Grebe Place – not on library website and De Lange Street which was on the library website but had no information.

Both are modern streets so no point searching Past Papers. Grebe is a bird so it is likely to be named after this bird. As this is Wigram I would assume any street names to be aviation related but couldn’t find anything related to De Lange. It does sound like someone’s name.

Again it was a couple of boring streets with modern houses

I have done more research by visiting Airforce Museum which is a great place to visit. Grebe Place is likely to be named after the Gloster Grebe biplane. Found limited information about De Lange Street but mostly likely named after Theo de Lange 1914 to 2005 who was a senior officer in the RNZAF. He was awarded DFC in 1944 and CBE in 1965. I have found references to De Lange Cup and De Lange Trophy both being awarded to pilots. Possibly cup and trophy references refer to the same item.

Doppler Place -Named after the Pulse-Doppler, a 4D radar system. In the Wigram Skies subdivision where the streets have an aviation theme. Named in 2014.

A small amount of information from the library website and I have nothing to add. Very modern houses here and none of them stood out for me. Very boring.

Chancery Lane in the Central City. Nothing on the library website as a street but Christchurch suburbs list has it on it’s list. The library does have a good article on it’s website about this lane.
Sadly this lane is no longer there as it suffered badly in the earthquakes and today I couldn’t see where it used to be. The new convention centre is being built in this area.

Papers Past had on 25/01/ 1881 a council note about the newly formed right of way that appears to be known as Chancery Lane. Note there was also a Chancery Lane in Auckland and obviously the one in London so there was a huge number of entries on this website.

I was amused to see that there was a lot of complaints about cyclists in this lane.We all know how I feel about cyclists. The fact there was a Matrimonial Agency here I found amusing and that was dated 1895. One naughty person in 1913 was running a gaming house.
The was a Chancery Lane Hall that seemed to be a busy wee place. Some of the societies that used the hall were Canterbury Women’s Institute, NZ Fabian Society, Plunket Society and Social Hygiene Society. In 1912 there was a meeting of Natives of Sussex.
I didn’t go past 1920 as there was too many entries.

Chancery Lane was a narrow wee lane and I loved it. When going to High School I would get the bus from the train station to the Square and then walk to school through this lane. I wish that I could remember all the shops that were here. The only one that sticks in my mind is the magic shop.
In my late teens and early 20s I vaguely remember a nightclub that was upstairs. I also remembering visiting the Media Club and I have no idea how I managed to get into that one.

In my later years especially when I was working in the Square it was my short cut to the library.
I am sure that my Christchurch friends will have other memories of this lane. Their memories hopefully will trigger more memories for me.

Lightning Close – Named after the Electric Lightning, a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era. In a further stage of the subdivision of Wigram Base. Continues the theme of using the names of military aircraft for street names in the subdivision. Named in 2001.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Nothing that I can add to this. A Christchurch suburb list had this street in Hornby but I personally feel that it is in Wigram.

I was challenged here as to why I was walking on the street. We ended up having a pleasant chat. This is the older part of Wigram. Why do new streets these days only have a footpath on only one side of the streets.

Mosquito Place – Named after the De Havilland Mosquito aeroplane. In a further stage of the subdivision of Wigram Base. Continues the theme of naming the streets in the subdivision after military aircraft. Named in 2001.

A small amount of information from the library website and I can’t add anything to it.A Christchurch suburb list had this street in Hornby but I personally feel it is in Wigram.

There is a cache hidden here but practically everyone on this tiny street were mowing their lawns.This is the older part of Wigram.

Dow Square – Named as an alternative to the spelling of the small fishing vessel, a dhow, and because the road is set out roughly in a square. Developed at 101 Awatea Road by Awatea Property Developments who wanted a small easily pronounced road name. Named in 2014.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I am not able to add to it.

The houses looked so small but they are probably bigger than they look as they are narrow but long.

The Runway – In the Wigram Aerodrome subdivision by Ngāi Tahu Property Ltd where the street names have an aviation theme. Named in 2012

A small amount of information from the library website. This is a very long road and I did walk the entire length. There is a park / green area at one end and a few businesses at the other end. It goes through the shopping centre The Landing. There is now a primary school on this road and a church. Both are very boring building. None of the houses appealed to me and they were all modern houses.
I vaguely recall that this road follows the original airport runway which is how it got the name but the library website didn’t mention this. There also used to be a car race here when it was a airport.

Corsair Drive – Named after the Vought F4U Corsair, an aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Named to continue the military aircraft theme in the Wigram subdivision. Named in 2000.

A wee bit of information from the library website and there is nothing that I can add to it. Personally I feel that this street belongs in Wigram but the Christchurch suburb list has it in Hornby. This road is probably a little bit more interesting as it has the original control building for the airport. There is also the Lady Wigram retirement village here. At one end there houses were slightly older but are still modern houses. There was a row of new houses and they looked very small.

Packe Street – Named after George Packe (1836-1882). Packe was a lieutenant colonel who commanded the Canterbury Volunteers. Earlier he had served in the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In 1873 he owned land in nearby Manchester Street.

A small amount of information from the library website. This street has many new houses and is looking good. It used to be a horrible rough street with lots of lowlifes living here so I was pleasantly surprised by the changes. There was a fridge library at the community garden and the books were just flung in any old how. I spent several minutes tidying it up.

Geraldine Street – Formerly Fitzgerald Street. Named after the FitzGerald family. Re-named Geraldine Street. Named after the clan name of the FitzGerald family. Re-named Geraldine Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. The FitzGerald family came from Ireland.

A small amount of information from the library website. This was a fairly long street to walk and there are a huge number of flats. Most are in good condition and again there was a couple of exceptions. There are some great mosaics on the street. One of the photos is of flats where my older son used to own a place. I am assuming that there is no one living in the extremely overgrown house.