'The' London Roads

[gbbird]

Having a debate in the pub tonight with a londoner, and neither of us know the answer -

Why is it that some London roads are always referred to with a 'The', as in 'The Old Kent Road' and 'The Harrow Road', while others eg 'Tottenham Court Road' are not?

And as far as i can tell, this rule only seems to apply to some London roads.

[jimbeaux]

gbbird said:

Having a debate in the pub tonight with a londoner, and neither of us know the answer - Why is it that some London roads are always referred to with a 'The', as in 'The Old Kent Road' and 'The Harrow Road', while others eg 'Tottenham Court Road' are not? And as far as i can tell, this rule only seems to apply to some London roads.

Because they are "The" roads of London...no really...just joking....it's because the rest of you "lessers" simply don't matter!

[vixpy1]

Think its just the way people have come to call them, can't see any other reason..

[alexkp]

I think it is just a result of what sounds phonetically more "correct".

[gbbird]

My friend started going on about the war, and the fact that all 'The' roads always led to somewhere out of London (eg suburbs) where people were moved during the blitz! But she was'nt quite sure where this theory came from

[trooperiziz]

All the "The" roads start with vowel sounds?

[V8 Archie]

The Harrow Road is the road to Harrow.
The Old Kent Road is the old road to Kent.

Tottenham Court Road doesn't go to Tottenham Court as far as I'm aware. Even if it does, it's not exactly a place you'd expect to use for navigation.

[thanuk]

V8 Archie said:

The Harrow Road is the road to Harrow. The Old Kent Road is the old road to Kent.

But the Kings Road doesn't go to the King

[r988]

its not 'The' Kings road, anyway there isn't a King....

[mutt]

gbbird said:

And as far as i can tell, this rule only seems to apply to some London roads.

So what about the main road in many towns around the country ... The High Street?

>> Edited by mutt on Thursday 18th August 07:49

[kenny chim 4]

Not sure about the 'High' bit of the many High Streets in Britain - could just mean upper (main) - but 'street' was the name given to the paved Roman roads by the Anglo Saxons. eg- Watling Street.

[2 Smokin Barrels]

gbbird said:

And as far as i can tell, this rule only seems to apply to some London roads.

What about the M6?

[Hirich]

r988 said:

its not 'The' Kings road, anyway there isn't a King....

But it is "The King's Road" (note apostrophe), because it was his private road to Richmond Park, for a spot of hunting.

[munky]

Semi-interesting thing a cabbie told me once - there are no roads in the City of London. It seems to be true, as well. There are lanes, streets etc but no roads in the square mile.