There was a project to rename streets in London which commenced in 1857 by the Metropolitan Board of Works and continued by the London County Council. The aim was to eliminate all duplicated street names in the London postal area. Cannon Street in Stepney was renamed Cannon Street Road as part of it. You can find a complete list of the changes online. Might be nice to do a video on this subject...
Thanks. But I was hoping for more of a history lesson about 'why Cannon Street?'. Were there munitions factories? Perhaps the last line of defence on the Thames before the City?
It's more likely there was a church somewhere nearby where there were senior priests who were called "cannons," or maybe some religious courts, where cases in canon or church law were heard.
@@rogink Cannon Street (in the city) is a corruption of it's original name, Candlewick Street, which was named after the large amount of candle makers who lived and worked there way back when. Unfortunately, I have no idea how Stepney's Cannon Street got it's name.
@@triviabuff5682 No. The Senior Priests you refer to are spelled "Canon". It's easy to confuse, but generally "Canon" is a religious-related word, whereas artillery fires cannons.
@@epicridesandtours"Cannon" only received a consistent double "n" and "canon" a consistent single "n" in the early 19th century, to differentiate the two; before then writers could use either spelling for both. The street name dates back to well before the differentiation was made. Given that Stepney was much given up to the manufacture of items used on ships, there might have a foundry producing cannons in the area.
In a similar vein, I'm a resident of Tokyo, Japan. Well maybe this doesn't sound similar YET. I used to live just off a street in Kichijoji which was called Nakamichidori （中道通）. This could be translated as "Central Road Street" or variations of close synonyms (way, path, avenue). To make it easy for tourists who couldn't read Japanese, the street signs had an English "translation" at the bottom which referred to, in the English alphabet "Nakamichidori Street", or potentially "Central Street Street Street".
At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="215">3:35</a> what a cheeky bugger that blue Audi driver going on the wrong side of the island to make that right turn.🙄 Nice catch Jago, even if it wasn’t conscious.😀
I grew up just a short walk from Leman Street and never heard it called anything other than Leeman Street. Some of my family were merchant seamen and there was a “main office” for sailors in Leman Street, so they were regular visitors to said office when they were ashore and they all called it Leeman Street.
I feel like the changing pronunciation of names is true of a lot of streets in that area. I'm a member of Bevis Marks Synagogue (know after the street it is on), and those of us in the newer generations call it 'Bevis' (rhyming with Ben Nevis) but those of a slightly older generation (and those who do not attend but are part of the wider organisation) call it 'Beeevis', which seems to be a hangover for how the street was pronounced when the synagogue was first built. This does, however, make Board meetings a bit awkward as every time they say the name I cannot help but mentally add '...and Butthead" after it.
When I left school, many, many years ago I went for an interview in Leman Street. It was pronounced Leeman then and I’ve never heard it referred to as Lemon.
Get well soon Jago! Considering that you have cought the infamous virus now, I am surprised that your voice still sounds as good as always. When my father and me caught it, our voices were completely gone. I hope that your voice will not go away, as I am looking forward to more videos from you.
I was born, grew up, played, worked and pub-crawled for many years around those very E1 locations covered in your broadcast. Thank you ever so much for bringing back many happy memories. As for Leman Street. Rest assured mate, no locals EVER pronounced this as Leeeeeeman. It was always pronounced Lemon. That is until the Yuppies arrived in Wapping during the 1980's, pricing us indigenous locals completely off the property ladder. 😡
Yep - as a child in the 1950s I lived in Cannon St Rd. As far as I know the family never sat around discussing why it was both a street and a road. But it was definitely LEMON street!
I heard that "lemans" (pronounced leeeman) were 12th century "ladies of the night," and a leman became a slang word for brothel. Ironically, there was a City of London Police station in the street until quite recently. 😅
i can ALWAYS count on being informed and entertained by your wonderful sense of humour. i'm grateful that your current affliction hasn't dampened any aspects of your videos. Get well soon Jago.
Yes. We always called it Lemon Street but it was implied that it was because we were are Cockneys, so some time around the 80’s and when a lot of locals worked at the Co-Op bank there, people started calling it Leman.
