Trafalgar Street, North and South:

Named after the famous victory and very aptly so.

In the early days it tapered off into a swamp at its northern end towards Halifax Street and had to be built up considerably there with a large ditch running beside the embankment to carry away the water from all Trafalgar Street.

Trafalgar Road is the continuation over the Maitai Bridge.

As the main street of the town it has been used as a centre of gatherings and festivities on many occasions, especially upper Trafalgar Street towards the Cawthron Steps, but I fancy the City Traffic Officers would become rather speechless if someone roasted an ox in the street or dug a hole at the Bridge Street interesection for the erection of a greasy pole, as had been done over the years. I doubt whether they would even look with favour on the siting of huge gas standards in street intersections like the one which blew up so page 10spectacularly at the Hardy Street intersection killing an innocent citizen who was looking for the leak with a match.

Upper Trafalgar Street has a different air, being mainly residential. It has little side streets, Trafalgar Avenue by the Girls' College; Melrose Terrace after the house of that name, the little road leading up to Fairfield, along to a boarding house for Nelson College; and Examiner Street leading to Rutherford Street, and named after Nelson's early newspaper which was once printed here.