TONGBARN, Birkrig, Elmstead, Tarlswood, Eskdale, Lambourne ... hardly what you’d class as “normal” street names.

But then again, most things to do with Skelmersdale are hardly conventional.

This week, we’re looking at the town’s weird street names and where they come from.

Unlike most other towns, very few of them have any real meaning, especially the newer ones, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t an interesting story behind them.

Before the New Town, Skem was like any other place in that street names corresponded to their surroundings, i.e. Church Road (home to St Paul’s) and Sandy Lane (in honour of the mounds of sands which used to stand where the 1930s semis are today).

Others have a more historical meaning, such as Cardiff Street and Durham Street, named after the places where mine workers came from to work in local pits, while others are named after families (Barnes Road, Birch Street and Rigby Street, which was demolished to make way for the Waverley flats on High Street).

On that last point, it’s worth noting the actual entrance to Waverley is the original Rigby Street, it’s just that the old terraces aren’t there any more.

But with the coming of the New Town, many roads either became old-new hybrids, such as Sherrat Street, Uppingham, or Barnes Road, Whitburn, or in many cases just got rid of altogether (Iddon Road, John Street, Elson Road and Union Street to name a few).

But when the new estates were built, that’s when the fun and games really started. It was the duty of Skelmersdale Urban District Council’s highways committees to give the roads new names.

However, they were under instruction from the General Post Office that all areas had to start with certain letters to make it easier for posties to do their rounds.

Most of the names were simply names of towns in other parts of the country, such as Elmstead (London), Alderley (Cheshire), Wolverton (Milton Keynes), Yewdale (Cumbria) and Lambourne (Essex). It’s rumoured that in many instances, it was just a case of getting out a map and finding a place beginning with a certain letter.

Only a few New Town names have a historical link, and they include Windrows, which is named after a farm which stood on School Lane.

Some however came from nowhere, like Birkrig, a name which prompted one councillor to stand up at the meeting where it was being discussed to proclaim it sounded like something from the Third Reich!

It’s interesting to note that an abortive attempt was made in 1968 to get the old street names changed to fit in with the area.

At one point, in November that year, the plight of residents in Berry Street, Martins Lane, Nixons Lane and Spencers Lane came up before the urban district council.

Moves were afoot to scrap these names and it caused a massive uproar.

Joe Cadwell, a well-known Old Skem councillor, told the meeting: “These people have good reason to object. The streets were named to represent links with the past and with the growth of the town it is a good thing to retain some of its history.”

As we now know, that plan was ditched and thankfully Skem and Up Holland’s links with the past were preserved.

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