I’m not sure why it’s called Hartington Road.

Somewhat frustratingly, I think I found a reference to somebody called Hartington owning property in the Mill Road area fairly recently, but I can’t quite . . . → Read More: Hartington Road, Salisbury]]> Hartington Road is off from the Devizes Road, which leads out of Salisbury in a north or or perhaps north west direction.

I’m not sure why it’s called Hartington Road.

Somewhat frustratingly, I think I found a reference to somebody called Hartington owning property in the Mill Road area fairly recently, but I can’t quite remember where.

The name ‘Hartington’ is perhaps best known as being one of the titles related to the Duchy of Devonshire. Georgiana, the ‘Duchess’ in the film starring Keira Knightly, and in the book by Amanda Foreman ¹. Georgiana would always have been known as ‘the Duchess of Devonshire’ because it is a higher title, but she was also the Marchioness of Hartington.

It’s some time since I read ‘The Duchess’ but I think I remember that the family used to call one of it’s younger members ‘Hartington’.

Image is an Amazon link

Footnotes

1. Coincidentally, at the time of writing I am listening to a podcast lecture by Ms Foreman about British involvement in the American Civil War. It’s very good, although I should probably say it is, quite rightly, rather harrowing in parts. It’s available here: Tales of Heroism, Tales of Terror: The British in the American Civil War – Amanda Foreman

I don’t know why it might be called ‘Hartley Way’. There is a cluster of roads on Hampton Park whose road names have . . . → Read More: Hartley Way, Salisbury]]> Hartley Way is in the Hampton Park part of Bishopdown Farm, which is the housing estate to the west of the London Road. The London Road itself is north west of salisbury.

I don’t know why it might be called ‘Hartley Way’. There is a cluster of roads on Hampton Park whose road names have no obvious significance¹. My best guess would be that they are named after people involved in the development in some way.1

Footnotes

1. At least, they have no obvious significance to me. This could just be a reflection on my ignorance!

I don’t know why it’s called Lees Court for sure – but from memory either the Devizes Road shoe repairer’s or the shop on the corner of Ashley Road and Coldharbour Lane was called ‘Lees’. Perhaps there was some connection.

Update: I was . . . → Read More: Lees Court, Salisbury]]> Lees Court is just off from Devizes Road, at the southern end.

I don’t know why it’s called Lees Court for sure – but from memory either the Devizes Road shoe repairer’s or the shop on the corner of Ashley Road and Coldharbour Lane was called ‘Lees’. Perhaps there was some connection.

Update: I was browsing in the library and found a book called ‘On The Corner’ by Daphne Lee¹. As might be guessed from the title and author, this confirms that the shop on the corner of Ashley Road was indeed ‘Lees’.

I didn’t have time to read the book yet, but given how close ‘Lees Court’ is to the old ‘Lees shop’, you might expect there to be a connection. I did notice that, according to the author, the family may be connected to the name of Lee Green in London, which is near Lewisham.

Footnotes

1. Lee, Daphne, On the corner, Published Excalibur Press, 1988 107p : ISBN/RCN 1853660124 Library Class Number SAL.921

It’s an odd name for the road, because it’s basically a cul-de-sac. It doesn’t really link anything. It could be that at some stage in the past it did link two roads.

Whenever I see the road or hear it’s name . . . → Read More: Link Way, Salisbury]]> Link Way is on Bishopdown, to the north of Salisbury city centre.

It’s an odd name for the road, because it’s basically a cul-de-sac. It doesn’t really link anything. It could be that at some stage in the past it did link two roads.

Link Wray

Whenever I see the road or hear it’s name I can’t help but be reminded of Link Wray, who was a great rockabilly guitarist. He sadly died a couple of years ago.

Most of Link Wray’s work was instrumental. His best known track was ‘Rumble’ which was on the soundtrack of the film Pulp Fiction, although not on the CD. I would guess that if you like the other guitar instrumental from Pulp Fiction, Dick Dale’s ‘Miserlou’, you would probably like ‘Rumble’.

Image from Amazon

Famously ‘Rumble’ was banned by some radio stations¹, because it was thought that it would incite gang violence. I’ve always thought that this may have been a story put about to generate publicity for the record – perhaps I’m overly cynical. Anyway a ‘Rumble’ in the context of 1950s gangs meant a fight², but also the atmosphere of the song is, to quote I think Dave Marsh, “the musical equivalent of football’s forearm shiver’³

At the time of writing there are performances of Rumble on Youtube here:

• Link Wray – Rumble
• Link Wray – Rumble

And other Link Wray tunes here:

• Link Wray – Hillbilly Wolf
• Link Wray – Fatback

Link also added the atmospheric guitar parts to Terry Jack’s version of a Jacques Brel song, ‘Seasons in the Sun’ which reached Number One in the UK in the early 1970s:

• Terry Jacks – Seasons in the Sun

Wray was a big influence on bands such as the Jesus and Mary Chain, the White Stripes and Poison Ivy from the Cramps.

Link Wray obviously has nothing at all to do with Link Way. However, I can’t help faintly hearing the chords of ‘Rumble’ whenever I’m there.

Footnotes

1. The Pop History Dig » “Rumble” Riles Censors 1958 -1959
2. WordNet Search – 3.0
3. The Heart of Rock and Soul, Dave Marsh, page 306 in the Penguin Original edition

I’m not sure why it was called Manor Road. It could be a reference to the ‘manor of Milford’, which is how the Milford area was referred to in older documents and maps.

