Lugard Road
Wordie, Jason (2002) Streets –
Exploring Hong Kong Island.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, pp. 91-97.
One of Hong Kong's most splendid promenades, Lugard Road
has been a prime walking spot for generations. The road
is semi-circular and links with Harlech Road to surround
Victoria Peak. Belli loads combine to make a very popular
walking path, as it is completely impossible to get lost;
just keep on walking and eventually you'll get back to
the Peak Tram station. Recent shotcreting efforts have
blighted some once pleasant sections, but for the most
part the views are still stunning in every direction.
Too narrow in most places to really be a road, for much
of its length Lugard Road is more like a path winding
past stands of wild banana, fragrant flowering creepers
and all sorts of tropical vegetation. Densely shaded for
most of its length, Lugard Road enjoys stunning vistas
of the harbor, distant islands and densely packed city
beneath. This is a place to come to when you need to put
the jostling crowds and packed streets below into their
proper context. As seen from here, most of the surrounding
countryside is made up of extensive green hills with few
buildings, an aspect of Hong Kong Island all too easily
forgotten a couple of hundred meters further below.
Many roads in Hong Kong recall former governors, colonial
secretaries and commanding generals and this one, named
after Sir Frederick Lugard, governor from 1907-12 is no
exception. Hong Kong formed a brief Far Eastern interregnum
in Lugard's career as a long and distinguished African
administrator, and lie is most well remembered today for
the creation of Nigeria. Along with his wife, the well-known
journalist Flora Shaw, Lugard was also instrumental in
establishing the University of Hong Kong.
While there are a number of houses at various points along
its length, Lugard Road — perhaps surprisingly given its
majestic harbour and island views — is not one of the
Peak's more sought-after residential addresses. The road
is too narrow for cars to pass in most places, the cliffsides
for much of its length are too steep to build anything
on, and the houses scattered along its length are often
considered remote and difficult to access. |
