The names of Worthing's streets range from the obvious to the perplexing.

Examples of the latter are Alinora Avenue and Alinora Crescent. Just how did they get their names?

It is believed that the man who developed the estate, Claud Moat, had two daughters, Alison and Nora.

He combined their names to create Alinora and threw in a Moat Way as well.

Did you know that Poulters Lane was once Poletree Lane; Forest Road, Butcher's Lane; and Wallace Avenue was Sea Lane, Tarring? Or that The Boulevard, Shaftesbury Avenue and Sea Place were once farm tracks?

Worthing also has its own poets' corner, featuring Byron Road, Tennyson Road and Shelley Road.

The literary link continues with Southey Road, Wordsworth Road, Cowper Road, Chaucer Road and Shakespeare Road, to name but a few.

There is a Jefferies Lane in Goring, named after the Victorian naturalist buried at Broadwater Cemetery.

But there is no lasting kerbside memorial to Oscar Wilde or Harold Pinter, both of whom lived in the town for a time.

Dramatists are remembered in Broadwater, with roads named after Congreve, Marlowe, Fletcher, Goldsmith and Sheridan. There is also Milton Road, Thackeray Road, Meredith Road, Ruskin Road and Kingsley Close.

A local boy who made good is rightly honoured by Selden Road and Selden Lane, named after the prominent 17th Century lawyer who lived in Salvington.

Mind you, he ended up in the Tower of London for a time.

Romney Road and Gainsborough Road immortalise two great painters, and Garrick Road a famous actor.

Other meritorious names include Raleigh (adventurer) , Walpole ( politician) and Wellesley (aka the Duke of Wellington, hero of Waterloo).

Moving on, we find Navarino Road, named after a great sea battle but the famous battles of Trafalgar, Inkerman or Balaclava do not get a look in.

Famous judges are also commemorated in East Worthing, the line-up including Eldon, Alverstone, Cottenham, Sugden, Cranworth, Thurlow and Halsbury.

There is a Canadian theme in West Durrington, featuring Vancouver, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Edmonton.

Eirene Avenue was named after a Byzantine princess while Aglaia (The Bright One) Road owes its title to one of the three Graces from Greek mythology.

Rugby Road is more straightforward, having been named after a rugby field which was once on the site.

The first mayor of Worthing, Alfred Cortis, is recorded in Cortis Avenue but he is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to commemorating the holders of civic office in the town.

Victorian characters Stanley (the African explorer of Dr Livingstone I presume? fame) and General Gordon (killed by the Dervishes at Khartoum in the Sudan) have received recognition.

But unusually there are no street names referring to the 1899-1901 Boer War, such as Mafeking, Ladysmith or Kimberley, which can be found in other towns all over the country.

Tower Road, near Worthing Hospital, was named after the old water tower which once dominated the town as the gasometer does today.

The tower was built amid concerns sewerage was seeping into wells, threatening the residents with disease and falling property prices.

This is a description of the landmark published in the Illustrated News of the World on August 7,1858: "A full supply of water for the sewerage, as well as other purposes, has been obtained by boring 365ft through the chalk, and erecting a water tower 110ft high, with an efficient steam engine for pumping.

"£30,000 has been the price of the work but this is little in comparison with a good name, which Worthing has once again secured."