It’s official: one of Bermuda’s classic place-names has been enshrined on its own signpost.

Warwick’s Billy Goat Hill, though familiar to many Bermudians, isn’t marked on maps.

Thanks to a proud and lifelong resident of the area, Renalda Bean, it’s now posted — and Public Works will officially keep the name in place after six months.

A taxi driver fond of sharing local history and sights off the beaten track, Mr Bean said the sign would make his job a little easier.

“When I drive around with tourists showing them the Island, I like to explain the history and I figured the sign would help,” he explained.

A keen runner, Mr Bean has used the formidably steep hill for training since his childhood, when he would rise at dawn for football training with fellow area resident — and former Sports Minister — Elvin James.

“Back in the day I had friends challenge me to run up that hill,” Mr Bean said, fondly recalling beating a boy from the neighbourhood who claimed to be the hill-sprinting champion.

The dethroned champion challenged him to a rematch — and Mr Bean beat him again.

The new sign, created by Mr Bean’s friend Andre Darrell, features the sure-footed animal that gave the hill its name.

Over the weekend it was put in its rightful place at the signpost for Tribe Road No 1, just west of Cobbs Hill.

Mr Bean got the signatures of residents who agree with the sign — and Government will keep signposting the road that way if it remains in place.

Many Bermudian place-names commemorate the Island’s agricultural past: Fractious Street in Hamilton Parish is named after a bad-tempered horse.

“When I lived up on the hill there were only four houses, and two of them ... the families in those days had their own farms, with goats and cows. The hill is so steep that everybody would say, ‘That’s for billy goats’,” Mr Bean said.

An elderly Mrs Deshields would get towed up the hill by the family’s goats, attached to a rope, he recalled.

“My father died in 1950; Irwin Bean was his name. He and Mr Deshields cut a footpath in both sides of the hill. To go up it you had to pull yourself up with your hands. Long before they paved it there was nothing that could go over.”

Residents were warned to take care with fire, since fire engines wouldn’t be able to reach them.

A steep hill promises a fine view, and Mr Bean said the climb was worth it.

“I can say that back in the day, up on the crown of the hill, we used to sit and watch the big bands, and the people in top hats and tails, going to the dances at Chilly Simons’ patio,” he said.

“The yard was filled with nothing but horses and buggies, and pedal bikes.”

The area retains some of its fields and pockets of woodland but today’s vista shows a drastically altered landscape. And the road, while steep, has been — relatively — tamed.

“I would recommend walking it,” Mr Bean said. “It’s worth the walk.”