Huntsbury Ave – formerly Dry Bush Road. Named because it runs through Huntsbury. The city section was formerly named Dry Bush Road. Huntsbury Avenue was formed when the Huntsbury Estate was subdivided and sections sold in 1924. Dry Bush Road became part of Huntsbury Avenue on 22 October 1942.
A small amount of information from the library website and the entire road was named Dry Bush Rd at one stage. I looked at old maps and in 1922 and 1930 the maps didn’t have it named. In 1929 map the entire road was Dry Bush Rd. From 1941 until 1958 the maps only show the lower part as Huntsbury Ave and the road just past Aotea Tce is Dry Bush Rd. I couldn’t find a map for the 1960s.
Papers Past had a lot of information apart from the usual birth and death notices. In 1924 there was an ad for big subdivision of the famous estate. The road Huntsbury Ave is promoted as being formed and this will open up a main road to the Children’s Fresh Air Home. In 1927 there are more sections available. In 1935 building a reservoir is suggested and it is completed that same year. Then in 1950 there is a new reservoir being built opposite the children’s playground. There are two reservoirs on this road. In 1942 the Huntsbury Domain is mentioned as they were planning on building a playground.
There were several sections available in 1950 which will explain why so many houses here built in the 1950s. There were complaints in 1975 about the damage that big trucks were doing to the road.
In 1942 there was a complaint about Dry Bush Rd not being signposted and that it was confusing people driving on Huntsbury Ave. Council’s reply was that Dry Bush Rd was a paper road and didn’t require signage.
This is a long road and is fairly steep for most of it. There are some lovely 1920s wooden villas still standing. I had a lovely chat with one man who said that his house had been a two bedroomed 1940s house and after the earthquakes he had added the upstairs part. He had done a great job with the house and it looked lovely. He said that it was a lot of work. There are also some modern houses on the street as well and there are houses from every decade here. Eventually you run out of footpath but the grass verge is wide enough to be able to walk safely. Which is why I got rather a fright when one car driver went on the wrong side of the road to avoid me. It is sheer luck that he didn’t hit the car that was driving down the hill. I wasn’t walking on the road and was actually a good foot or more off the road.
At the top of the road there is a Vineyard and Restaurant. There is also one of the reservoirs. There is a track that takes you up to the Summit Road and it is called Huntsbury Track but I noticed that google maps called it Huntsbury Ave. What did interest me was in the valley below the road there was a building. It has a Huntsbury Ave address but I couldn’t find out how old the building is. It looks very similar to the Sign of the Kiwi or Sign of the Bellbird buildings. An interesting road with an interesting history. Gordon Ogilvie has written about the area and I do have one of his books which covers place names for Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 