ZIM CITY

from Southside March 2021

SECRETS

Restoring a lost trail

Paul Zimmerman goes in search of an 1848 Stanley Road

Having read my story in Southside about the discovery of 16 masonry aqueducts constructed in 1877 as part of the Pok Fu Lam conduit, a Stanley resident sent a message saying that he had seen similar bridges in the woods between Chung Hom Kok Road and Ma Hang Prison. We had to check it out.

The TrailWatch app showed a rough trail below Stanley Gap Road which we reached after some scrambling.

The trail led us to an old road overgrown by trees running over two masonry bridges and a storm drain. Using Hkmaps.hk (a map viewer created by Tymon Mellor with maps of Hong Kong dating back to 1810m) it became clear that we found a section of Stanley Road. After posting the find, another reader reported that the index of the Government Records Service listed a “Bond for Contract No. 10 of 1847 between A Shung and Charles St. George Cleverly”, whereby A Shung agreed and engaged to build a piece of road between Aberdeen and Stanley. Chim Aqui’s and PakPing’s became sureties in the sum of $1,000.”

The document had been discovered on 1962 in the roof of the Supreme Court Building during a building survey.

Government annual reports show that Stanley Road was built as a bridle road, good for horses and people on foot, between Aberdeen and Stanley. Around the same time a similar road was built from Stanley to Shau Kei Wan. The 1890 report notes that Stanley Road had not been repaired since 1874. In 1918 the new road, Stanley Gap Road was built higher up the hill. Soon thereafter, Stanley Road disappeared from maps.

We are proposing Government to grade the masonry bridges as heritage structures and to link Wilson Trail with Stanley Village by fixing Stanley Road together with adjacent trails for hikers. This will directly benefit the local economy, as many will end their journey with a meal and drink at restaurants or food stalls at the Stanley waterfront.

Today, in the absence of a safe footpath along Stanley Gap Road, hikers of the Wilson Trail find themselves jumping on the bus and skipping Stanley altogether.

Those who are comfortable walking the rough can explore the historic Stanley Road. While you are at it, you may want to volunteer clearing rubble and overgrowth in advance of government resource deployment. Happy hiking.