Spelling

[Coppercap]

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

 

TV and radio also often report Southall as 'Suthall'. Most jarring for me was on one of the GWR150 TV programmes back in 1985 when I think it was Chris Hughes (ex-UndergrounD driver and Mastermind winner) who pronounced it as such. And him a Londoner as well! Everyone knows it's "Sarf orl", don't they? Obviously not Chris!

(My dad was born there, gran brought up there, and her father was a Southall driver, though he came through the GWR's ranks from rural Dorset.)

[Coppercap]

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

Best, Pete.

 

My Gloucester-born grandad certainly used to call it "Sisister". He moved away to London in the 1920's, and died in 1968, so it must have been called that in his teenage years in the early 20th century for him to still be calling it that in the '60s. I'd like to think there's still some old 'uns who call it that.

[Poggy1165]

I remember travelling southwestwards in the car in 1963 when my father stopped to ask a guy if he was on the right road for Cirencester.

'You mean Sicester?' asked the old chap. That must be the old pronunciation - it even gets a mention in Shakespeare's Richard II:-

Henry IV. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear

Is that the rebels have consumed with fire

Our town of Cicester in Gloucestershire;

But whether they be ta'en or slain we hear not. (Act v Scene vi)

[trisonic]

Thanks for you guys who also remember "Sisister" or "Cisester" for Cirencester. All my immediate family are dead - so sometimes I wonder whether my brain makes this stuff up!!!!

 

And Poggy is that the first time Shakespeare has been quoted on RMWeb? Probably not, eh?

 

Best, Pete.

[bluebottle]

And Poggy is that the first time Shakespeare has been quoted on RMWeb? Probably not, eh?

 

At the risk of being accused of cultural willy-waving, I replied to a post by Diesel Dayz (in "Banksy Unmasked at last"; Wheeltappers), chiding him for joking about an oldster smelling of wee; quoting from Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2:

 

Mind the negative stereotyping there, Diesel Dayz. As Hamlet says about a similar putdown: "Slanders, sir... All which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down... "

 

(DD took the reproof in good part)

[Wolfy]

TV and radio also often report Southall as 'Suthall'. Most jarring for me was on one of the GWR150 TV programmes back in 1985 when I think it was Chris Hughes (ex-UndergrounD driver and Mastermind winner) who pronounced it as such. And him a Londoner as well! Everyone knows it's "Sarf orl", don't they? Obviously not Chris!

(My dad was born there, gran brought up there, and her father was a Southall driver, though he came through the GWR's ranks from rural Dorset.)

 

That's interesting, I was talking about the Southwell in Notts, I hadn't realised there was a similar thing with Southall!

[Martino]

Ruislip, Middlesex, was called 'Rooslip' by some older residents - including my late Mother in Law. ....that's as opposed to the more modern 'Ryeslip' pronuctiation .

[62613]

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.

 

 

Nah then, Nah then; when I were at school in Linfit 40 year ago, we had a visit from the then Prime Minister, Mr Wilson, when he was on the election trail in 1970. Even he, a true Huddersfield man, pronounced it 'Slawit'. Only the automated announcements on Stalybridge Staion call it 'Slaythwayt'

[Guest stuartp]

Barnsley booking office, late 80s. The legendary Mitch is on the enquiries window, ashtray, butty and mug of tea perched on top of the APTIS machine, feet up on the cash drawer, no tie, name badge or any of the other trappings allegedly required of a properly dressed booking clerk.

 

A portly Welsh chap approaches the window:

 

PWC: "A single to Machynlleth please" (pronounced correctly, something like Muchunluth, RMwebbers familiar with the place will know better than me).

Mitch: "Wheer ?" (in broad Barnsley)

PWC: "Machynlleth".

Mitch: "Nivver 'eard on it. What's t'nearest station ?"

PWC: "Machynlleth !"

Mitch: "Tha'd best spell it kid".

PWC: "M-a-c-h-y-n-l-l-e-t-h"

Mitch: "Oh, tha means Matchy Nellith !"

