Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
75, Macdonnell Road
I went there a couple of times in the early 1990's. Although it was a government quarters, they didn't seem to mind who went to the canteen at the top. It had plain food, saggy furniture, cheap beer, and a great view out over the park.
I believe it was built in the early 1960s, and demolished before the handover to make way for the present building. Can anyone confirm the dates?
Previous place(s) at this location
Later place(s) at this location
Comments
Hermitage's years, and canteen
Hi David,
Digital repository of HKUL has a photo of it.
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2r36xt95w#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-1475%2C-80%2C5339%2C1586
I am lucky to have visited the canteen a number of times during the 90's.
Yes they served lunch with various main dishes like fried 'scallops' (fish), sausages etc; soup and coffee/tea included; heritage tableware... 🍽 served by Southeast Asian English-speaking attendants. I do not have common sense to tell the actual origin by appearance.
A good, quiet place for 'retreat' on a busy weekday, when my office was on Garden Road.
As my memory, there is also a poetic Chinese name at the building entrance. 隱廬, which means hermit's/hidden cottage. Not sure if this name is also inherited from the former building there.
I remember reaching it via Hong Kong Park. So it is Kennedy Road. Think the address is 42 Kennedy Road for that entrance. I have no idea how the site looked like at the back side (MacDonnell Road) then.
I re-confirmed this location by google street view of today's.
It was completed by 1966. Public Works Department Annual departmental report 1965-66 has described it after page 18.
Best regards, wl
Hermitage's years (supplement)
some more info as below :
The demolition of the former 'Hermitage' was described in that Annual Report 1962/63, pg 16. "The first project of its kind..."
Actual construction followed, as told by the next Annual Report 1963/64, pg 20.
Hermitage bar
The Bar of the Hermitage on an upper level was the meeting place of the HK Railway Society, a bunch of mainly like-minded expats interested in rail and tram transport.
When they could be dragged away from the bar to an open sided sitting room, there were usually transport related film or slide shows on offer. Conducted by members from their amazing travels seeking steam railways in China and far beyond.
Any Hermitage residents tempted to remain in this booked sitting out area studying their newspapers or books were politely asked to vacate. If they did not, they quickly dispersed when Tim Runnacles took to the floor. His marathon slide shows of not only Hong Kong’ s tram histories and current developments, and also his travels around the world investigating and photographing them were legendary. His commentaries were without notes and could carry on for hours, but they were definitely never boring.
https://gwulo.com/node/59931
After the Hermitage became unavailable, the Railway Society venue moved to a canteen at the Fo Tan KCR depot courtesy of the Rolling Stock manager. But this location was too far out of town for the those clinging to life on HK Island to venture out to.
1964/Sept: Only foundation…
1964/Sept: Only foundation works, or lower than 1-2 storeys tall.
1965/early-mid: full height with no scaffold.
Combining with the info from hkspace_wl above, so it was completed between Apr to mid-1965.