There are actually TWO Street Roads just outside Philadelphia, one is Pennsylvania Route 132 and the other is Route 926. Why is Route 132 called Street Road? Street Road was originally surveyed in the late 17th century, with the road being included in the original survey plans of William Penn for the Province of Pennsylvania. For much of its history it has been known as "the Street road" because, contrary to present usage where "street" is a synonym for road, the original use of the word "street" was a paved road. The entire length of the road was completed by 1737. Street Road became a paved road by 1911. At the time, the route was not defined as a legislative route. It received the PA 132 designation in 1927. For Route 926, Street Road dates back to colonial times, when a straight road in Marlborough Township was laid out by William Penn and was named Marlborough Street, running from Pennsbury Township to the Marlborough Friends Meetinghouse. In 1815, a road was surveyed between Market Street in Philadelphia and McCalls Ferry on the Susquehanna River to facilitate the westward expansion of settlers. It was called Marlborough Street Road, but eventually shortened to Street Road. So important was this road to the development of Pennsylvania that it has been called “the springboard to the west” for immigrants moving inland.
Thank you dear leader. I was thinking whether we had any 'Street Road's during the video. Not Just Bikes has simplified this into 'Stroad'. And I wonder - do they pronounce it 'Maulboruh' in Penn state like they do in Wilts?
If you head up the Schuylkill, just before the 476 turnoff there's a bridge over the road named "Spring Garden St" and for years I wondered if it was a continuation of the one in town. Eventually I looked it up (and it' not) but instead there's a suburb with copied names from center city, that that, and Chestnut St etc. Must be very confusing for and annoying if your post gets sent to the wrong zipcode (I'm aware that this is super niche knowledge, I wonder if we're Jago's only viewers in Philly? #GoEagles)
As Sir John Leman and myself were both born in Beccles, Suffolk... and I went to the Sir John Leman High School, our town's famous son is always called Lee Man not lemon, thank you.
Yes, although I'm only East Anglian on my father's side off the family I also pronounced it Lee Man when I lived in Beccles in the mid 70's and attended the school.
I like to think of Leman as a misspelling of Leeman, as in the street in York leading to the National Railway Museum. But then I’m a son of York who loves trains, so I’m absurdly biased.
Thank you for producing a quality video even while suffering “the affliction”. Feel better, Jago! For what it’s worth, when I saw the sign my mind immediately went to the French “Le Mans” (as in the auto race) - further complicating matters in my own head! 🤣
I was feeling smug that I lasted until last xmas before getting 'the affliction' as my traditional festive virus. Now that so called Mr Hazzard has made me look like an amateur.
We lived for a couple of years on Pepys street in London which we assumed was named after the famous diarist who worked nearby. However if we ever needed to get a taxi home we would need to pronounce it "peppies" for the drivers to know where we meant.
In Haywards Heath you have the Sussex Square Roundabout and the Commercial Square Roundabout. Both were originally squares that were later converted to roundabouts and hence the names.
'Squares' are very rarely actually square, in fact I can't offhand think of any that are - this has always bugged me! I can only conclude that the word 'square' in this case is a corruption of another word that made more sense, and not a reference to it's regular shape. If I were Jago, I might very well make a video about this...
My father was born and raised in the area and when this very question arose between us one day when he used it as a short cut to my grandmothers' house one day, he quite firmly informed me that it was pronounced as for the fruit, even though it was spelled for something else. It has always been "Lemon" for me since then though since before my father's death a decade or more ago I have rarely strayed into such areas from my Essex based stomping grounds. (Plenty of odd names and facts to be had out here too!)
Jago sitting at the front of a DLR train but didn't make train noises..... very disappointing. Thanks for another informative video Jago and hope the lurgy clears quickly.
Some of my family were local to the area, back in the day. They pronounced it Lee-man Street, in a strong cockney accent, but Lemon Street when they were 'taking the Arthur'.
Jago be like; "apologies for a thrown together quick video because I'm infected by the virus". Me: listening to well researched, interesting and relevant content, excellent production values, flawless delivery .... Erm, did he mention something about a virus? Kudos to you sir. You are the reservoir of knowledge to my puddle of ignorance. All that remains is to wish that you get well soon.
