Dannys Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Dannys Lane in Cashmere. Nothing on library website for this lane. I didn’t actually walk this lane as it just felt like someone’s driveway. Going by QV website there are 6 houses here built in the 1980s. The lane runs off Kiteroa Place and my best guess for the name is a connection to the developer or whoever originally owned the land.

Tarata Rise in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Tarata Rise – Named after the Tarata tree, the native Pittosporum Eugenoides, known as the lemonwood tree. At the time of the naming of the right-of-way, the subdivision developers indicated that they would probably plant Tarata trees along the street. They wanted “a name that is clear and straightforward in spelling, sound and pronunciation, and in keeping with the existing road name that the new right-of-way will run off”. The applicants asked for a dispensation to describe the street as a “Rise” as “this is more in keeping with the topography”. Rights-of-way are normally Lanes. In the Halcyon Development. Named in 2015

That is a lot of information from the library website. There are 6 sections on this street and not all of them have houses yet. Still mostly looks like a building site.The street is at the end of Kiteroa Place and just looks like an extension of Kiteroa Place.

Stambridge Place in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Stambridge Place in Cashmere. There is no mention of this street on the library website and I couldn’t find any information on Papers Past. I was surprised when I checked the QV website to find out the ages of the houses here. The earliest was built 1910 and another one was built 1915. The other two were built 1950 and 1980 and the 5th house had no information about it on the QV website. This street is where 85 and 87 Hackthorne Rd would have been. Stambridge is a village in Essex so my best guess is that the original builder or owner had a connection to this place. Stambridge means stone bridge. There was a mill in Stambridge called Stambridge Mill and the owner of this mill did visit Christchurch.
I didn’t walk this street as it just looked like someone’s driveway.

Heaton Rhodes Place in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Heaton Rhodes Place – Named after Robert Heaton Rhodes (1861- 1956) Rhodes was a lawyer, runholder, stock breeder, politician, horticulturist, philatelist and philanthropist. Formed on a subdivision of land belonging to the Rhodes Memorial Convalescent Home in 1968. First appears in street directories in 1972.
A small amount of information from the library website and the Rhodes family are well known in Christchurch so I didn’t see the need to research them. A quick google will give you lots of information about them. It is a small street that runs off Dyers Pass Rd and has 19 houses here. At least one house built in 1920 and a few from 1960s and 1970s. I was a bit confused by the QV website as it had several houses built in 2014 but had details for the properties from 1980s and earlier. I checked google maps and they are obviously rebuilds from after the earthquakes. The rebuilds are really ugly. I couldn’t see the house from 1920 as it is set well off the road. There was a sign saying The Bothy but the address for this B & B is actually Dyers Pass Rd.
Nice views here but the street didn’t actually do a lot for me. Not that I could afford to live here as house prices were all over a million dollars.

Lady Polson Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Lady Polson Lane – Named after Mary Victoria Cracroft Polson, née Grigg, (1897-1971). Mary Polson was a politician and community leader. Developed at 64 Hackthorne Road. An existing right-ofway further developed in 1995 and named then by residents. Mary Polson had lived there.

A small amount of information from the library website and some of the information is incorrect. I didn’t search Papers Past as there is a Wikipedia page for Lady Polson but the best information was on Findagrave which included a photo of her.

Mary was born Mary Victoria Cracroft Wilson and she was the granddaughter of John Cracroft Wilson. She married Athur Grigg and they lived in the Ashburton / Mt Somers area. After Arthur was killed in Libya in 1941 Mary took over his seat in parliament under something called widow’s succession. She was then elected in 1942 and was only the fourth woman elected to parliament but was the first for the National party. Mary was only in parliament for a year but stayed active in politics. She remarried William Polson who was a politician in the North Island. Mary was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1946 and her husband was knighted in 1951.
After William’s death Mary moved to Christchurch and lived at 64C Hackthorne Rd. She was active in the guiding movement when living in Christchurch and she is buried at Bromley cemetery. She sounds like she was an interesting person.

There are only about 12 houses in this lane and the oldest is from 1910 and another is from 1960 with the rest dating around the 1990s and 2000. QV website played up and I couldn’t get more information about the dates of the houses. I didn’t walk this lane as it was very obviously a private lane. This was a pity as I suspect that the house from 1910 would be lovely. This lane is on land that would have originally been owned by Lady Polson’s grandfather.
A lot of information for a tiny lane.

