A street named what?

“What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s Juliet cries out hoping (but all in vain) that her lover Romeo is not attached to the unspeakable name of her family’s enemy – Montague. Growing up, I too echoed Juliet’s words, as I tried not to be associated with where I lived because of its coarse name. I feared my friends would ridicule me for coming from the unutterable ‘Ballsbridge’ in Dublin…

Say a little prayer

Every city has what now seem to be questionable choices of place and street names.  Here in London, the abundance of weird and wonderful street names simply astounds me. There is Artichoke Place, Bleeding Heart Yard, Dog & Duck Yard, Hanging Sword Alley, Sillitoe House, Tweezer’s Alley. You can find Alphabet Square, Balaclava Road, Football Lane, Puddle Dock, Riches Street, Turnagain Lane, and Shoulder of Mutton Alley.

The explanation for these apparently outrageous name choices are generally rooted in history – that they represented some sort of function or purpose in the past, something which has not carried onto this day. These names also confirm that unabashed sense of eccentricity we all love to hate in so many of Britain’s daily habits.

In London like streets are typically named after someone famous people we may or may not remember, or a significant event or tradition we ought not to forget. One of the sweet delights now is that these names truly no longer reflect what is going on in the area. Rather than men selling chickens, if you visit Poultry St. in the City of London, you will find bankers selling derivatives.

It can be fascinating to dig deep into the history of origins into a street and its name However, toiling in the trenches of local history really can kill off the spontaneity and playfulness we can find in these streets. The best time is the first time – to savour and enjoy the immediate and spur-of-the-moment feeling when you see and chat about that ridiculously named street in, say, one of the world’s international financial and business centres. “You have to go by Cheapside to reach the high-earning banks of London…”

These oddities have even become something of a hobby for me. How? I discovered through my sauntering around the capital, it appears that each street name fits cosily into a category of its own. In the category of sport Rugby Street, Tennis Street, Badminton Road and Football Lane rank themselves side-by-side. There is a street for almost every emotion and state-of-mind that moving to London can inspire; Mean Court, Moody Street, Friendly Street, Allgood Street, Wise Road, Seething Lane and Savage Gardens. I realised there is a street name for almost every occasion – some kind of method to all the madness of those tight and meandering side-streets and alleyways of central London.

Recently a local government agency suggested that residents should vote to name their streets and parks after their “heroes” in order to increase “community cohesion and civic pride.”

Send your own pictures of memorable street names to editorial@thefirstpint.co.uk!

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