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Times have changed
I'm currently in Singapore and finally remembered to do what I had been meaning to do on my last few visits - update Warmtoast's 1958 picture of the Singapore Waterfront.
Here's Warmtoast's picture from Post No. 1: http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...rfront1957.jpg and here's a picture I took today: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps25b6ef21.jpg The picture location is a little bit closer than Warmtoast's vantage point and it is no longer the waterfront. His location is now in the middle of Esplanade Park. The Fullerton Building is still there, but has gained some more floors and is now the Fullerton Hotel. The bridge over the Singapore River on the right is still there, pretty much unchanged, but on the left is the Esplanade Bridge, completed in 1997, which links Nicholl Highway in the east with Shenton Way in the west. The skyline has changed beyond recognition. This used to be the mouth of the Singapore River, but it is now 1.5 miles upstream, due to land reclamation. The new river mouth has a permanent barrage, that has turned the river into a fresh-water reservoir. This is the view looking half-left in about the 10 o'clock position. The Marina Bay Sands Hotel looming over the Esplanade Bridge in the foreground: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbe8a45ed.jpg Looking further left, about 8 0'clock, are the Theatres on the Bay, otherwise known as the Big Durian, with the Singapore Flyer in the background: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0380a4ce.jpg Everything you see in the above two pictures is on reclaimed land. Finally, one more shot of the Fullerton and the Business district, from the other side of the Esplanade Bridge: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps576c21a3.jpg |
India Four Two
Thanks for the update. I still prefer the original Esplanade vista rather than today's concrete jungle, but then I'm not always in tune with modern developments which IMHO more often than not degrade rather than improve things. WT |
Warmtoast,
I agree with you. I can tolerate the tall buildings in the the business district, but I think the Marina Bay Sands hotel is an ugly abomination. When I first saw it, I was immediately reminded of the alien spaceship hovering over Johannesburg in the movie "District 9". What were the planning authorities thinking of? The answer of course is Chinese gamblers' money. |
Nostalgia sure ain't what it used to be..
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps37dfe053.jpg http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd452df76.jpg |
evansb
I was at Heathrow in October 1953 to see the start of the LHR - Christchurch (NZ) air race and took this photo of one of the two Aussie Canberras. It came second ISTR. http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps7024d58a.jpg The crew of the winning RAF Canberra shown in your photo (above) is here: http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps66d2e657.jpg |
Warmtoast,
The "23 hrs 52 mins" slogan made me wonder how long it takes today. I discovered that you can fly Singapore Airlines from London to Christchurch in 23 hrs 30 mins, with a 1 hour layover in Changi. Remarkable, and much more comfortable! The SQ flat-beds are much nicer than an MB armchair! |
Lady in White
Hello
I have written an article about Perla Siedle Gibson, Durban's Lady in White, which is to be published in a UK magazine, and am trying to find a picture (free!) of her for illustration. I notice there is one on your site and wonder if it is copyright free and whether I could use it? Any help would be appreciated. Regards |
Try sending a PM, (Private message) to Warmtoast; he will put you in the right direction as to its origin.
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Lady Writer
I notice there is one on your site and wonder if it is copyright free and whether I could use it? |
Britannia Club
Those are great pictures of the Britannia club where I learnt to swim in 1959 (son of a NCO based at Tanglin/ Blankan Mati). It was built on the sea side of Beach road - the clue is in the name :) - behind the club there was building and repairing of wooden vessels. Now a mile or so inland.
I have seen Singapore over the years (No52Sqn Seletar & Changi) then Asia trips Britannia/Thomson/Hadj. Watched the changes good and bad - Good - the financial district architecture / bad- the monstrous 'ship in the sky' hotel. :eek: There is a facebook page 'Nostalgic Singapore' which sometimes throws up some gems but probably doesn't mention the post flight watering hole next to Raffles that is 'Lot Stock and Barrel' - still open late for returning crews on my last holiday. |
Britannia Club
bpilot52
Some 2007 photos of the Britannia Club shortly before it was demolished here: http://www.pprune.org/military-aviat...ml#post4423413 (Post #43) |
RAF Changi - target of opportunity
I departed Changi today on 02C and as I had a window seat on the left, I was perfectly placed to take a snapshot of RAF Changi:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps7nueehw1.jpg |
Changi - 2015
India Four Two
I can just about make out Changi Creek which was alongside the Aircrew Transit Mess and what I seem to remember was the terminal parking area on the other side of the runway, but the rest is almost totally unrecognisable. Thanks for the update and nice to know there are still sailors around as can be seen from the sailing boats/dinghies moored where ISTR the RAF Changi sailing club was located. Has Changi Village where we used to do our shopping and catch the bus into Singapore gone too? |
Warmtoast,
There are a couple of resorts and the Changi Sailing Club adjacent to the boat moorings. There were a bunch of RSAF aircraft on the terminal ramp - mostly F27s I think. Sad to say, but after thirty years of visiting Singapore, I've never made it out to Changi Village or the Changi Jail museum. I'll have to do that next time. It's interesting that 02C, which is on reclaimed land, used to be 02R. There is now another 02R further east, on even more reclaimed land. PS All the streets in Changi Village and RSAF Changi still have their old aviation-related names e.g. Upavon Road, Wittering Road, Tangmere Road, etc. |
The Empress of Scotland...
