In the Wirral, they call it "Twigging the Jitty". That seemed an appropriate name for this cache and got me thinking about how many words there are to describe as simple a thing as a passage between two buildings...and where do they all originate?
So these are the ones that I know of:-
(1) Jitty, Gitty or Jetty - common in Northern England and probably a derivative of 'gitta", a Norse word which gives us our word "gate", which originally meant a road, e.g. Carolgate, Moorgate, Churchgate, and later became the thing that closed off the road.
(2) Alley - French "Allez"- literally - go!
(3) Ginnell or Jinnell - from the Old English - "an abyss"
(4) Snicket - Late 19th century - of unknown origin
(5) Twitchel - Midlands dialect - originally from Old English "twichen" - a fork in the road
(6) Wynd - Northern England and Scotland - from the Old Norse "venda" - to turn
(7) Ten-foot - North Yorkshire - the passage between two rows of terraced houses.
There are others - cut, entry, access , easement- but I am fascinated by the way that the words for one simple concept can map out the whole history of a region and the peoples that have come and gone with the tides of history. Perhaps there are other terms that you know. Please include them in your log...and enjoy twigging the jitty!