Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Tung Wah Coffin Home, Sandy Bay

For his final 'to camera' piece for The Freedom Swimmers, Whicker goes to the Tung Wah Coffin Home in Pokfulam to explain how the deceased must wait for permission from the Chinese Government before their remains can be taken back into the Mainland.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - View over Wanchai

The following is a collection of screencaps from some aerial footage shot above Wanchai. The view starts, in the top image, looking east above where Marsh Road and Canal Road flyovers cross the old waterfront along Gloucester Road. It then pans south (to the right) before ending looking west towards Southorn Playground.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Kowloon Walled City

Whicker does some more reporting from the infamous Kowloon Walled City and alludes to a confrontation with some triads in a later part of the same segment. He also conducts an interview with Gladys Donnithorne, who you can read all about over on Gwulo.com.

Whicker with Gladys Donnithorne

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Government Piers, Central

 Here is a brief glimpse of the former Govt piers located along the old seafront in Central. I'm not sure what their function was but it looks like it might have included ferry services given that there is one on approach in the top image. It may or may not be the "Tung Shan" which is also featured at the end of this snippet of footage. The area where the piers was located is now where Man Kat Street passes in front of the Harbour Building.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Des Voeux Road Central

Some more Whicker narration as the program gives us afew vignettes from around the territory including this footage below as a deliveryman crosses Des Voeux Road Central with his cargo. It's a common sight even today. We're looking west, so in the background, the building with the columns on the left was the old Gloucester Hotel building (now Gloucester Tower) and on the right can be seen the old General Post Office (now Worldwide House).

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Tai Lam Chung Marine Police Base

Spliced onto the end of the section where the "freedom swimmers" are taken back to the pier at Tai Po Kau is some brief footage of some other migrants at the old Marine Police Base in Tai Lam Chung. There's still a Marine Police Base around here but the old building with the bell (first image below) has been replaced by an HK Observatory radar station and a newer, larger police station constructed closer to the pier at the waterfront. However, the curve of the road is still recognisable, as is the ridgeline behind the arrestees in the last image below which is located at the northeastern tip of Lantau Island.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Tai Po Kau Marine Police Base

The Marine Policeman being interview on Tung Ping Chau mentions that anyone intercepted in this area is taken back to the Marine Police Base at Tai Po Kau. Prior to the development of the new towns of Shatin and Tai Po in the 1980s, this base was located on the pier next to Tai Po Kau railway station. Much of the original pier, including the Marine Police base, was destroyed to make way for the Tolo Highway, but the pier that stands there today is basically an extension of that same pier.

The Marine Police were later moved to the old Tai Po Police Station (now the "Green Hub") before moving to a larger purpose-built base in Shatin, close to University station.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Mirs Bay and Tung Ping Chau

Whicker interviews some of the Marine Police responsible for patrolling the northeastern waters of Mirs Bay. Some of the interview covers a newly erected watchtower on the Chinese side of the border. This location (seen in image 2) is actually in the low hills directly north of Tung Ping Chau close to what is now the Shenzhen Kuifong Residential District. In fact the low hills just mentioned are right next to Diefuwan. Image 1 below shows the view looking northeast from the centre of Mirs Bay. The pointy hill in the middle is located near to Yantian on the Chinese mainland side of Starling Inlet.

The rest of the interiew takes place on the beach (Tai Tong Wan) on the east side of Tung Ping Chau where the Marine Police launch has berthed at the pier.

Looking NE towards Yantian area.

The watchtower overlooking Tung Ping Chau

These last 4 images are a panorama of the view looking east from Tai Tong Wan looking towards Mainland China. I believe the original border (from 1898) ran right up to the coastline in the distance but was since redrawn somewhere in the middle. However, I may be mistaken so please feel free to comment.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Kai Tak Airport, Kowloon

As Whicker narrates about the 25 year countdown towards 1997 (and now it's coming up to 26 years since the handover, doesn't time fly!?) we are presented with some rather cool footage of a plane landing at Kai Tak.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Lo Wu Border Crossing, Sheung Shui

As well as footage of the Man KamTo crossing, The Freedom Swimmers also has a brief shot of the covered railway crossing at Lo Wu.

Whicker's Orient - Alan Whicker (1972) - Man Kam To, Sheung Shui

The next installemnt of Whicker's Orient is called "The Freedom Swimmers" and focusses on those from the Mainland who make the often dangerous crossing from China into Hong Kong. The episode starts at the border at Man Kam To where Whicker interviews Superintendent Stanley Flowers and explains to the viewers the reality of the border between Hong Kong and China. 

You can compare the views below with those shot for Spearhead from the same watchtower around a decade later.