Coming Down Alert – Factory Gates on Columbia Road

For years the uncared for gates to an old factory that are rather decorous were to be found on Lane 209 off Columbia Road (Panyu Road), formerly in the old External Roads Area. The small street is now a veggie market running from Panyu Lu through to the posh new blocks of flats on Xingfu Road (a new road that didn’t really exist pre-1949). The gates were extremely ornate and highly modernist in their styling though rusted and not cared for. Adjacent to them are some rather fine buildings that I believe were dormitories for the factory workers in a cotton mill – the gates marked the entrance to the original mill. This week I noticed that the gates have been removed – sadly I fear for scrap rather than preservation and the entrance bricked up which may indicate that the dorm buildings that lie behind the gates may be for the bulldozer too soon.

The picture immediately below – from three weeks ago – poorly maintained but stylish gates from the 1930s

The picture following from yesterday – gates gone – bricks circa 2010