord Kerosene Store was located on Chung Hau Street in the No.12 Hill District. Opened in 1970 or 1971, it first appears on the map dated March 1971. Kerosene was used for household cooking in these days, later replaced by LPG which was also sold here.The building is on the slope of Partridge Hill (name from the 1960 map on HKMS 2.0) with direct access from Chung Hau Road. Construction of this road started in the 1960s, it was finished not before the mid-1970s.
The store would normally be of no great interest, but it caught my eyes when I posted a 1980 photo of Wylie Court:
It's the large sign reading GULF. I originally thought it would be an oil tank, but it's large billboard, possibly 10x10m wide. The place is very exposed above Chatham Road North. The photo above was taken from the Peak, so it's visible from many locations. On Flickr, many people report that they regularly saw the sign when they drove on Princess Margret Road or when they went to school (Carmel or Holy Trinity). Here is a close-up photo that shows the advertising billboard.
Probably in the 1990s, the store was taken over by Concord Oil Company (HK based and founded in 1991). The name GULF was replaced later by Concord. In 2012, the store was demolished. On this place a bus stop was built, in connection with the new MTR Ho Man Tin Station.
Photos that show this Place
Comments
view from a flyover
This is a view from a flyover of the chatham-princess margaret network in the 1970s. The Gulf sign and the signs on top of the a building at the Chatham-winslow junction can be seen. All the signs are gone now.
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This is the 2009 google map street view of the approximate location the above picture was taken. It was around a junction on the princess Margaret flyover. The signs were gone but the buildings still there except valley road estate which had been demolished.
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The following news picture on 1979-11-18 a bit blurred but most features were there. It was taken near the wuhu-chatham junction closer to the gulf store.
https://new.gwulo.com/media/43051/zoom
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The two signs on the right of gulf sign in the above picture can be seen in this 1960s picture before the gulf store and flyovers were built. The valley hill estate was built in 1962.
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This picture probably taken in the 1980s with the new victory bus model.