The term ‘hurst’ comes from an old English word for ‘wooded hill’, so it’s easy to see where the latter part of Normanhurst’s name comes from. Much of the suburb’s charm comes from its hilly topography and – yes – it’s still ‘wooded’. The man who gave his first name to the suburb was a prominent resident, an engineer called Norman Selfe. Interestingly, Selfe lobbied against the naming of Normanhurst, which occurred in 1900. A century or so later Normanhurst is still defined by its bushy landscape...