It might be derived from the building . . . → Read More: Manor Road, Salisbury]]> Manor Road runs along the top of Milford Hill, from Kelsey Hill to Wain-a-Long Road.

I’m not sure why it was called Manor Road. It could be a reference to the ‘manor of Milford’, which is how the Milford area was referred to in older documents and maps.

It might be derived from the building that was known as ‘The Grange’ (and then, strangely, ‘Concordes’), but this would seem unlikely because the Grange was on the other side of Saint Mark’s Roundabout.

It could be that Manor Road is named after Milford Manor, but it seems to be too far away from the building, which is at the bottom of Shady Bower.

There are a number of buildings at the northern end of Manor Road which might be grand enough to be called ‘The Manor’ but I don’t know – I’ll have a look next time I’m up there.

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The derivation of the name ‘Marina Road’ is a bit of a puzzle. I can’t see any clear reason for the name.

One possibility is that it is . . . → Read More: Marina Road, Salisbury]]> Marina Road is to the south east of Salisbury. It leads off from Tollgate Road down towards the college.

The derivation of the name ‘Marina Road’ is a bit of a puzzle. I can’t see any clear reason for the name.

Is Marina Road’s name related to Saint Martin’s?

One possibility is that it is a reference to Saint Martin’s Church. The words ‘Marina’ and ‘Martin’ are similar, and Marina Road is very close to the church – I think one side of the road would back onto the churchyard.

I think a connection with St Martin’s is unlikely though. The female form of Martin is Martina, and in any case, why would a road be named after a name which is just close to the name of the church. The words have different roots too. ‘Martin’ is related to Mars, the god of war, whereas ‘Marina’ is related to the sea.

Is Marina Road related to the sea?

More fancifully still, perhaps Marina Road is an obscure reference to the idea of Salisbury being a ‘sea-port’. I’m on very shakey ground here , because I’m not sure I remember it correctly, but I believe there was an attempt to build a canal from Salisbury to Southampton.

I’ve seen the word ‘Navigation’ on maps to the south of Southampton Road – whether this is related or not I don’t know.

I think there was an article about the Salisbury to Southampton canal in a ‘Sarum Chronicle’ a couple of years ago. I’ll look it up when I’m next in the library.

Is Marina Road a reference to somebody’s name?

My guess would be that Marina Road is probably named after somebody called Marina. Perhaps the developer was called Marina, or had a close relative with the name.

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(If you’ve arrived here after searching for Salisbury in Maryland in the USA then you might want to go to the City of Salisbury, Maryland website, although you’re more than welcome to have a look around my website on Salisbury, England! )

I can’t see any reason for it’s being called Mayfair Road. I can’t see any thematic link with any of the adjoining roads (Napier Crescent,, Beechcroft Avenue, or Greenwood Avenue). This is particularly irritating because I’ve lived in both Napier Crescent and Mayfair Road.

It’s on what is usually referred to as ‘the pebbledash estate’ for the obvious reason that the houses are nearly all pebble-dashed. The effect of this is increased by the roads being made of some sort of concrete. It always feels . . . → Read More: Melvin Close, Laverstock]]> Melvin Close is in Laverstock, which is a village to the east of Salisbury.

It’s on what is usually referred to as ‘the pebbledash estate’ for the obvious reason that the houses are nearly all pebble-dashed. The effect of this is increased by the roads being made of some sort of concrete. It always feels like there’s a lot of light.

I’ve never been able to see any theme or reason for the road names on the estate, which is particularly frustrating because I grew up there.

‘Melvin’ is a ‘Christian’ or fore name. The etymology of the name doesn’t seem to be certain.

The ‘BabyNamesPedia’ website says that it could be:

From the element ‘wine’ meaning ‘friend’(¹)

The ‘Baby Name Wizard’ site adds that:

Melvin might be an evolution of the obsolete Old English Maethelwine, Maeoelwine, a compound name composed of the elements maethel, maeoel (council, meeting) and wine (friend, protector): hence, “council protector.”(²)

The latter website says that the usage of the name, for babies, peaked in the 1920s. The pebble-dash estate was built in the early 1960s.

If you need accommodation in Salisbury, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Melvin – Origin and Meaning of the boy name Melvin at Baby Names Pedia
2. Melvin: Meaning, Popularity, Origin of Name Melvin | Namipedia | The Baby Name Wizard

I’ve not been able to find any possible derivations for the name of Meyrick Avenue. Bouverie Avenue’s name is a reference to the Pleydell-Bouveries who are the Earls of Radnor. It’s possible that there’s some connection between the . . . → Read More: Meyrick Avenue, Salisbury]]> Meyrick Avenue is to the south of Salisbury. It runs between Bouverie Avenue and the Blandford Road.

I’ve not been able to find any possible derivations for the name of Meyrick Avenue. Bouverie Avenue’s name is a reference to the Pleydell-Bouveries who are the Earls of Radnor. It’s possible that there’s some connection between the name ‘Meyrick’ and the Pleydell-Bouveries – there isn’t a great deal of Google-able information about them, so I may have missed a ‘Meyrick’ in the family.

The Victoria County History of Salisbury tells us that:

Apart from the Alderbury Union workhouse (now Meyrick Close) near the Odstock road built in 1878, (fn. 27) little building took place south of the Avon before 1900(¹)

I don’t know whether Meyrick Close is related to Meyrick Avenue.

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Footnotes

1. Salisbury: The expansion of the city; Milford’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 90-93. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41789 Date accessed: 07 November 2009. >