香港仔水塘
Aberdeen Reservoir is located in the valley between Mount Cameron, Tin Wan Shan and Bennet's Hill. It consists of the Upper Aberdeen Reservoir and the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir.
The Lower Aberdeen Reservoir was formerly a private reservoir owned by Tai Shing Paper Mill. The reservoir was built in 1890, in addition to supplying water to the paper factory, it also provided drinking water to the residents in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau. In 1929, the government implemented Aberdeen Scheme to increase the water storage of Aberdeen Valley. Apart from purchasing the private reservoir from Tai Shing Paper Mill, the government also planned to build an upper reservoir to alleviate the drinking water problem in the western district of Hong Kong Island. In 1932, the construction of the Upper Aberdeen Reservoir, and the reconstruction of the dam for the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir were completed. At present, four facilities in the two reservoirs are declared monuments, namely the stone bridge, dam, valve house of Upper Aberdeen Reservoir, as well as the dam of Lower Aberdeen Reservoir.
In addition, Aberdeen P.H.A.B. Site was built on the west side of the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir. The site is equipped with wheelchair trail, guided path, braille maps, interpretive signs about plants, barrier-free barbecue site, fitness facilities and toilets.
To visit Aberdeen Reservoir or P.H.A.B. Site, go via Aberdeen Reservoir Road from the north of Aberdeen urban area.
| Yue Kwong Road | Aberdeen Reservoir Road | The dam of Upper Aberdeen Reservoir | Aberdeen Reservoir Road | Yue Kwong Road | Shek Pai Wan Estate | |||||
After getting off at the bus stop on Yue Kwong Road, head back to Aberdeen Reservoir Road, turn right and walk up. After passing through the gate on forest road, continue along Aberdeen Reservoir Road which is next to the P.H.A.B. Site, ascend slightly and connect to the flat water channel, then walk to the fork (i.e. Aberdeen Fitness Trail). Turn right from the fork and go to the dam of the Upper Aberdeen Reservoir. Then, retrace your steps to Yue Kwong Road, and descend along the driveway to Shek Pai Wan Estate. After passing the entrance of the estate’s car park, take the lift of Shek Pai Wan Shopping Center at Pik Ngan House to the bus terminal on ground floor (LG3).
Accessible toilet, barbecue site, interpretive signs and pavilions
| Starting point | ||
| Bus No. 7 。76 。95 。 971 | Districts - Shek Pai Wan Estate (Hoy Au Lau of Yue Kwong Chuen, get off at Yue Kwong Road) |
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| Endpoint | ||
| Same as the above (Get on at Shek Pai Wan Estate) |
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- The corner at the junction of Yue Kwong Road and Aberdeen Reservoir Road is quite a steep slope, please pay extra attention to that.
- The ramp along Aberdeen Reservoir Road to the gate of the reservoir is about 12° (1:5), wheelchair users are advised to be assisted by their companions; manual wheelchair users are suggested to reach the gate by car directly.
- Although visitors can walk all the way to Wan Chai Gap via Aberdeen Reservoir Road, that part of the road is very steep and is not suitable for wheelchair users.
Ka Man, an electric wheelchair user: This is my first hike to get close to nature after using an electric wheelchair. Aberdeen Reservoir is a natural environment with birdsongs and floral fragrance. I never thought electric wheelchairs could go up to the hill, ramp was built at the pavilion there so wheelchair users could rest and take shelter from the rain. The trail was wide enough for two wheelchairs to move at the same time, we could see Ocean Park on the other side, the environment was beautiful and worth visiting.
The trail surface was flat, which is easy for electric wheelchairs to navigate. There were not many bumps or steep ramps, only a couple of sections were steep but they do not affect the use of electric wheelchair.
Visitors can see three monuments of the Upper Aberdeen Reservoir along the trail, a close-up view of the valley in Aberdeen Country Park from the dam, as well as Lower Aberdeen Reservoir from a distance. The barrier-free facilities along the way were convenient enough, but the slope of the first part of Aberdeen Reservoir was relatively steep, which was inconvenient to wheelchair users.
Aberdeen P.H.A.B. Site has many barrier-free facilities, such as barbecue pits, fitness facilities and interpretive signs, I visited the wheelchair trail on a holiday but it was deserted. I think it is unnecessary to limit outing activities to a specific area (see the blog "Barrier-free Countryside" for details, in Chinese only), therefore I did not include Pak Tam Chung or Aberdeen P.H.A.B. Site in the featured blogs of barrier-free trails.
The trail could only see the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir from afar, in fact, there is another path on the right of the reservoir’s gate that could lead to the lower reservoir. The first part of it is flat and concrete, followed by a slightly narrower and bumpier muddy path, and then there are steps which are not accessible for wheelchairs. The right side of the concrete path is connected to the dam of the Lower Aberdeen Reservoir, but wheelchairs cannot pass because of the steps built. Slight improvement would allow wheelchair users to visit one of the remaining monuments (note: it is unknown whether the steps are part of the monument).
- David Bellis：Aberdeen Lower Reservoir [1890- ]。Gwulo: Old Hong Kong。2017
- Hong Kong Government：Hong Kong Legislative Council。1929
- 劉智鵬、黃君健：《黃竹坑故事：從河谷平原到創協坊》。三聯書店。2015
- James Chan：Tai Shing Paper Mill – builders of the Aberdeen Lower reservoir, 1890。The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group。2016
- 古物古蹟辦事處：香港法定古蹟。2018