Redstone's list of places to go!
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LazerLordz
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redstone said:Old pic:
I've seen this picture at the NUS School of Architecture, think it was from the Information Resource Center too.The print image is much clearer and we can see how it was in the past, with minimal physical alteration
Do check out the IRC, it has interesting tomes on related issues.
Kinloss House, 3 Ladyhill Road
This is the old Kinloss House. Do not know about the history, but was last used to house a department of the Police.
Can only snap from outside...
Old pic:
Kinloss House was a British Army managed boarding house for children attending Bourne School at Alexandra and Gillman Barracks in the 1960s. I was one of about 200 children there in 1967-68 before moving on to St Johns School at Dover Road, next to the golf course.
There was the main house, as photographed - very sad to see it in such disrepair - with dormitories lower down the hill on 2 levels. It was a very happy place with the girls living mainly in the house but with a few living in huts on the first lower level (and obviously segregated from the boys' dormitories!).
It was the most enormous and beautiful old colonial house. It really is a tragedy to see the old building so dilapidated. Surely the style of building is a part of Singapore's history, to be preserved in some way? I have to say I feel hugely privileged to have lived in such a place at such a time, just as Singapore was taking off - as Tanglin was being modernised and Orchard Road being transformed with skyscrapers. I remember my time in Singapore with great warmth and pleasure, as, judging by some other websites' contents from people who were my contemporaries, do literally thousands of others.
Rumour had it that Kinloss House was used by the Japanese during the occupation - which, as small boys, fuelled our imaginations on far and wide adventures. There were no military staff in attendance, only school teachers who looked after us day and night. We were all children of British servicemen, including Gurkhas, who were serving in Singapore and Malaysia, including Borneo. My father was seconded to the RMAF, teaching at Kinrara near KL.
On the ground floor to the left as you go up the main entrance steps into the beautiful teak-lined entrance hall, was a sitting room where we dropped our dhoby three days a week - and less pleasantly, where the Housemaster, Mr Tapper, doled out the cane to those of us - no less me - who went beyond the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. Behind that room was a games room where we played chess, cards etc. On the right was the dining room with the kitchen and servery at the rear.
Rising up the graceful staircase (which went from right to left) brought you into the large open communal space that was used for homework (dozens of desks), Saturday night cinema and Sunday night dances (of the old style ballroom). The girls' dormitories entrance doors led off from this common room.
Outside the main house, one level down (a short flight of 6 steps or so) was the first 'quadrangle' of 3 dormitory huts in a straight line: 2 boys' and behind a wire fence, one girls'. Each hut had 4 dormitories as I remember, with a toilet block at the end of each. One small part of a boys' hut next to the partition fence with the girls' accommodation was used as a disco.
The next level down was via flights of about 20 steps. It was a largely open space with more huts. On the left going down was a boys' dormitory line and to the right was the teachers' hut. There was a further level below this that was used only by boy scouts making fires; but there was also a large bungalow down there in which the service staff, such as cooks, lived. I remember the view through the boundary fence was of a huge well-mown area of grass with a beautiful house on it about 200-300 metres away.
Rumour had it that Kinloss House was used by the Japanese during the occupation - which, as small boys, fuelled our imaginations on far and wide adventures. There were no military staff in attendance, only school teachers who looked after us day and night. We were all children of British servicemen, including Gurkhas, who were serving in Singapore and Malaysia, including Borneo. My father was seconded to the RMAF, teaching at Kinrara near KL.
On the ground floor to the left as you go up the main entrance steps into the beautiful teak-lined entrance hall, was a sitting room where we dropped our dhoby three days a week - and less pleasantly, where the Housemaster, Mr Tapper, doled out the cane to those of us - no less me - who went beyond the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. Behind that room was a games room where we played chess, cards etc. On the right was the dining room with the kitchen and servery at the rear.
Rising up the graceful staircase (which went from right to left) brought you into the large open communal space that was used for homework (dozens of desks), Saturday night cinema and Sunday night dances (of the old style ballroom). The girls' dormitories entrance doors led off from this common room.
Outside the main house, one level down (a short flight of 6 steps or so) was the first 'quadrangle' of 3 dormitory huts in a straight line: 2 boys' and behind a wire fence, one girls'. Each hut had 4 dormitories as I remember, with a toilet block at the end of each. One small part of a boys' hut next to the partition fence with the girls' accommodation was used as a disco.
The next level down was via flights of about 20 steps. It was a largely open space with more huts. On the left going down was a boys' dormitory line and to the right was the teachers' hut. There was a further level below this that was used only by boy scouts making fires; but there was also a large bungalow down there in which the service staff, such as cooks, lived. I remember the view through the boundary fence was of a huge well-mown area of grass with a beautiful house on it about 200-300 metres away.
Yes, sorry if it looks a bit long but I thought I'd answer Redstone's implied question above about its history and whether it had been a barracks. I found this site completely by accident - the photos came up on Google while I was looking for info - and of course knew some part of the answer.
Lots of info, people and photos on
http://www.singas.co.uk/
and reviews of history of such places in Singapore in back-copies (July - Sep 06 I think) at
http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/
Lots of info, people and photos on
http://www.singas.co.uk/
and reviews of history of such places in Singapore in back-copies (July - Sep 06 I think) at
http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/
sazabi3000
New Member
Woah...
When are you organizing a photo shoot for any of these places?
:cheergal:
When are you organizing a photo shoot for any of these places?
:cheergal:
kynoe
Member
I'm interested to shoot on 25th too... GlosMikeP, would you be kind enough to show us around ?
I would love to, but it's a bit difficult living 8000 miles away!I'm interested to shoot on 25th too... GlosMikeP, would you be kind enough to show us around ?
I was hoping you guys could show me photos of what the places I lived and went to school in look like now.:thumbsup:
And who knows, http://goodmorningyesterday.blogspot.com/ might like them too.
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