Perhaps it goes with the appropriation of some English city names but in Richmond VA, we have a Hull St. Rd. and a Cary St. Rd., extensions of the Streets out of the city and into the surrounding counties.
Here's the interesting origins of some of the street names of NYC: Wall Street. Some historians have stated that Wall Street is anglicized from the former "de Waal Straat" (which was the center of a small Walloon community), however this was proven false as "de Waal Straat" is now a section of Pearl Street rather than Wall Street. Wall Street was first known as Het Cingel or "the Belt". So why is Wall Street called such? Quite simply...there was once a wall there, built by the Dutch during the first Anglo-Dutch War in the early 1650s because they feared an overland invasion from New England. After the Dutch gave up New Netherland and its capital New Amsterdam in 1674, the wall remained until 1699 in order to expand the city limits. Bowery is the English version of bouwerie or bouwerij, an old Dutch word for farm! It connected the farmland on what was then the outskirts of the City to the Wall Street area. Until 1807 it was known as Bowery Lane, but today is simply named Bowery. Park Ave was originally known as Fourth Avenue and carried the tracks of the New York and Harlem Railroad starting in the 1830s. The tracks were built through an open cut, and so they covered it with greenery, thus Park Ave! Today, it's part of Metro-North! And Houston Street is pronounced as HOW-sten because it was named after William Houstoun! It was christened by Nicholas Bayard who owned a tract at the time and whose daughter Mary, was married to Houstoun in 1788
Jago, here tn Melbourne we have a High Street Road. This is a n extension of aHigh Street in the inner suburbs It becomes High Street Road as it changes to a motor arterial servicing middle to outer eastern suburbs. 👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️ from 🇦🇺.
Interesting that you bring up _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ . A few years ago, I attended a performance of that play on a park along the Fox River in Geneva, IL. Every so often a train on the adjacent Chicago & Northwestern line would rumble over the bridge downstream.
@@bostonrailfan2427 No, Geneva is a regular commuter station on the West Line. You might be thinking of Ravinia Park station on the North Line, which serves the concert venue originally built by the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric (later Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee). Sir Thomas Beecham called it "the only railway station with a resident orchestra".
Perhaps you could even rename it Lemsip Street. My friend who lived there in the 80's pronounced it Lee Man (as in Bruce), but she spoke so fast, people often did not know what she was talking about anyway.
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="215">3:35</a> “Oi you in the Audi, that’s an illegal turn!!” I should know, I got done for making the same move years ago 😅
Oh no! Get well soon! We took our first UK trip last month and brought back that souvenir. Fortunately, we were boosted and our symptoms were mainly cold-like, but the fatigue lasted weeks.
So sorry to hear you’re under the weather. Love and always look forward to your videos even if I rarely comment. Feel better and good on you for throwing together something enjoyable and to appease the RU-vid algorithm. 😊
Long, long ago (1962-1992), there was a TV programme called "Police 5". It reported recent crimes and often directed responses to Leman Street Police Station. Shaw Taylor (the presenter) always pronounced it "Lemon". Not knowing about Lord Mayor Leman, I supposed the name came about because it was associated in some way with a 'leman' (lover, sweetheart, mistress).
Growing up in the area in the 1960's, it was always called 'Lee-man Street' despite the spelling...as in the Leman (Lee-man) Street Police Station that used to be home to H (pronounced 'Aitch') Division of the Met Police...
Thank you all for your valid comments. I just supposed some viewers might not be from the East End and unfamiliar with Cockney or MLE pronunciations...👍
The East End of London including the Docklands and Canary Wharf have changed over the years and when the DLR came along which still operates in the London Docklands. And with new DLR trains that are under construction will soon be entering service from next year.
On seeing Leman, I would have thought of Norman French so 'Lemon' would seem to be a more correct pronunciation than 'Leeman'. I'm not sure when the Great Vowel Shift was, but Shakespeare takes on a different hue in its original.
Don't feel too bad about that nasty virus. I live in Connecticut, USA, and I came down with it about 3 weeks ago. Thank God for Paxlovid. 😊 Stay well, good sir.
