Towns changing names

[vlad]

Ever thought of the problems that Cambridge Town gave the Post Office, especially when it was miles from Cambridge. The problem was solved in 1877 by renaming the town Camberley.

There are plenty of places in the country with the same or similar names: Bangor, Newcastle, Newport, Whitchurch, etc. The only way letters addressed to Cambridge Town, Surrey, could end up in Cambridgeshire is if the staff couldn't be bothered to do the work.

[wrinkly]

There's also a Cambridge in Gloucestershire.

And a St Ives not far from the best-known Cambridge.

[Isleworth1961]

There's also a Cambridge in Gloucestershire.

We had that one this morning!

[Arcuarius]

Ever thought of the problems that Cambridge Town gave the Post Office, especially when it was miles from Cambridge. The problem was solved in 1877 by renaming the town Camberley.

There are plenty of places in the country with the same or similar names: Bangor, Newcastle, Newport, Whitchurch, etc. The only way letters addressed to Cambridge Town, Surrey, could end up in Cambridgeshire is if the staff couldn't be bothered to do the work.

Indeed there's very little chance of getting Newport, Gwent and Newport, Isle of Wight mixed up...

[Fenlander]

On the confusion aspect my local police force put out a report of an attempted assault which mentioned the junction of 2 named roads behind a church. Many people were worried and asked for more details as that combination of road names meet in several town/villages just in this county. The force did later clarify the location before finally announcing not too worry as it was a malicious report anyway and never happened. The confusion & fear it caused was real enough though.

[Nwallace]

Or indeed Brough, of which there are several in Scotland and a few in northern England and the East Midlands, but none in the south.

Trying to think of one...

Unless you're thinking of the Burgh ending which is probably from the same source.

Indeed there's very little chance of getting Newport, Gwent and Newport, Isle of Wight mixed up...

And yet Newport Burgh Council decided to change the name to add the On-Tay in the 1960s when the streets were being named, houses numbered and post codes in their infancy

[owen b]

Or indeed Brough, of which there are several in Scotland and a few in northern England and the East Midlands, but none in the south.

Trying to think of one...

I just looked in the index of my atlas.

There's one on the B855 in Caithness on the way to Dunnet Head, two in the Orkneys and four in the Shetlands according to my A to Z. None of them are much more than hamlets by the look of it.

[trickstat]

There are plenty of places in the country with the same or similar names: Bangor, Newcastle, Newport, Whitchurch, etc. The only way letters addressed to Cambridge Town, Surrey, could end up in Cambridgeshire is if the staff couldn't be bothered to do the work.

I remember hearing that many years ago (80s?), Radio 1's Roadshow went to one of the Bangors (I can't remember which). Apparently one of the acts did not appear because they went to the wrong Bangor.

I find it quite odd that the place that the Royal Mail just calls Newcastle is the one in Staffordshire that almost any non-local would call Newcastle-under-Lyme. The city that everyone else thinks of first when they just hear "Newcastle" is Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to the Royal Mail (not that that is incorrect of course!).

[Ambosc79]

https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.7 ... 2.7p,1.31z

Is there another sign on a primary route with as many ambiguous place names as that? Consider that in my experience (of having been a taxi driver here) we get a lot of visitors in Shrewsbury who really don't have a clue where in the country they are, other than being outside the M25...

[Chris Bertram]

https://www.instantstreetview.com/@52.7 ... 2.7p,1.31z

Is there another sign on a primary route with as many ambiguous place names as that? Consider that in my experience (of having been a taxi driver here) we get a lot of visitors in Shrewsbury who really don't have a clue where in the country they are, other than being outside the M25...

You think it likely that people would confuse Ellesmere with Ellesmere Port?

[Nwallace]

Or indeed Brough, of which there are several in Scotland and a few in northern England and the East Midlands, but none in the south.

Trying to think of one...

I just looked in the index of my atlas.

There's one on the B855 in Caithness on the way to Dunnet Head, two in the Orkneys and four in the Shetlands according to my A to Z. None of them are much more than hamlets by the look of it.

Hm, all in the Viking lands then?
Had thought you were meaning place surnames, misspellings and mispronunciations of Burgh are rampant outwith the natives.

[Chris Bertram]

While we're considering abbreviated place names, Borrowstounness in West Lothian is always known as Bo'ness, and signed as such. Perth was formerly St John's Town (or was it Toun) of Perth, hence the football team being St Johnstone. And in Dumfries and Galloway there's a St John's Town of Dalry, always known simply as Dalry.

