Cycling UK Forum

Back in Wigan when I woz a kid, we called them "entries". Mrs Mick F is a Scouser, and she called them "allies" or "passage-ways".

Neither me nor Mrs Mick F had heard the word "ginnell' until we moved to Scotland.

As a kid in 1960s Manchester they were called Entries, or sometimes Alleys.

Some of you will know Pennel's Vennel in Peebles. So named after George Pennel who ran the bike shop there for many years and the haunt of many young cyclists through the sixties, seventies and onwards.

'Twittens' round here.

"Jitty" in Leicester

Called a padd where I grew up.

I'm in Halifax, in West Yorkshire.
The traditions that I've been brought up with have been :
Ginnel - being a footpath between walls - not necessarily walls between buildings, walls to each-side of a footpath can be between fields.
Snicket - being a footpath open on one side with wall/hedge etc on other side, or open both sides.

But these things are never 100% - a footpath quite near where I live has a high wall down one side, a 6'0" hedge on most of the other side, with house gable-ends at each end, and it's called the 'brickyard'!......and a lot of open footpaths are just 'footpaths'.

Where open footpaths have been fenced on one or both sides, we still call them footpaths........fences don't count as walls.

Some of the "comer-ins" in the new houses use other words for some footpaths, like 'passage'.............but they're not from here! - and they can't walk anyway, they live in cars!

i grew up in Northamptonshire, where any narrow, urban route was an alley, whether big enough for a car or barely wide enough to walk through.

For the last forty years i've lived in Sheffield Jennel, Ginel or however you want to spell it, is the term used for the same thing but not exclusively, certainly once motor traffic uses same it is referred to more usually as a lane.

The York Snickelways are a little different to the run of the mill alleys as they are (mostly) public thoroughfares providing access to shops and premises with no other access having been built between streets. I'm sure you can find similar in other medieval cities/towns but maybe in less profussion.

I'm in Bristol atm where the paths between houses seem to be referred to as simply the lane or alley

We also have Wynds in Northumberland. Not quite the same as vennels which go between buildings, Wynds are narrow dog leg lanes.

sjs wrote:

Rod Goodfellow wrote:In Sheffield in 1940s known as a jennel

East Midlands, or at least Derby/Nottingham area, they're gitties.

I beg to disagree, as a born and bred Nottingham lad, they were always known as twitchels.

Alley or Entry where I grew up.
Along with Batches; an individual round of bread used for a sandwich, but have had to get used to; roll, cob, barm cake, over the years.

eileithyia wrote:Alley or Entry where I grew up.

Seems right to me, being a Wigan chap.

Dad was Wigan by history and heritage. Mum was from Coppull history and heritage.
Bought up in Wigan/Sandish.

Nottingham - jitties!

Mick F wrote:

eileithyia wrote:Alley or Entry where I grew up.

Seems right to me, being a Wigan chap.

Dad was Wigan by history and heritage. Mum was from Coppull history and heritage.
Bought up in Wigan/Sandish.

'Cept I was brought up in the Midlands not Wigan/Standish.

PS You would hate to see the state of the Robin Hood these days... boarded up and very unloved looking.

TrevA wrote:

sjs wrote:

Rod Goodfellow wrote:In Sheffield in 1940s known as a jennel

East Midlands, or at least Derby/Nottingham area, they're gitties.

I beg to disagree, as a born and bred Nottingham lad, they were always known as twitchels.

That's interesting. I see there's a vote for gitty/jitty upthread from Leicester. Maybe in the Nottingham/Derby area gitty was more ocal to Ilkeston than I thought.