Gwynfa Ave in Cashmere- formerly Hawthorn Avenue or Hawthorne Avenue. Re-named Gwynfa Avenue. Named after a loop on the hills extension of the tram on Hackthorne Road. This was named because the name Gwynfa was on a gate immediately opposite this stop. There was some argument about the name of the loop, and this was regarded as rather amusing as Gwynfa is the Welsh for place of happiness. Hawthorn Avenue or Hawthorne Avenue first appears in street directories in 1924. It was a private street until officially re-named Gwynfa Avenue in 1933 by the Public Utilities Committee of the Heathcote County Council.
A reasonable amount of information for a tiny street. Not a lot of information on Papers Past. Nothing for Hawthorn Ave and for Hawthorne Ave it was mostly personal notices plus a subdivision of a property in 1931. Under Gwynfa Ave there was an obituary for Miss West-Watson who opened a convalescent home in the avenue but closed it when her sister-in-law died. She had to be housekeeper for her brother Bishop West-Watson after his wife died. A Dr R B Phillips of Hackthorne Rd owned the property called Gwynfa.
A tiny private street with no footpath but it was wider than normal private streets so I did walk it. A couple of modern houses but there are four houses from 1920s and they are lovely.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 