Skyedale Drive in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Skyedale Drive in Harewood – Named after Skyedale, the house belonging to Mr and Mrs Macleod. The Macleods are shareholders in Nunweek Estates, developers of this subdivision off 547 Harewood Road. Their ancestral home is in the Isle of Skye. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website. I searched Papers Past for Skyedale and it was owned by Roderic Sandilands Macleod and his wife Janice. Roderic’s parents owned a property in Loburn called Sandilands. This is where I started to get confused as the library website for Applecross Lane said that Skyedale estate was developed on land owned by Ross Jason Macleod. I couldn’t find any connection between Roderic Macleod and Ross Macleod. Ross Macleod didn’t move to Harewood Rd until 2005 which was after Roderic Macleod had already developed his property Skyedale. Skyedale was on Harewood Rd where Nunweek Park now is sited.

The houses on this street are mostly on only one side of the street as Nunweek Park is on the other side. The houses were built in 2000 and 2005 and most are nice houses with nice gardens. I even saw spring flowers in a couple of the gardens yet it is autumn. One house that I quite liked had at least a dozen vans parked in the large driveway. Looked like they were running a business from this house.

St Clair Close in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

St Clair Close in Harewood – Named because it is a family name belonging to Mr and Mrs Macleod. The Macleods are shareholders in Nunweek Estates, developers of this subdivision. Their ancestral home is in the Isle of Skye. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. I searched the Ancestry website and couldn’t find anyone with that name in the Mcleod family.

The houses here were built in 2000 and 2005 and it was a lovely street. The houses were surrounded by lovely gardens with some really nice garden decorations.

Talisker Place in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Talisker Place in Harewood – Named after the Talisker Distillery, the only distillery on the Isle of Skye. The Macleods are shareholders in Nunweek Estates, developers of this subdivision off 547 Harewood Road. Their ancestral home is in the Isle of Skye. Named in 1999

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. I can’t remember if I visited this distillery when I visited Scotland in 2008. We visited at least 2 or 3 distilleries and I don’t even like the taste of whisky.

This street only has has houses on one side of the street as Nunweek Park and Wairaki Reserve are on the other side of the street. The houses here were built in 2000 and they were huge. I quite liked the houses but well beyond my budget. I liked the street.

Rawei Place in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Rawei Place in Harewood – Named after Rawei Harold Hill (1895?- 1965). Hill was the founder of Becmead Industries and father and grandfather of the present shareholders. Developed at 519 Harewood Road. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website. Note Rawei Harold Hill’s business was called Becmead Jersey Stud aka Becmead Stud. I couldn’t find a business called Becmead Industries but there was a business called Becmead Investments but he didn’t seem to be a director of that business. He was a wool broker trading as Walter Hill and sons. His father Walter set up that business. His uncle was Sir James Hill who founded a Yorkshire wool top making firm. I had to google top making and it is the process of preparing wool for spinning. I have always known that process as carding. It is interesting that he was a wool broker as he was well known as a breeder of pedigree jersey cattle. His entire stock of cattle were sold in 1965 after his death.

A small street and houses here date from 2000. I didn’t take any photos as nothing stood out for me here.

Nunweek Boulevard in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Nunweek Boulevard in Harewood -Named because of its proximity to Nunweek Park which, in turn, is named after Henry Nunweek (1826- 1914). The property where the street was formed had been known as the Nunweek Block for many years. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website. I found Henry Nunweek’s obituary on Papers Past. He was 89 years when he died and he was born in Keithley in Yorkshire. He came New Zealand in 1856 and his occupation was road making. He did go south briefly to do some gold mining. He was a member of the Riccarton Road Board.

The houses here were built in 2000 and only 7 houses here. It is a short street and not what I would expect from a street that is called a boulevard but it was fairly wide.

Dunvegan Place in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Dunvegan Place in Harewood – Named after Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, historic home of the Clan Macleod. Mr and Mrs Macleod are shareholders in Nunweek Estates, developers of this subdivision. Their ancestral home is in the Isle of Skye. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. I visited Dunvegan Castle in 2008 when I took my long service leave from the bank and went to the UK and Crete. This trip inspired me to take redundancy from the bank in 2009 and go travelling for 5 years.

