Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Remarkable street name


The first time I saw this street sign I couldn't resist to smile a little bit. What a great way to say that it's a cul-de-sac! Once I got home I googled the street's name and found out that before 1972 the street was called Charles Street. You can find some old gabled stone houses (17th and 18th century) in this street, which is pretty remarkable since the area is dominated by the Westgate Shopping Centre. Thanks to the Oxford Preservation Trust, these houses were saved in the seventies. Turn again lane used to be the original name but at some moment in time, I couldn't find when, the street wasn't a cul-de-sac anymore so they had to change the name to Charles Street. When the Oxford Preservation Trust bought the old gabled stone houses, the street became a cul-de-sac again and it reverted to its original name.

1 comment:

Michael said...

I took a photo of the street recently, which you can see here: http://view.stern.de/de/picture/Stra%DFe-Oxford-turnagainlane-Streetlife-1639566.html?u=168114&userid=168114

thanks for the info re the name, I was wondering but didn't get my act together to look it up.