Funny Place Names

Honest John Back Room » General discussion ( non motoring )
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Wed 5 Oct 2022 15:06
Funny Place Names - Engineer Andy

Given some of the recent, shall we say, less-than-light-hearted topics / 'discussions' covered in the forum, I thought it might be useful for something that might bring a smile to our faces and to help imrpove relations.

Anyhoo, on my travels over the last couple of years, whether in my car, walking or cycling (including on holiday), I've come across some very 'unusual' and often very funny place names, especially of villages and hamlets. Quite a few just in the last few months as I've been out cycling quite a bit around my part of Herts and skirting the boundary with Cambs and Essex.

Here's those that I recall to start us off:

Herts/Cambs/Essex area

Maggots End

Ugley (and Ugley Green)

Six Mile Bottom (I wonder who this was named after!)

and lastly...Nasty (it isn't, it's quite nice, if tiny)

Cornwall and other holiday areas

Minions

Gang

Sticker

Bodilly

Brill (nice!)

Gweek

Washaway

West / East Wittering (W. Sussex)

Upper and Lower Dicker (E Sussex)

I haven't been to all of them, but seen signs for some of them whilst travelling in the area over the years.

Over to you to add some more, perhaps with some anecdotes, especially if they did or didn't live up to the name! No road names though, just place names. Probably plenty with 'bottom' or 'end' on their way...

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 15:19
Funny Place Names - bathtub tom

piddletrenthide. Almost a short story.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 15:24
Funny Place Names - skidpan

Wife went to school in P***stone bet that gets censored (and it's a real place of course)

Edited by skidpan on 05/10/2022 at 15:25

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 15:26
Funny Place Names - Xileno

Not UK but when I lived in France there was a commune near called Ars

Ars is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitane region in central France.

Edited by Xileno on 05/10/2022 at 15:28

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 17:13
Funny Place Names - _

In the early 70's I was hitchhiking in Switzerland and got a lift with an Aussie who thought the name of the canton de Vaud abbreviated next to the town name VD was hilarious.

Had to take a photo of him standing next to it.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 17:44
Funny Place Names - Andrew-T

In the early 70's I was hitchhiking in Switzerland and got a lift with an Aussie who thought the name of the canton de Vaud abbreviated next to the town name VD was hilarious.

Rather a sad sense of humour. Of course that was one of the letter combinations (along with BF - if anyone can recall that one) excluded from the original British registration marks.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 17:28
Funny Place Names - Chris M

At work when we needed a log-in reset we had to answer, over the phone, two out of three of our personal password reset security questions. We were encouraged to come up with three unique questions that only we would know the answer two.

One of my questions was rarely asked by the IT helpdesk as the answer was Pratts Bottom (It's near Orpington, Kent).

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 17:41
Funny Place Names - Andrew-T

We took a photo of one of our kids (when very young) standing under the sign to Crackpot in Yorkshire.

But I'm sure if people are interested in funny place names, most will have been noticed long ago and collected somewhere on the web where Google will find them ?

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 18:07
Funny Place Names - Xileno

It's nice to hear people's personal experiences though.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 11:58
Funny Place Names - Engineer Andy

We took a photo of one of our kids (when very young) standing under the sign to Crackpot in Yorkshire.

But I'm sure if people are interested in funny place names, most will have been noticed long ago and collected somewhere on the web where Google will find them ?

On my travels on by bicycle trip yesterday I was near Ugley and Maggots End, and stopped off to have my lunch (only sarnies) in a nearby village called Manuden.

Not really conducive to football supporters, though I'd bet a few football players might like living there - quite upmarket indeed, including their very nice, very new community centre, which provided my lunchtime stopping point.

[update] Talking of football references, I always remember my mum's joke about travelling on the London Tube (Piccadilly Line) with the phrase from the annoucer "Mind the gap, Ar$-enal" ;-)

Edited by Engineer Andy on 07/10/2022 at 12:01

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 17:41
Funny Place Names - Adampr

There is a Women's Institute in Ugley.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 18:05
Funny Place Names - badbusdriver

In both the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands there are places called T w a t t.

I clean windows in a few converted steadings at the top of Fechil Brae.

Plenty of other place names which becomes funny when you hear folk from outwith the area trying to pronounce them.

I clean windows in a hamlet called Ythanbank (Ythan being a river), and go from there a couple of miles along the road to (South) Quilquox. I also have a customer in a Tolquhon Avenue.

I often pass a sign for Balquhindachy, immediately followed by a sign to Gight, and I know of places called Oldwhat, Petty and Wartle.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 18:48
Funny Place Names - Crickleymal

In Essex/Suffolk there's a place called Copdock

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 22:33
Funny Place Names - bathtub tom

In Shropshire, there's a lovely bendy road through a wooded area with a corner that tightens up and nearly always catches me out as I sweep round it and see the village sign HOPE.

That's about all I can do!

There's countless photos of folk pretending to chunder next to the sign HEATH AND REACH.

