Broadleaf Lane and nothing on the library website. I imagine that it is named after a tree. Google maps and the valuation website that I use say that this road is in Heathcote Valley. The road actually goes up from the Summit Road to the top of Mt Pleasant. The QV website puts this street in Mt Pleasant and I personally think that Mt Pleasant is correct.

Nothing much on Papers Past with mostly just ads in the 1970s. There were a couple of entries in 1975 about changing the status of the dwellings from baches to permanent homes. One article was about the Summit Road housing issues where the owners wanted to extend their cottages but they were in the protected zone of the Summit Road.

There are only three houses here and they were built in 1910, 1960 and 2016. I suspect that the one that was supposed to have been built in 2016 is actually much older than this. It was impossible to actually see the houses as they are surrounded by trees. I walked this road this morning and when I reached the top where you can overlook Lyttelton it was almost impossible to stand up because of the wind. At the top it is known as Mt Pleasant Reserve but I have always just known it as the Trig Station. Knew tis area well when going up as the hills here were our playground. I looked at where I grew up and it was a huge walk from our house and most of it up a very steep hill. One strong memory that I have from childhood is of us disturbing a ‘courting’ couple in a car. Today I ended up talking to a ham radio operator who belongs to a group who transmit from mountain summits. Thinking about the trig station I remember that at least 20 years ago there was a website that I belonged to where you had to visit trig stations. I can’t remember what you did to prove that you had visited them.

Bass Street in Woolston – First appears in street directories in 1896 but was in existence earlier. Alexander Dixon Neave (1852?-1949), a labourer, is listed in church registers in 1892 as living at “Bass Street, Ashbourne, Christchurch”. Bass Street is first mentioned in the Press newspaper in 1897 when a house burnt down due to a kerosene lamp accident.

A small amount of information from the library website and the new website had added the information about the house fire.

Papers Past had several death notices and lots of ads. As well as the house fire in 1897 there were houses destroyed by fire in 1910,1919 and 1965. The houses were connected to sewers in 1927. In 1930 the Drainage Board said that they were unable to cover Bell’s Creek at the end of the street as it was on private land. In 1963 there was a letter of complaint from the owner of 40 Bass St to the Drainage Board about the damage to his property when the contractors laid the sewers through his property. The Drainage Board replied to say that the owner’s garage was already in poor repair and the damage wasn’t the contractors fault. This same property which included glasshouses was for sale in 1967.

In 1951 there was talk about Linwood Post Primary getting land on the street for a playground but this land was considered unsuitable.

The valuation website that I use said that the houses here are dated from 1910 to 2016. There are still several houses dating from between 1910 and 1920 but one house that is supposed to be from 1910 is actually from 1850. Several articles about this house from 1980 onwards and it has category 2 listing. At least one article mentions that it was one of 5 cottages that was originally on Moorhouse Ave. Two were moved to Bass St but only this one remains. There are high fences around the cottage but in a council article there is a lovely photo of the house with just a low fence around it. There were some lovely houses here plus a council building. I ended up chatting with a local who said that it is an area that isn’t always safe and depends on who is living in the area.

Avoca Valley Rd in Heathcote – Named after The Vale of Avoca, a poem by Thomas Moore (1780-1852). Formed from land owned by William Robinson and named by him. His farm was subdivided from 1918 and the road formed. First mentioned in The Press in 1921. First appears in street directories in 1921.

A small amount of information from the library website. I searched Ancestry, cemetery database and Papers Past and the only entry for this William Robinson that I could find was census / land records for 1875. There were so many men with this same name.

A few entries in Papers Past and when the road was being formed in 1920 the only name mentioned was Mr Scott. The Avoca Valley Run / farm was looked after by a farm manager J S Weir. In 1933 a turning place was to be provided at the top of the road and sections were available in 1934 and in the 1950s. In the 1940s and 1950s there were ads for fruit pickers wanted. In 1969 the sewer was extended. In 1983 and 1985 there were fires in the Port Hills that threatened houses here. There was a very accident prone man A C Ascott lived on this road and he got several mentions. In 1967 he is described as a 30 year old watersider who suffered head injuries and shock by being hit by a length of dunnage. In 1968 he fell off his motorbike on Evans Pass Road. In 1971 he fell from his motorbike in Opawa Rd. I can’t remember which year his car caught fire. He died in 1994 aged 57.

There are only about 36 houses here dating from 1930 to 2018 and most were on fairly large sections. Some lovely gardens and there is a cattery near the end of the road. Right at the end there was a gate saying private property and a sign saying Tussock Hill Farm. I googled and found an article from 2018 which says that the Summit Road Society purchased this farm for 1.6 million dollars. The society was hoping to get permission to use red zoned land on this road for a car park and public access. I looked at street view from before the earthquakes and there were a lot more houses on this road. Almost all the houses on one side of the road were demolished. There were lots of horses on this side of the road. The road was flatter than I was expecting and it was an easy walk. I certainly can’t count it as one of my monthly hill walks as I was intending to do. I quite liked this road but a bit too far from the central city for my liking. I like being able to walk to the city from where I live in Addington.

