Old maps of Wibsey, including the Tithe Award map of cl850 at the large scale of 26 inches to the mile, do not name Smith Avenue. There is quite clearly a track, or perhaps it was a green lane, leading south from the village and through the fields towards Wibsey Low Moor. The track appears to start behind the Tithe Barn and the attached Black Dog inn, a little to the east of the present day White Swan inn.It was, therefore, almost opposite the beginning of Acre Lane, which is mentioned by name in the mid 18th century.
To go to Royds Hall manor house, one would have used Buttershaw Lane, Abb Scott Lane and Royds Hall Lane itself. We do not know when these three roads received 'official' designations but years of usage would have bestowed the names on the first and last mentioned.
Neither, as yet, do we have any firm evidence of why Smithy Hill is so named. Whether there was at an earlier date a blacksmith working there is not known; but in the 1740's and following, a man named John Smith bought a least one, perhaps two, houses which were later inherited by some of his descendants. By the time of the 1841 census, Smithy Hill is clearly named, though since house numbering was introduced, the properties appear always to have been numbered as part of the High Street.
Smith Avenue, however, has borne its name since the large council built estate was commenced in the early decades of the last century, though, again, there seems to be no certainty of the reason for the choice of name. The road, however, is broad and tree lined and was obviously meant to be the main thoroughfare of the new estate.
The roads to either side are quite narrow and were not meant for the volume of traffic that now exists, some seven or eight decades after the original plans were implemented. What the side roads mainly have, however, are names which can tell an important part of the history of Wibsey in the 19th century. From 'Southfield' - the land on which many of the houses were built - to 'Hardy' - the name of a man who held some of the most responsible positions in the land - the Odsal (not Wibsey, strangely enough) Housing Estate has quite a story to tell.
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