Alley - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

• In England there are numerous words used locally to describe alleys which are narrow pavements between or behind buildings.
  • Jennel, which may be spelt gennel or ginnel, is common in Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and other parts of Yorkshire. It is also used in Oldham. In some cases, "ginnel" may be used to describe a covered or roofed passage, as distinct from an open alley.
  • Twitten is an old Sussex dialect word, used in both East and West Sussex, for a path or alleyway. It is still in common use. In Nottinghamshire, north-west Essex and east Hertfordshire, twichell is common.
  • In Liverpool the term entry, jigger or snicket is more common. "Entry" is also used in Manchester, though not in South Manchester.
  • The word jitty or gitties is often found in Derbyshire and Leicestershire and gulley is a term used in the Black Country.
  • In north-east England they can be called chares, and in Plymouth, opes.
  • In Shropshire (especially Shrewsbury) they are called shuts.
  • Other terms in use are cuttings, 8-foots, 10-foots (in Scunthorpe and Hull), and snicket.
  • In York, local author Mark W. Jones devised the word snickelway in 1983 as a portmanteau of the words snicket, ginnel and alleyway. Although the word is a neologism, it quickly became part of the local vocabulary, and has even been used in official council documents, for example when giving notice of temporary footpath closures.
• In Scotland and Northern Ireland the Scots terms close, wynd, pend and vennel are general in most towns and cities. The term close has an unvoiced "s" as in sad. The Scottish author Ian Rankin's novel Fleshmarket Close was retitled Fleshmarket Alley for the American market.