Exotic place names in the UK

[wombatofludham]

There's a Nanny Goat Lane in Stone in Staffordshire, which always made me smile when I used to see it.  It's a name that would be ideal to appear on one of those well worn clichés, the GWR Miss Marpleshire branch line layouts.

 

[pH]

37 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Is Old Bolinbroke the father?

 

Yes, allegedly.

[HonestTom]

17 hours ago, MarkC said:

Yes - I was beaten to it

 

Aww. Well, the other day I came across Tweezers Alley in Central London.

[iands]

Having been born and raised in York, it has both amused and amazed me (in equal measure) how they manage to sell properties in Bad Bargain Lane and Thief Lane in York. I guess the estate agents are well practised by now. 

[bike2steam]

12 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Its spelt Assenden with e's instead of u's, the one in Essex that is. You won't find any evidence of the battle, the site became a gravel pit and later a rubbish tip.

After checking, it seems we both got it wrong, and my wife normally jokes about me having an attention disorder.    http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/04/11/battle-of-assandun-one-of-the-great-battles-in-english-history/

[PhilJ W]

12 minutes ago, bike2steam said:

After checking, it seems we both got it wrong, and my wife normally jokes about me having an attention disorder.    http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/04/11/battle-of-assandun-one-of-the-great-battles-in-english-history/

And on current maps its spelt Asheldham.

[Gwiwer]

13 hours ago, Nickey Line said:

Wibbly Wobbly Lane

 

St. Agnes in Cornwall has Stippy-Stappy Lane.  The name was borrowed in the "Poldark" novels and used by Demelza (which is another Cornish place name) to refer to a place of lowly birth or ill-repute.  The actual one in St. Agnes is a footpath leading from Churchtown at the top of a hill downhill to Trevaunance Cove at the bottom.

 

13 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

Cockshut Road

 

To which the only answer is given within this link but which may trigger the profanity filter ..... https://www.francisfrith.com/uk/cocklick-end

 

13 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

Leigh-on-Mendip which was pronounced Lie on Mendip.

 

Lee in SE London is Lee.  Leigh-on-Sea is Lee.  The numerous places named Leigh around the south-east and south of the Thames are all, so far as I am aware, pronounced Lie.  Not sure about the one oop north near Manchester.  

 

12 hours ago, Budgie said:

two places with the same name

 

Devon claims Woolfardisworthy.  Not to be out-done in Somerset, just across the border, is Woolfardisworthy.  The one is Devon is often abbreviated to Woolsery including on signs and both are commonly pronounced as Woolzee.  

Edited March 12, 2020 by Gwiwer

[Rugd1022]

Not exactly exotic but quaint sounding nonetheless are Abinger Hammer in Surrey and Amble in Northumberland. I've just found my Dad's 1965 copy of the AA Illustrated Road Book Of England & Wales, almost every page has a lovely black and white sketch of a half timbered something or other and quaint sounding hamlets, villages and towns. Smashing!

[Legend]

Isn't there a "Once Brewed" or "Twice Brewed" somewhere around Haltwhistle on the Newcastle -Carlisle line?

 

[Gwiwer]

19 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

Abinger Hammer

Now more important than its origin in nearby Abinger (sometime Abinger Common).  "Hammer" arose because the local blacksmith's shop was located here.  

 

Ironically places in Cornwall with "Shop" in the name never have a shop.  Chipshop has been mentioned above.  Congdon's Shop and Barkla Shop are others.  They once were isolated shops at the meeting of roads from nearby villages.  Now they are a handful of homes around the same crossroads but the shops have long since closed down.  

[Oldddudders]

40 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

Not exactly exotic but quaint sounding nonetheless are Abinger Hammer in Surrey 

The showpiece of the village is the striking clock - a mechanical man hits the bell visibly! Gemma Jackson, who was in the year below Sherry at skool, lived in that house. I think the clock mechanism was accessed through her sister Vanessa's bedroom!

[43110andyb]

Paradise is in Newcastle! The once open line was called the ‘Paradise branch’.

[eastglosmog]

2 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Now more important than its origin in nearby Abinger (sometime Abinger Common).  "Hammer" arose because the local blacksmith's shop was located here.  

.............

With my pedantic hat on, the "Hammer" in Abinger Hammer refers to an iron forge, rather bigger than your average blacksmith's shop!  The hammer being driven by a water wheel fed from a nearby hammer pond.  Part of the 16th century Wealden Iron trade.  Pedantic hat taken off.  Of no relevance to the forgoing is that apparently Abinger Hammer was formally known as Shere Hammer

[billbedford]

On the road between Warminster and Salisbury the is a sign pointing to 'The Langfords' and I've often wondered if included Bonnie. 