This is pleasant street but the footpath is on only one side of the street. The houses here were built in 2000 and were large modern houses. Nothing really stood out for me on this street.

Becmead Drive in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Becmead Drive in Harewood – Named after Becmead Industries, the company that owned and farmed the land for 47 years. Developed at 519 Harewood Road. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website. Nothing on Papers Past about Becmead Industries and the Hill family farm was actually called Becmead Stud and they bred Jersey cattle.

In 1973 and 1989 the company called Becmead Investments tried to get the land rezoned from rural to residential but this was declined. They eventually managed to get it rezoned in 1996. Becmead Investments was formed in 1955 and went into liquidation in 2003. One of the directors set up a new company in 2004.

Most of houses were built in 2000 with a couple built in 2005. I started my walk at Wairakei Reserve where I was geocaching. It was a pleasant street with several different styles of houses and I quite liked most of them. The gardens were immaculate lawns with shrubs and a few had flowers but not many. I explored Benmore Gardens Reserve as there was an entrance to the reserve on this street. There was also an entrance to Becmead Reserve but I didn’t explore this reserve. There was a walkway from this street through to Hockey Street where I had parked my car.

Napoleon Close in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Napoleon Close in Harewood – Named after Napoléon Bonaparte (1769- 1821). Bonaparte was a French military and political leader. Frenchman Alfred Victor Le Roi (1906-1997) was once the owner of the land where this street was formed. Developed at 519 Harewood Road. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website and Alfred Victor Roi aka Le Roi was born in New Zealand which actually makes him a New Zealander and not a Frenchman. His grandfather Victor Roi was born in France in 1836 and Victor married in New Zealand in 1870. His wife’s surname was Barrett and I doublechecked to see if there was a family link but my Barrett ancestors are from Cornwall and Victor’s wife was born in Wiltshire. Victor became a naturalised citizen in the 1890s. It wasn’t possible to do this before 1890s and I did sidetrack looking at the history of citizenship rules. Alfred known as Alf was still using the surname Roi until 1938 but by 1942 he was using Le Roi. At least one of his brothers also changed their surname as well. I couldn’t find Alfred’s marriage details and his wife was born in Auckland to Scottish parents. I managed to find a death notice for Alfred on Ancestry website and he was Alfred Victor Le Roi in the death notice.

I spent ages looking for information about this man and his family.

This is a short street with the footpath on only one side of the street. The houses here were built in 2000 and 2005 and are modern large houses. Looked like a pleasant street.

Edited as the library website is totally wrong as I have found information from a council page. Napoleon Close for the cul de sac serving Lots 84 – 92 (Napoleon was the name of the stud bull for the jersey herd run on the property from 1952 till about 1963.)

Le Roi Way in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Le Roi Way in Harewood – Named after Alfred Victor Le Roi (1906-1997). Le Roi was the landowner where this street was formed at 519 Harewood Road prior to Becmead Investments’ ownership. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website. Alfred’s real name was Alfred Victor Roi and he was born in Oxford but grew up in Southbridge. I couldn’t find his death details and I checked Findagrave, Memorytree and Ancestry website. I was wanting to see what name was used when he died.

This was a weird street as there is only one house with an address on this street. The other houses that look like they are on this street actually have addresses on the neighbouring streets. Almost the entire street had high fences so I couldn’t be nosy and I suspect the property behind the high fence in my photo belongs to a hoarder. The house at 25 Becmead Drive has a letterbox on Le Roi Way which is rather confusing.

Berisdale Place in the suburb of Harewood, Christchurch

Berisdale Place in Harewood – Named after Berisdale in the Isle of Skye. NB This place cannot actually be located. The Macleod are shareholders in Nunweek Estates, developers of this subdivision. Their ancestral home is in the Isle of Skye. Developed off 547 Harewood Road. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website and the reason that they couldn’t find Berisdale in Skye is because the council spelt it wrong. With a few seconds of googling I found Bernisdale in Skye. It is a village near the head of Loch Snizort and the Macleod family’s ancestors were from Snizort in Skye.

This is a tiny street with a footpath on only one side of the street. There is another entrance to Applecross Lane from the street. The large modern houses here were built in 2000s. Looked like a pleasant street.