By Martin Brisland.
In the latest in our series of fun facts about Southampton we look at some more little known gems about the city.
What’s in a name?
As William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
The Southampton area has some road and place names that have some interesting stories. Athelstan Road recalls Alfred the Great’s grandson who became the first Anglo Saxon ruler of a united England in 925.
Barbe Baker Avenue in West End is named after Richard St Barbe Baker OBE, a visionary environmental activist with a passion for trees. Born in 1889, he travelled the world promoting reforestation and founded the organisation Men of the Trees, now known as the International Tree Foundation.
There is a bronze memorial to him on a stone column near the entrance to Hatch Grange Park in West End.
Darwin Road, off Hill Lane, recalls the son of Charles Darwin who was famous for his On the Origin of Species book, published in 1859. In 1861, he was seeking a position for his son, William Erasmus Darwin. He heard of an opening as a partner with the prestigious Southampton and Hampshire Bank.
William secured the partnership, cementing a lasting connection between the Darwin family and Southampton.
The Stag Gates were at the entrance to Lodge Road from the Avenue. It is still a bus stop name despite the statues being removed in 1919!
The animals on the gate pillars were female, so maybe they should have been called Hind Gates? Local auctioneer, William Burrough Hill bought the gates, which had been built by William Betts in 1844 as entrance gates to the Bevois Mount Estate.
In 1919, Burrough Hill took his stags away and gave the pillars to the council. They may have been used for the rock garden in East Park.
Soapsuds Alley was an old nickname for an area near where Sinclair School in Lordshill is now. Washerwomen would provide laundry services and throw their used soapy water onto the ground. This would mix with local springs creating a white foam.
A Laundry Road still exists by the General Hospital.
Other interesting names include Hum Hole in Bitterne, Vyse Lane in the Old Town, Foys Corner in Shirley after Stanley Foy – but often misspelt as Foyes Corner, Lumpy Lane in Northam, Daisy Dip in Bassett, Butts Road, Mousehole Lane, and Winkle Street.
A little further afield you can find a Hoe Lane in North Baddesley, Toot Hill in Rownhams, Jacobs Gutter Lane in Hounsdown, and Shaggs Meadow in Lyndhurst. There is also Sandy Balls, a New Forest geographical feature of rounded, sandy hillocks.
Southampton also has some examples of local lingo.
They include mush for mate, and dinlo for a silly person, both of Romany origin, shrammed meaning feeling cold, nipper or nip for a young male, foisty if something is damp, and gurt for anything big, heavy, or large.
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