Howard Street – formerly Havard Street. The Spreydon Borough Council did not know why Havard Street was named, saying it was the early form of Harvard, the name of the founder of the American University and that there was a Havard, a hero of an Icelandic saga about 1000 years ago. Havard Street “between Simeon Street and Wilderness Road” (Barrington Street) first appears in The Press in 1905 when building sites there are advertised for sale. Havard Street never appears in street directories. Renamed Howard Street in 1912 at the request of residents.

A reasonable of information from the library website and I found the same information about the renaming of the street on Papers Past. The information about Harvard University and hero of an Icelandic saga seemed to be from a letter to the editor rather than from the council. I did find 4 or 5 entries mentioning Howard St in 1904 and 1905 which is a bit strange.
The houses range in age from 1910 to 2005 and most are in good condition. There are some lovely older wooden villas with one rundown looking one. The rundown one is next to a very nice villa and it makes for an interesting contrast. It is a pleasant street that runs from Barrington St to Simeon Park. I thought that I had already written this one up but couldn’t find the entry so if I have written up twice I apologise about that.I walked this yesterday and I walked it in December when delivering the Addington Times.

Note I found a Howard family living nearby on Edenbridge St ( Nairn Street )

Simeon Street – Named after Charles Simeon (1816-1867). Simeon was acting Canterbury Association agent and provincial treasurer of Canterbury in 1854. He bought Rural Sections 154 and 214, land in Lower Lincoln Road, and Rural Section 240, 100 acres in Lincoln Road and Riccarton Road. First mentioned in the Star in 1878 when land for sale there is advertised. First appears in street directories in 1902.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and not really a lot that I can add to it. Papers Past had a couple of article about tramway extension in 1909 and 1916. Lots of ads for sale of sections in 1878.
This is a long street with houses from every decade from 1905. At the Brougham St / Jerrold St end there is a mixture of new and old houses. The old houses are interesting as they were originally built in the exactly the same style but over the years they have evolved so each one is slightly different. Then you come to Simeon Park. It is all housing until you come to the new fire station. This station replaces the one that was demolished because of earthquake damage. On the same side of the street is the car park for Barrington Mall.
More houses until you get to Roker St where there is an entrance to Sydenham cemetery. Many of the houses are lovely old wooden villas but if I was going to live on this street I would prefer to be at the other end away from the Mall and the fire station.

David Ching Lane in Spreydon and this tiny lane isn’t on library website or Google maps but does have a signpost. It is beside Simeon Park and Addington school and leads to the school’s Conductive Education Facility and I got most of my information from Addington Times. I like the Addington Times as I get snippets of information that are nowhere else. Reminds me that I am supposed to be writing a couple of articles for them. David Ching was headmaster at Addington school and set up the Conductive Education Facility and the article said it was the first in NZ to be at a school. When he retired he became national coordinator for NZ Foundation for Conductive Education..

Blakehall Place – Named in 1966. First appears in street directories in 1970.
A small amount of information from the library website and I couldn’t find any extra information. All the houses are from 1960s and 1970s and are mostly summerhill stone. A couple of houses looked more modern but the dates were 1970s. I didn’t manage any photos here and nothing stood out for me. There were some nice gardens that I liked. The street is a wiggly T shape and it looked like a pleasant street and very similar to streets in Hoon Hay and Hillmorton that are from the same era.
There are places in the UK with this name especially houses but as a surname is rare and I couldn’t find any record of the surname in NZ. I looked the possibility of being named after a Blake Hall but couldn’t find anything.

Leith Place – First appears in street directories in 1993.
Not much information from the library website.. I couldn’t find out any information but the naming of the street is obvious as the street runs off Edinburgh St. All the houses except for one were built in the 1990s. They were modern brick houses with neat and tidy gardens but no individuality. Note I live in a brick house built in the 1990s so I shouldn’t really be so scathing about them. One house which I couldn’t see was built in the 1950s. This house was hidden behind other houses. I have two theories about this street. One is that the 1950s property was on a large piece of land and was subdivided. The second theory is that there was land left over from building the motorway and it was turned into housing. There was a wee reserve at the end of the street which I didn’t know about and I will look at hiding a geocache here once things settle down and we come out of lockdown.

Granton Lane – First appears in street directories in 1993.
A tiny amount of information from the library website. All the houses here are from the 1990s and I suspect that it was developed at the same time as Leith Place as it runs off Leith Place. Granton is a waterfront area of Edinburgh so Granton Place is a continuation of the Edinburgh theme.
Same brick houses as Leith Place and I didn’t manage any photos here. When googling it said that there was a cafe on this tiny street but I didn’t see it as it was all normal houses here.

