Donate SIGN UP

What is a Pathway Between Houses or a Narrow Lane?

Avatar Image
dmsjps | 17:52 Fri 17th Jun 2005 | Phrases & Sayings
19 Answers
Where I come from originally (Yorkshire), we used to call them ginnels or snickets. When I met my husband he'd never heard of them. Just wondering how many 'names' there are for these things. Would help if you'd put the area you're from too. Thanks.
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 19 of 19rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by dmsjps. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.

Hi there,

Where I come from they are called "twittens"!

I am in East Sussex near Hastings by the way.

I'm from Lancashire and they are called ginnels here aswell.
-- answer removed --

I'm in East Central Scotland.

Here a passageway between houses is known as a close.

A narrow lane is most often called a wynd, although a less commonly used word for a narrow lane or alley is a vennel.

I had never heard of the word ginnel until i moved to Lancashire from The Midlands about 8 years ago. I would normally refer to them as a backlane or an alleyway, Not very imaginative !
My wife has just reminded me that I should also have included pend which is an open ended passage though a building at ground level.
I call them alleys or alleyways too..from kent.
That's an alley here in the Midwestern USA.

Hi All,

Here in Notts we often refer to them as Jitty's or Jennels (between terraced houses)

They're twittens in Brighton too. I think it's just a Sussex word as it's interesting to see Orange-Gnome in Kent doesn't call them that.

We've always called them "Gullies" Im from Cardiff:-)))

As kids in Manchester we called it an entry, but I've heard other people from here call it a ginnel
I second Personica's post, jittys were what we ran down as nippers in Nottingham when playing knock-a-door-run!!
...and if some unfortunate soul had bandy legs it was said  'he couldn't stop a pig in a jitty.'
Just thought of another Notts name, a twitchel.
Personica and Mongo's bird have the same as me a Jitty or Alley, we sometimes call them a Jit for short.
I'm from Liverpool and we say "entry" (or "ennog") and "jigger"
They were always gulleys when I were a lad (South Staffs)
Here in Northamptonshire they're called Jetties but it's often pronounced "Jitty".  Then again, they can't pronounce "Nene" here, either; or Duston ("Dussen"), Cogenhoe ("Cookno"), Kettering ("Ke'rin") or even Northampton ("Nawfan'm").  Off Bridge Street there's Friars Jetty and off The Drapery there's Jeyes Jetty.  Personally, I always thought they were alleys.  I'm not from round here, you know...  In fact, I may have to leave, soon.

1 to 19 of 19rss feed

Do you know the answer?

What is a Pathway Between Houses or a Narrow Lane?

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.