Glenealy is one of the few roads or streets without a suffix in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Located in the Mid-Levels on the Hong Kong Island,

, it starts from

Ice House Street Ice House Street () is a one-way street in Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Named after the structure previously located on it that housed the city's only source of ice, it stretches from Lower Albert Road to Connaught Road. The street ...

and goes uphill to

Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is one of the oldest zoological and botanical centres in the world, and the oldest park in Hong Kong. Founded in 1864, its first stage was opened to the public in 1871.Robinson Road and ends at

Hornsey Road Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

and

Conduit Road Conduit Road is a road in the Mid-Levels on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The road and buildings Conduit Road was constructed in 1910. It is located in Western Mid-Levels. It is named after the aqueduct passing underneath which carries water ...

Name

Glenealy was the short form of a valley called Glenealy Ravine (). The valley separates the

Government Hill The Government Hill is a hill in Central, Hong Kong, bounded by upper section of Upper Albert Road on the south, Queen's Road Central north, Garden Road east, and Glenealy, west of Hong Kong Island. The hill has been the administrative ...

in the east and Pedder's Hill in the west. Alternatively, the valley was known as Elliot's Vale (), after

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Su ...

, at the beginning and a road from Robinson Road leading to the house named Glenealy on the site of present Roman Catholic Cathedral is known as Elliot Crescent.

Vale A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipali ...

in Elliot's Vale means river valley and a river runs from

Victoria Peak Victoria Peak is a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak only generally. With an elevation of , it is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island, ranked 29 in terms of elevation in Ho ...

down to

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The Elliot Vale name seems, however, to have been as short-lived as Elliot's administration. The name Glenealy was quickly restored after Elliott's administration ended, with a new suffix of "ravine", a fitting name in view of its steepness.

Features

Glenealy was also the name of a mansion in the Victorian era. It belonged to an American opium trader, Warren Delano Jr., grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States of America. The mansion later gave way to the Catholic Cathedral of Hong Kong, whose construction commenced in 1883. The present address of the cathedral is 16

Caine Road Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east. The road is named after Wi ...

. Another Glenealy landmark is the 100-year-old Anglican

Sheng Kung Hui The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (abbreviated SKH), also known as the Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal), is the Anglican church in Hong Kong and Macao. It is the 38th Province of the Anglican Communion. It is also one of the major denominations ...

, whose gates actually open to

Wyndham Street Wyndham Street is a one-way street in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of the earliest colonial streets, once known as Pedder Hill. Location It starts at the junction with Hollywood Road and Arbuthnot Road, near the Central Police Station, an ...

. St. Paul's College was founded here too, in 1851, as a school for boys. It was closed in 1941 due to the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong. After the war it was briefly amalgamated with St. Paul's Girls' School to become St. Paul's Co-educational College, and a new campus was built away from Glenealy on Bonham Road when it resumed as its own institution. It is one of the steepest roads in Hong Kong with public transport. It has a gradient of 1:5 in the Robinson Road to Conduit Road section, with Route 2*, 3, 3A and 45A (

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

) passing this road, which is often congested. The other 1:5 roads used by public transport in Hong Kong are Aberdeen Reservoir Road, Breezy Path and Castle Road. The present Glenealy "street" is very short, running from number 1 to 10 only. The nearest point to reach Glenealy 1 is to walk uphill from the Hong Kong Fringe Club, while the nearest point to reach Glenealy 10 is to walk downhill from Caine Road near the Caritas House, through the very short pedestrian subway. A total of 3 Glenealy street signs can be found - one is tucked away at the far end at the bottom of the hill where it can hardly be seen, one is hoisted at Sheng Kung Hui St Paul's Church near the Hong Kong Fringe Club yet no street number is mentioned. The 3rd sign, hoisted at the top of the Caritas House, is the only street sign showing the street number.

External links

A section about Glenealy

Map: Glenealy, Hong Kong
{{HKislandroads Valleys of Hong Kong Central, Hong Kong Government Hill Roads on Hong Kong Island