Indira Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Indira Lane in Cashmere – Named after Indira Gandhi (1917-1984). Gandhi was Prime Minister of India 1966- 1977 and 1980-1984. One of the streets in Cashmere given the name of a place in India. First appears in street directories in 1987.

A small amount of information from the library website and it is actually named after a person and not a place.

Most houses here were built in the 1980s. I will have to confess that I didn’t actually walk this street as I managed to lose the street. It runs off Nehru Place and I checked my map which showed a street running off Nehru Place. My map looked like I could walk down to Cashmere Rd but I couldn’t find the street. When I got home I looked at street view for 2019 and it shows the street signposted but looks just like a driveway. I am going to have to go back as I could swear that there wasn’t an obvious signpost.

Nehru Place in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Nehru Place in Cashmere – Named after Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India at independence in 1947, holding the office until his death. One of the streets in Cashmere given the name of a place in India. First appears in street directories in 1987.

A small amount of information from the library and the street is actually named after a person and not a place.

Most houses here were built in the 1980s and there was a footpath on only one side of the street. A couple of houses looked quite nice and they were made from dark coloured wood. One ugly modern house had lawns made from artificial grass. I looked at this option for my place now that I am slightly older and hate gardening but it wasn’t good for the environment. I do like looking at gardens

Jahan Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Jahan Lane in Cashmere – Named after Shahab Uddin Muhammad Shah Jahan I (1592- 1666). Jahan was the builder of the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan. One of the streets in Cashmere given the name of a place in India. A right of way developed by Emerson Construction at 41 Shalamar Drive. Named in 2007

A small amount of information from the library website but the information is a little bit confusing. Lahore is in Pakistan and not India and I have a former workmate who would be very upset with the library information. The Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, Pakistan design was influenced by the Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir that were built by Jahan’s father Jahangir. Note there seemed to be two different spellings for Shalimar Gardens as Shalamar was occasionally used.

A short street in Cashmere with modern houses. No footpath. Near the end of the street it got a bit confusing as I was expecting a walkway and a reserve. Never trust apple maps I mutter to myself. When I got home I googled and there is supposed to be a reserve and it is called Jahan Reserve. One part is fenced off and a house is obviously going to be build here. The other part is very steep with a huge drain going through it. Not impressed.

Whareora Terrace in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Whareora Tce in Cashmere – Named after Whareora, the home there of Thomas “Tommy” Edward Taylor (1862-1911). Taylor was a prohibitionist, businessman and politician. His house at 63 Dyers Pass Road was called Whareora, meaning: home of happiness. First appears in street directories in 1910.

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Gordon Ogilvie did a very good article called The Beginnings of the Cashmere Hills Settlement in 1976 which includes Tommy Taylor. He moved into his house Whareora in 1897. In 1914 work commenced on the forming of the street and the drainage. In 1922 a large section of land was on offer and in 1924 sections were available. Another 12 sections were available in 1963. Most entries in Papers Past were death notices and social happenings.

Most houses here were built in the 1960s and 1970s but there are still many older wooden villas from 1910s and 1920s. These older houses look gorgeous but not easy to see because of well established trees and gardens. There was one modern house that really intrigued me and I was seriously tempted to walk up their long driveway for a closer look. It had such a futuristic look about it. It is a narrow street with a narrow footpath and yesterday was rubbish collection day so I was frequently walking on the road. Great views from most of the street.

Whisby Road in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Whisby Road in Cashmere – Named after Whisby, a town in Lincolnshire, England. Whisby was home to the Cracroft family as early as the 16th century. John Cracroft Wilson (1808- 1881) was the son of Elizabeth Cleminta Wilson, née Cracroft. First appears in street directories in 1910.

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the road. Papers Past proved to be interesting and explains why this tiny dead end street is called a road. The entries in 1959 and 1960 about milk deliveries had me looking at old maps. The map for 1930 doesn’t show MacMillan Ave but the map for 1941 shows MacMillan Ave cutting through Whisby Road. The map for 1958 shows Valley Rd and Whisby Rd connected. I can’t believe that I didn’t pick up on this when I wrote up Valley Rd and MacMillan Ave.