[jcm@gwr]

Local to me are the Ayots,

Ayot Green

Ayot St Peter

Ayot St Lawrence

The last being where George Bernard Shaw lived,

and where the silk farm used to be, that supplied

the silk for Princess Diana's wedding dress.

[The Johnster]

Ayot has to be related to eyot, a Nordic derived name for a small island, whether in the sea or a river.  Swansea, nothing to do with swans or eyes, is derived from Sweyn's Eyot, presumably Mumbles Head, Sweyn being a well known local Viking character who is apparently buried in Sweyn's Howe on top of Rhosilli Down, Gower.  His name in modern Norwegian would be Sven.  He turns up at Swanbridge, nothing to do with swans or bridges, near Sully (between Penarth and Barry); this is Sweyn's Brigga, a brigga being a causeway or isthmus; it is the tidal causeway connecting Sully Island to the mainlaind.  Sweyn was something of a pirate and used the place as a base.  

 

He also established a garrison of his men on Steep Holm island, from where they could easily raid both sides of the Bristol Channel, an enterprise that did not end well as a spell of bad weather meant that he could neither provision them or get them off.  They died of malnutrition and exposure, and their bones were discovered some time later by Saint Baruc, who gives his name to Barry.  Baruc spent some time on the island as a retreat, and took it upon himself to give these dead Vikings a christian burial, something they would not have been happy about at all!

[Fat Controller]

14 hours ago, 43110andyb said:

Paradise is in Newcastle! The once open line was called the ‘Paradise branch’.

In the early 1980s, there used to be a bitumen terminal at Paradise; the smell from that was more redolent of the 'other place'

[PhilJ W]

There are two groups of villages in Essex sharing part of their names, the Matchings and the Rodings. The Matchings part of the name precedes but the Roding name follows. We have plain Matching but also Matching Green and Matching Tye, names that always amused my niece and nephew when they were little.There is a Leaden Roding and a Beauchamp Roding and one or two others. Other exotic names in Essex are Layer Marney and Layer Breton.

Edited March 13, 2020 by PhilJ W

[runs as required]

1 hour ago, Fat Controller said:

In the early 1980s, there used to be a bitumen terminal at Paradise; the smell from that was more redolent of the 'other place'

 

It is also where the wheel came off the horse bus in the the Blaydon Races (still a difficult turn until the N&C was cut back at the bitumen/cement silos c1980, by which time the street corner pubs had all disappeared and the Scotswood Road became today's bland 50mph dual carriageway

 

2

IIRC Paradise also features in another (Scouse) song or rather sea-shanty:

"As I was a walking down Paradise Street, Whey Hey,  Blow the Man down ... "  

dh

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Don't forget Deadmans Lane , just by the RTC in Derby. Now the name of a well-known layout too.

[The Johnster]

Reassuring to find that both Paradise Cement and South Benwell Electric Light are in working order, especially as the former is disused. 

 

[Gwiwer]

12 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Ayot has to be related to eyot

 

And is related to the present-day "islet".  There are many eyots along the Thames for example.  Eel Pie Island, almost within sight of here, is one of the largest.

 

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

There are two groups of villages in Essex sharing part of their names, the Matchings and the Rodings. The Matchings part of the name precedes but the Roding name follows. We have plain matching but also Matching Green and Matching Tye, names that always amused my niece and nephew when they were little.There is a Leaden Roding and a Beauchamp Roding and one or two others. Other exotic names in Essex are Layer Marney and Layer Breton.

 

Was Layer-de-la-Haye overlooked?  

 

Matching Green and Matching Tye are accompanied by Matching Park and the delightfully (?) named Faggoters Farm .  Among Rodings we have High, White, Leaden, Beauchamp, Aythorpe, Abbess and Margaret and not one of them anywhere near Roding Valley station on the tube although all refer to the same river.  Adjacent to Beauchamp Roding we find Butt Hatch Farm.

 

Moving south-westward there is the plethora of Winterbournes.  Bourne being a common Anglo-Saxon word meaning stream and the prefix probably referring to them flowing only or more strongly in Winter.  

 

Winterbournes include (but may not be limited to) Whitechurch, Kingston, Zelston, Stickland, Clenston, Houghton, Muston and Tomson.  All of these lie on or close to the tautological River Winterbourne which is a tributary of the (Dorset) River Stour.  

 

 

Edited March 13, 2020 by Gwiwer

[Budgie]

While on the subject of Bourne, there is a river near me called the River Ravensbourne, i.e. the River River River.

[Gwiwer]

6 minutes ago, Budgie said:

While on the subject of Bourne, there is a river near me called the River Ravensbourne, i.e. the River River River.

 

At least two different locations in Cornwall go by the name of Castle-an-Dinas.  The Castle Castle.  

[TheQ]

Like How Hill in Norfolk.. or TorpenHow Hill  in Cumbria meaning, hill, hill, hill, hill.

 

 or the many River Avon /Afon meaning River River..