Bohemia Village Voice  Bohemia Village Voice

For bohemians everywhere

Why Bohemia? …. why not?

By Dave Kent, Cloudesley Road.

[In response to Mr Winders letter to the editor ‘Why Bohemia? of 22 June 2006.]

It may well be the case that the port was flowing liberally when Bohemia Road received its name. It is true that Bohemia Road is not in Bohemia and may not even point in the direction of where Bohemia once was. Does any of this matter? Of course not. Cambridge Road does not take you to Cambridge (it takes you to Bohemia or Hastings); Newgate Road does not take you to Newgate (unless, on your journey,  you simultaneously commit a crime and disturb the space-time continuum);  North Road does not go North and South Road does not go South. So far as I can tell, the only reason for those two streets to be so named is that they are North and South in relation to each other. A combination of the curvature of the Earth and my poor eyesight makes it impossible for me to view Salisbury Cathedral or any well-known neolithic sites from Salisbury Road. Similarly, I have failed to spot any of Sir Christopher Wrens works from St Pauls Road although it may be that this road was named after the saint himself. However, I have heard no reports of a bearded tent-maker from Tarsus undergoing a dramatic conversion at a YMCA roller skate disco.

So why does Mr Winder pick on Bohemia Road? It seems to me that very few streets are named for any good reason. I think Bohemia was an inspired choice of name for this road and, as I am descended from French gypsies, I feel quite at home.

If visitors to Bohemia Road are disappointed because there are no fiddling gypsies or Absinthe-swilling artistic types, they can always amuse themselves exploring the glorious unnamed passages and maybe pick up a free piece of furniture.

Tomorrow, I shall don my habitual duffel coat, sandals, beads and black stockings and wander up to Bookmans Halt to see if I can find a street map of Mannigtree, Essex. I suspect that Mr Winder doesnt give his full address because he lives in Bratislava Boulevard.

 

 

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