Helmores Lane in Merivale – formerly Helmores Road. Named after Joseph Cornish Helmore (1832- 1920). Helmore, a solicitor, arrived in Canterbury in 1862 and built his house Millbrook (now at 59 Rhodes Street) on a 50 acre block. He also constructed a road through his land which later became Harper Avenue. He built the bridge at the end of Helmores Road in 1864 which opened up the area for subdivision. It is now of historical interest as one of the few remaining examples of the art of timber bridge construction. It was badly damaged in the earthquakes of 2010/2011. Helmores Road is first mentioned in The Press in 1865 in the annual report of the Surveyor presented to the Heathcote Road Board. He reported that the sum of 14 shillings had been spent on the road. First appears in street directories in 1894. Becomes Helmores Lane in 1960.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website. The street used to have an apostrophe in the name. In 1889 there were complaints about drainage issues. Joseph Helmore built Millbrook in 1865. Between 1923 and 1925 there were lots of entries concerning the new reserve which was opened in 1925 by Dr Chilton. In 1923 there were a few complaints about land next to the river being blocked off by the Millbrook land but the council replied that there used to be an existing towpath but it was given to Mr Helmore in exchange for the land where Helmores Lane was formed. This was the same area that became Millbrook Reserve.
The year 1923 was an active year for media attention as there were several revolvers found hidden in a hedge. This street had several well known Christchurch names living on the street. Derisley Wood, Studholme, Rhodes, Tripp and Cracroft are just some of them. In the 1950s there were letters of complaints about the street being called Helmore Road when it should be Helmore Lane. It actually only seemed to become a lane once the bridge was closed to vehicles and became a foot bridge only. It was talked about in 1958 but was in 1960s before it officially closed to traffic. In 1961 there was a subdivision of the property belonging to the late T F Gibson.
Huge number of entries in the social pages.
The houses here cover every decade from 1910 and some of the houses that I thought were older houses are actually modern houses. There are some ugly modern houses but most of the houses are interesting. Many of the original houses were damaged in the earthquakes. A lovely street and I also walked through Millbrook Reserve. I did like this street and would love to live here but well beyond my budget.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 