Counties on UK road signs

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ikcdab
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by ikcdab »

exiled wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 20:26
Chris Bertram wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 17:07
Gareth wrote: Sat Jul 10, 2021 22:33
Pretty sure it said "Wiltshire". I definitely recall there being one or two exceptions with "shire" added.
I'm sure you're right. But it is Wilton from which the county originally took its name. To the west and southwest, Somerset took its name from Somerton, and Dorset has Dorchester as its root. Devon, however, has a Duke of Devonshire but no nominal county town. The county seat is Exeter. And Cornwall moved its county town from Bodmin to Truro.
Devon comes from the old Brythonic for 'Land of the Deep Valleys', so never had a county name as such independent of that. Sometimes you can see old maps with Devon recorded as 'also the County of Exeter'

The ducal title of Duke of Devonshire has very little to do with Devon, and there is a comital title, Earl of Devon, that has been in the de Courtney family for most of the time since William I took a late autumn cruise to Sussex.

Cornwall appears to be a combination of a Cornish language name and 'wealh' which in turn is the origin of Welsh and Wallon.

The four peninsula counties are shire counties, but not -shire counties, as the -set refers to the area, and Cornwall and Devon have names of previous kingdoms.
Both Devon and Somerset were widely referred to as Devonshire and Somersetshire until moderately recently. Indeed, Taunton has its Shire Hall not far from the replacement County Hall.
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Vierwielen
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by Vierwielen »

SteelCamel wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:48 I did have a look at a couple of similar locations - but it seems more common to sign the bridge rather than the far side. In Kyle of Lochalsh, the signs show "Skye Bridge" rather than "Isle of Skye", and the Menai Bridge is signed "Menai Bridge" not "Anglesey" (the Britannia Bridge just seems to be signed "Holyhead"). So to be consistent, this sign should show "Tamar Bridge" rather than "Cornwall".
Doesn't "Tamar Bridge" equate to "tolls" in the minds of some people and as a result they will look for a toll-free route into Cornwall? It should be noted of course that no tolls are payable travelling from Devon into Cornwall, only the other way. If you are travelling from east of Exeter to west of Bodmin, then, according to viaMichelin, the route via Dartmoor is 9 km shorter and 14 minutes quicker, so the Tamer bridge should not be carrying much long-haul traffic.
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the cheesecake man
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by the cheesecake man »

Cheshire is a county and "Cheshire" appears on this sign. :lol: Cheating? Where? :coat:
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Chris Bertram
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by Chris Bertram »

The Map Men help explain all (England only, other viewers have their own programmes).

https://youtu.be/hCc0OsyMbQk
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the cheesecake man
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by the cheesecake man »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 10:15 Road marking on the A629 in Central Halifax offers:

^ HUDDS | LANCS >

https://goo.gl/maps/ZzKQdcoUerSMgyqt9

Always makes me laugh, Lancashire being marked on the road as if "here be dragons".
The lane labelled "Lancs" is indeed the road to Burnley. This is less helpful for those going to Luddenden Foot, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge or Todmorden.
DavidBrown
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by DavidBrown »

Spotted a new Cornwall example back in the summer, not yet on GSV. There's now a sign below this Give Way sign saying "For Cornwall follow A30 Launceston".
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Norfolktolancashire
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by Norfolktolancashire »

Vierwielen wrote: Sun Sep 12, 2021 14:07
SteelCamel wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:48 I did have a look at a couple of similar locations - but it seems more common to sign the bridge rather than the far side. In Kyle of Lochalsh, the signs show "Skye Bridge" rather than "Isle of Skye", and the Menai Bridge is signed "Menai Bridge" not "Anglesey" (the Britannia Bridge just seems to be signed "Holyhead"). So to be consistent, this sign should show "Tamar Bridge" rather than "Cornwall".
Doesn't "Tamar Bridge" equate to "tolls" in the minds of some people and as a result they will look for a toll-free route into Cornwall? It should be noted of course that no tolls are payable travelling from Devon into Cornwall, only the other way. If you are travelling from east of Exeter to west of Bodmin, then, according to viaMichelin, the route via Dartmoor is 9 km shorter and 14 minutes quicker, so the Tamer bridge should not be carrying much long-haul traffic.
The Tamar Bridge does take a lot of HGV traffic to and from Cornwall as Plymouth is a drop off location for commercial traffic en route from the main distribution estates of Bridgewater and Avonmouth.
It is a bit of a congestion hotspot at the moment while the carriageways are being resurfaced, something about the road surface having to be renewed direct onto a steel deck which is unusual in this country?
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Vierwielen
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Re: Counties on UK road signs

Post by Vierwielen »

DavidBrown wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 16:11 Spotted a new Cornwall example back in the summer, not yet on GSV. There's now a sign below this Give Way sign saying "For Cornwall follow A30 Launceston".
If the motorist using this service station is not alert, they might subconsciously recall having left the A30 without having to cross to the other side of the road, so to continue their journey, they again do not need to cross to the other side of the road.
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