Roads, streets and drives…

I realised it’s not enough for characters in my novels to just live in houses, the houses have to be described and be in a context, and with an address. So one of my people lives in Coldharbour Lane – it’s quite a common name for roads but no-one seems to know exactly what it might mean, however, my poor character has an unhappy home-life so the address suits his situation. The grandmother of the family lives in a large house called Slake House, and also has a grand property up on the moors called Slake Hall.

I got to thinking about the addresses I’ve lived at, and I’m not sure I can remember all of them – I moved about quite a lot when I was a student, as did most of us!

Discounting, my student life, this is what I can recall:

• Metcalf Road – a flat
• Harvey Goodwin Avenue – a semi-detached house
• Burnham Drive – a detached split-level bungalow
• Beech Road – an end terrace
• Lawngreen Avenue – a second floor flat (or was it a first floor flat…)
• Waterworks Road – a semi detached house
• Spa Lane – a bungalow
• Old Church Road – a bungalow
• Thornbury Drive – a detached house

I have happy memories of living in all these different places, apart from one, which was a rather disappointing and sad time in my life but which fortunately didn’t last long!

One of the most memorable places I lived was in Beech Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester; a friend has written extensively about the very house where we lived. You will find out all about it, and very much more here:

https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/one-hundred-years-of-one-house-in_24.html

… read this post and you may very well see me here!