The milk dispute was about the milkman refusing to deliver milk to the residents on the street because of how steep the street was and his truck couldn’t manage to drive up it safely. One description was that it was a stinker of a street. The milkman offered two drop boxes with one at the Dyers Pass Rd end and the other at the MacMillan Ave.

There was a subdivision here in 1913 and by 1914 there was work requested by the 15 residents on drainage and a footpath. In 1927 there was a new path for pedestrians. In 1958 the road joined up with Valley Rd and the milk delivery dispute was in 1959 and 1960. In 1968 the decision was to close portion of the road between MacMillan Ave and Valley Rd. Most of the other entries were social notes plus death notices.

I was looking at my photos and realised that I actually walked it in August 2020. There is a walkway between Valley Rd and MacMillan Ave and another tiny walkway between MacMillan Ave and Whisby Rd. It is a steep wee walkway with a seat at the MacMillan Ave end. This walkway is where Whisby Rd used to run from Valley Rd until it was closed.

Only 4 houses here and one dates from 1910 and another from 1915. They are both gorgeous.

Westenra Terrace in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Westenra Tce in Cashmere – Named after the Frances Sarah Wilson, née Westenra, (1831- 1903).Frances Wilson was the eldest daughter of Captain Richard Westenra (1794-1880) and the wife of Frederick Herbert Wilson (1831- 1902), who was the eldest son of John Cracroft Wilson. They lived where this street was later developed. First mentioned in The Press in 1913 when land in the Cashmere Estate is advertised for sale. First appears in street directories in 1921.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Most of the entries on Papers Past were death notices and social items. In 1914 there were sections offered by Charles Clark. Charles Clark owned Thorrington Estate. There were more sections available in 1966. In 1932 the Westenra Street in the city had its name changed. Gordon Ogilvie wrote an article in 1979 and it included information about Mary Ursula Bethell living on the street in a cottage called Rise Cottage. She lived there from 1924 to 1934.

A mixture of older houses and more modern ones. One of the older wooden villas is being renovated and surrounded by scaffolding. Many of the properties on the upper side of the road had stone walls. I had an interesting conversation with a young man here. There is part of the street that looks like a footpath but is actually a parking area. There are no signs saying that it a parking spot. He said that they often get parking wardens trying to give them tickets but they get reversed. Further along the road there was a car parked on the footpath and it was right on the corner by Dyers Pass Rd and I had to walk onto the road including part of Dyers Pass Rd. Not sure if I liked this street.

Holliss Avenue in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Holliss Ave in Cashmere – Named after John “Jack” Chell Holliss (1900- 1968) Hollis was an architect in partnership with P. Leonard in the firm of Holliss & Leonard. He was a member of the Heathcote Borough Council, serving as chairman 1961-1964. He designed large Christchurch buildings: the port buildings at both Christchurch and Lyttelton, the steamer express building terminal at Lyttelton and the Amuri Motors parking building. First appears in street directories in 1964.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. The unusual middle name of Chell is his grandmother’s maiden name. His obituary said that he was a well known architect and born in Lyttelton. There was a Holliss family that lived not far from where I grew up in Lyttelton so I had a good look on the ancestry website. Jack Holliss and Barry Holliss shared a great grandfather.

Most entries on Papers Past were about the community centre and Holliss Reserve. In 1962 there were 2 acres allotted for a reserve and a football ground. There was a letter to the editor in 1968 from a resident who was complaining about the proposed lido pool. He said that only the Huntsbury Hill people who want the pool so it should be built in their area and not in Cashmere. He doesn’t want his property devalued by the pool as he lives in a good value area and there is enough problems with the skating rink.