Nairn Street – formerly Edenbridge Street. Named after David Nairn (1833-1916). Edenbridge Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1880 when a property for sale there is advertised. First appears in street directories in 1902. Re-named Nairn Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Nairn was a nurseryman who established businesses at Burke Street, Barrington Street and, later, 166 Lincoln Road. His last nursery was in Edenbridge Street. The business closed in the 1960s when its land was bought by the Ministry of Works for motorway development.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I wasn’t expecting the street to have been named after a person. Papers Past had several ads for sale of sections in 1880 and 1885. In 1881 there was a section for sale that was described as being next to Mr Nairn’s gardens. In 1891 there were ads for houses and described as being near the new showgrounds. Note David Nairn was involved in the A and P Society for 47 years by the time he died in 1916. In 1930s there were sections for sale by Nairn and sons and there are many houses on this street built in the 1930s. A few houses from 1905 and 1910 and a couple from 200 and 2013.
Couldn’t find anything about the name change and Edenbridge is a place in Kent.
Will have to see if I can find David Nairn’s grave in the Addington cemetery.

Some lovely old wooden villas on this street and I would loved to have got more photos. I took a photo of a particularly lovely house but the photo was blurry. One newer looking house had so much junk in the front yard you couldn’t actually see the house. I ended up talking to a local who said it is a lovely street to live on. He knew that there had been a gardener nearby but didn’t that the street was named after him and told me that the street was named after a place in Scotland.

Meadowville Ave wasn’t mentioned on the library website which I found strange as it is an older street. My guess would be that this area was originally meadows. This was a lovely wee street with lovely older wooden houses. At the Barrington Mall end there were more modern brick houses. When walking here I thought that as an older person that I could live on this street especially being close to the Mall.I managed to get a photo from the Mall car park but it doesn’t show the lovely character of the street.

Manhire Street – Formerly Johnston Street. Named after James Johnston (1830?-1907). Re-named Milne Street and later, Manhire Street. Named after Bethel Prinn Manhire (1865- 1915). Johnston is a resident of the street in 1884 when it is first mentioned in the Star in a report of a meeting of the Drainage Board. First appears in street directories in 1902. Re-named Milne Street by 1912. Re-named Manhire Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Manhire was a paperhanger and glazier. He was also a justice of the peace and twice mayor of Sydenham.

A reasonable amount of from the library website. This street led to the back entrance of South Immediate School. They were all older houses here and mostly in good condition. Some were worker cottages and I would love to have got a photo of the one that has been painted purple. A couple had stippling style of plaster covering the original weatherboards. One house had Christmas decorations on the front lawn. There is a plaque to James Johnson in the Addington cemetery and also Bethel Manhire’s grave is here. It is possible that the former name of Milne St is after George Milne who is also buried in Addington cemetery

Today 29th December 2020 in Addington Cemetery I met a man called Simon who is the great grandson of Daniel Manhire. Daniel Manhire was Bethel Manhire’s father and Daniel had a mistress Edith Lawry. Edith had at least 3 or 4 children to Daniel Manhire and Simon is descended from her son Ira. Simon was visiting from Auckland and he was interested in the Manhire and Lawry graves in Addington cemetery.

Cheviot Street – Probably named after the Cheviot Hills on the border of England and Scotland. Cheviot Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1896 in a report of a meeting of the Spreydon Road Board. First appears in street directories in 1902.

A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past has ads for the sale of sections in 1892.In 1896 there was a request for the drains to be inspected and in 1897 a committee was set up to look at inspecting the street with an aim to upgrade the street. I searched to see if William Robinson of Cheviot Hills had any connection to the area. He died in 1889 at his house in Park Tce. He also had several racehorses that were stabled in Christchurch but I couldn’t find out exactly where. This is a possible reason for the naming of the street but I couldn’t find any proof.
The QV website had the houses built in either the early 1900s or the 1970s and that would match up with the houses I saw today.. Lovely old wooden villas in mostly good condition or 1070s summerhill stone houses. There was a wee reserve near the corner with Meadowville Ave but it doesn’t have a name. There was a seat for sitting on. Will have to check it out for hiding a geocache once we are allowed to geocache again. As I was walking during lockdown I was mostly taking photos of teddy bears.