It seems that the Independent reads Making It Up, I blogged some of my favourite place names last year, and The Indepenent has some more goodies What’s in a name? Britain’s rudest places. Here is their selection (some of the Google Maps links are flakey, I think they need to buy a better gazetteer:-
There’s the story (true? apocryphal?) about the Women’s Institute in Ugley thinking that being called the Ugley Women’s Institute was bad, so they named themselves after the village down for the road, resulting in the much better(?) Ugley Green Women’s Institute.
In York there’s Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate (which is a street).
According to Wikipedia “One of Ugley’s organisations, of long repute, is the Ugley Women’s Institute. Its members became so annoyed with all the witticisms that they recently changed its name to “The Women’s Institute of Ugley”. It is still registered as “UGLEY WOMENS INSTITUTE” with the Charity Commision”
Some years ago – not too many, actually – we were going to move to Derry. Muff is just up the road, on the banks of Lough Foyle. I really wanted there to be a sub-aqua club there. ;^)
Where I used to live – near Brighton – there’s a spot on the map labelled “Cow Bottom Hovel”. I’d love that as an address!
Oh yes, Cow Bottom Hovel, lovely name.
There’s a hamlet on the A1 near the Scottish border called Conundrum that I’ve always fancied.
Conundrum (is in the extended gazetteer at OS Get A Map)