what's in a name

Street names are often changed over the years and often there is a rational reason. But sometimes it is difficult to find. In Wapping there are two prewar blocks of flats on Greenbank. Willoughby house and Vancouver house and there was a road running between them from Greenbank to Wapping high Street named Red lion street.  This road is now called Reardons Path. Of course it is not a path it is still a vehicular road. And even more strangely there was already a Reardons Path,still there, which is actually a path. It runs from Greenbank to Watt Street.

All very strange. Just as odd as the local council replacing tarmac covered roads with ancient cobbles.  This all in the name of progress or am I being cynical in thinking it is more to do with a sop to property developers. The cobbles of course did not bring the old dockside atmosphere back: a bit difficult with land rovers and porsches being parked on them.

In Red Lion street there was old  warehousing  being developed as apartments with asking prices of just over a million pounds. Still doesnt explain why they didn't like the old name.

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