[FleetlinePhil]

And in Dumfries and Galloway there's a St John's Town of Dalry, always known simply as Dalry.

And only around 50 miles to the North of there is Dalry in North Ayrshire. Perhaps the locals there should refer to it as The Real Town of Dalry?

Perth was formerly St John's Town (or was it Toun) of Perth, hence the football team being St Johnstone.

Without giving away too much about my current employment, it was not that long ago that I had an enquiry from two gentlemen wishing to travel to "St Johnstone". Luckily I know enough about Scottish football to know where the team is based, and enough about English football to know the local team had a pre-season friendly there! It became clear they had no idea where St Johnstone play, and I did wonder if left to their own devices they would have finished up in Johnstone, Renfrewshire? Which of course is only 15 miles or so from Dalry...

[wrinkly]

It became clear they had no idea where St Johnstone play,

Perhaps they thought it was near Raith.

[Chris Bertram]

It became clear they had no idea where St Johnstone play,

Perhaps they thought it was near Raith.

Which is just round the corner from Morton, no?

Seriously, Scottish league football club names are a hoot. Of course everyone knows that Rangers and Celtic are the Glasgow "Old Firm", and sometimes (incorrectly) call them "Glasgow Celtic" and "Glasgow Rangers", and most folk know about Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian in Edinburgh, but how would you guess where Albion Rovers (Coatbridge), Raith Rovers (Glenrothes), Clyde (Cumbernauld) and Morton (Greenock, but at least they now put that first in the name) play? And Partick Thistle don't play in Partick, do they?

[RichardA626]

It became clear they had no idea where St Johnstone play,

Perhaps they thought it was near Raith.

Which is just round the corner from Morton, no?

Seriously, Scottish league football club names are a hoot. Of course everyone knows that Rangers and Celtic are the Glasgow "Old Firm", and sometimes (incorrectly) call them "Glasgow Celtic" and "Glasgow Rangers", and most folk know about Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian in Edinburgh, but how would you guess where Albion Rovers (Coatbridge), Raith Rovers (Glenrothes), Clyde (Cumbernauld) and Morton (Greenock, but at least they now put that first in the name) play? And Partick Thistle don't play in Partick, do they?

The likes of Queen Of The South & St Mirren used to amuse me when Grandstand read out the final scores. It was years before I found they were in Dumfries & Paisley. Scottish teams are good for playing that game where you have to list all the names of football clubs which begin & end in the same letter.

[Chris Bertram]

The likes of Queen Of The South & St Mirren used to amuse me when Grandstand read out the final scores. It was years before I found they were in Dumfries & Paisley. Scottish teams are good for playing that game where you have to list all the names of football clubs which begin & end in the same letter.

To be fair, there are a few English examples. Arsenal, for example, doesn't give much away about their location. And Wimbledon don't currently play in their titular town, though they plan to change that. You have to know the history of the Crystal Palace to guess roughly where the team of that name play. But sticking to league teams, almost all name their home town, or a suburb of the same, or play just on the border of the town.

Current top rugby teams include Saracens, Wasps and Harlequins. How many of you know where they play?

[FleetlinePhil]

And Partick Thistle don't play in Partick, do they?

No, apparently not, and that was one I didn't know! At least in Maryhill they are on the right side of the right city!

Raith Rovers, however, are located in Kirkcaldy, not Glenrothes. The ground is sandwiched between the railway and the B9157 near the southern limit of the town. Raith (so Wikipedia tells me) was a historic estate that covered much this part of Fife, and Raith Tower can be found west of Kirkcaldy:https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.u ... hV7wTdpHtQ

[wrinkly]

Raith (so Wikipedia tells me) was a historic estate that covered much this part of Fife, and Raith Tower can be found west of Kirkcaldy:https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.u ... hV7wTdpHtQ

Though Raith Interchange is elsewhere.

[Robert Kilcoyne]

To be fair, there are a few English examples. Arsenal, for example, doesn't give much away about their location. And Wimbledon don't currently play in their titular town, though they plan to change that. You have to know the history of the Crystal Palace to guess roughly where the team of that name play. But sticking to league teams, almost all name their home town, or a suburb of the same, or play just on the border of the town.

Arsenal began as Woolwich Arsenal before the club moved to Islington. Queens Park Rangers owes its name to the Queens Park area sandwiched between Harlesden, Kilburn and Maida Vale, which is part of the London Borough of Brent. However the club's current ground in Loftus Road is actually in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Millwall play in the London Borough of Lewisham, i.e. south of the Thames, yet the area shown as Millwall on maps is north of the river, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.