Watford Street in the suburb of Strowan, Christchurch

Watford St in Strowan – Formerly Nursery Road. Named because it was developed on the site of nurseries. Re-named Watford Street. Named because both parents of a prominent resident there had been born at Watford, just outside London. [These people have not been identified.]One nursery was run by John Joyce (1850?- 1928). He died at his property at 92 Blighs Road. Another nursery nearby was that of John Greenaway (1831-1880) who owned Hawthorne Nursery on 5 acres (2 hectares). Hawthorne Street was developed there. Nursery Road first appears in street directories in 1894. In 1921, at a meeting of the Waimairi County Council, R. W. Hawke moved that the street be re-named Watford Street because of duplication of the name.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had many entries and in 1895 there is mention of Nursery in Papanui being formed. It is also mentioned that unemployed men on relief fund worked on the forming of the road. The road was shingled in 1904. Mrs Margaret Calder had a registered home on this street and there was the death of a child from natural causes in 1906. This was a home for illegitimate children. In 1928 unemployed relief workers were used to do work on this street. In 1931 Waimari tennis club opened their new courts on this street and it is still there. In the 1940s the street is mentioned as being an entry in the Papanui Beautifying Association competitions. There was a home for disabled servicemen on Papanui Rd called Rannerdale and in 1958 it was converted to 5 self contained flats with a right of way to Watford St. In 1911 there was a golden wedding celebration for Alfred and Jane Clark and the article mentions that they were both from Watford. Jane died in 1919 aged 80 and Alfred died in 1922 aged 81. They came to New Zealand in 1875 on the ship Blairgowie. This street runs from Normans Rd to Blighs Rd. Houses here date from 1905 to 2018 with a large number built in the 1920s. The older houses here are lovely wooden villas and there is one art deco house. Some of the newer houses are so ugly but the street looked like it would be a pleasant street to live on. I had a brief chat with a local woman about the noise of sirens with being so close to Papanui Rd as a police car sped down Blighs Rd. As I am writing this I can hear sirens on Moorhouse Ave and you get used to the noise.