In 1971 there are plans for a reserve in what is now a cow paddock. In 1972 the playcentre building was approved. Several more entries and the councilors were still arguing about it in 1979.

Most houses were built between 1960s and 1990s. A variety of house styles and one really stood out. It looked like a recent build and didn’t look like a house. The street wasn’t as steep as I was expecting but I did come across from Holliss Track. I was slightly puzzled at the top of the street as there is a sign saying Palmer Road but there isn’t another road. There is part of the street that doesn’t seem to have any houses but there are lots of brambles and it will be a good crop of blackberries unless they get sprayed in the meantime. One of the houses near the top was offering free fruit.

Takahe Drive in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Takahe Drive in Cashmere – Named because it is near the Sign of the Takahe. Developed by Michael John Wood Davis, a surveyor and chairman of Cannon Estate Ltd. in 1959. First appears in street directories in 1964.

A small amount of information from the library website and I can’t find any link of the Cannon Estate to the Cashmere subdivision. The Cannon Estate was in the St Andrews Hill and Mt Pleasant area. I thoroughly searched Papers Past for this information.

Most entries in Papers Past involved ads for selling sections. In 1959 it is described as a new road stretching from Hackthorne Rd for 15 chains. In 1963 there were plans to extend Kidson Tce to connect to Takahe Drive. Still talking about it in 1966 and it obviously eventually happened as the two streets now connect up. In 1979 there was 5 hectares available for subdividing. Another ad describes 12 acres divided into 5 sections. In 1960 there is mention of developing Takahe Reserve and it is mentioned again in 1976.

Most houses on the street were built in the 1960s and 1970s with one house at the Hackthorne Rd end dating from 1950. I managed to miss seeing the reserve but did see a signpost which I thought was for a walkway. I was on the other side of the road because that was where the footpath was. I looked at google maps and the latest street view is dated 2019 and the reserve is fairly obvious and hard to miss. I suspect that it was because of tree growth that I missed it today. Walking narrow hill streets on bin day isn’t easy and I frequently had to go onto the road but this street wasn’t as bad as some of the others that I walked today. Great views and the houses are built to take advantage of this. At the end where the the street meets Kidson Tce a dog decided to object to me walking past and the owner had to call it home. This was actually good luck for me as she was able to direct me to a short cut to Longhurst Tce. The short cut was steep but a pleasant walk in bush up to Longhurst Tce. There is usually another part of the track that leads direct to Holliss Track but that is now closed because of a new house being built on Iles Lane. There is a sign about this on the Holliss Track which I saw the other day so I knew to walk straight up to Longhurst Tce.

Stoddart Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Stoddart Lane in Cashmere and nothing on library website for this tiny street. On Papers Past I found several entries for Agnes Stoddart saying that she lived on the Cashmere Hills. I found her obituary from 1956 which said she was 87 and the youngest daughter of Mark Stoddart the first settler in Diamond Harbour. She lived on Hackthorne Rd. I possibly still have the correct person except that she lived at 15 Hackthorne Rd which is right down near the Cashmere Rd end. Her niece who inherited her property continued living at the Hackthorne Rd address. I searched the Ancestry website and couldn’t find anyone with the surname Stoddart living where this street was formed. It could have been named after her sister Margaret Stoddard the artist. Agnes and Margaret are buried together at Bromley.

Only 11 houses here and they were built in 1990s and 2000s. Great views.

Thorrington Lane in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Thorrington Lane in Cashmere and no information on the library website. It obviously got the name because it runs off Thorrington Road. It looks like the lane was developed at No 3 Thorrington Rd which would make sense. The house was originally owned by a Campbell family who seemed to have lived there for many years. In 1969 Anne Lily Donohue MBE died and her address was 3 Thorrington Rd. She received her MBE in 1954 and going by her obituary she received it direct from the Queen rather than the Governor General. She was a Nurse Maude District Nurse plus involved with lots of groups. There are only 6 houses here and all were built in the 1970s. Looked like a driveway so didn’t actually walk it.