Opawa Rd – Named because it runs through the suburb of Opawa which, in turn, is named after Opawaho, the Māori name for the Heathcote River. First mentioned in the Star in 1877 in a report of a meeting of the Heathcote Road Board. Appears on an 1879 map. A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of this very long road. The road is in three suburbs and they are Hillsborough, Opawa and Waltham. I walked it in two halves and was shocked when looking at my photos that I did the first walk a year ago. In January 2020 I had caught a bus to Heathcote and walked home to Addington and in the weekend just gone I parked up near the Opawa shops and walked to where Shakespeare Rd starts and Opawa Rd ends. In 1876 there were complaints about the state of the road and in 1919 and 1929 there were many letters to the editor about potholes in the road. I don’t think that they were the same potholes as the ones in 1876 and this was a busy main road with a lot of traffic so a lot of wear and tear. In 1901 there were objections to widening the road. In 1904 there were arguments about who should should pay for the maintenance of the road as the road was in the three districts of Heathcote, Woolston and Christchurch. Might explain why problems with the state of the road. In 1922 council housing was appoved for Opawa Rd. I was interested to see that there was a business called Wigram’s Brickyard on Opawa Rd. An interesting wee snippet from October 1919 was a birth notice for Mr and Mrs Lyttelton. Wonder if they had any connection to Lord Lyttelton. This street has houses dating from every decade but the older houses are between the river and Brougham St and at least 4 or 5 are dated from 1905. The road starts at Port Hills Rd and there houses one side and businesses the other side plus empty land. You then reach Hillsborough Park and a little bit further one there are shops on Grange St corner. I continued along until I reached Munro Playground and there are still houses on just one side of the road in varying degrees of condition and repair. A few empty sections. That day a year ago I continued my walk along Brougham St and didn’t expect it to take me a whole year before returning. From Munro Playground there is a short walk on the wide Opawa Rd which is a main link to Lyttelton before turning into the rest of Opawa Rd. There is a short section just before the river where there is a community garden and the Opawa Community Church. Cross the bridge over the Heathcote River and there are several shops plus a library. From the shops to Brougham St there are houses and some are gorgeous older houses. St Mark’s Church is still cordoned off but a notice said ‘We will be back’. There is also a bowling club near Ensors Rd end and there was a plaque on the gates. I love plaques. Multi dwelling apartments are being built at the Brougham St end, The short section from Brougham St to Shakespeare Rd is full of businesses.

Bronte Place in Waltham – Named after Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte. The Bronte sisters were 19th century authors from Yorkshire, England. Named to continue the theme of “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880.First appears in street directories in 1983.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and can you see their mistake. A tiny street with only three houses. One house was built in 1910 and the other two were built in 1915. There was no mention of this street on Papers Past and the article from January 1880 didn’t mention the street by name. The street runs from Walpole Street to a wee reserve that is on Brougham St.

Manatu Lane in Waltham and this street wasn’t on the library website. There are only 14 houses here and most were built in 1970s but one dates from 1930. This lane is where 56 Opawa Rd used to be and I suspect that it would have been the address for the house from the 1930s. Possible meaning for Manatu is to think and from the Samoan language as that was all I could find from googling. If anyone knows another meaning that would be great. This looked like a pleasant wee street and some lovely gardens.

Raycroft St in Waltham – formerly Reycroft Street. Also part of York Street. First mentioned in The Press in 1898. First appears in street directories in 1909 as Reycroft Street. Becomes Raycroft Street in 1914. York Street north of Opawa Road was incorporated into and renamed Raycroft Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were renamed. A small amount of information from the library website and I am going to disagree with some of the information on their website. I only found the name Reycroft about four times and three were death notices for the same person and the fourth was an ad for a house being sold in 1930.In 1894 there was a cottage for sale on the corner of Ball’s Rd and Raycroft St. An ad in 1913 is used Raycroft St and was described as being off Ball’s Lane. In 1939 the street was described as being off York St. In 1922 the mayor inspected the street after complaints from residents about coal dust from the Railway coal dump. It was mentioned that there were only a few houses on the street. No houses on the street now and it only has businesses on it. It looked very dreary. The only memorable thing about this street was the man who chatted me up. He even wanted my address and that was not going to happen. I don’t know where the name came from as I couldn’t find anyone with that surname living in Christchurch.

