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I suspect that most of the 'Road' names across the country would qualify; the Manchester and Milford had both New Quay Road and Llanrhystud Road; the latter was in the village of Llanfarian, about 6 miles away from the place nominally served, and the former was in Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, even further from the resort and fishing village it was named for.

 

(Just to spice things up a bit more, New Quay Road was renamed Bryn Teify in 1916, which was also unhelpful as the nearest community was sometimes also known as Cross Inn, after the local pub, but never as Bryn Teify!)

 

Also on the M&M, Strata Florida station - located in the middle of nowhere about two miles away from the village of Pontrydfendigaid, which it was meant to serve, and almost in the hamlet of Abermeurig instead - took its name from a long-ruined but historic Cistercian abbey, which was actually even further away, and which is locally known not by its Latin name but by its Welsh one of Ystrad Fflur!

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According to Wikipedia Eaglescliffe is allegedly a mis-spelling of the nearby village of Egglescliffe, and the community of Eaglescliffe later grew up around the station.

 

 

 

Apparently the signwriter was asked to make the sign for the station, Egglescliffe,and thought it was spelt wrong so wrote it as Eaglescliffe, I don't know how true this is but it came from my Grandad, however I don't know who told him, and Wikipedia also says this.

 

 

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I suspect that most of the 'Road' names across the country would qualify;

Good point. Farningham Road & Sutton at Hone, on the Chatham Main Line, is actually about 50 yards from the sign for the village of Horton Kirby, just as Port Isaac Road on the LSWR Withered Arm was really in Pendoggett.

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Nowhere near Anglesey but there used to be a LNWR signal box somewhere near Walsall named 'Anglesea Sidings'.

 

It was near Hammerwich on the Walsall-Lichfield line.

 

EDIT "Past & Present 62" lists it as (correctly/incorrectly?) "Anglesey Sidings"

Another rail atlas I have has it as "Anglesea Sidings"

 

Apparantly named after the Marquis of Anglesey owner of some local pits.

 

Keith

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There's a small discrepancy even within the railway nomenclature on the Saltburn branch. Towards the end of the branch is a station called Longbeck. The adjacent signalbox is labelled Long Beck.

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Even beyond language issues Wales has a few.

 

Builth Road is nowhere near Builth as the 'Road' implies - but over time created its own village of that name.

 

 

Westminster incompetence produced entire misnamed railways as the acts of parliament helpfully 'corrected' spellings - thus the FFestiniog and Burry Port & Gwendreath Valley, both of which are wrong (but stuck in law) and nothing to do with English v Welsh spelling.

 

Outside of Wales one that is really taking the mick is Sandwell & Dudley

 

It's in Oldbury, okay its vaguely near Sandwell but it miles from Dudley, Oldbury and West Bromwich would be a more honest name !

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The GNR's Waltham & Humberstone station served villages called Waltham and Humberston. When built it was a green-field site; by closure, it had grown its own village, called New Waltham. Edited to add: "Humberstone" is also used in some street and road names in the area.

 

As regards the difference between "on", "on the", etc: I remember reading that "Stoke On Trent" and "Stoke Upon Trent" refer to subtlely different places. One is a small town in a cluster of six, of which Hanley is the largest. The other is the conurbation made by that cluster of towns, also called "The Potteries". Unfortunately, I can't recall which name is which.

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As regards the difference between "on", "on the", etc: I remember reading that "Stoke On Trent" and "Stoke Upon Trent" refer to subtlely different places. One is a small town in a cluster of six, of which Hanley is the largest. The other is the conurbation made by that cluster of towns, also called "The Potteries". Unfortunately, I can't recall which name is which.

 

 

The City of Stoke-on-Trent is the conurbation that includes. Tunstall, Burslem (the Mother Town and one time largest of the 6 towns), Hanley (not the largest, but most central and with most main A roads running through and meeting in it (this is it used to be decided where a city centre was) and now the main shopping area which is why the council like to refer to as the City Centre), Stoke upon Trent. ( the city admin district and home to the main Station with a through London service, which is why it became SoT), Fenton and Longton

 

 

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Didn't Great Glen on the Midland Main Line (just south of Leicester) have a a station that was called Glen and Glen Magna at various times? Long closed of course.

 

There's plenty of twin Parvas and Magnas (little and large in Latin) round here. The great is the magna that's been anglicised. And googling I've found a company called Magnaparva who maybe can't make up their mind :)

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Not too long ago Chapeltown (South Yorks) had signs reading Chapeltown, Chapel Town and Chapel-Town all displayed at the same time. At around the same time a brand new sign for Wheeton was hung prominently in the RRNE Technical Services office as a constant reminder to proof read things properly before sending the order off to Doric Signs.

 

Weeton station itself regularly has its signs altered by locals adding "in Huby" in marker pen as that's the name of the village the station is actually in. However, it wasn't when the station was opened, Huby only developed beyond a couple of farms once the railway station provided a focus.

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While not a wrong spelling what about Milngavie pronounced locally as 'Mulguy', also Strathaven pronounced 'Straven'. I have no doubt that around the country there are many strange local oddities.

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The station at Fulbourn near Cambridge was spelt 'Fulbourne' which I believe was an old spelling. The station (and signalbox) closed a long time ago, but I see the level crossing is shown as 'Fulbourn' in the Quail Atlas so, if correct, it apppears the railway has now caught up!

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While not a wrong spelling what about Milngavie pronounced locally as 'Mulguy', also Strathaven pronounced 'Straven'. I have no doubt that around the country there are many strange local oddities.

As Tony Capstick commented, when visiting a small West Yorkshire town well known as a model railway show venue, "If you're posh, you call it 'Slaithwaite', but if you're common like me, you call it 'Slathit'". I think the locals have got it down to "Sla(h)wit" now.

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My family (one side of which came from that area) always pronounced "Cirencester" as "Sisister" does anyone still do that?

I've never heard anyone who lives there refer to it as other than Cirencester or Ciren for short.

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It can be spelt cesister or cicester - which then make more sense than Sisister but we're talking "sounding" rather than "written".

 

 

It's probably due to the influx of newcomers in the past fifty years that it is generally pronounced as it is written, times do change..............

 

See under NAME in this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirencester

 

Best, Pete.

 

 

 

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It can be spelt cesister or cicester - which then make more sense than Sisister but we're talking "sounding" rather than "written".

 

 

It's probably due to the influx of newcomers in the past fifty years that it is generally pronounced as it is written, times do change..............

 

See under NAME in this:http://en.wikipedia....iki/Cirencester

 

Best, Pete.

 

 

 

 

This reminds me of Southwell which is known as 'suthel' by everyone except the locals.

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There's plenty of twin Parvas and Magnas (little and large in Latin) round here. The great is the magna that's been anglicised. And googling I've found a company called Magnaparva who maybe can't make up their mind :)

 

This is true, and there is a Glen Parva not far from there (as well Great and Little Bowdens either side of Market Harborough), but I've never heard Great Glen referred to as Glen Magna by anyone other than the MR.

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My family (one side of which came from that area) always pronounced "Cirencester" as "Sisister" does anyone still do that?

Or Magdelan as "maudlin", roughly.

 

Best, Pete.

 

Yup! We do! And Pontefract as Pumfrit. And Daventry as Daintry, so there!

 

For what it's worth, Modlen (from Magdalene) is quite a common Welsh girls' name still.

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