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Green’s Dictionary of Slang

cobbles n.

the street, actual cobbles are not necessary.

2023

R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 189: I swished along the cobbles.

In phrases

on the cobbles [i.e. ‘outside’ in the street]

looking for a fight.

1953		J. Franklyn Cockney 307: ‘See you on the stones’ or ‘on the cobbles’ is a form of challenge used by boys above school-age. The expression is also employed by adults, and an extension of its application is to say: ‘They was on the cobbles all right,’ which may mean actually engaged in fisticuffs, or quarrelling violently, or even being merely bad friends.
1968		A. Burgess Enderby Outside in Complete Enderby (2002) 366: Forked me on the cobbles and no rare-with-Worcester [i.e. mistake].
1989		in G. Tremlett Little Legs 3: He was what we call on the cobbles, ready for a fight.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 45: We’ll be fuckin relics like the old bruisers having tear-ups on the cobbles.