Lost Norwich - Street Names

[@domdombear]

Saw this crop up and wondered 'how will he deal with Opie street' 😆 Brilliant as always

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

I think the answer was "carefully" 😆

[@dereham1]

Nicely swerved, but wonder what internet searches some will now be making 😊. By the way, found this name was also used in a Shrewsbury alley - probably in a lot of other towns, too?

[@dvdvnr]

@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich Yes, you really avoided, ahem, stroking the pussycat on that one!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@dereham1 I think you're right, it was regularly used in certain locations.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@dvdvnr absolutely!

[@janeland9699]

This is the first video of yours I have seen and what a treat! I moved to Norwich when I married, 58 years ago and was so busy bringing up a family then later coping with health issues, I never had the time to explore Norwich as much as I would have liked. A real touch of nostalgia for me and so welcome on this rainy Sunday morning. Will be forwarding this to my children and grandchildren - thank you so very much!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you so much, that's a very kind comment, and it means a lot.

[@XavierQuinn-dx3kt]

I've never been to NorwIch John but your excellent videos make me want to pay your fair city a very long overdue visit. I've subscribed to your channel & make sure I watch a video or two of yours every night. Keep it up!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

That's a very kind comment, thank you, especially as you've never been here. I hope you are able to visit soon, and that you enjoy the city.

[@jordanswan3111]

I once read a book about convicts sent to Australia in the 1800's. One story followed a 'crook' who, once freed, went on to open his own pub in Australia. He called the pub The Rampant Horse! The author (clearly not local) drew no link to this, and the fact the convict's birth location was listed as Norwich... Surely connected somehow - I wonder if he was born, or lived in Rampant Horse Street

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Must have been....too much of a coincidence!

[@kevintracey4644]

Fascinating video, thanks John. I genuinely learn a lot about our ‘Fine City’ through your films.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you Kevin 👍

[@mariuszzaborowski]

After watching few of your videos I always query street names when travelling round Norwich now

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you, I'm pleased to hear it!

[@HauntedandAbandonedNorfolk]

Interesting to hear of the history of these street names - thanks for sharing 🙂

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you Edward, it's a list that could go on for ages!

[@mariuszzaborowski]

This is a very good timing for this video to come out

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

And there are lots of other street names I didn't have time to include.

[@The_Brit_Girls]

What a great idea for a video! Well done to my partner in crime, Lucy, for suggesting it! This was really fascinating, illuminating, and enjoyable. I loved the time-lapse of the gardens at the end too!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Yes, thank you Lucy, such a good idea. Hope it got somewhere near your high expectations!

[@thetruthk5138]

Lobster Lane I have always wondered about that strange name thanks for explaining. Thanks John good stuff as always.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks very much. Glad to have solved that mystery for you!

[@jokennedy2943]

Excellent, thanks John

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Jo

[@user-sj5ss4xv7z]

I used to work on the taxis in Norwich with a bloke who used to call it Rampton Horse Street : )

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

I always find it amusing how people can sometimes mispronounce things in quite a subtle way! Someone I knew used to pronounce Barrack Street as Barrett Street. Close!

[@davegoldsmith4020]

Another good one John, Think I am going to have to watch this a few times, there is a lot in a name as they say

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Dave, there certainly is!

[@richardball8365]

Very interesting, as usual, John. From the beginning, I was on tenterhooks wondering whether on not you'd include the early 18th century name for Opie St. 🤭😉

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Richard - just a subtle reference, so anybody interested can Google it! It's easy enough to find!

[@stevecampbell9686]

Brilliant stuff, thank you John.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Steve, glad you liked it.

[@theoloyla]

Yep there was a street in Gt Yarmouth with the same former name as Opie St and it is shown in a map in Yarmouth museum. I grew up in Thorpe Hamlet on Ethel Rd and nearby are Ella Rd, Marion Rd, Getrude Rd, Beatrice Rd and Florence Rd. I was told they were the names of the builder who constructed all the houses there

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Theo for your tactful comment! Yes I believe you're right about those names in Thorpe Hamlet.

[@IDreamOfGaming]

Another fantastic and very informative video.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

[@simongee8928]

Excellent timelapse John on another of your cracking and informative videos. I'm old enough to have been about during the 'upgrades' of the 60s, but as my 'patch' was the Chaplefield Road / Unthank Road / Brunswick Road area, I didn't really notice much of it going on at the time. As a lot of development went on in my patch around that time, any possibility of a video on it sometime - ?

