Street name mysteries

Many Christchurch street names are not quite what they seem, according to City Council street names expert, Bob Pritchard.

Blighs Road, for example, was named after a local restaurateur, not the captain of HMS Bounty. All the same, streets off Blighs Road named after aspects of the famous mutiny include Pitcairn Crescent, Christian Street and Bounty Street.

Similarly, Carbine Place, near Riccarton Racecourse, was named after its developer, not the racehorse. However, nearby Wynand Place is a punning reference to racing, it is pronounced 'win and place'.

Origins of some street names have been lost over the years. Bob Pritchard has two possible theories on naming Retreat Road in Avonside, for example. One suggests it refers to a skirmish between British troops and local Maori, in which the latter beat a retreat over the site. The other is that a wealthy landowner built a house there for his unmarried daughters, a maiden's retreat, which gave the street its name.

Library wins literacy award

Canterbury Public Library has won the Nada Beardsley Literacy Award for its Books for Babies project.

Books for Babies delivers a package containing a board book, information about the importance of reading and a library enrolment form to the parents of every new baby in Christchurch. Operating since 1990 it has so far distributed around 40,000 packs to babies born in local hospitals.

Named after a former district reading advisor for Canterbury, the Nada Beardsley Award is administered by the Canterbury Reading Association to recognise significant contributions to literacy in Canterbury.

Anyone whose baby does not receive a pack in hospital should contact their local library.

Twins Shannon and Craig experience the pleasure of books for the first time, courtesy of the award-winning Books for Babies project.

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