Smelly Alley
is the people’s universal and affectionate name for Union Street, the original and best pedestrian precinct. As long ago as 1888 the Post Office were asked not to wheel their trucks along here. Despite not having multi-million-pound refurbishments every few years, and despite the leaking gutters, it’s still popular with people in search of wet fish and foreign newspapers; though since the Oracle opened, a few shops have stood empty. The name probably merely indicates its function, uniting Broad and Friar Streets, but another theory mentions some kind of political union, and a Union or workhouse formerly stood nearby at Greyfriars.