Rhodesvale Terrace in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Rhodesvale Tce – Named because it was formed on land formerly belonging to the Rhodes Memorial Convalescent Home. Named in May 1980 by the committee of the Home.

A small amount of information on the library website. The QV website has 15 houses here and all seem to date from 1980s. The Rhodes Memorial Convalescent Home most likely is named after Robert Heaton Rhodes who was a major landowner in the area. I found a newspaper article about residents protesting the building of a new rest home after the original was demolished because of the earthquakes. Claimed it would affect the value of their properties. There has been a nursing home on this site since 1886 so my personal feeling is that the complaining residents need to get over it. When googling I found out that there is a book about the original nursing home and even better it is available at the library.
I didn’t actually walk this street as it had a very private feel about and looked like a private driveway.

Sherwood Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Sherwood Lane – First appears in street directories in 1957. A small amount of information on the library website.

I searched Papers Past and the Ancestry website and couldn’t find any information about this street. QV website had 18 properties on the street ranging from 1915 to 1990. I couldn’t get information for all the properties as QV website said information unavailable. There is an entrance to Ngaio Marsh’s house on this lane.
There were several people in Christchurch with the surname Sherwood but they all lived in either Sydenham or New Brighton. There also used to be a Sherwood Lane in St Albans.So it is either named after a person or after Sherwood Forest. Take your pick.
I only walked part of this lane and I realised that I have been here before visiting a bookcrossing friend who is now back home in Germany.

Valley Road in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Valley Road – First appears in street directories in 1914.
Tiny amount of information from the library website. The road is in a valley so name is fairly obvious and I can’t expand on the name.
Information from Papers Past had sections for sale in 1913 and 1920 but I couldn’t find the name of the original land owner but there was a quarry here under the name of Craig and Roberts so they were possibly the owners.Quarry was still being worked in 1916. In 1917 a J H Menzies sold three building sites to a Mr Morgan.
In 1932 there was a proposal for a War Memorial to be built on land known as Winter Gardens but it was turned down by the council. In 1935 there was a road extension and relief labour was used. The Recreation Club, Bowling Club and tennis club have been on this street since at least 1923.

There is a mixture of ages and styles of houses on this street ranging from 1920 lovely wooden houses to an ugly 2019 house. There was an unbelievable fantastic house near the end of the road but the QV website said information was unavailable. Lovely street but parking would be terrible. At the end of the street there is a walkway that takes you up to MacMillan Ave. The most famous house would be the 1940s house that belonged to Ngaio Marsh but you can’t really see it from the road.

Patchett Place in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Patchett Place – Named after Sydney David Patchett (1908- 1991). Patchett, a farmer of Governors Bay, was a member of the Heathcote County Council in the post World War II period. First appears in street directories in 1972. At that time Patchett was living at 99 Kidson Terrace.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add to it. Only about 13 properties on the street and all built in the 1970s. Good views over Christchurch and they all looked like pleasant houses to live in but parking is terrible. The road runs off Hackthorne Rd.

MacMillan Avenue in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

MacMillan Ave – Named after Professor John Macmillan Brown (1845-1935). Brown was a university professor and administrator. His home was at 35 Macmillan Avenue. First mentioned in The Press in 1908 when Professor Macmillan Brown advertises “60 beautiful hillside sections” for sale. Macmillan Avenue was expected to be the “finest thoroughfare to be found anywhere on the Port Hills”. First appears in street directories in 1912.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I found the same article from 1908. There were also sections for sale from 1910 to 1913 and the area was called MacMillan Brown Estate. Professor MacMillan Brown was born in Irvine, Scotland and after attending local schools in Irvine and Glasgow he went to Oxford University. He travelled to New Zealand for health reasons and took up a position at Canterbury College. He married Helen Connon who became principal at Christchurch Girls High. Their grandson was James K Baxter. Both Professor MacMillan Brown and Helen Connon have Wikipedia pages.

This street has houses covering every decade from 1910 onwards and there are several still being rebuilt after the earthquakes. At least two toilet block styles being built. The older houses are gorgeous and I had a lovely chat with the owner of the Art Deco house. I am pleased that he went against the advice of friends who recommended that he demolish the house. This is a narrow street in many parts and parking is difficult. The houses prices here are well beyond my budget. I used to visit a friend who lived on this street but I couldn’t work out which was her house and it has been so long that I don’t know if she still lives on this street.
I came up the walkway from Valley Rd to get to MacMillan Ave and there was a geocache hidden on the walkway.