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.

Dominion Ave – May have been named after the Dominion Home Builders. The building company built many of the homes in the street which is first mentioned in The Press in 1922. First appears in street directories in 1924. NB New Zealand had become a dominion in 1907.

A small amount of information from the library website. I actually walked this street last week but forgot to write it up. From Papers Past there were ads for sections in 1922 and houses for sale in 1924. Couldn’t find anything about the naming of the street but the word Dominion was used a lot for the naming of streets in New Zealand so my personal feeling for the naming is New Zealand becoming a dominion. QV had the houses built either 1920s or 1960s.
Most houses are wooden villas but a couple of brick houses. Back entrance to South Intermediate is on this street. The street is tree lined and the colours are lovely in autumn.

Edited as I found out in January 2024 that this street was originally called Simpson’s Lane.

Simpson’s Lane AKA Dominion Ave in Spreydon. Simpson’s lane doesn’t exist and it is now part of Dominion Ave. The library website doesn’t mention Simpson’s Lane in connection with Dominion Ave. The 1912 map of Spreydon shows at least 6 properties on one side of the street and one larger property on the other side. A small number of entries on Papers Past. In 1915 there were complaints about the state of the road. In 1920 Dominion Home Builders were removing old buildings on this street. In 1923 there were several ads for the sale of sections. Note most of the houses on this part of Dominion Ave date from the 1920s. In 1929 the Education Dept were looking at the purchase of land fronting onto Simpson’s Lane for a new school. A further mention of the school describes Intermediate school in Addington with frontage on Selwyn St and access from Milne St and Simpson’s Lane. Milne St is now Manhire St and the school is Christchurch South Intermediate.

I couldn’t find out which Simpson had the lane named after him as a couple of men with that surname lived in the area but none in the immediate area. Alexander Simpson owned a shop on Colombo Street South. Stephen Simpson lived at various addresses and at one stage he was living on Harper St which is now Orbell St. My personal favourite is Stephen Simpson but only because he was bankrupt in 1879. He owned a grocer shop and at one stage was in partnership with John Wilson.

I walked Dominion Ave in April 2020 but because the library website didn’t mention Simpson’s Lane I didn’t look up the information. If you are looking at the date of when I walked Dominion Ave yes we were in lockdown but this street was in easy walking distance for me from my home. I did a lot of walking during lockdown.

Angus Street – Named after John Craib Angus. St Andrew’s Presbyterian marriage records have Angus, a saddler, marrying Janet Murison in 1859 at the home of John Anderson, Cashel Street. Angus was a member of the first Christchurch City Council in 1868. He later absconded overseas, probably to Australia, to escape his creditors. An election was held in 1869 to fill the vacancy on the Christchurch City Council caused by his departure. The formation of this street was discussed at a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council in 1878 when Thomas Russell, a carpenter and resident, applied for it to be formed. This was agreed to “provided the street be dedicated and the cost of formation prepaid”. First appears in street directories in 1887.

Really interesting information from the library website for a small street in Sydenham. Found the same information from 1878 on Papers Past. From 1879 to 1881 there were lots of ads for the sale of cottages. Many of these ads mentioned being close to Agricultural Show Grounds.In the late 1860s there is a few articles about John Angus being bankrupt so I am surprised that they named a street after him. There was an article dated 1912 about a malthouse being destroyed by fire.

I tried to find more information about John Angus on an Ancestry website but he seemed to have disappeared. It wasn’t helped by him having a son with the same name. He was born in Scotland and was possibly in Melbourne in 1872. Creditors were having problems trying to find him. The family trees I found had him dying in two different years. Some had him dying in 1874 and others had him dying in 1903 but none had proof and I couldn’t find any confirmation for either date. Craib was probably his mother’s maiden name. His wife possibly died in 1916 under the name Jane Angus and is buried at Linwood. Again the family trees had no proof that this Jane Angus is the same person.

This street at the Colombo St end had businesses and the street leads to Bradford Park. A mixture of new apartment style houses especially down Bradford Park end. Still many old cottages here dating from early 1900s. There was a group of flats that looked like social housing but they didn’t come up on QV website or have street numbers. I spent ages online with this street as the details were so interesting.

Shelley Street – Named after Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792- 1822). Shelley was an English poet. 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 mentioned in The Press in 1882 when land for sale there is advertised. First appears in street directories in 1903.

A small amount of information from the library website. In Papers Past there were sections for sale in 1878. Those days there was also a Shelley St in Avonside.
This is a tiny street and all but one house are over 100 years old. There is just one modern house dated from 1990s. Most are wooden workers cottages but there is one brick house from 1890. Sadly it is boarded up and I really hope that it gets repaired. I found one of the houses mentioned on a heritage website. The QV website had this house at 6 Shelley St as being built in 1915 but the heritage website has it dated from 1878. Gorgeous old cottages.