Amusing road names

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Zoney
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Post by Zoney »

Not quite a road name, but related (project name for a stretch of road). In Ireland, along the N7 (Dublin-Limerick) near Roscrea (I think) there is a stretch of road relaid just a couple of years ago (as that speed-inducing wide two lane the NRA liked so much until they found out about 2+1). The name of the project, proclaimed on large signs:

"Inane Road Realignment"

(Inane is the townland that the road passes through there)

Nearly as good as the temporary sign on the Naas Road outside (also N7) during the upgrade to grade-separated dual three lane: "Kill lights in operation" (Kill being a town beside the N7 - and referring to traffic lights that were eventually replaced) Kind of worrying sign that was!
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Ben302
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Post by Ben302 »

Lonewolf wrote:On the A249 just off the M2 is a sign that I passed hundreds of times saying 'Hucking U turn'. I never did get around to changing it :twisted:

Wolfie.
Someone keeps modifying it by scrawling Hell underneth the Hucking and above the U-turn bit - but the F has been done many, many times before :twisted:

Near where I live there is a relatively new housing development called Zillah Gardens

somebody decided to write God infront of the Zillah Gardens Roadsigns and on the yellow direction pointers around the area
Last edited by Ben302 on Mon Oct 16, 2006 19:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Chris Bertram
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Post by Chris Bertram »

a80 wrote:There's a U.P. Road in Kilsyth (don't know what it stands for.

Also spotted Bladda Lane nearby and just up the road Cadgers Sheuch... No idea what that means...
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BigToe
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Post by BigToe »

Simon_in_Salop wrote:probably not suitable for a forum to which children have access, but I'm sure that it's widely known. At least, we used to snigger about at school.
Hmm... it's called Google, and if it's the same road, I remember a topic with quite a few of those i... er, a few towns with that name. That could have sounded wrong!

Also, there's a Dog Kennel Lane in Hatfield too, although most of it has been turned into part of the Asda car-park and left unnamed.
Last edited by BigToe on Wed Nov 01, 2006 17:50, edited 1 time in total.
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kevjs
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by kevjs »

mittfh wrote:Also something slightly different, but I can't be bothered to start a new thread: road numbers that 'remember' their previous identities, e.g. A3400 (was A34), A4600 (was A46), B4091 (was A491).
And roads that keep there old names - e.g. Lower Parliament Street - Formally Coal Pit Lane.
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Post by a228_mb »

Not a road name, though it probably does refer to the road: Dangerous Corner, Lancs
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Post by McDanger »

There used to be a street called Wildgoose Chase in Newmachar just outside Aberdeen, however this was renamed Widgoose Drive a few years ago because residents weren't getting mail!
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Post by Ryk »

There is a 'Bleak Place' just off Waterloo road in Corbidge, Stoke.
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FosseWay
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Post by FosseWay »

kevjs wrote:And roads that keep there old names - e.g. Lower Parliament Street - Formally Coal Pit Lane.
You get a lot of these in countries whose history over the last century has been turbulent. Obvious ones are all the 'ulitsa Lenina's in the former Soviet Union (although not all of them have been changed to something non-Communist), and even whole cities (Leningrad/St Petersburg).

But some are more difficult to fathom. One of the main streets in Naples is known as Via Roma to everyone who lives in the city. This was its name during the Fascist period (and before, AFAIK). After the war its name was changed to something else (which I can't remember cos I never used it). This poses two questions:

1. Why give a road an 'official' name that's never used by locals, so that visitors are confused by having a road name on their town map that's never referred to by people they ask for directions, and vice versa?

2. What is particularly Fascist about calling a road that leads to Rome Via Roma?

At the other end of the spectrum, I suspect the former name of Magpie Lane in Oxford has been covered already in this thread.... In this case you can see why they changed the name.
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Post by superbfc »

There's the following curious names in Philadelphia, Tyne & Wear, which is an odd place-name to boot:

Tesla St
Electric Crescent
Voltage Terrace

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a228_mb
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Post by a228_mb »

Turnagain Lane in Canterbury.

Surprise surprise it's a dead end...but so small you can't "turn again"!
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Post by Sunil_of_Yoxley »

FosseWay wrote:
kevjs wrote:And roads that keep there old names - e.g. Lower Parliament Street - Formally Coal Pit Lane.
You get a lot of these in countries whose history over the last century has been turbulent. Obvious ones are all the 'ulitsa Lenina's in the former Soviet Union (although not all of them have been changed to something non-Communist), and even whole cities (Leningrad/St Petersburg).
Another thing is that whilst the city is now officially St. Petersburg, the "oblast" or region/province of which it is capital is still officially Leningradskaya Oblast.
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James1978
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Post by James1978 »

If we're mentioning ones whose signs get vandalised, there's Turl Street in Oxford (the L changed to a D!), and Low Jobs Hill in Crook (put a B on the beginning!) :)
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Post by worcsfan »

How about:

Dog Lane, Bewdley, Worcs.

Dogpole, Shrewsbury.

Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury.

and my favourite:

Minge Lane, Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs.
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by Klepsydra »

Digging up a thread which perhaps should have stayed buried, I learned over new year that Gateshead can boast a street named Bottle Bank.
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Was92now625
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by Was92now625 »

I remember being amused by 'Smellies Lane' in Dundee.
TS
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by TS »

A few of my favourite names are:

Bread and Meat Close, Warwick
Cup and Saucer, Cropredy
Jackass Lane, somewhere around the M25 corridor through Sussex/Kent
Old Sodom Lane, Dauntsey, Wilts.
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ellandback
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by ellandback »

I am occasionally compelled by congestion elsewhere to take an alternative route into Leeds which takes me via Domestic Street in Holbeck.

So as you can imagine I have driven past here many times and when I did so earlier this week could not quite believe that I had never before noticed (ahem) Pleasant Mount. :oops:
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Post by Bertiebus »

Lonewolf wrote:On the A249 just off the M2 is a sign that I passed hundreds of times saying 'Hucking U turn'. I never did get around to changing it :twisted:
I regularly used to go to the pub (the Hook & Hatchet) in Hucking.

Late afternoon conversations on a Friday in the office in Scumley Swanley would invariably be along the lines of:

Boss: "Up to anything interesting tonight?"
Me: "Off to the Hucking pub."
Boss: "(sigh)"

or, as I left:

Boss: "I suppose you're off to the pub?"
Me: "Hucking right I am"
Boss: "(sigh)"
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ajuk
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Re: Amusing road names

Post by ajuk »

There's a 'Free Tank' in Bristol.
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