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Does it matter if you live in a 'Street'

(105 Posts)
kittylester Thu 30-Oct-14 09:18:30

Another of my Mum's Mrs Bucket moments yesterday:

For the 20th time on this visit alone

Mum: So, where do all your children live?
Me: Well, DS1 lives in a flat in town, DS2 lives in our village, DD1 lives in Derby, DD.........
Mum: Where in Derby does she live?
Me: *** Street.
Mum: Oh!
Me: What do you mean 'Oh'
Mum: A Street (along the same lines as 'A handbag!!')

It set me wondering whether addresses count nowadays? I've said before that we live on what was called 'Catsick Lane' so I don't have leg to stand on grin

Mum would be very impressed if anyone lived in a Close or on a Crescent - do you judge people by their addresses?

frankie74 Sun 02-Nov-14 14:10:28

janeainsworth…hi. My friend lived in Flowery Field Stockport. We used to haul ourselves up to the top of Moorland Road Bridge on our roller skates, then helter-skelter down to the bottom, grabbing the road-sign post at the bottom to stop ourselves (or not).

I lived on Buxton Road then, and later on Dialstone Lane. Have since lived in various towns, but mostly on a Road…Wake Road, London Road, Baslow Road, Chester Road….. We now live on a Rue, but not in England!

Most of the Roads I have lived were certainly not posh.

numberplease Sat 01-Nov-14 22:07:38

Don`t know what your mum would make of it Kitty, but we walked down a Squeezy Belly Alley in Cornwall a few years ago! It was extremely narrow.

joylaunorheyes Sat 01-Nov-14 21:16:36

Whilst working in pantomime in Oxford in the 1980's, I happened to attend a party at a house in Crotch Crescent with the late much lamented Dustin Gee. I still haven't stop laughing; I suspect dear Dustin is laughing still.

kittylester Sat 01-Nov-14 17:08:40

It does to my mum roses!! grin

rosesarered Sat 01-Nov-14 17:03:54

I have lived in all the Places, Roads , Streets, Gardens, Closes, Lanes ,Drives , and never given this a thought. As others have said , what about Downing Street? It can't really be a snob factor thing?I live in a Close at the moment, but that doesn't mean a thing.

Nelliemoser Sat 01-Nov-14 14:46:42

"Courts" in old industrial areas often used to be very run down slum properties.

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/visit/galleries/peoples/court-housing.aspx

Sorry folks!

papaoscar Sat 01-Nov-14 06:31:54

I always fancied Boulevard or Plaza. Or perhaps 'The' something or other. Anything for a bit of pretension, snobbery or quaintness. I read somewhere that some of London's old street names were so rude and crude that they were changed in Victorian times to sound more respectable.

gillybob Fri 31-Oct-14 22:47:21

Bloody a thlgrin

gillybob Fri 31-Oct-14 22:45:58

Well what about the queen who lives in Buckingham Place ? What does that say about her?

grannyactivist Fri 31-Oct-14 22:41:59

Road, Street, Close, Walk...........whatever - I don't think anyone is going to top the poshest address that our Phoenix has lived in. grin

FlicketyB Fri 31-Oct-14 22:31:16

DD lives in a Place. It was built as an estate of council houses, although many are now privately owned, but nobody visiting it could fail to notice its origins. DS lives in an avenue, a road off a major thoroughfare that has pleasant 1930's semis on both sides, much like millions of others all over the country. We live on a Causeway; because the causeway, a raised footpath, runs for half a mile in front of our houses.

I cannot see anything special about a close. We have lived in one twice. The first close we lived in consisted entirely of terraced houses, later we lived in one with larger detached houses. It just means a dead-end road and is usually found on post-1960 housing estates.

BlueBelle Fri 31-Oct-14 19:18:55

This is really strange I ve never ever considered a street being a 'lower' name how ridiculous, what is this a 'town caste system' LOL I live in a 'road' and never ever considered it to be anything other than that ...a road Thinking back to most of my addresses even those overseas have been roads One son overseas lives on a road one daughter lives on a road and one daughter who lives on an estate lives in ......Meadows hers is the smallest house haha

rubysong Fri 31-Oct-14 19:01:36

In archaic English a close was an enclosed field. It's sometimes seen in old deeds.

Evedmh Fri 31-Oct-14 18:46:43

Is "Highway" posh? Our address is on a Highway in New Zealand. Here it seems that location rather than street address is important to people who think it matters. I couldn't care less!! Must add though, that I was born in London (in a house, in a bedroom) in a Grove. Certainly not a posh address now!

Joelise Fri 31-Oct-14 18:03:04

Ooh oznan I was brought up in a house in a Windmill Lane ! Live in an avenue now.

oznan Fri 31-Oct-14 14:02:25

I live on a "Walk" which doesn't seem to be all that common but,to me,it doesn't matter what someone's address is-names can be very misleading.I think a lot of street and area names have come from ancient words or places that were once there.We have a Windmill Lane nearby,no windmill in sight,though probably used to be one nearby.

rosequartz Fri 31-Oct-14 10:37:11

Very odd! Why not Y Ffermdy Newydd?

Perhaps he was Welsh and she was English.

Nelliemoser Thu 30-Oct-14 22:16:03

There is a house in Wales called Y Newydd (The New) Farmhouse only the words "The new" are written in Welsh but "Farmhouse" is in English. very strange.

newist Thu 30-Oct-14 22:14:58

It will only accept 1 * for the road number

newist Thu 30-Oct-14 22:13:56

That should of been the A *

newist Thu 30-Oct-14 22:13:02

Some companies will not accept the fact you do not have a street or road, so I have had to have the A* for my road name, but saying that I have also had mail delivered to House name followed by the post code.

Galen Thu 30-Oct-14 22:12:54

There's a deathly hush in the close tonight!
(Old git next door's awaygrin)

Soutra Thu 30-Oct-14 21:51:29

I dislike the English use of the word Close to mean a cul de sac. Where I was btought up in Scotland a close was a narrow alleyway or snicket. Nothing like a cathedral close either! People are such snobs sometimes " Lodge" "the Old Rectory/School/Dairy/Post Office" etc. Never "the Old Petrol Station" though. We used to live in an old cottage overlooking our village gteen simply called The ***. The people who bought it seem to have "changed" its name as they give their address as " ***Farmhouse" confused

Purpledaffodil Thu 30-Oct-14 21:37:52

Re loo seats being left up...it is even worse with those slow closing ones. Wait until you absolutely have to go, then hop about waiting for the #*#! loo seat to graciously lower itself. Wrench it down in a fury and you risk breaking it. And all because some men CBA to lower the thing when they've finished. I remember that programme janerowena, what a pity my DH won't believe me angry

Deedaa Thu 30-Oct-14 21:12:52

The cottage we lived in in Cornwall was right on the outskirts of the village, up a nameless lane which branched off a nameless road.

Now we live on an ex council estate. The council was obviously being very trendy when they named the roads because they just used a name. There are no streets, roads or avenues, you just get Melrose, Derwent or Hillberry. Some people find it quite difficult to grasp when you're trying to give them the address. They keep waiting for more!