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Tuesday 24 December 2013

History is all around us

I live in part of South East London that owes its existence to conflict. It started when Henry VIII began building warships for his navy along the stretch of the River Thames that eventually became Woolwich Dockyard and ended when the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich closed in the late 1960s. Even today the town is garrisoned by an infantry regiment (in the old Royal Artillery barracks) and is the home base of the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. It is also the location of Firepower: The Royal Artillery Museum.

Interestingly the local street and pub names reflect this history, and I wonder how many of my regular blog readers will recognise their origins.

(Please note that this is not a serious quiz and there is no prize for who identifies the origins of the street and pub names … some of which are rather obvious! It is intended to be a bit of mental exercise over the Christmas period ... and is the first of several that I have planned!)

Street names
  • Academy Road
  • Alma Terrace
  • Anglesey Road
  • Armstrong Road
  • Baker Road
  • Beresford Square
  • Beresford Street
  • Bloomfield Road
  • Borgard Road
  • Cambridge Barracks Road
  • Cornwallis Street
  • Duke of Wellington Avenue
  • General Gordon Place
  • Grand Depot Road
  • Herbert Road
  • Macbean Street
  • Mulgrave Road
  • Paget Rise
  • Pett Street
  • Prince Imperial Road
  • Raglan Road
  • Red Barracks Road
  • Repository Road
  • Ropeyard Rails
  • Warspite Road
  • Wellington Street
  • Whitworth Road
… and these are just the ones that I can think of!

Pub Names
  • Earl of Chatham
  • Lord Clyde
  • Lord Herbert
  • The Director General
  • The Great Harry
  • Wellesley Arms
  • Woolwich Infant
Not all of them are still open … but I can certainly remember them being there!

I will publish the answers in a day or two … so please don’t bother to send me yours.

4 comments:

  1. Bob,
    Road names, alas, may not convey the intended reference to today's youngsters:

    Me: You live on Copse Hill; why do you think it's called that?

    Pupil: Because there was a police station here?

    A true story, honest!

    Best wishes for the festive season,
    Arthur

    ReplyDelete
  2. Merry Christmas to you and yours from all at the Duchy of Tradgardland!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Arthur1815,

    Nothing would surprise me about the way the minds of young people work these days ... or their lack of basic knowledge.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tradgardmastare,

    A Merry Christmas and an especially good New Year to you and your family. I hope that you all enjoy improving health as the year progresses!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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