Strathmore Strolls

Strathmore Avenue - Queenstown

This photograph I took from the shady side of the street; not an uncommon approach to photography in Singapore.

We used to walk this way from Queens Condo to the NTUC supermarket at Dawson's Shopping Mall where we did most of our shopping for basics.

You could take the slightly longer route along Commonwealth Avenue turning left into Alexandra Road which was always a wet weather option.  Most of the time though we pushed our small shopping trundler and sheltered under a personal and silver topped umbrella to deflect the heat.

At first glance such housing developments might look fairly sterile places but the planting around the HDB blocks and in the adjacent open spaces means there is always a variety of bird life and other small animals.

Dawson Road Now And Then

Strathmore Avenue / Dawson Road Now .................................... Roger Smith 2010

Dawson Road as it used to be - pre 1942

We walk down Strathmore Avenue to Dawson Road, then onwards to our NTUC supermarket at Dawsons Place

Dawson Road used to an area of Atap houses inhabited by hundreds of Hokkien and Teochew who grew vegetables and fruit, as well as raising pigs and chickens.

Later the same area was the site of the Buller camp run by the British military.

In 1942 an Indian POW, John Baptist Crasta, described Buller Camp as being on the tip of a small hill -  a quiet place admist trees.  It was evacuated ahead of the advancing Japanese on February 12th of that year.

On June 12th this same solder moved back to Buller camp under the orders of the Japanese.  The camp became known for its anti INA (Indian National Army) attitude. The image is of INA prisoners in Singapore.

Buller Camp was disdestablished in 1953