Village council got fed up with graffiti on the sign: RIVER HIT and had it re-made so that additional letters couldn't be added.

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Wed 5 Oct 2022 23:06
Funny Place Names - elekie&a/c doctor
Some years ago ,my wife went to a charity event at a motor racing circuit. I asked where she was going , she said “ toaster “ . Good luck with that !
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Thu 6 Oct 2022 11:35
Funny Place Names - Crickleymal
Some years ago ,my wife went to a charity event at a motor racing circuit. I asked where she was going , she said “ toaster “ . Good luck with that !

I used to work near there

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Thu 6 Oct 2022 16:36
Funny Place Names - Bromptonaut

I used to work near there

We're about 5 miles away. Locals forget that others, not familiar, don't know how its pronounced.

And not just Americans.

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Thu 6 Oct 2022 17:43
Funny Place Names - badbusdriver

I spent some time working in hotels in the Lake District and remember one time being asked by an American tourist for directions to Ambleside, which he pronounced as Ambla-Siddy. Mind you, another time while waiting for the ferry across Windermere, I was approached by another American who made a sweeping hand gesture at the west shore of the lake and asked the name of that island............

:-)

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Thu 6 Oct 2022 18:03
Funny Place Names - bathtub tom

Met some merkins on a bus tour who were convinced they were going to prince's rise borough.

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Thu 6 Oct 2022 18:16
Funny Place Names - Andrew-T

Locals forget that others, not familiar, don't know how it's pronounced.

We'd better not get started on Welsh names then .... The sad thing is that while English is one of the least phonetic languages (with the simplest grammar), Welsh is very nearly 100% phonetic, so once the sounds of each letter or diphthong have been learnt, all names can be easily spoken - tho probably not understood ..... :-)

Who'd be a foreign visitor visiting Leicester, Happisburgh, or even Reading, for that matter ?

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Thu 6 Oct 2022 22:25
Funny Place Names - Ethan Edwards

OK...Wetwang its in Yorkshire I think. Or thereabouts.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 02:00
Funny Place Names - expat

I remember seeing a Glasgow tram that was going to Auchenshuggle.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 07:36
Funny Place Names - paul 1963

There's a village up near my son in North East Scotland called Keith.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 11:45
Funny Place Names - Engineer Andy

Locals forget that others, not familiar, don't know how it's pronounced.

We'd better not get started on Welsh names then .... The sad thing is that while English is one of the least phonetic languages (with the simplest grammar), Welsh is very nearly 100% phonetic, so once the sounds of each letter or diphthong have been learnt, all names can be easily spoken - tho probably not understood ..... :-)

Who'd be a foreign visitor visiting Leicester, Happisburgh, or even Reading, for that matter ?

Ah yes - Lie-cester and Reeding to our American cousins.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 16:58
Funny Place Names - badbusdriver

There's a village up near my son in North East Scotland called Keith.

Very familiar with it!, its on the main road from Aberdeen to Inverness. Used to be a cracking chip shop there, not sure if still the same?.

I often pass through the village of Maud. It used to be the location of the biggest farmers mart in Aberdeenshire.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 17:38
Funny Place Names - Andrew-T

I often pass through the village of Maud. It used to be the location of the biggest farmers mart in Aberdeenshire.

... because it used to be a (relatively) main railway junction. I don't think there was much village before that.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 19:35
Funny Place Names - paul 1963

There's a village up near my son in North East Scotland called Keith.

Very familiar with it!, its on the main road from Aberdeen to Inverness. Used to be a cracking chip shop there, not sure if still the same?.

I often pass through the village of Maud. It used to be the location of the biggest farmers mart in Aberdeenshire.

BBD, my son actually lives in Buckie, familiar with it? Guy down the road from him has a couple of Messerschmit (spelling?) 3 wheelers including a super rare convertible, last time I was up there I think I spent about a hour chatting to him...

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 20:03
Funny Place Names - badbusdriver

There's a village up near my son in North East Scotland called Keith.

Very familiar with it!, its on the main road from Aberdeen to Inverness. Used to be a cracking chip shop there, not sure if still the same?.

I often pass through the village of Maud. It used to be the location of the biggest farmers mart in Aberdeenshire.

BBD, my son actually lives in Buckie, familiar with it? Guy down the road from him has a couple of Messerschmit (spelling?) 3 wheelers including a super rare convertible, last time I was up there I think I spent about a hour chatting to him...

Not that familiar with Buckie paul as it is off the main road, though I have been there a few times. But I do remember delivering a SAAB there many years ago!.

Most of the 'bubble cars' fetch good money these days but the Messerschmitt's are especially desirable, so having two is a nice wee investment!.

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Fri 7 Oct 2022 22:54
Funny Place Names - bathtub tom

I had the chance of buying a Schmitt for £75 in the early 70s. Similarly a Berkeley for the same money. Got a Scootacar for fifty quid instead.

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