Mowbray St in Waltham- Probably named after Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England. Named in 1897 by Harman and Stevens, land and commission agents.A small amount of information from the library website. I found the same information about Harman and Stevens in Papers Past. There were several ads in 1897 for the sale of sections. In 1904 there was a request from residents for street lights. In 1913 there was a letter to the editor about Mowbray St being a neglected street and complaints about the street being a mess because the council kept digging it up to lay pipes and not repairing it properly afterwards. Some things don’t change. There were many birth and death notices for the street but there are no longer houses on this street. The railway line and sheds are on one side of the street and businesses on the other side. There is an entrance to a tunnel that goes under the railway lines here and if it hadn’t been starting to get dark the evening that I walked this street I would have explored the tunnel. I vaguely recall this tunnel from when I was young and I am also fairly sure that there was a geocache somewhere in the tunnel many years ago.There are a couple of possible reasons for the street name and obviously being named after Melton Mowbray is one of them. Harman was born in Dublin so he is unlikely to have a connection to Melton Mowbray. Edward Stevens possibly has a connection through his wife but this depends if she was born in Longborough in Gloucestershire or born in Loughborough near Melton Mowbray. There were at least two or three families in New Zealand with the surname Mowbray in New Zealand but they don’t seem to have lived in Christchurch in the 1890s.

Defoe Place in Waltham – formerly part of Cecil Street. Named after Daniel Defoe (1660-1731). Maps in street directories in 1983 show Cecil Street split into two, the section between Brougham Street and Shakespeare Road becoming Defoe Place and the section between Hastings Street and Brougham Street becoming Cecil Place. Defoe was the author of Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders. Probably named to continue the theme of “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add to it. A lot of streets were affected by Brougham St extension. I will research Cecil St when I walk Cecil Place which won’t be today with temperatures predicted to be in the 30s.This street runs from Shakespeare Rd to Brougham St and at the Brougham St end there is a reserve / green space which didn’t seem to have a name. There are many older wooden villas here from 1905 through to 1925. A couple of houses from 1955 and 1985 and a few more recent modern houses. Most of the older houses were in good condition but a couple were looking a bit rundown.

Thackeray Place and Thackeray Street – formerly Thackeray Street Named after William Makepeace Thackeray (1811- 1863). Thackeray was a novelist and essayist. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. Developed on land owned by Harman and Stevens, land and commission agents. They asked the Sydenham Borough Council to complete its formation in 1894. Thackeray Street first appears in street directories in 1887. Becomes Thackeray Place in 1983.A reasonable amount of information from the library website but their website doesn’t mention Thackeray St as there still is a Thackeray St. The naming is pretty obvious so I don’t need to cover that.In 1884 the council mentioned streets lamps to be installed for this street. In 1893 someone was fined for allowing his cow to wander on the street and in 1895 there was a letter to the editor complaining about the state of the street. It was about the abnormal growth of weeds on the street and is the street for public grazing purposes and do they need a councillor living on the street for things to be fixed. The street was slightly about which suburb it was in as both Sydenham and Phillipstown were used but mostly Waltham was used. In1906 there were several birth notices that mentioned Kia Ora Nursing Home.There was one sad article from 1886 where a William Hosking died at his residence in Thackeray St after being injured by a fall of earth while working on fortifications on Ripa Island.There are a few houses dating from 1910 through to 1940 and they are mostly really lovely but two of them are in a bad state of repair. The ones dated from 2000 onwards are horrible and look like state housing but are probably just apartments crammed together on sections that originally would have had just one house.Thackeray Place runs from Shakespeare Rd to Brougham St and there is a wee reserve called Thackeray Reserve at the Brougham St end. If you cross Shakespeare Rd you come to Thackeray St which runs to Mowbray St. This section is full of businesses and there are no houses here. There is also a wee kink in the streets so that Thackeray Place doesn’t join up direct with Thackeray St.

