# Cardiff Street Names



## 1927 (Jan 19, 2009)

Does anyoen know anything about how the streets of Cardiff were named.

I work in Whiitle Road and it only struck me recently why it is so named, and then I saw the theme. Bessemer Road, Brindley Road, Hadfield Road took a bit of working out.

Areas like Splott are more obvious with their theming, Are there any interesting stories about how streets were named that anyone knows of?

Maybe we could post them up here and I can collect them all together in an index post.

Or maybe I am the only sad bugger that is interested!


----------



## mattie (Jan 19, 2009)

1927 said:


> Does anyoen know anything about how the streets of Cardiff were named.
> 
> I work in Whiitle Road and it only struck me recently why it is so named, and then I saw the theme. Bessemer Road, Brindley Road, Hadfield Road took a bit of working out.
> 
> ...



It ain't sad mate, some really interesting history in the backstory for street names - I had a book on the origins of London street names that I lost in my last house move, maybe there's one for Cardiff too?

Other than that, (or perhaps including that) I've nothing useful to add.


----------



## Gromit (Jan 19, 2009)

Excalibur Drive
Camelot Way
Gareth Close
Galahad Close
Guenever Close
Percival Close
Pendragon Close
Merlin Close

An area in Thornhill. Not sure what the connection between all these roads is


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jan 19, 2009)

All the streets where Howardian High School was are named after ex teachers, only told of that the other day.


----------



## 1927 (Jan 19, 2009)

Looking at my map of Cardiff there's a lot of Scottish street names, I assume because of the influence of the Butes.

Never connected the fact before that all the streets round Roath park *lake* are named after places in the Lake district!

A lot of women's names in Roath and splott evidently named after the builders wives.


----------



## Sweaty Betty (Jan 19, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> All the streets where Howardian High School was are named after ex teachers, only told of that the other day.



REALLY??  I went to that school and never made the connection??

*goes to check names and cmpare from memory*


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jan 19, 2009)

Sweaty Betty said:


> REALLY??  I went to that school and never made the connection??
> 
> *goes to check names and cmpare from memory*



Only going by what I was told by my mate who lives there. The street names seem to fit though. My Mum went to Howardian, maybe you know her...


----------



## ddraig (Jan 19, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Only going by what I was told by my mate who lives there. The street names seem to fit though. My Mum went to Howardian, maybe you know her...



watchit dude! 

she really ain't that old  
i'd start running if i were you...

e2a - unless you're 10!


----------



## softybabe (Jan 19, 2009)

ddraig said:


> watchit dude!
> 
> she really ain't that old
> i'd start running if i were you...



seconded!


----------



## Sweaty Betty (Jan 19, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Only going by what I was told by my mate who lives there. The street names seem to fit though. My Mum went to Howardian, maybe you know her...



How old is your mum???

There was defo a MR Foster and i think a Mrs Hammond but sinclair?????

strange choice of names as they were not the most well know of all the teachers...

MR Hughes the headmaster and MR kitchen etc etc, mind you it was open for yonks so these teachesr could be from the beginning


----------



## Sweaty Betty (Jan 19, 2009)

ddraig said:


> watchit dude!
> 
> she really ain't that old :
> i'd start running if i were you...
> ...



I was just thinking that after i replied--im shit at maths as you know


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jan 19, 2009)

Sweaty Betty said:


> I was just thinking that after i replied--im shit at maths as you know



Sorry if you end up being 10 years younger , I thought the school had been closed for like 20 years? My mum is 42, she was the oldest of three sisters, the youngest being 39 and the other one slap bang in the middle. Ill pm you the surname if your of that age.


----------



## Sweaty Betty (Jan 19, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Sorry if you end up being 10 years younger , I thought the school had been closed for like 20 years? My mum is 42, she was the oldest of three sisters, the youngest being 39 and the other one slap bang in the middle. Ill pm you the surname if your of that age.



im 34 so prolly remember your younger sister...pm me mate


----------



## jimadore (Feb 12, 2009)

*streets names*

Cathays  some streets he owned, are  named after Lord Corys' family ,  or his ships, he was a coal , steel , and ship owner  i.e. fanny st  may st  richard st most of the property belong to him. many people were killed in his CAERPHILLY mine years ago ,  were his tennants low wages, high rents.


----------



## fogbat (Feb 12, 2009)

Marius said:


> Excalibur Drive
> Camelot Way
> Gareth Close
> Galahad Close
> ...



They're all pretty much new-build (ish) areas, aren't they?

I'd guess some fanciful developer / council employee had been reading too much Arthurian legend.


----------



## Gromit (Feb 12, 2009)

New build 20 years ago ish. 

But yeah a massive estate built in one go by someone who got a bit overexcited by the welsh link to the legends I'm guessing


----------



## fogbat (Feb 12, 2009)

Marius said:


> New build 20 years ago ish.
> 
> But yeah a massive estate built in one go by someone who got a bit overexcited by the welsh link to the legends I'm guessing



I did hear a rumour that Arthur's resting place is somewhere beneath the crematorium...


----------



## Col_Buendia (Feb 12, 2009)

Gold St, Silver St, Copper St, Lead St, Iron St, Tin St, Zinc St, Sapphire St, Ruby St, Emerald St, Topaz St, Diamond St, Agate St.

I thought it was fecking COAL they mined in South Wales??

It's like the city planners couldn't be arsed coming up with relevant names, so just swept whole areas with a page or two from the Thesaurus:

Planet St, Eclipse St, Star St, Orbit St, Comet St, Sun St, System St...


----------



## King Biscuit Time (Feb 12, 2009)

Col_Buendia said:


> System St...



I'd love to live on System St, or Machine Meadow in Merthyr.


