CLS International Newsletter

by Alan Robertson

Spring 1998

Many will remember Lyemun Barracks, perched on a hilltop above Shaukeiwan, and home to CLS from its inception in 1967 until the early 1980s when it moved to Osborn Barracks, Kowloon Tong.

Having been there at CLS [N3] in 1969-72 and again [second time round!] in 1976-77, it was not until May last year that I had a chance to see what had become of the place in the intervening twenty years. On other brief Hong Kong visits, time had not allowed for such nostalgic self-indulgence.

Alighting from the MTR at Shaukeiwan, and getting my bearings only by following the tramlines back to the foot of the hill, I toiled up Chaiwan Road, past the Salesian School, and nearly opposite the Fire Station found the steep road leading to, the sign said, Lei Yue Mun Park and Holiday Village.

Just inside the Main Gate, manned by ubiquitous Pakistani guard, I found the Management Office, explained myself to the clearly incredulous young female Duty Manager, and spent a couple of hours exploring what is evidently a well-appointed Urban Council-run day and residential activity centre for the young people of Hong Kong, of whom there were many, playing basketball, running about, mountain biking and so forth. Well, I thought, this is one barracks our PLA friends are unlikely to be taking over!

I was delighted to find how well the buildings and grounds had been maintained, little changed in those twenty years: the old Officers’ Mess [now ‘Female Living Quarters’] was looking especially good. However, the view from its patio, once an unobstructed vista towards Junk Island and distant Joss House Bay, that was a shock. On the road which runs round the coastline, linking Shaukeiwan with Chaiwan, there now lies a vast estate of high-rise housing. Sad to say, the old CLS Block [pictured in Spring 1997 Newsletter], because of its distance from the main grouping of buildings, has been demolished, along with some others which lay near it.