End of the road for streets and lanes with no names

Saturday 9 March 2013

A SCOTS town has finally given names to more than 50 of its streets.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Keith Councillor Gary Coull says the area's heritage heavily influenced the naming of the town's lanes and streets. Picture: Derek Ironside/Newsline Scotland

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George Mair

Keith, in Moray, has been known as the town where "the streets have no names".

Many of the town's streets and lanes have been known only un-officially by the names of pubs or shops that have stood within them.

But now, after years of confusing visitors, and pressure from emergency services, they will be standardised for the first time. A signmaker has made 108 signs, to be posted at either end of 54 "lanes" to give them their new identity.They include dozens which run between the town's Mid Street, Moss Street and Land Street, almost all of which have been given names for the first time. The first signs, erected yesterday, include Jute Lane, Coopers Lane, Weavers Lane and Spinners Lane. Others will be put up over the coming weeks.Keith councillor Gary Coull said: "The lanes in Keith have been known by various names over the years dependent on what shop is on the end of them, or the shopkeeper who owned the shop."They've changed along with local circumstances. We had a pub at the top of one street so the lane was named after that pub, but the pub's now gone and it's now named after the youth cafe there – it's changed with the various generations that come along."He added: "It was felt, particularly by the emergency services, that we needed to standardise the names and give them official names so everybody knew exactly which name was given to each lane."We felt that instead of recognising particular individuals within the community, we needed to recognise all the industry and jobs that have been and continue to be important to Keith."We have names such as Distillers Lane, Weavers Lane and Spinners Lane, recognising the distillery impact and the woollen mill impact we've had here in Keith and trying to encapsulate the heritage that we've got here."Mr Coull said the names were decided by councillors after a lengthy consultation process.He added: "The heritage group have a huge array of knowledge about the heritage and history of Keith, so we felt it was important to speak to them, and to try and gauge their opinions as to which names we needed."We came up with a lot of the local industries, but also tried to use some of the Doric language as well, so we've got things like Sodgers – Soldiers – Lane and Fermers' Lane."They encapsulate the heritage as well as the Doric language."Jane Martin, of Keith Community Council, said: "The new names recognise important industries such as the woollen mills and distilleries, which form such a big part of our heritage "It's a big thing for the town."Keith has a population of around 4500 people, many of whom speak in the Doric dialect.

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End of the road for streets and lanes with no names

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