Guttridge Drive

Guttridge Drive Pegton [89, 58] Weatherhead Park Lakey Way Durban Library (Dentonside) a carpark Guttridge Drive Whatmore Lane (Dentonside) the Hanne Arms the Theirs Monument the Parkinson Building (Dentonside) Basic Info: A Street is a city block containing no buildings or monuments. There are a variety of other names besides Street including Alley, Avenue, Boulevard, Drive, Grove, Lane, Row, Square, Walk, Place, etc. This is an empty block, and cannot be barricaded.

Guttridge Drive

Description

Guttridge as seen from the railway.

Two dreary rows of terraced houses separated by a filthy, rat-infested gutter. Once flowing with ordure and rainwater, the 'gutter-ridge' from which the street takes its name now flows with blood, bile and pus.

History

Guttridge Drive had the dubious distinction of being the most deprived street in the whole of Malton, according to WHO statistics.

From Victorian times it was the preserve of the poorest, meanest wretches to be catalogued as human beings. These stunted creatures were sought-after as chimney sweeps as they were unnaturally thin and easy to push up chimneys without fear of them getting stuck, no matter how narrow the space within. Their wiry hair also served the purpose of chimney brushes, which these miserable troglodytes were generally too poor to be able to afford.

From the mid-19th to the late 20th century, the street was a rich source of impoverished girls for Howes Square School, none of whom is believed to have ever returned to this foul-smelling slum, although its grim history is commemorated at a nearby monument funded by former 'Guttridge Girls' in 1906.

The slum continues to serve as a residential area for the worst-off members of society.

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