Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project
I love walking and history and this project covers both interests
Princess Street – First mentioned in the Star in 1883. First appears in street directories in 1896.
Not much information from the library website. It doesn’t say if it was named after a particular princess or just a generic princess. Princess Alice a grandchild to Victoria was born in February of 1883. This is very much an industrial area of Addington / Riccarton and Skope would be the biggest company on this street.
Moncur Place – First appears in street directories in 1993.
Not much information from the library website so I don’t know if this street is named after a person or a place in Scotland. A business area running off Wrights Rd and nothing stood out for me here. Another street that could be in more than one suburb but I have put it in Addington.
Wrights Road -Named after James Wright (1817- 1891). Wright farmed on a 100 acre dairy farm called Palm Tree Farm on Lower Lincoln Road. He was there as early as 1860. It is advertised for sale in The Press in 1864. It cannot have sold as Wright advertises his dairy cows at Palm Tree Farm for sale in 1880. His property is said to be “adjoining Hillmorton”. A letter from Wright was received by the Riccarton Road Board in 1872 asking it to gravel the road leading from “the Lincoln road” to his farm. The request was denied. Wrights Road first appears in street directories in 1896.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Many of the buildings look fairly new and it is mostly businesses until you get closer to Lincoln Rd where there are houses. One side side of the road had nice houses and on the other side many of the houses looked rundown. There is also an entrance to Horncastle Area on this street. About 18 years ago I looked at buying a property on this street but it didn’t really appeal to me and there was a rumour of a drug house in the block of flats. I didn’t feel that I would be safe as a single woman living here. One of my photos is of a letterbox that I know that I have previously taken photos of. Another photo is of a business and I know that one of my friends will be amused that I took a photo of this business. I also popped into a business called Warren Agencies and I can’t believe that they are still there. I used to buy lots of beads etc for jewellery making at this shop. Note this street is on the border of more than one suburb but I have included it in my Addington streets.
Cardigan Bay Place – Named after the racehorse Cardigan Bay (1956-1988). He was probably named after Cardigan Bay in Wales. Cardigan Bay was New Zealand’s most famous pacer and first in the world to earn a million dollars. Formed in 1994 on a subdivision of Addington raceway land and part of a broad plan for residential development in the area.
A bit of information from the library website and I didn’t need this website to know how the street got the name as this horse is famous in NZ. Nice looking brick houses here and most had nice gardens but the only photo I managed to get was of the reserve at the end of the street. The photo is a bit dark.
Parade Court – Developed by Suburban Estates Ltd. Named in 1997.
Not much information from the library website so I checked out the Council report. That report doesn’t say why the name was chosen but just that they did decline the name Tree Court
My best guess for the reason for the name is that this is where the racehorses were paraded for Addington Raceway but this is only a guess. I could be wrong but I had a feeling that all the houses here are over 60s units. For non New Zealanders this is a term for housing that only people over the age of 60 can buy. I only took a photo of the entrance way as I didn’t want to frighten the house owners.
Foster Street – Named after John Foster (1817- 1903). Foster was a road contractor of Riccarton and lived on the section of Princess Street which became Foster Street. First mentioned in the Star in 1897.
Wee bit of information from library website. This street is now part of the shopping centre Tower Junction. The only photo I took was of a small garden at the back of the shops. I prefer to walk to this shopping centre as the parking is always so busy. Parking is worse since they took away a lot of the parking to add in more shops.
Troup Drive – Named after Sir George Alexander Troup (1863-1941) and his son, Gordon Sloan Troup (1898-1977). Sir George Troup was an architect who designed the Dunedin and the Kaiapoi Railway Stations. His son, Gordon, was a university liaison officer, lecturer, railway enthusiast and writer on railway matters. Named in 1997.
Interesting information from the library website. This street now has the Railway Station and is also part of the shopping centre Tower Junction. The shopping centre gets it’s name from the historic water tower.
Whiteleigh Ave – Named after Whiteleigh, the home in Addington of John Terras Bell (1838-1908). Bell was a land and estate agent. First appears in street directories in 1900.
I expected the library website to have had much more information about this street. It runs from Lincoln Rd and weirdly it stops just before Blenheim Rd and turns into Clarence St. You would think that it would go all the way to Blenheim Rd. This street has a real mixture of buildings. Between the railway lines and Blenheim Rd is the shopping centre Tower Junction and on the other side is various businesses.
Between the railway lines and Lincoln Rd on one side of the street has a couple of businesses, lots of older mostly wooden villas. Many of the villas look quite nice but again a couple of rundown looking ones. A couple of motels on this side plus some council housing which tends to house some of the more unsavoury type of person and is mostly men.
The other side has businesses plus a few houses. There is also an old persons home which is fairly new. There is also a church of the modern ugly type and apparently it is the church of the true Jesus. As I was walking along here I realise that there was something missing. There used to be a holiday park along here but it has gone. It was a rundown holiday park and many of the people who stayed here were long term and they couldn’t afford to rent elsewhere.
This is a very busy street traffic wise as it a main route to Riccarton plus goes to Tower Junction.
Bernard Street – Formerly Feathers Lane. Named because the Star Hotel, formerly the Feathers Hotel, was on the corner of Lincoln Road and Feathers Lane. Also formerly named Railway Road and Station Street. Named because it led to the Addington Railway Station. Re-named Bernard Street. Named after General Bernard Cyril Freyberg (1891-1963). Re-named Bernard Street on 27 September 1948. Freyberg was a dentist, military leader and Governor-General of New Zealand 1946-1952.
At the Lincoln Rd end there is a fairly new building built since the earthquakes which houses several businesses and also a 24 hour gym. At the other end is the Court theatre which have been here since the earthquakes as the original premises were damaged in the earthquakes. The street also runs past the back of the old mill and the road is really rough. I wouldn’t attempt to drive my car here. You can see the earthquake damage very clearly here. For a damaged and empty building I was surprised to see that there were lights on behind one of the doors.
Wise Street – formerly Crofts Lane which was incorporated into Taylor Street. Formerly Taylor Street. Named after Edward Martin Taylor (1831-1907). Re-named Wise Street. Named after Herbert William Wise (1874?-1950). Re-named Wise Street on 27 September 1948. Wise was a Riccarton Borough councillor 1916-1938. Crofts Lane was named after Alfred John Croft (1870- 1954).
Several businesses on this street plus a heritage building that was damaged badly in the earthquakes. The Mill Theatre used to be in this building. The heritage building is being restored. Was unable to find a grave for this man.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project