london road with a mystery 'the' at the beginning -why?

[joko]

why are some london roads given the 'honour' of being called the kings road, the portobello road etc

these roads don't have the on the signs, so why?

other roads all over the country don't have this - is it some kind of bizarre arrogance of the people of london who live and work there and its just stuck over time?

there is a kings road near me and guess what...everyone here just calls it kings road.

any ideas?

[Postdog]

Well until your post I wasn't aware that people did put "The" in front of the name - I've certainly never heard roads referred to that way. Maybe it's a local thing to where you are.

[joko]

its not local to me - thats the point.

people in london call some certain roads 'the ... road' not all roads but some well known ones, like the ones i mentioned.

[gary baldy]

Yep - its arrogance pure and simple.
Saying that we do refer to The M1 or The M6 dont we?
Never mind that though - you are right - Londoners are arrogant half wits.

[Postdog]

But I am in London, and I have never heard that, that was my point.

[noxlumos]

In London alone,( I lived there for a few years) there is

The King's Road, The Portobello Road, The Kilburn High Road etc etc etc

in Belfast where I'm from originally it's very common to put "The" before road names.

I always imagined that it originated because those roads lead to where they are named after ultimately.

ie The London Road in Corwen, North Wales is actually the A5 which leads to London, whereas Bombay St clearly doesn't lead there!

[joko]

thats an interesting point nuxlumos.

but where does Portobello Road lead and does Kings Road lead to the king? is it near Buckingham Palace?

i've heard it said for tottenham court road and charing cross road.

[Gef]

High Street in Glasgow is always referred to as "The High Street". Nothing to do with London or arrogance.

[joko]

all high streets are 'the high street' - it just means the main road, and some are given the name.

any other roads in glasgow that are called 'the'?

[henneth]

The roads that radiate out of Oxford were known locally as the Woodstock Road, the Banbury Road, the Botley Road, the Abingdon Road.

I thought it might have come from old maps, as in Ye Road to Woodstock, which would mean 'your' road or 'the' road.

I remember Uncle Monty refering to 'the Charing Cross Road' in the film Withnail and I.

[jno]

the King's Road was Charles II's route from London to Windsor. The Edgware Road is the road to Edgware. The Kilburn High Road was probably not to be confused with other high roads. The is part of the description of the road, rather than part of the address. It's partly historic: a street was contained within a town, a road was the road to somewhere else. London is bigger and older than other towns, which may explain why it has more of these cases.

There's no particular reason for the Portobello Road - Porto Bello's in the Gulf of Mexico; it commemorates an 18th-century naval victory there. I suspect it's just analogy: you call some roads the and the habit rubs off on other roads. In fact, you can omit the in all these instances if you want, it's not wrong.

[Coobeastie]

Can't see as prefixing a road with 'the' is being arrogant. Also I'm from London originally and had never heard of portobello road as being referred to in that way until you mentioned it nor kings road.

[joko]

its the sort of thing you probably wouldn't notice until its pointed out - i'll bet you will notice it from now on

[David H]

Round here a few roads are officially called 'The', The Bishops Avenue is the best example, lined by palaces, whereas others are commonly called 'The', though I'd never heard it applied to Portobello Road. But I agree it's often called 'The Kilburn High Road' whereas just 'Finchley High Road' is usual there. Local custom is all that must add extras, though Lower and Upper Regent Street are examples where additional words were dropped, and Neasden Lane North and South were split up from one when the roundabout was replaced by an underpass.

And I'm sure one road near me lost an official The, (Downage) in Hendon but my old map has gone in the bin after 40 years so I can't check.

[mightyWBA]

"Going down THE Brummie Road,to see the Albion aces!"

[logman]

joko, I dont think its anything to do with arrogance although i can understand how some may see it that way.

Whether its the caladonian road or the caladonian canal, the word "the" is just there to tell us its a major place, for example you dont hear someone say- we flew over grand canyon, Unless may be its someone from yorkshire perhaps..

[joko]

mighty - is the road actually called Brummie Road?

Logman - thats my point - these are just roads - not major places like the grand canyon!

you can say 'the' for the caledonian canal because there is presumably only one - but there are hundreds of roads, which is why they are all given individual names. saying 'the' caledonian road implies this road is the main and most important road like the caledonian road.

there is a liverpool road near me and it is by no means a well known or important road in liverpool.

the reason we say the M1 or the M25 is because they are not 'given' names, they are just identifying labels - motorway one, motorway 25, and they are major main roads and there is only one of each route

[lankeela]

Another one is The Old Kent Road.

[lankeela]

Not just roads though, what about (The) White City.

[logman]

Sorry joko, but i still beg to differ, some of those roads mentioned are important or major roads in the heart of the city. I wonder if Oxford street would have a the infront of it, if someone decided it was a road ?

[Gef]

Yes joko. Everyone talks about the Broomielaw but on maps it is plain old Broomielaw.