PWC: "It's pronounced 'Machynlleth".

Mitch "Not in Barnsley it int".

[Boris]

I always remember going to Haymarket one day and asking for a return to Linlithgow, and being looked at like I'd gone out to lunch. In the end I resorted to pointing at the station name on the timetable! He said "ye mean Lithger then!".

[ess1uk]

Barnsley booking office, late 80s. The legendary Mitch is on the enquiries window, ashtray, butty and mug of tea perched on top of the APTIS machine, feet up on the cash drawer, no tie, name badge or any of the other trappings allegedly required of a properly dressed booking clerk.

 

A portly Welsh chap approaches the window:

 

PWC: "A single to Machynlleth please" (pronounced correctly, something like Muchunluth, RMwebbers familiar with the place will know better than me).

Mitch: "Wheer ?" (in broad Barnsley)

PWC: "Machynlleth".

Mitch: "Nivver 'eard on it. What's t'nearest station ?"

PWC: "Machynlleth !"

Mitch: "Tha'd best spell it kid".

PWC: "M-a-c-h-y-n-l-l-e-t-h"

Mitch: "Oh, tha means Matchy Nellith !"

PWC: "It's pronounced 'Machynlleth".

Mitch "Not in Barnsley it int".

 

i've heard it called several things in my time, even by the locals

spent a good few weeks there doing my bit for the ERTMS scheme

[Etched Pixels]

i've heard it called several things in my time, even by the locals

spent a good few weeks there doing my bit for the ERTMS scheme

 

The Aber cabbies all knew "Mach" (which seems to be what a lot of locals call it anyway) "macky nellith", "machthingy" and all the variants (along with essential local places like 'Aberthingy') that the students and the escaped Brummies use. [And I'm also almost an escaped Brummie so I'm entitled to call Borth 'Little Birmingham By The Sea' and giggle at the fact Aberystwyth is full of people whose accents are 'Birmingham area OAP'].

 

At least Mach is different enough that people realise there is a problem, whereas the poor Talyllyn (not Tally-Lynne) seems to be misnamed by just about everyone without realising.

 

We have more fun with Cwmtwrch and Crymmych Arms. (memorable quote from someone pointing at a map 'Ok I surrender')

 

Alan

[StaffsOatcake]

Barnsley booking office, late 80s. The legendary Mitch is on the enquiries window, ashtray, butty and mug of tea perched on top of the APTIS machine, feet up on the cash drawer, no tie, name badge or any of the other trappings allegedly required of a properly dressed booking clerk.

 

A portly Welsh chap approaches the window:

 

PWC: "A single to Machynlleth please" (pronounced correctly, something like Muchunluth, RMwebbers familiar with the place will know better than me).

Mitch: "Wheer ?" (in broad Barnsley)

PWC: "Machynlleth".

Mitch: "Nivver 'eard on it. What's t'nearest station ?"

PWC: "Machynlleth !"

Mitch: "Tha'd best spell it kid".

PWC: "M-a-c-h-y-n-l-l-e-t-h"

Mitch: "Oh, tha means Matchy Nellith !"

PWC: "It's pronounced 'Machynlleth".

Mitch "Not in Barnsley it int".

 

Should have spelt it out proper like

 

Mack Nelly Eth

 

[62613]

Hunstanton is known as Hunston locally, no; and Fakenham as Feknam?

[DavidLong]

Also in East Anglia there is the infamous Happisburgh which is pronounced as Hazeburgh. It has never had a station but the Model Railway Club produced a 7mm layout of that name just to be awkward.

Anyone know which is the correct pronunciation of Haverhill, either as it is spelt have-er-hill or as hey-ver-ill?

 

David

[LNERGE]

I always use the latter. The silent 'H'..

Edited September 30, 2012 by LNERGE

[Etched Pixels]

Hunstanton is known as Hunston locally, no; and Fakenham as Feknam?

 

Much like Llandrindod is Llan'dod

[petertg]

I believe that it should be Leeds Permanent Building (no 's') Society. And we always wrote Crossgates as one word.