----------



## fogbat (Feb 12, 2009)

King Biscuit Time said:


> I'd love to live on System St, or Machine Meadow in Merthyr.



I'd live to live on Beast Fair, in Snaith, Humberside


----------



## Gromit (Feb 12, 2009)

There's a road I used to love in Tredegar. 

Mafeking Terrace. 

Whose terrace is it?
It's my fecking terrace right so feck off.


----------



## Brockway (Feb 12, 2009)

There's a Fanny Street in Cardiff. I wonder who lives at number 69 Fanny Street? Great address.


----------



## Brockway (Feb 12, 2009)

I quite like Cyntwell Crescent as well...


----------



## bendeus (Feb 12, 2009)

I've always LOLed at Porkington Terrace in Barmouth


----------



## Ranbay (Feb 22, 2009)

Brockway said:


> There's a Fanny Street in Cardiff. I wonder who lives at number 69 Fanny Street? Great address.



I lived on Fanny street... getting a taxi home was fun 

all the ones there are named after some guys daughters... Flora, Fanny...etc


----------



## meurig (Mar 16, 2009)

Sweaty Betty said:


> How old is your mum???
> 
> There was defo a MR Foster and i think a Mrs Hammond but sinclair?????
> 
> ...



I went to Howardian as well, while Mr Hughes was headmaster. Sinclair was the headmaster before Hughes, and a far more capable man.


----------



## ginger_syn (Mar 24, 2009)

Brockway said:


> There's a Fanny Street in Cardiff. I wonder who lives at number 69 Fanny Street? Great address.



My landlords agency was on fanny st ,and I needed to ring them,but didn't have the number so rang direct enquieries only to have the operator burst out laughing when I gave the address


----------



## PAD1OH (Mar 24, 2009)

i suspect all the anarchists live on System Street..


----------



## llantwit (Mar 24, 2009)

PAD1OH said:


> i suspect all the anarchists live on System Street..


LOL... 
This one lives on Constellation St, Adamsdown.
We may be in the gutter, but we're looking at the stars.


----------



## Col_Buendia (Mar 24, 2009)

PAD1OH said:


> i suspect all the anarchists live on System Street..



If only it was this  Street!


----------



## drachir (Aug 13, 2009)

Apologies for bringing up an old thread, but I felt my favourite street names in the world deserved a mention:
Fortran Rd., Pascal Close and COBOL Rd., all in St. Mellons around IBM!


----------



## Infidel Castro (Aug 14, 2009)

Brockway said:


> I quite like Cyntwell Crescent as well...



Nice call!  Say it the Cymraeg way .  My old man grew up down that neck of the woods and my grandfather settled there from Yorkshire after the war with my Nan who was local to the other side of town.

I like the twinning connection in town with Boulevard de Nantes and Stuttgart Strasse...but I get confused as to why Dumfries Place is in there.  Have we been twinned with Dumfries or is it yet another Scottish connection through the Butes and the like?


----------



## slick (Apr 10, 2010)

*Slick*

Mr Archie Sinclair was the first headmaster of Howardian when the school transferred from Howard Gardens (The original name)now an art college.
Archie originated from Yorkshire and his favourite saying was MY SCHOOL IS SECOND TO NONE the other masters are all named on the estate off Colchester Ave.
Frank Baber  Geography
R.A. Jones Maths and future Headmaster
Tom Foster Goegraphy
the list goes on Miss Curtis was the Headmistress of Lady Margaret which was Howardian sister school now demolished and the estate was build in its grounds


----------



## 1927 (Apr 10, 2010)

Infidel Castro said:


> Nice call!  Say it the Cymraeg way .  My old man grew up down that neck of the woods and my grandfather settled there from Yorkshire after the war with my Nan who was local to the other side of town.
> 
> I like the twinning connection in town with Boulevard de Nantes and Stuttgart Strasse...but I get confused as to why Dumfries Place is in there.  Have we been twinned with Dumfries or is it yet another Scottish connection through the Butes and the like?



the Butes were the earls of Dumfries iirc.

Johnny Dumfries, the Formula 1 driver is the current Marquis of Bute. They had a local pad at what is now the golf course at end of 5 mile lane, Cottrell Park.

Dumfries place was, when I was a kid, a row of Victorian terraced houses/offices. I remember once a month my father would have to go up there to pay the mortgage at an agency of the Woolwich which was in the basement of a house/office which was where the multi story car park is now.


----------



## Infidel Castro (Apr 12, 2010)

Interesting stuff.  

I'm waiting for Xiamen Square to be built, or Baltimore Basin in the bay.  I think another we have is Horgaland, Norway.  I like the Norwegian connection.  Have they stopped giving us a Christmas Tree now, the Norwegians?


----------



## ddraig (Apr 12, 2010)

still get the tree afaik


----------



## Infidel Castro (Apr 12, 2010)

I just recall that we have a naff pretend tree on Queen St these days, a mesh with stuff stuck to it.  I assume the proper one is outside of City Hall.


----------



## Kismet (Feb 23, 2016)

slick said:


> *Slick*
> 
> Mr Archie Sinclair was the first headmaster of Howardian when the school transferred from Howard Gardens (The original name)now an art college.
> Archie originated from Yorkshire and his favourite saying was MY SCHOOL IS SECOND TO NONE the other masters are all named on the estate off Colchester Ave.
> ...



Tom Foster was not Geography. When I was there he mainly taught Latin, but he also taught a number of other languages, almost certainly Greek and French. If I remember correctly, in Floreat Howardia, it is stated that he taught five subjects to 'A' Level, but I think it's highly unlikely that Geog. was one of them.


----------



## shygirl (Mar 3, 2016)

Threshers_Flail said:


> All the streets where Howardian High School was are named after ex teachers, only told of that the other day.



My brother went to Howardian, must tell him about this.


----------

