I was thinking the other day about why the roads where I grew up had no names! I lived in an area with many paths and roads, and not one of them had a name! When asked questions about where I live, I would say Epping Farm but there was no sign that said those words. There were no words or numbers that represented an address for where I actually lived.
To be fair, the major community hubs had names, For example, there were Hagley Gap, Minto, Epping Farm, Penlyne Castle, and Farm Hill. There were some worn wooden markers in some places, but after you were out of those areas, you seem to enter no man’s land. The words “corner,” “curb,” “level,” “hill,” “tank,” “tree,” and “stump” were used frequently by locals to give directions, and they were very effective location finders.
As a child it didn’t bother me that few place I knew had names. It was just the way things were for generations. Each group of people that lived in the rural areas did what the previous dwellers before had done, and so the generational practices were passed on.
To be fair, the major community hubs had names, For example, there were Hagley Gap, Minto, Epping Farm, Penlyne Castle, and Farm Hill. There were some worn wooden markers in some places, but after you were out of those areas, you seem to enter no man’s land. The words “corner,” “curb,” “level,” “hill,” “tank,” “tree,” and “stump” were used frequently by locals to give directions, and they were very effective location finders.
As a child it didn’t bother me that few place I knew had names. It was just the way things were for generations. Each group of people that lived in the rural areas did what the previous dwellers before had done, and so the generational practices were passed on.
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