This might just creep in under the thread-bar. Its May 1948. At Port Said boarding is taking place by tank landing ship to the outer mole where a great grey three-funnel troopship awaits, vast in the morning sunshine. We're going home. I'm only five so I'm carried up the gangplank by my Dad. Terrifying! The Empress was huge and my mother and I shared a very nice cabin with a large porthole and another family. Our Dads were required to bunk down with their troops but joined us at all other times. It was great, the food was good, there were games, a swimming pool, and loads of chocolate. I particularly liked Gray Dunn's Chocolate wafers which I had not seen before. We'd been in Egypt for three years since joining my father there, so I was sure that it was always warm and sunny everywhere, and that the sea was always warm and blue. When the great ship called in to Malta my uncle and aunt came out to see us. He was resplendent in his naval uniform. Then our world crashed when we arrived in Liverpool after our seven-day voyage. The Pool was cold, grey, dingy, damaged, dreary and distinctly depressing as we lined up for our brown stew and grey lumpy mash at a dismal Army family reception centre. Egypt and the Canal Zone seemed liked a far-off dream.
Postcript: while messing about on the internet recently I found Findmypast.co.uk and was surprised to see that all the Empress of Scotland's passenger lists were available, and there I was, duly recorded. I then found the old ship's deck plans and photographs on a Canadian Pacific site and wallowed in some good old-fashioned nostalgia. Highly recommended! |
Its May 1948. I'm only five |
Changi Village
India Four Two
Re my query about Changi Village. Google's your friend! From Google Earth - June 2015 street views: What a change from 1963 when I last meandered through the village to do my shopping. http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psxarn3mpf.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps43py4djf.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psb8qvvdar.jpg ...and in late 1950's http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...lage-Buses.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...gi-Village.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...pscc0c9a4f.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psd01d6a1e.jpg Apologies for quality, but screen grabs from my 8mm cine film. |
The advertisement of the Raffles hotel is interesting, insofar it has a Dutch text on top, advertising special cigarettes made of Dutch East Indies (DEI) tobacco, manufactured by Smits in Batavia, DEI, (now Djakarta, Indonesia) and Noordwijk (a coastal town in The Netherlands). Any idea why a Dutch text would appear in an English advertisement?
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More targets of opportunity for Warmtoast
Somewhat unexpectedly, I'm back in Singapore for a few days and I decided I would like to go sailing. I ended up going for a sail on a ketch, which is moored at the Changi Sailing Club!
Here's a picture of the club as we approached the dock. The original building is on the left and an extension, with pool, to the right: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pss77fuh6w.jpg While we were out sailing in the channel, we saw a fleet of about 50 Optimists racing, with a new generation of young sailors on board. We arrived back, just in front of a blizzard of Optis, since their race had been abandoned in view of the approaching thunderstorm in the background: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps0d3hxtlr.jpg Changi village: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps9wocfgt3.jpg A barrack block on Farnborough Road (taken from Loyang Avenue): http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psoipfyivl.jpg Married quarters (?) on the north side of Loyang Avenue: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ps107tdrj3.jpg Building near the main gate to RSAF Changi West (Changi East is to the east of the civil airfield, with its own, new runway): http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psbunhnhq9.jpg Then and now Former Supreme Court Building (L) and former City Hall (R), now both renovated as the National Gallery: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psde5czvzq.png http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psu8qa54mk.png Not the same tree as in Warmtoast's picture. St Andrew's Cathedral. It is not clear from my picture but the distinctive gate posts are still there: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...pscfcxiqaf.png |
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