Dundee road renamed Bash Street in Beano tribute

A ROAD in Dundee has been officially named “Bash Street” to mark the 75th anniversary of the Beano comic.

Dennis the Menace on Bash Street in Dundee's Marketgait yesterday. Picture: PA

The famous street in the popular comic which is home to Plug, Spotty, Smiffy and the rest of the anarchic Bash Street Kids has been brought to life in a lane next to the city’s West Marketgait where there are proposals to build a new children’s soft play area.

Councillor Bill Campbell, depute convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, said: “We have many roads in Dundee named after famous people, famous places and even famous rivers, but this is the first time that I think we’ve agreed to name a street after a famous street.

“The Bash Street Kids and The Beano itself are iconic and it is truly fitting that the city of their birth should commemorate them in this most public of ways. We’ve already got statues of Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx in the city centre so naming a street is a good to tie in with other comic characters. ”

He added: “It’s undoubtedly going to be a visitor attraction for the city.”

Mike Stirling, the Beano’s Editor-in-Chief, said: “The Bash Street Kids are legends of our past, present and future. By reading The Beano, generations have ‘attended’ school with the characters and kids still follow their adventures every week. It’s truly an honour for kids of all ages, everywhere, that a street is being named after The Bash Street Kids.”

He added: “The Beano team are thrilled, well everyone except Dennis. He’s not a happy boy, not at all. He thinks the street should have been named ‘Menace Street’.”

The strip featuring the Bash Street Kids and their long suffering teacher was created by Leo Baxendale and first appeared under the title “When the Bell Rings” in February, 1954 - the Beano’s 604th issue. The strip was first given the Bash Street Kids title in 1956.