 

I've just been on a fortnight's holiday to the UK with my Spanish grandchildren and we have been wandering about Cross Gates (Crossgates), It seems that on the roundabout at the bottom end of the Ring Road (in front of the old long disappeared Regal Cinema) and leading to Station Road there is a sign with Cross Gates (two words) and on the bus stops Cross Gates is written with two words, but in other places it is written as one word. So, it seems, you can take your choice. Also, it seems that the name of the building society is Leeds & Holbeck ...

 

Also, depending on the accent you use, you can pronounce things more than one way and, sometimes, unintellegibly, e.g. "cop 'od o' mi 'at"

Edited October 18, 2012 by petertg

[bluebottle]

It's a common failing of people everywhere to mock outsiders' inability to divine the counter-intuitive pronunciations of their own place-names while they scratch their heads at the unreasonableness of the oddities elsewhere.

Bren in dinnerladies: “Everywhere in Scotland is spelt 'Ecclefechan' and pronounced 'Kircudbright'.”

(Though she did admit that she couldn't spell “Ozzel-twizzel").

And, of course, everywhere in England is spelt “Cholmondeley” and pronounced “Wooster”.

 

(fussy edit)

Edited September 30, 2012 by bluebottle

[Buckingham]

Wombourn station on the ex-GWR branch from Oxley (Wolverhampton) - the village it served is spelt Wombourne. According to this site, the spelling was changed to avoid confusion with Wimbourne.

 

This is the Wimborne in Dorset? (no 'u'!)

[JOHNMCDRAGON]

What happens when local pronounciation of a common factor varies according to different locations, e.g. rivers. I live in Peterborough and the local river Nene is pronounced as 'neen', but same river just a few miles away in Northampton is pronounced as 'nen' . So far the locals have n't fought over the matter yet!

[Gwiwer]

St Erth, well known junction for St. Ives and which was once called St. Ives Road, is not in the village of St. Erth. It is in the village of Rose-an-Grouse while St. Erth lies a mile or more away.

 

Grampound Road served the more distant Grampound but a larger settlement grew up around the station and adopted its name.

 

Halwill Junction (never so named and always correctly Halwill for Beaworthy) was another similar case where the settlement of Halwill Junction has grown to be larger than both the two villages the station was named for combined. In this case the village has adopted the name by which the station was commonly known and not its actual name which is a little less common

 

Maddaford Moor halt was in the village of Thorndon Cross; Maddaford itself lies high above on the moors;

 

Hole (between Torrington and Halwill) seems to have been a random choice as there is no settlement of that name and no farm either that I can trace. Ostensibly it served distant Black Torrington though was closer to Highampton and its name was appended to avoid confusion with "Torrington" which actually serves the town of Great Torrington.

 

In terms of pronunciation there can be a World of difference between a dyed-in-the-wool local, regional custom and the wider world. "Southwick" in West Sussex is always "South-wick" but the one in Hampshire (not rail-served) is always "Su'thick". Ian referred above to "Lyghe" which is now "Leigh" but pronounced "Lye" as is another Leigh near Redhill (also not rail-served).

 

Most parts of the country have local pronunciations which will trip the unwary but for my money Glasgow must come top of the list. "Milngavie" is Mull-guy as many of use here know but perhaps less well known is "Shat-ler-oh" which is spelled Chatelherault.

Edited October 1, 2012 by Gwiwer

[Boris]

Not quite the same, but the NER on erecting the box at Kidstye near Newton on Rawcliffe name the box Newtondale, later copied by the NYMR who opened the request stop of the same name Newtondale Halt. It wasn't until some time later it was corrected after a campaign by several staff members and now reads Newton Dale Halt, if you look at the surrounding dales, most of them are one word, Raindale, Glaisdale, Rosedale, but Newton Dale is an exception to the rule.

[The Lurker]

I believe that it should be Leeds Permanent Building (no 's') Society....

 

agreed, my typo

[wagonman]

There are two towns called Gillingham, one pronounced with a hard 'G', the other a soft. I think the Kentish one is the soft 'G'...