Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Photos from ex-residents (8) - Peter Chan

My friend Peter Chan, who had previously sent me some of his photos of Hillview, has just sent me what I think is one of the best aerial views of the Hillview/Upper Bukit Timah area.

This was probably taken in the early 1960s and reinforces some of the things I described in my earlier blogs. Click on the picture for a larger view to see the details.


Princess Elizabeth Estate is at the bottom right corner. The estate football pitch is clearly seen.

In front of P.E.E. is the Malayan Guttas company with its Casaurina trees. Part of Hume Industries is behind the Malayan Guttas factory.

In the centre, on the left of Malayan Guttas is the National Carbon (Union Carbide) plant.
Click the photo for a detailed view and you can see the tower at National Carbon where they had a huge battery on the top of the tower. The tower is beside Hillview Road, just before the railway girder bridge.

The 3rd factory on the left is the Hong Kong Rope Manufacturing Company. This was replaced by the Castrol company after the rope factory closed in the late 60s.

Upper Bukit Timah Road cuts across the picture in the middle, running parallel to the KTM railway line.

Beyond Upper Bukit Timah Road on the extreme left is Gammon Malaya, a company producing concrete pipes. The white patch on the right of Gammon is the road junction of Dairy Farm Road.
This led to both Dairy Farm (top left) and the Dairy Farm Quarry (behind the junction).

The housing development on the right is Fuyong Estate, where I lived after moving out from Princess Elizabeth Estate. My house was the 4th semi-detached unit in the front row from the left. There was a large malay kampong behind Fuyong Estate on the upper slope of Bukit Timah hill.

The Salvation Army Lee Kuo Chuan Home is between Dairy Farm and Fuyong Estate. You can see its beautifully manicured terraced lawn.

The quarry on the extreme right is the Singapore Granite Quarry. Today this has been converted into the Singapore Quarry Nature Park.

My grateful thanks to Peter for the above photograph.


Related link: Hillview from Bukit Timah Hill

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