More KCR remnants – old track in Tai Wai

Ah feck it! The inevitable could no longer be avoided (I guess if it could it wouldn’t be inevitable, would it?). I have a bunch of stuff in the queue, most of which involving more than one of my excellent and professionally taken snapshots (*cough*) and if I want to keep this thing going (which I do by the way – I quite enjoy this process of learning by sharing, or whatever you wish to call these often nonsensical splutterings – sometimes I feel my recently developed Tourettes has found its true outlet here).

Yes, I have dug deep into my very shallow pockets and amongst the fluff, old sweets and bits of blu-tac, have managed to find enough spare change to cover a media-space-upgrade for the next year. Yes, my site is now bulging with extra GIG just waiting to be filled so I can confound you, faithful followers and accidental finders alike, with pictures as well as words. Anyway, verbal diarrhoea over, let’s move on and what better way to mark this new era of (expensive) blogging with a trainspotting entry.

The Great Hill – former site of Old Shatin Police Station

A while back Roger left an intriguing comment about this place and it’s been on my ‘to do’ list for some time. I had never heard of this former site until then, and actually Roger has pointed quite a few interesting places out for me so many thanks to him, and others, for taking an interest in this stuff and offering suggestions and information.

Well, I had a bit of spare time today on the way back home and decided to make the very short detour up Tung Lo Wan Hill Road to check out the brass plaque that has been attached to the side of this residential complex.

Old KCR Plaque at Tai Wai Station

I noticed this some time ago (seems as though I am getting better at spotting this type of stuff) but only just got the chance to grab a snap. The problem is I have no idea what it is or was so I am hoping one of the train experts out there may be able to help me. I guess it could be a plaque from an older KCR train carriage, or perhaps a plaque from the old pre-electrical track system?

Wai Bun Castle, Tai Wai

Looking back at the comments for Li Cottage, you will notice that I made reference to another place in Tai Wai tucked under the Shing Mun Tunnel flyover that looked interesting. Roger made a comment to say the place was called Wai Bun Castle and gave me a link to Chinese Wikipedia that contained a bit more information about it.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to have a quick wander over the other day and grab a few snaps and although it seems that there is nothing particularly special to see inside the place as it stands – it’s essentially a large sitting out area situated right underneath the flyover where lots of oldies gather to play chess and have a natter, and possibly an illegal flutter  – I figured the spot had a reasonable amount of history behind it, and it’s certainly a quirky enough place given its location to warrant an attempt at translating the info on wiki. So here goes.

Li Cottage, Tai Wai

As seems to be my usual – albeit unintended – modus operandi, I had a bit of time to kill whilst waiting to collect one of the offspring from school and went for a little wander up some roads in Tai Wai – in fact not far from my previous little excursions when I went to have a look at this place.

Living History, Hong Kong Journeys – old photos on the East Rail Line

Over the past few weeks, on my daily school run between Tai Po Market and Tai Wai East Rail stations, I’ve noticed that both stations have been displaying historical photos of the nearby areas.  They’re an interesting diversion for twenty minutes or so as you walk up and down the platforms looking at how unbelievably undeveloped Hong Kong was until just a couple of decades ago.

Shatin Inn, Tai Po Road

Here’s one I found purely by accident. Walking up the hill past Tai Wai New Village, I noticed what looked like a small 1 storey ramshackle building with a corrugated iron roof. It’s tucked neatly away in the shadow of the new Tai Po Road trunk system and looks fairly innocuous, but interesting enough for me to go and have a sneaky peak to see what it was.

Tai Wai Walled Village and its Hau Wong Temple

Tai Wai (pronounced Dai Wai in Cantonese) basically means ‘Big Walled Village’ and although there is a stop on the MTR East Rail line, the original area has more or less been absorbed into what is now considered as the greater Sha Tin area. Despite this, the village that gives its name to this part of the area still exists and has some great little historical parts to it, it’s no surprise seeing as it dates back to 1574 – making it the oldest village in the area.