What ever happened to … student flat names?
Article by Rebecca Tansley about the flat names project. This has generated quite a bit of interest and I’ve had some great correspondance from alumna about their flat names, and of course some interesting stories associated with them!
Villa : from heritage to contemporary
A very new book on the market by Jeremy Hansem Patrick Reynolds and Jeremy Salmon, which checks out villas around the country – one is The Hilton on Clyde Street. It’s an utterly gorgeous book.
Check out a description at The Nile bookstore.
Flat names trickling in
It’s amazing. I’m the grateful recipient of a growing treasure trove of stories, information and photos about past named flats in Dunedin – the stories are mostly coming arriving from alumni of the 1960s and 1970s and you’ll see a few posts below where I’ve started listing these names, and the addresses if I have them). There’s a few from the 1990s too.
820 members of the FB group.
The lazy boys / Carl Shuker
I finally picked up a copy of Carl Shuker’s novel, The Lazy Boys, set in 1994. While delighted to find the main characters live in a named flat at 126 Dundas Street called Strangeways (named for the Smiths final studio album, Strangeways here we come) I was simultaneously riveted and repelled by the book. I was my 3rd year at Otago at the time the book was set. It brought back memories.
Carl is currently writing a screenplay of the book. Here’s article by the Timaru Herald about him.
Do you remember the 1970s in Dunedin?
Do you remember or have any detail about these flats, or others from this period?
Gilgamesh (Castle St), Nightmare Abbey (Castle Street), Hobbit’s Hovel, The Bay of Pigs (Cumberland St), Convention Centrewhich (Cumberland St), Toad Hall (Pitt or Cumberland St), Mustart Mansion, Ratvia, Slagg Heep (158 Dundas Street), Toad Works , Acropolis (Clyde Street), The Spanish Slum (16-18 London St)
Do you remember the 1960s in Dunedin?
Are any of these flat names familiar to you?
The Jam Factory (Filleul Street), Smerch HQ (Cumberland St), The Lunatic Fringe (Castle Street), Skid Row (London St), The Shambles (Great King Street), Peasmouldia (in an old shop near the staff club on Union St – named after an English folk club?), Brewer’s Elbow (Great King or Cumberland Streets?), The Shelf (North East Valley), Toad Hall (22 Pitt Street – had a BALL. With FIREWORKS!), The Manse (London St or Elder St), Ipanema, The Spanish Slum (London Street),
Free Latvia (Cumberland St?), Department of Slovenic Studies (72 St David Street), Nightmare Abbey (Castle Street)
Do you remember the early 1990s in Dunedin?
The Castle, The Church (did it burn down?) and The Palms (did it have a potted palm out the front?), The Herm (575 Castle St – full of trampers), Bevvie Hills (Queen St), Erebus (Cumberland Street),
… and there are 813 members of the facebook group!
The Bach (1930s)
I’m in Dunedin doing some research on the book and had a wee break through today. I discovered that the earliest flat (1930s), The Bach at 208 Leith Street, did in fact have a name plate. Now to find a picture of it …
803 Members of the Dunedin flat names group!
There’s been a lot of activitiy on the group over the last week or so – lots of photos being tagged and a few new comments attached to photos of named flats: Stagger Inn, Pink Box, The Moist Box, The Manor, to name a few.
Check out the photo collection and see if any flats you recognise are there.
I’m writing a book about the named flats of Dunedin, so any information that people have, particularly about when and why flats were named would be AWESOME.
On Thursday (24.09.09) I had a chat with Kathryn Ryan on Radio NZ about the project, check it out here.
Dunedin Flat Names Project 