The Crescent in the suburb of Hillsborough, Christchurch

The Crescent – nothing on library website for this street. All the houses were brand new here and all but one of them looked very modern. There was one empty section still. The older looking house was lovely and I ended up talking to the owner. The house was rebuilt after the earthquakes but he decided to rebuild it exactly the same as the original house. I would love to have taken a photo but didn’t feel comfortable asking him if I could do this. The photos are of the empty section and of the track leading down to the street.

Charlene Place in the suburb of Hillsborough, Christchurch

Charlene Place – First appears in street directories in 1983.
Very little information on the library website. This street is divided from Leonard Place by a drain and I suspect that both streets were named by the developer after family members. There was one older house but the others looked new. One had an impressive garden but no photos. Library website has this street in Hillsborough whereas Leonard Place which is next to it the library website has as being in St Martins.

Leonard Place in the suburb of St Martins, Christchurch

Leonard Place – Leonard Street first appears in street directories in 1950. Becomes Leonard Place in 1979.
Very little information on the library website. A very small street in Hillsborough/ St Martins and the houses here all looked new so I am guessing that they are all rebuilds. There was one where I would loved to have taken a photo but the occupants were all in the garden. It was an ugly house that looked more like a toilet block than a house. The photo that I did get was of a row of houses which looked more like a motel than houses. These houses were on the border of Leonard Place and Charlene Place. The streets were divided by a drain.

Vernon Terrace in the suburb of Hillsborough, Christchurch

Vernon Tce – Named after Helen Vernon Morten, née Downes, (1834?- 1906). Helen Morten was the wife of Richard May Morten (1823-1909), a sheepfarmer. In the 1880s Morten subdivided land in St Martins, land which he had previously farmed.

A small amount of information from the library website.
Mostly new houses here and they would have been rebuilt after the earthquakes. Still some empty sections from where houses have been demolished. There is a fridge library in an old stone bus shelter at the beginning of the street and I forgot to get a photo today.The houses on one side have fairly high retaining walls. There was one old wooden house that looked original but I couldn’t get a photo as the owner was standing in the driveway. A couple of fun letterboxes here.

Rapaki Road in the suburb of Hillsborough, Christchurch

Rapaki Road – Formerly Whites Road. Named after William White (1824- 1899). Re-named Rapaki Road. A very old roadway used by the early settlers as an alternative way to Christchurch from Lyttelton. Named Whites Road because White, a contractor and partowner of the Mount Pleasant sheep-run, worked on developing the road. Re-named Rapaki Road in 1914. J. Longton, president of the St Martin’s Burgesses Association, asked the Heathcote County Council for the renaming. He said that Rapaki Road means the place of the sun, the estate close to the road was Rapaki and the Rapaki tea-rooms would be established there.
That was more information from the library website than I was expecting. Obviously this road leads to the Rapaki Track. Many of the houses are new because the original houses were damaged in the earthquakes. A couple of the houses had wee tracks for a cart for taking items up to the house. I did like the chair in the tree. Would be perfect for sitting and reading. Only one car parked on this steep road knew how to park properly.

Northwood Boulevard in the suburb of Northwood, Christchurch

Northwood Boulevard – The first major road in the Northwood subdivision. Named on 2 February 2000.
That is very brief information from the library website for a long street. This is a wide street with interesting artwork at the roundabouts. I had trouble seeing the houses along much of the street as there were high walls made of similar material to the various arches that are scattered along here. One end of the street has the New World Supermarket and the other end has a area of trees and grass plus a water feature. I met a man here who was filling up water bottles because the water feature is a spring. I believe there is a cache inside this water feature but I didn’t look for it. The autumn colours of the trees along here were lovely.

Parkside Crescent in the suburb of Northwood, Christchurch

Parkside Crescent – Named because well-established mature trees have been carefully preserved within the subdivision, which also adjoins the Springwater Road Reserve. The street names in the subdivision were chosen to be in keeping with the topography of the area. Named in 2002.
Interesting information from the library website and I don’t know what happened to the mature trees as I didn’t see them. Modern houses made from either brick or cladding. No photos here. Someone told me that many houses in Northwood have leaking problems and I guess that it would be the ones made with cladding as this material is known to be a problem

Springwater Avenue in the suburb of Northwood, Christchurch

Springwater Ave – Named because it passes over the Kaputone Creek, with springs and ponds established on both sides of the road. The street names in the subdivision were chosen to be in keeping with the topography of the area. Named in 2002.
Interesting information from the library website and I would have taken a photo of the creek if I has realised why it got it’s name. Again big modern houses and you will have gathered that I prefer the older suburbs.There was one house that I wondered if it belonged to a member of the Edmonds family. Locals will understand when they see the photo. The pattern was in three places on the house.

Waterford Avenue in the suburb of Northwood, Christchurch

Waterford Ave – Developed by Belfast Developments Ltd and Styx Developments Ltd. The developers “chose names suitable for the length of the road rather than trying to establish a common theme throughout the subdivision”. Named in 2000
Same boring information from the library website but at least it is easy to figure out where this name came from. I visited Waterford in Ireland a few years ago. The street didn’t have huge houses like the rest of the area and they were all identical.The houses were only on one side of the street and Waterford Reserve was on the other side.