As I was walking up the small steep hill that leads from the old Victoria pub to Monkton Priory Church, I stopped near the top of the incline and thought to myself, no wonder they call this The Awkward Hill!

It was then that I realised that the hill had no sign on it. Nothing to mark this lovely quirky name. I mused that future generations wouldn't know what it had been called. I then got to thinking about other old Pembroke places that had no names. The Cakewalk for example.

The Cakewalk is the little steep incline that leads up to Paynter Street and Jogram Avenue. It has Halstead's on one side of it and Primrose cottages on the other. I was brought up in the prefabs that were situated right at the top of The Cakewalk.

It was so named not after a New Orleans dance where dancers danced their way across a boardwalk for the prize of a cake, but after a ride in Pembroke fair. The Cakewalk ride was a moving steep platform. The idea was that you tried to stay upright on the moving platform. There were no handholds. Who knows, someone who had one too many drinks at the fair might have fallen down on that little hill and cursed that it was as bad as walking the Cakewalk at the fair.

Jack Skone's Lane: Everybody knows where Jack Skone's Lane is and it needs no explanation here. Jack Skone had a farm very close by called Golden Hall Dairies. He would lead his cows down that lane and so it became known as Jack Skone's Lane. It has no other name, but old families who have lived in the Green for generations and Mr. Reggie Williams, a postman for nearly 50 years, refer to it as Union Lane. It was so called because of its close proximity to the workhouse. The workhouse is now called Riverside and is opposite Woodbine Terrace. Workhouses were referred to as Unions or Spikes.

Some residents argue that the lane was known as Golden Lane, but it has been pointed out that Golden Lane stops at the railway bridge. It really is irrelevant what the name was because it is, of course, lost in time. We do, however, remember Jack, a local farmer and a real character. His family live on and are extremely pleased with the sign and that is really all that matters.

Look out for The Cakewalk, The Awkward Hill and Jack Skone's Lane. I think that these old lanes should be preserved for posterity because, after all, they are part of our wonderful town's history.

Can anybody think of one for St. Michael's ward? I failed to think of one.

I hope everybody in Pembroke likes the signs and thanks must go to Pembroke Town Council, Suzie, our town clerk, and Mike, our caretaker, for all the work they carried out.

Clr. Melanie Phillips