I think I have probably blogged before about English place names.
But a couple of things have made me think about them again today. First, I heard an archaeologist on Radio 4 earlier talking about place names which contain the word ‘raven’. What she said was fairly straightforward, ravens are carrion eaters, so they tended to congregate by the town midden. Hence, somewhere with the delightful name Ravenswood, for example, probably really means it had a fairly smelly past.
Then I chanced across ‘Long Tongue Scrog Lane’, wouldn’t it be fabulous to live somewhere like that? “Could I have your address please” “Long Tongue Scrog Lane” “???…can you spell that please”. Mind you I do get fed up with having to recite our current address, so I expect the charm might wear thin.
Other favourites of mine are:
Grunty Fen, Pidley Fen, Clowne, Dudley (only when spoken by someone born there),
Happisburgh, Wymondham, Heckmondwyke and Mytholmroyd.
But some of them, Woodbridge, Shingle Street, are lovely for just setting out the plain obvious.
I like Pity Me and No Place.
Six Mile Bottom?
Six Mile Bottom, yourself.
I also like it when I see signs pointing to ‘The Chalfonts’, must be wonderful to be such an important family, you get your own road sign.
My favourite was always a place – pretty much uninhabited, but marked on the map – in the middle of nowhere, north of Brighton called Cow Bottom Hovel.
Cow Bottom Hovel is hard to find – finally found it here just south of Badgerhole Shaw. 🙂
I want to live in Uncouth Road, which is just down the road from where my friend lives near Rochdale. And I want to know how it came to be called that 🙂
The town I *do* live in was mentioned on University Challenge last night – how’s that for a claim to fame? LOL
My Dad’s middle name is from Wymondham but because no one can pronounce or spell it correctly his parents changed the spelling to Wyndham. Very strange decision when you consider that very rarely do you use your full middle name!
Clare
x
Deb, Uncouth Road is next to Halliwell Street. Uncouth and Halliwell normally do go together. 🙂
I just wonder how they get to the pronunciation of Happisburgh (sort of hazeborough for those who don’t know).
Then again it is in Norfolk
I like Puncknowle near where I used to live. gold star for anyone that knows how to say it 🙂
Er – Punk Noel, Em?
Clueless, really!
I used to live by Shrewley and Mouseley End (and next to them was Hawks Nest, which must have kept them on their toes 😉
I still giggle everytime we drive past Wetwang *sigh* 😀
I also like Nettlebed, near Reading, I used to drive through there to see a friend who lived at Gallowstree Common.
I also just remembered Dragarse Hill, sadly omitted on most maps, but it was the road that led from Wickham Market to the local gibbet, Potsford Gibbet.
I live on Long Tongue Scrog Lane and believe me, it is a pain to have to spell it out every time! But different!
Another odd pronounciation (along the lines of Happisburgh and Wymondham)
I used to live in Hertfordshire not far from somewhere called Haultwick pronounced ‘artic’ !!!