Devon Street – Named after Devon, a county in south-western England. Mentioned in the source as a private road off Colombo Street South in 1880. Its formation was discussed at a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council reported in the Star in 1880. Devon Road first appears in street directories in 1887. Becomes Devon Street in 1916. Not formally recognised as a public street by the Christchurch City Council until 1952.

A wee bit of information from the library website. This street had a mixture of new and old houses on it. A couple of well looked after worker cottages. Some of the other older houses were well looked after but others were looking rundown. There were new apartments with a Mediterranean look but not sure if I liked them or not. There were other new looking apartments on this street and they are similar in style to some that are in Addington. They look lovely when new but unless painted on a regular basis they quickly look shabby.There is a Countdown supermarket at the Colombo St end of the street. One of my photos is of a huge tree.

MacGibbon Place – Named after William Smith MacGibbon (1889?-1962). MacGibbon was an accountant and also a city councillor 1935- 1937, 1947-1950, 1953- 1956 and 1958-1962. He stood for mayor in 1950 but was defeated by Robert Mafeking Macfarlane. Named in 1960.

A wee bit of information from the library website. This street ran off Manhire St and looked like it was entirely social housing. They were all units made of brick. One had an interesting garden.

Picton Ave – Named after Picton, a town in Marlborough. One of a group of streets named after places in central New Zealand. First mentioned in The Press in 1890 when land in the vicinity is advertised for sale. First appears in street directories in 1900.

A wee bit of information from the library website. I did a little bit more research and Picton is named after Sir Thomas Picton who was a Welsh military associate of the Duke of Wellington. I didn’t know this so that was cool to find out. The street runs from Riccarton Rd to Blenheim Rd. Businesses at both ends with houses on the rest of the street. Many houses looked rundown but there are some newer places.. There is also a reserve here and a geocache is hidden here. I will come back to find the geocache. I only managed one photo as it is at the reserve where I tripped over. Fancy putting a low chain across an entrance to a reserve. The photo shows new and old houses.

Note it took over three weeks to recover from my fall. Motto: always look where you are walking. I am not getting any younger.

Puriri Street – Named after the puriri, a New Zealand native tree. Named to commemorate the Deans families’ efforts to conserve the native forest trees in Riccarton. The naming was also designed to showcase the Maori names of trees. Named in 1892 when John Deans (1853-1902) split up 150 acres of the Deans Estate into 105 lots which were auctioned. First appears in street directories in 1911. Appears on a 1912 map.

A wee bit of information from the library website and the information is exactly the same as for other streets in the area. The street goes from Kotare St to Riccarton Rd. There is a wee bridge over a stream but this isn’t shown on my google map. There is a mixture of new and old houses here. The old wooden villas are gorgeous but I just couldn’t get photos due to high fences. Lots of security here as this is a fairly wealthy area. Some of the modern houses I liked which is unusual for me but there were also a couple of toilet block style. Lovely well kept gardens and a couple of interesting letterboxes which I didn’t expect for this area. I did love one of the fences at a house. There were two churches at the Riccarton Rd end and I think we will all know which church I preferred.

Nelson Street – Named after the city and province of Nelson. One of a group of streets named after places in central New Zealand. First mentioned in The Press in 1901 in a report of a meeting of the Riccarton Road Board. The surveyor reported on the roads in Hall’s township, and it was decided the board would take over Nelson Street, Elizabeth Street, Marlborough Street and Picton avenue, from Riccarton road to south side of Dilworth Street and from south side of Alma Street to the southern end of Picton avenue. First appears in street directories in 1908.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Nelson was obviously named after Horatio Nelson. This short street has businesses one side and flats the other side. There was also a church in a fairly modern building. There was an entrance for the Windmill Centre and has anyone noticed that the Windmill has disappeared from the Windmill Centre. Some of the flats were looking a bit rundown and they looked like they could be social housing. This street is very close to Riccarton Mall AKA Westfield Mall.

Long Street in Woolston and there is nothing on the library website for this street. I have searched Papers Past and there are articles mentioning this street as far back as 1915 so it isn’t a new street. The council advised that they would be doing riverbank protection work here and this was in 1930. I couldn’t find any reason for the name. The street actually looks like an extension of Barton St but there are articles about both streets at the same time.
The street isn’t long and it runs beside the Heathcote River and has a business at one end and houses at the other end. They are mostly older houses in good condition. My only photo is of the end of the street overlooking the river.

OK I give up as I just can’t find any information about how this street got named. I did find two men with the surname of Long who lived in Christchurch at the right time but can’t find any evidence that they lived near here.

Cass Street – formerly part of Carlyle Street. Named after Thomas Cass (1817-1895). Cass was one of Captain Thomas’ assistants in the survey of Canterbury prior to the arrival of the First Four Ships. Cass Street first appears in street directories in 1950.
A little bit of information from the library website. This is an industrial area of Sydenham and runs from Orbell St to Colombo St. The Durham Street bridge goes over this street and I went out the other night to visit Cass St after reading a news article about a complaint about a billboard on the roof of a business on Cass St. One business had a lovely garden area which I liked. Several businesses around the corner from where I live have ripped out gardens and trees and laid concrete. I have posted a photo of the billboard as well as the gardens.

Holmcroft Court – nothing on the library website for this street. With a bit of googling it looks like most of the houses were built in the 1970s so it isn’t a new street. It is a small cul de sac that leads to the Old Stone House. I haven’t been able to find out how it got the name Holmcroft but as it is so close to the Old Stone House and where Cracroft house used to stand the best guess is that the name is associated with the Cracroft-Wilson family. On Papers Past I did find a property called Holmcroft but it was out in Halswell somewhere. My photos are of the Old Stone House and a sign in the garden of one of the houses. There was a woman busy gardening in the street and lots of people at the open day for the Old Stone House today.

Caro Lane – too new to be on the library website. Found information from council meeting dated 15/04/2018. Caroline (Caro) Murray formally Wilson who is granddaughter of John Wilson Cracroft suggested names for the new subdivision based on her childhood memories. Obviously named after Caro Murray nee Wilson.

One house on this lane is half built and the other is occupied.

Long Acre Rd – too new to be on the library website. Found information from council meeting dated 15/04/2018. Caroline (Caro) Murray formally Wilson who is granddaughter of John Wilson Cracroft suggested names for the new subdivision based on her childhood memories. Long Acre was the name of the paddock which is now the subdivision.

Very new houses here and most are in the process of being built with only 2 or 3 occupied. One had a couple of fun weather vanes. This road is very close to the road that leads to the Adventure Park. There is one section that I wouldn’t like to buy going by the huge drain behind it.