Gilders Grove in Heathcote – Named after Digby Te’Ohia Leslie Gilders (1896-1980). Gilders was a private surveyor practising in Christchurch 1930s-1970s. He surveyed the subdivision which created the allotment subdivided to create the street. A subdivision at 19 Avoca Valley Road by W. J. Mauger. Named in 1999.

A small amount of information from the library website.

The following information is from the council website – HEA/98/143 W J Mauger 19 Avoca Valley Road Heathcote Ward This subdivision creates eleven new allotments served by a new cul de sac, running north east off Avoca valley Road. The applicant has submitted the following names for approval for the cul de sac: Maddethan Place the name is related to family names of the applicant Peppertree Close from a protected tree on the site Cron Way also related to a family name Maddethan may be remotely confused with Maddisons Road, however this is unlikely, particularly with Maddisons Road being near Templeton, and being in a different Postal Zone. There is a new cul de sac called Pepperwood Place in Burwood, which may be confused with Peppertree, and there are currently sixty-five existing streets in the City ending with ‘wood’ and a further sixteen beginning with ‘wood’. ‘Cron’ does not conflict with any existing names, and being a short name is suitable for this short cul de sac. Recommendation: That the name CRON WAY be approved for use for the above new cul de sac. HEA/98/143 W J Mauger 19 Avoca Valley Road This subdivision creates eleven allotments served off a new cul de sac . Three proposed names were submitted to the June Board meeting, and were declined as being unsuitable. The following names are submitted for the Board’s consideration : GILDERS GROVE Digby Gilders was a private surveyor practicing in Christchurch from the 1930’s to the early 1970’s. He was the surveyor who carried out the subdivision forty years ago which created the allotment that is presently being subdivided. CARTMAN CLOSE C F Cartman was a landowner in Avoca Valley Road fifty years ago.

The property at 19 Avoca Valley Rd was sold in 1995 so I am not sure how a surveyor who died in 1980 could have surveyed the subdivision. Part of the property was sold in the 1950s so he could have surveyed it then. There was a lovely character house on the property and I couldn’t work out if it is still there or not but suspect it was demolished.

Because the name of the street had an s on the end of it I thought that it might have been named after someone with the surname Gilder. Very disappointing that this wasn’t the case. Most entries on Papers Past relate to his work as a surveyor apart from a couple of episodes involving being drunk. Nothing much on ancestry website as he never married.

I walked the street today and nothing stood out for me. I did stand there for a while watching Westpac helicopter circling around the Heathcote Valley.

Morgans Valley in Heathcote and nothing on the library website. The following information is from Barrie Wood’s Heathcote Lovely Lanes Information – Morgans Valley was named after Captain William Morgan. Morgan was one of the pioneer settlers. His

home was still there in 1920 at the head of the valley. The house was built of Baltic pine and large slabs of Welsh slate brought from England. Morgans Valley has also previously been known as Scott’s Valley as it backed onto the JS Scott homestead in Bridle Path Road. Today Scotts Valley Reserve is to the south of Morgans Valley, above Birdsey Reserve.

Not much information on Papers Past and in the 1920s most entries were about rabbiting. In 1974 hang gliders were hoping to get permission to land on farmland in Morgans Valley. Flying hang gliders was banned in the Heathcote Valley.

Captain William Morgan didn’t stay in Heathcote for very many years and he moved to Kaiapoi where he died in 1875.

I was surprised that I hadn’t already walked this street for my project as I have geocached here. I found a geocache near the top of the street in 2017 and found another geocache in 2023. Most houses here date from 2000 with several built more recently. Some I liked and others I didn’t really like. There is one house that has a very interesting garden including a large sculpture of a horse. At the top of the street there is a gate blocking what I thought was a walkway. A sign about rockfall danger is on the gate. When I looked at street view from before the earthquakes there was a road leading to houses. These houses have all been demolished. There is another road that leads off the main road and I was half expecting it to have another name but it is still part of Morgans Valley. This one has also had the houses on the higher ground demolished. I actually quite liked the street. Great views from the top of the street.

Cooks Lane in Heathcote – formerly Cook Street. Named after William Cook. Cook, a timber merchant, built the homes on Cooks Lane. He is listed living there in 1907, the year Cook Street first appears in street directories. Becomes Cooks Lane in 1936.

A small amount of information from the library website and I couldn’t find anything on Papers Past for Cooks Street in Heathcote. There was a very interesting boarding house on a Cooks Street that ran off Colombo Street.

The first entry that I could find for Cooks Lane was in 1939 under military service call up and it was for Francis Andrew Stechmann a farm labourer of 3 Cooks Lane. Francis was my Dad’s cousin and my memory of him is when he lived on Canterbury Street in Lyttelton.

In the 1940s there were a couple of ads plus a new name was proposed for the street but the name was undecided. It obviously didn’t happen. Nothing in the 1950s and just a few ads in the 1960s. In 1972 there was a discussion about the disposal of night soil. From 1983 onwards only the Heathcote Riding School is mentioned.