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Simon. Always happy to take suggestions. I've done one about Chapelfield, and also the old hospital/Jenny Lind. I like the idea of Unthank Road - it may take a few months to get round to it as I have others on the go, but yes I'll do that at some point.

[@simongee8928]

@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich Thanks John. Many were the happy hours spent exploring in and among the many derelict and bombed out buildings in the area - ! 😊

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@simongee8928 no health and safety back then!

[@simongee8928]

@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich Indeed. Sometimes wonder how we survived with nothing more than scrapes and grazes - ! 😆 But I do believe that we were instinctively more aware of the potential risks then. Same with the many building sites we'd get around. 🤔

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@simongee8928 common sense I guess!

[@James47298]

Another great vid giving good explanation to some names I've wondered about, Thanks.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks James!

[@Arhats_Corner]

Great video! Never realised there was so much history behind some street names!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you. Glad you found it interesting!

[@Polysixchick]

James Stuart seems to have a lot of things named after him. I found out recently that the Nelson School's swimming pool use to be called the Stuart Central School for Girls but I can't find out any more info about it, I believe it was used to train girl school leavers to work in industry as the building looks like a mini factory. It's just down the road from me

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you. I believe he may have funded that pool - there's certainly something on facebook that suggests that.

[@JohanCragsmasher]

thanks John, love every vid you put up! A road name I have never been able to find out about is Long John Hill in Lakenham- does anybody know who Long John was? I'm presuming not Silver?

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

That's an interesting one, thanks John. Someone might know.

[@JohanCragsmasher]

@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich John I have another question for you- I live on Magdalen Street next to Roys in a gated yard. My address is Magdalen street but there is an old sign proclaiming 'Barnes Yard'- any idea on this one? Many thanks for your videos- what you are doing is such a wonderful service for our fine city!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@JohanCragsmasher thanks very much. Have a look at this website - it gives some info on Barnes Yard www.norwich-yards.co.uk/database/selection_list_2014.asp?name=barnes&Search=Search and this is a photo of Magdalen Street in that area in 1936. georgeplunkett.co.uk/Norwich/M/Magdalen%20St%2077%20to%2085%20[0949]%201936-05-12.jpg

[@JohanCragsmasher]

@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich Oh that's marvellous- thank you so much for the resource John! Keep up the good work and thanks for being a great Norwich ambassador- I love seeing a new video from you pop up on my KZbin!

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@JohanCragsmasher thanks John, much appreciated 👍

[@martinthirkettle599]

Excellent video John. I knew that a lot of names came originally from pubs (or churches). I’d forgotten about the Rampant Horse mosaic though. Any thoughts on Timberhill?

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thanks Martin. Timberhill was a timber market I believe.

[@CanOfRabbitHoles]

nice handling of opie street ;)

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Thank you 😉

[@geoffpoole483]

Some of the origins of the street names are easier to work out than others; Geoffrey Watling Way being a prime example. "Recorder"; I'll have a guess that it's named after a legal official. Theakston's Old Peculier beer is named after a civic official, a "peculier" was a town clerk. A Norwich street with an unusual name that I recently encountered was Damocles Court, near Pottergate.

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

Damocles Court - that's an interesting one. I wondered if it might be in an area where sword related names were used, but it's not! One of a kind!

[@djashley2002]

​@@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich Damocles Court is probably named after yet another pub! (The one thing I've learnt since moving to Norwich seventeen years ago is that if a road isn't named after a pub, then it's probably named after something that was also the name of a pub!) As for Recorder Road, I'd agree that it's probably named after the legal official who was either based or lived there sometime in the past (unless Norwich had a history of making musical instruments that no one knows about!).

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

@@djashley2002 thanks very much. I've just looked up Norwich pubs with Damocles in their name, and can't find one. So it remains a mystery! You and Geoff could be right about Recorder Road. I'm certainly not aware of a history of making musical instruments!

[@mariuszzaborowski]

It is really surprising how many of the streets has only been built, guess last 100 years rapid population growth

[@JohnAtkinsLostNorwich]

It seems the "newer" streets were probably to improve transport links.