Walpole St – Named after Horace Walpole (1717-1797). Walpole was author of the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. First appears in street directories in 1887.A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the naming of this street. The first entry that I found on Papers Past was from the Lyttelton Times in 1882 and mentions a Mrs Simmons. Huge number of births, deaths and marriage notices. I liked the entry from 1932 when a man living on this street won £5000 in the ‘tatts’. A reporter walked the street until he found the winner. The winner didn’t was his name used but did use Mr H.E.R on the winning ticket. In 1918 this street had several entries regarding a missing woman and there was a sad outcome. This street runs from Thackeray Place to Wilsons Rd. There are still a few older houses here dating from 1905 to 1920 and they are lovely. One house from 1930 and many from 1990s and huge number from 2000 onwards. I didn’t particularly like the newer buildings as they are crammed onto the sections like sardines.

Shakespeare Rd in Waltham- Named after William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Shakespeare was a playwright. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. First appears in street directories in 1887.A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the naming of the street.In 1881 the Board of Heath were concerned about stagnant water in the old clay pits between the railway and Shakespeare Rd. Note typhoid was an issue in Christchurch and there were many deaths from this disease. In 1883 there was a complaint about the wild and untrimmed gorse hedges on this street and the council were prepared to look at the problem. In 1884 it was recommend that a gas street lamp be installed. In 1886 the council wanted landowners to give up part of their properties for widening the road. In 1888 there were complaints from the residents about the bad and dangerous state of the road and possibly the council listened as in 1898 the footpaths were to be asphalted.Huge number of birth and death notices and between 1917 and 1920 many births were at Nurse Rastrick’s place at 9 Shakespeare Rd.This street runs from Waltham Rd to Wilsons Rd and it is mostly a business area but I was surprised at how many houses here especially towards Wilsons Rd end. Most are very modern townhouses but not sure that I would like to live in them. One house dates from 1890 but I wouldn’t have picked it as that old and I didn’t get a photo. Wouldn’t be surprised if it is eventually demolished. A few from 1910 to 1915 and a couple from 1970 and 1980. The older houses weren’t in a great condition.

Dewsbury Lane in Sydenham – Little Queen Street and Dewsbury’s Lane. Named after Benjamin Dewsbury (1801?- 1886). Little Queen Street is mentioned in the Star in 1879 and appears there as late as 1909. Dewsbury was a Methodist lay preacher. He arrived in Canterbury in 1863. Dewsbury’s Lane is described in The Press in 1882 as “a narrow right-ofway between Battersea Street and Gladstone Street”. First mentioned in street directories in 1887 so the street had two names for a time. Dewsburys Lane was made a public street from 1 January 1888.A reasonable of information from the library website for a tiny street. I will have to confess that I didn’t know that this lane existed as it is so tiny and I probably wouldn’t attempt to drive down it.In 1879 a cottage was for sale on Little Queen Street but after that date both names were used until 1909. In 1882 the Board of Heath wanted an inquiry into the sanitary conditions of the street and it can’t have improved as in 1887 there was a letter to the editor of The Star headed A Sydenham Stench. The writer suggested that the residents of the street should use the nightman rather than using a cesspit or disposing of their nightsoil according to their own sweet will and pleasure.In 1887 the residents asked the council to take the necessary steps for making it into a public street. The council must have been happy with that as in December 1887 it was declared that it would become a public street from 1st January 1888.In 1886 there were well built cottages for sale. I was amused by a court case in 1905 when a man was accused of visiting a questionable house on the street. In 1925 bundles of letters were found in a vacant section and they had been stolen from a nearby post box. There was at least one house for sale in 1941 and it doesn’t seem like there were many people who lived here. There were two men with the name Benjamin Dewsbury and the father died in 1886 and the son died in 1905. Benjamin senior lived on Antigua St but possible had business premises on Colombo St. This street seems to have been mostly developed after Benjamin senior’s death and he died at his son-in-law’s house. This lane just looks like an alleyway and I didn’t know that it was here and I thought that I knew this area well. The lane runs between Wordsworth and Battersea Streets and I used to walk down Wordsworth every week day when I worked at a bank on Colombo St.