Interesting to hear St. George--in-the-East mentioned. As a bellringing-crazed teenager in the '70s, I often attended their Friday practise nights, followed by the traditional thirst-quenching in a nearby hostelry. I remember being very surprised to see a (presumably) mocked-up Rolls Royce being blown up in the church courtyard in the middle of the Film "The Long Good Friday", exactly where I usually parked. I was always tempted to check under my car before I drove away after that! Anyway, I hope you are much better now, Jago. Thanks again for all your work.
Well, being raised in Canada and even being an Anglophone, I'd pronounce it as if it were two words: "Le Man" street. (as "Le Mans") Dictionaries, however, if one insists on remaining in the anglosphere, state: "nounarchaic. a beloved; sweetheart. a lover or mistress.". Lemons aren't sweet by nature...
Regarding ‘Street Roads’, I was surprised, when I moved to Melbourne, that there is a High Street Road here. It starts off as just plain old High Street in Melbourne proper but after several kilometres High Street meanders off to the left and the main route continues as High Street Road for what seems to me like an eternity.
Between Junctions 13 and 14 on the M5 is Michaelwood Service Station. Most would naturally call it as if it were spelt Michael Wood, but most of the locals seem to call it Micklewood!
You're right sir, Preston Road, Wembley/Harrow border is a long way from Preston Lancs (although you could get to the Lancs Preston from Wembley Central) oh forget it.
Many decades ago when I was a teenager, the family regularly used Leman Street to get to my grandparents place. We never called it " Lemon " or " Leeman" Street, but " Ler- Marn" Street.
When you first spoke of Leman Street in the earlier video I thought it might be like Leeman Road in York, which is named after George Leeman. I believe he was known as 'The Railway King’ or that may have been his rival George Hudson.
That production you're working on looks very interesting Jago - but someone ought to point out that God Save The Queen is a late 70s song ('77?) Rather than 80s, and I'm pretty sure Cherry Bomb is too! Nice to see a bunch of my favorite stuff listed as part of a Shakespeare play though!
When I worked in that part of London, we always used the long 'e' in Leman Street, never pronounced like 'lemon'. The company I worked for had a computer centre there. Cannon Street has a magical property in that, The station can warp you to other places. I was able to get to my grandmother's just by getting off at the station, saving the tiresome journey between there and Dagenham Heathway, where she lived. Her name? Mrs. Cannon which was the key to the warp portal. But this may have been a dream.
That graffito at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="107">1:47</a> is intriguing... wonder if there's a story behind it like the marriage proposal sprayed on a building in Sheffield? "Bleding"(sic) to death doesn't sound much fun to be honest.
I've often wondered about Cannon Street Road. I assumed, rightly if you are correct, that it had at one time led to a Cannon Street, but had been unaware of where that Cannon Street was as I knew that there isn't one there now.
I have an interest in checking out street art, and Grey Eagle Street in Shoreditch is always a hot spot for it. Always wondered about that intriguing street name too
Get well Jago. Re odd names - Cripplegate, St Clement Danes, Shoreditch, Houndsditch, Threadneedle Street to name but a few. A Cornucopia of medieval back history for you.
I initially imagined that the surname Leman is from the Middle English word meaning 'lover' or 'beloved one', but a possibly reliable source informs me that it is a variant of a Flemish surname, Leaman -- which surely would be pronounced Layman in English? Layman, lemon, leeman, let's call the whole thing off...
<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="213">3:33</a> That Audi just drove on the wrong side of the road and the traffic island to avoid having to negotiate the one way system 😮
Very interesting to know about how the Docklands were built to serve the East End of London and the Isle of Dogs. And with the DLR that provides a descent convenient way to travel to and from East London and Southeast London to Central London via Canary Wharf.
I can't recall what city I was in whilst on vacation over there when I passed a road, read the name, continued a couple steps further and went "Hang on a minute..." backtracked to make sure I'd seen the name correctly. Avenue Road. I stood there a moment, a bemused look on my face and went "Well, okay then, whatever floats your boat."
Working for NatWest we used to have a whole load of real estate in this area and everyone pronounced it Leeman street, would never occurred to me that anyone would see it as Lemon
There’s a few “street roads” I’ve seen around Edinburgh, like Queensferry Street Lane just off princes street. I know it leads to Queensferry Street, but surely just ‘Queensferry Lane’ works just as well
