Amusing road names

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Col
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Post by Col »

How about Electric Avenue in Nottingham?

Built on the site of an old Power Station - so it isn't just a silly name :wink:

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Bryn666
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Post by Bryn666 »

Wasn't the song Electric Avenue inspired by the Brixton riots, and thus a street in Brixton?
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Hugo Nebula
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Post by Hugo Nebula »

sotonsteve wrote:My mum would never buy a house in Pilchards Avenue in Fair Oak near Eastleigh, Hampshire!
If you're buying a house in York, you may want to get one in this road checked out very thoroughly.
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Kenny1975
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Post by Kenny1975 »

Bryn666 wrote:Wasn't the song Electric Avenue inspired by the Brixton riots, and thus a street in Brixton?
Yip was first street in London supposedly to have electric lighting hence the name.

http://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/electric.html
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Lonewolf
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Post by Lonewolf »

If you're buying a house in York, you may want to get one in this road checked out very thoroughly
LOL I had a customer whos premises are a farm on Bad Bargain Lane just further out of town than that map.

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kieron
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Post by kieron »

You'd never guess what was at the end of Paper Mill Lane in Oakenholt near Flint.
Flint also has an Old London Road, which I suppose was rendered obsolete by the iron road a mile or so to the north.
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Chris Bertram
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Post by Chris Bertram »

Bryn666 wrote:Wasn't the song Electric Avenue inspired by the Brixton riots, and thus a street in Brixton?
Another one in Birmingham.

Dog Kennel Lane, Warley, West Midlands. Very humdrum indeed.

Dogpool Lane, Selly Park, Birmingham, quite often has its street signs "amended" with white paint.
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FosseWay
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Post by FosseWay »

Octaviadriver wrote:Chemical Road in Morriston, Swansea
There's a Chlorine Gardens in Belfast.
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Post by boing_uk »

How about these in Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire... all very self explanatory... except that one in the bottom left.... Fanny Hands Lane. Well... I can but imagine...

And here, in Grimsby is Mandella Link. Its a little cross passage between Macaulay Street and Chantry Lane - no houses or anything and only got its name when it was reconstructed in the 1980's with new footpaths, carriageway and a solitary street light. I bet old Nelson would be proud.
Last edited by boing_uk on Tue Mar 28, 2006 15:52, edited 1 time in total.
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multiraider2
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Post by multiraider2 »

Squeezebelly is always a funny but appropriate word for very narrow "roads".

There is a Squeezebelly Alley in Port Isaac (wasn't this the one highlighted in the title sequence of "Record Breakers" as Britain's thinnest road?) and a Squeezebelly Lane (or Passage, there seem to be conflicting reports) in Kingsbridge, Devon.
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Post by sgill77 »

This one sounds like some terrible disease...!
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Post by Klepsydra »

My former stamping ground of Uttoxeter, Staffs, boasts such dreary names as Gas Street and Cockstubbles Road. And could they really think of no better soubriquet for the new A50 than By-Pass Road?

All a long way away from the rural tranquility of Zig Zag Lane, Porthcawl.
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

This topic will never die!

Some interesting ones:

Anita Street, Ancoats, Manchester, was once "Sanitary Street".
There's a few Bye-Pass Roads (Langford, Beeston, Bolton-le-Sands, Northwich, Haddington). This sounds like a quaint old term for a relief road to me.
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

FosseWay wrote:Presumably Surrey and Norfolk Streets in the same city get their names in a similar way?
Yes, the Duke of Norfolk is also titled the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Surrey, Baron Beaumont, and Baron Maltravers. He is also the Earl Marshal, and seems to own about half of Sheffield (his Estate Offices are on St James Row). This explains why the most common pub name here is the Norfolk Arms (9 establishments), even outdoing classic pubs names such as the Red Lion (6) and White Hart (4). There is also an Earl of Arundel and Surrey pub, and the building is big enough to take the long name, though people just call it "The Earl"!

Like most Dukes/Earls/Lords of counties, his family seat is nowhere near his "home" county, being Arundel Castle, Sussex. Other examples of this odd phenomena are the Duke of Devonshire, whose seat is of course Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, and the Earl of Leicester, whose seat is Holkham Hall, Norfolk!

The last piece of information is that the current Duke (the 18th) is Edward Fitzalan-Howard.

So, extracting all the keywords from the above text yields most of the major thoroughfares in Sheffield:

Duke
- Street

Norfolk
- Park
- Road
- Drive
- Row
- Street
- Lane

Earl
- Street
- Way

Earldom
- Close
- Drive
- Road
- Street

Earl Marshal
- Close
- Drive
- Road
- View

Arundel
- Gate
- Street
- Lane

Surrey
- Place
- Street

Beaumont
- Avenue
- Close
- Crescent
- Mews
- Road (North)
- Way

Maltravers
- Close
- Cresecent
- Place
- Road
- Street [tiny part remains: too small to see on maps]
- Terrace
- Way

Sussex
- Road
- Street

Fitzalan
- Road
- Square

Howard
- Road
- Street
- Lane
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Paul
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Post by Paul »

boing_uk wrote:And here, in Grimsby is Mandella Link. Its a little cross passage between Macaulay Street and Chantry Lane - no houses or anything and only got its name when it was reconstructed in the 1980's with new footpaths, carriageway and a solitary street light. I bet old Nelson would be proud.
I'd imagine he'd be a bit annoyed that his surname's been spelt incorrectly. ;)
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Paul
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Tom
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Post by Tom »

Paul wrote:The last piece of information is that the current Duke (the 18th) is Edward Fitzalan-Howard.
Ah, so that's where the M18 got its number from :wink:
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Post by MJN »

Paul wrote:This topic will never die!

Some interesting ones:

Anita Street, Ancoats, Manchester, was once "Sanitary Street".
There's a few Bye-Pass Roads (Langford, Beeston, Bolton-le-Sands, Northwich, Haddington). This sounds like a quaint old term for a relief road to me.
If it's the same place I'm thinking of, this Bye-Pass Road is in Chilwell rather than Beeston.
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Post by ForestChav »

MJN wrote:
Paul wrote:This topic will never die!

Some interesting ones:

Anita Street, Ancoats, Manchester, was once "Sanitary Street".
There's a few Bye-Pass Roads (Langford, Beeston, Bolton-le-Sands, Northwich, Haddington). This sounds like a quaint old term for a relief road to me.
If it's the same place I'm thinking of, this Bye-Pass Road is in Chilwell rather than Beeston.
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Amusing road names

Post by Dave908 »

Ince near Wigan has a road called Careless Lane, Just off the A577 Manchester Road
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Simon_in_Salop
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Post by Simon_in_Salop »

One that makes me chuckle is the section of Stourport's by-pass (such that it is) called simply 'Gigal'

Other than that, there's a shut called 'Grope Lane' in the medieval centre of Shrewsbury (according to the tourist guides, this is because it is so narrow and hilly that walkers were forced to 'grope' their way down so as not to fall over, although this is not generally believed). There is also a road in Rowley Regis with a name which is probably not suitable for a forum to which children have access, but I'm sure that it's widely known. At least, we used to snigger about at school.
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