Hongkong Some pictures of No.2 Devon Road in 1961. History

Arek Madiun   6:36 AM   1960s, Kowloon, Kowloon Tong   Comment  

A little over a year ago I republished a blog entry about the original houses that can still be found in Kowloon Tong. You can read about it here: Down in the Tong. I'm very lucky because a very nice person called Kathryn has sent me some photos of one of the houses that is (currently...) still standing.

No. 2 Devon Road is still in fairly decent condition and looks to have had very little done to it over the years, unlike many of the other original buildings that have been extensively remodeled or even worse, just demolished. Here's a picture I took of it a year or so ago - unfortunately, this was the best shot I could get without making people think I was a burglar.

Anyway, here is how the property looked 50 + years ago, all the way back in 1961.

The pictures have been scanned from 50 year old slides (one of several thousand from Kathryn's mum's 1960s Asia trip) and so I've had to guess which way round the house should be. But judging by the current layout with a path from the front gate on the right hand side, I think this should be the right way around. The house next door - #3 Devon Road - can be seen on the right of the picture and was demolished more than 20 years ago to make way for a more modern property.

There are also a few pictures taken inside the house.

The dining room

A party in the living room/lounge

Family dog chilling out

One of the most interesting shots for me though is this one that looks to have been taken from the front upstairs balcony (all the old houses had open balconies).

It's interesting because it is looking over to the area where the Baptist Hospital and Broadcast Drive now stands. Look closely and you will just see hills typical of the type that once covered the whole of Kowloon. Pretty much all of them have been removed for development. The ridge at the back is actually the eastern side of Lion Rock. The two buildings you can see are Cornwall Terrace in the far background (it's still around, see below) and what looks to be either #6 or #8 Dorset Crescent (I'm erring on the side of #8). 

Cornwall Terrace seen from Cornwall Street

Although Cornwall Terrace is still around, the view from Devon Road is now obscured by a profusion of theological institutes built along Dorset Crescent.

Anyway, once again, many thanks to Kathryn for her generous sharing of some very old pictures - although to be honest the quality of the colour on them makes them seem much more recent.