Streets of Brum

Birmingham’s streets, roads and lanes are an absorbing aspect of our history. They call out to us about long dead landowners, notable figures from the history of England, Brummies long forgotten, farms that have been swept away by the outpouring of our city, remarkable physical features, distant battles, intriguing foreign places and mysterious happenings. Questions as to their origins leap out from a multitude of Birmingham’s street names. Why was Fawdry Street first called Noah’s Ark Passage? Was treasure to be found in Golden Hillock Road? How did Foulemoreslone become Formans Road? Did Gate Street have a gate? What has Franchise Street got to do with the battle for working-class rights? Where was The Froggery? What connection is there between creatures of mythology and Hob Moor Road? And why should the Holte, Gooch and Gough families have so many streets and roads named after them? In this deeply researched book, Carl Chinn looks at scores of street names, bringing to life their meaning and those people who belonged to them.