The strict rules for naming Manchester's streets - what you can and can't do

It's one of Manchester's most sought after streets, but residents felt its original name just had to go. Anita Street is a rare example of pristine terraced housing still surviving in Manchester city centre - a place better known for its boom in luxury apartments these days.

But, when it was built, Anita Street was unique for a different reason. These two neat rows of Victorian terraces in Ancoats were not originally built to be pretty or pristine, but to save lives.

In response to Manchester's notorious 19th century slum housing crisis, city leaders built some of the first examples of social housing in the country. First came Victoria Square, an 800-person block of tenements that boasted communal laundries and ventilated food stores for everyone.

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But with only a single toilet for every two apartments and high rents, the estate initially remained partly empty. Determined to plough ahead, three years later Sanitary Street was built.

These two rows of tenement homes were a step up again, each having their own toilet and sink. Fast forward to the mid-1960s and Sanitary Street was becoming a sought after community close to the developing city centre, but there was a problem, the connotations behind its name meant residents wanted a name change.

According to Manchester City Council's current policy, re-naming streets is something that should be avoided due to costs and disruption it can cause to residents. A name change is normally only considered when a major change occurs, such as the inclusion of a new development causing confusion with existing street names.

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But a mass renaming of Manchester's streets was already underway in the mid-20th Century. In 1949 the city's authorities began the mammoth task of 'tidying up' the city's street names.

The rapid growth of Manchester had resulted in the duplication of street names with every fresh area taken into the city, becoming a headache for the Post Office and election authorities. Almost every new area had its own Church Street or Bridge Street, alongside other well-worn names.

By April 1965, the Manchester Evening News reported 986 street names had been changed - including Sanitary Street - with another 560 still to go. So how did Manchester city engineers come to the decision of what to rename the streets?

Legend goes that the city engineers removed the 'S' and the 'ry' resulting in 'Anita Street'. If true, this renaming to Anita Street might seem somewhat arbitrary, but in all cases residents were given three-week notice of a proposed change which they could then appeal in the Magistrates' Court.

In the same article, the M.E.N reported the decision to name new roads, and fresh titles for old roads, came down to the imagination of the City Engineer's staff. They aimed to choose names that were short, easy to say and spell, and preferably beginning with the same letter as the old name, making efforts made to satisfy both the Post Office and residents.

When it came to naming streets, general principles remained in place - such as keeping 'Road' for a thoroughfare open at each end, 'Avenue' for a cul-de-sac with footpaths running off it, and 'Drive' or 'Close' for a completely closed cul-de-sac. Old streets would remain 'Street' unless there was a good reason for change.

However, not every change of name went smoothly. There was once two Linden Roads, one in Levenshulme the other in Didsbury.

Although the Linden Road in Didsbury had better property it was shorter, so it was decided that this was the name to change. The residents complained, so the authorities turned to the street in Levenshulme, only to be met with a similar response.

The case went to the courts resulting in the magistrate visiting both streets, making the decision that Linden Road in Didsbury should keep its name. Levenshulme residents didn't like the new suggested title of Lidenfield Road, but finally reached an agreement to have their street renamed to Linden Park.

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Before the renaming of streets in the mid-part of the 20th Century, many of the original names for streets in Salford and Manchester had been coined by the Victorians. Sometimes they were named after famous men - Dalton Street, Albert Square etc.

Other times it could be literary allusions - Voltaire Avenue, Cheeryble Street and Tennyson Street. They even tried birds - Swan Street, Swallow Street; trees - Sycamore Street, Lime Grove. Animals - Parrot Street, Lizard Street, and flowers - Orchid Street, Primrose Street, etc.

Of course, there are also the streets named after an event or strong connection, often geographic, to an area. Common examples would be Tib Street named after one of the city's lost rivers which ran nearby, and Balloon Street as the place from where in 1785 James Sadler took to the skies in a hot air balloon - only the second flight to take place in England.

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According to Manchester City Council's most recent policy there is a strict list of criteria that should be met by developers when it comes to naming streets. In the policy, it states that the council will "endeavour to promote names with a local or historic significance to the area."

Some of the other criteria for street naming include - not duplicating any name already in use, having an appropriate suffix, i.e. 'Close' to indicate cul-de-sac, phonetically similar names should be avoided (for example Willows Avenue and Winnows Avenue), and no street names that can be construed as obscene, racist, or inappropriate.

More rules for naming Manchester's streets include - names that may be "open to re-interpretation by graffiti or shortening" should be avoided, they must not begin with the word 'The' or have punctuation of any kind, and street names should not be named after a living person.

Street names that promote a company, service or product will also not be allowed. Neither will names based on a developer's trading name, with an exception to this being for a company that no longer exists and its used solely in an historical context as opposed to advertising.

Also names should not be difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell (as this may lead to confusion in an emergency situation), and new street names should not end in 's' where it can be construed as either a possessive or plural.

More details on Manchester City Council's policy for naming and re-naming streets can be found on their website.

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