A ha-ha is a type of sunken fence that was commonly used in landscaped gardens and parks in the 18th century. The point of the ha-ha was to give the viewer of the garden the illusion of an unbroken, continuous rolling lawn, whilst providing boundaries for grazing livestock.

by TheManFromConlig

38 comments

  1. There is an Avenue Road in South London.

    I always think “Just make your mind up”.

  2. And a Ho-ho is like a ha-ha but deeper. GNU Sir Terry.

  3. we had a Haha at our house. Cows still managed to get on the lawns and wreck them.

  6. There is a Blue Ball Yard in Mayfair, if I recall correctly

  9. I saw a Tally-Ho on a bus once. Forgot where it was supposed to be. Sounds fun.

  12. There’s a Back Passage in the City of London as well as Cock Lane.

    Helmet Row EC1.

  13. I often cycle past Cockmannings Lane near Orpington. Always amuses 😀

  18. I always chuckle when I have to set the satnav to “Black Park Country Park Car Park”

  28. Some London Roads are named for what was sold there once. So Milk Street and Bread Road make sense. Imagine my disappointment in finding a Sandwich Street without a single sandwich shop. 🥲

  29. I only know about ha-has because of the 1978 How Annual I was given that Christmas. My wife didn’t believe they existed and that I had made it up.

  30. Not London, but here in York we have a street named Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate

  34. There’s Back Passage – annoyingly it doesn’t seem to appear on Google Maps but i think it’s EC4 or somewhere like that. Also apparently there used to be more than one Gropecunt Lane 🫢

  36. There’s an area that sits between Mitcham and Streatham known as Lonesome. I often wonder how it got that name.

  38. Not London, but in Birmingham city centre there’s Needless Alley.
    Personally, I couldn’t see the point of it.

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