I seriously sidetracked with William Cook because of his will. William Cook was a busy man and had been a butcher with his brother. Owned property in Lyttelton, Governors Bay, Teddington as well as the property in Heathcote. William Cook died in 1917 aged 61 and there was a big court case regarding his will as he only left a weekly allowance of £2 and 5 shillings to his wife Annie. This not only was to support his wife but also seven children. Two of the children were working and paid board plus Annie had to work as a part time nurse. William and Annie separated in 1903 and she lived in a house on the corner of Exeter St and Oxford St in Lyttelton. Reason for the separation was William’s relationship another woman. This woman was the wife of Annie’s brother and William was living with Annie’s brother Richard and Richard’s wife. William left most of his money to Richard’s wife and her children plus money to another woman and her children. The courts agreed to increase the weekly allowance to Annie. I didn’t read all of the will online as there were over 100 pages to it but I read enough to see that he had left most of his money to the two other women and their children. There could be two or three Lyttelton families who could get a surprise if they get their DNA done. Edited to say that Alice the wife of Richard Wakelin was living at William Cook’s property on Cooks Lane while Richard was living in Governors Bay. The widow of William’s brother Colin said that the business partnership between William and Colin was dissolved because of William’s relationship with Alice Wakelin. There was a child born in 1904 who was adopted by Alice Wakelin and William left this child a fairly large sum of money.

Most of the houses in this street were built in 2005 and later but there are two houses from 1910 and I managed to get a photo of one of them. The other one was hidden by lots of trees. There is a walkway here that leads to Ferrymead Reserve. There was a large green space that looked like it could have been a community garden but there wasn’t any signs. I checked google maps and it is possibly a private section.

Cross Street in Heathcote/ Ferrymead and this street no longer exists. It is named on a map from 1930 but maps previous to that showed it but with no name. It was mentioned in Papers Past in 1933 as keeping the name Cross Street. I have checked old maps to compare with modern maps and it was possibly where the old Ferrymead House / Ferrymead Hotel stood. There used to be another house next to it but it was demolished several decades ago because of borer in the timber that the house was built from. Apart from ads for the Ferrymead Hotel there wasn’t much information on Papers Past. In the 1860s a Stephen Curtis ran the hotel and his nickname was Yankee Doodle Curtis. There have been a few owners over the years and one had a massive dispute with the Tramway Historical Society. I thought that I had taken a photo when I was walking in the area a few days ago but obviously hadn’t so it is a screenshot from street view. I think that there might have been someone working on the property and I try to avoid taking photos of people. There is a lot of information online about Ferrymead House / Ferrymead Hotel which has a Bridle Path Road address. If anyone has better maps for this area to show if I am correct or incorrect about Cross Street I would love to see the maps.

Wheatsheaf Lane in Heathcote – Named after wheat, one of the grains used in the making of malt extract (barley is the predominant grain). The sheaf of wheat is a common agricultural symbol. Additional information: Date Named: 17 February 2021 Subdivision: 68 Port Hills Road. The road names are themed for the historic use of the site.

A small amount of information from the new library website and nothing that I can add about the name.

The houses here were all built in 2021 and there isn’t a footpath to walk on .

On Friday when driving back from walking the Bridle Path I noticed the sign saying Wheatsheaf Lane but it just seemed to point to the car park for the cafe and shops on Port Hills Rd. Yesterday when walking in the area I checked my maps and it looked like I could through Stead Lane to Wheatsheaf Lane so this is what I did. I was going to have an iced coffee at the cafe as I had walked about 8km but it was so busy that I just continued back to my car. All the houses here look exactly the same and I took a photo from Stead Lane looking towards Wheatsheaf Lane. It shows the back view of the houses on Wheatsheaf Lane and there is a wee path that takes you to the car park. I ignored the wee path and actually walked Wheatsheaf Lane which is why I know that there isn’t a footpath.

Matuku Lane in Heathcote – Matuku is a te reo Māori name for the white-faced heron. Matuku Waterway is the name of the stormwater drain that runs down the boundary of the development. Matuku is the name of the Council stormwater management area in the valley floor. Matuku, the white-faced heron, (Egretta novaehollandiae) is a medium-sized heron, pale, slightly bluish-grey, with yellow legs and white facial markings. It can be found almost anywhere near shallow water, fresh or salt.

Additional information: Date Named: 16 February 2022 Subdivision: 86 Bridle Path Road

This information was from the new library website and I will confess to being surprised that they had any information. Obviously the old library website didn’t have any information.

The houses here were built in 2023 and 2024 plus it is still being developed. Only partially walked the street as the footpath is only a few metres long.

Castleview Lane in Heathcote – Named because the street has a view of Castle Rock. Developed at 162 Port Hills Road. Named in 1999.

A tiny amount of information from the library website. There isn’t anything else that I can add about this street. Most of the houses date from 2000 with one dating from 1980. I am surprised that I didn’t do this street when I walked Port Hills Road. The footpath here is only a few metres long so I only partially walked it. Forgot to get a photo so it is a screenshot from street view.