Place and streets names often derive from the person who
founded them or lived there and so forth.
Some names are just curious whilst others have a story to tell :
Beddgelert
Llywelyn was Prince of North
Wales back in the 13th century and he had a palace in a lovely
valley not far from Caernarfon. One day
the Prince went hunting leaving his faithful dog, Gelert, to guard his baby
son. When he returned the dog, covered
in blood, sprang to meet his master.
The Prince was alarmed and when he found his son’s cot empty with
bloodstains everywhere he assumed that the dog had savaged the child. He promptly killed the dog with his
sword. He then heard a child crying and
found the boy unharmed but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert
had slain. The Prince buried the dog
nearby and the village, near to the stone which marks the grave, is called
Beddgelert.
Beddgelert
John O’Groats
A tombstone preserved in the
church at Conisby in Caithness is that of one
John De Groot, a Dutchman who settled in the area in the 15th
century. He ran a ferry across the Firth
of Orkney for which he charged a fare of 4d and this little silver coin became
known as a ‘groat.’ So this man not only gave his name to a
coin but he also gave it to that famous village known today as John O’Groats. De Groot built an octagonal house there –
the story goes that in order to settle a dispute and quarrels over precedence
amongst his seven sons, he built the house with eight doors to enable himself
and each of his sons to enter the house by his own door, and he furnished it
with an octagonal table so that each could sit at the ‘head’. The site in marked by a mound and a
flagpole. In 1875, a hotel with an
octagonal tower was built nearby.
Saltaire
In 1853, on his 50th
birthday, Sir Titus Salt opened his visionary textile mill and workers village
on the bank of the River Aire near to Shipley in West
Yorkshire . The mill had 4
beam engines supplied with steam by 14 boilers, which powered 1200 looms capable
of producing 30,000 yards of cloth a day.
The village, called Saltaire,
comprising 22 streets, 850 houses and 42 alms houses, provided almost luxury
accommodation for his workforce. There
were no public houses, but a Club and Institute which cost £25,000 to build,
catered for the moral and physical welfare of the community, together with
reading rooms, a theatre, a library and several shops. A School
of Arts also contained a
gymnasium and a billiard room, whilst wash houses were complete with washing
machines and drying facilities. There
was of course a school for the worker’s children and a very fine Congregational
Church which cost £16,000 to build. The
village even had its own fire brigade, was serviced by gas, and had a canal and
a railway station. Allotments were
provided and the worker’s had full use of a dining room where they could bring
their own food and have it cooked, or they could purchase food at very low
cost. Curiosities within the village are
the four stone lions to be seen on guard outside the Literary Institute and the
schools. They had been commissioned for
the embellishment of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square but in the event they
were considered to be too insignificant for the purpose and were subsequently
bought By Sir Titus Salt. Landseer’s
lions were of course chosen for the London
site.
Although times have changed, the
whole complex is now preserved and in 2001 became a World Heritage Site. It is still a living community, but the
houses, the mill and other premises are privately occupied. The church, one of the nation’s most precious
Victorian architectural gems, is now a Grade 1 listed building and the
Italianate religious architecture is a sight top behold.
Saltaire
Salts Mill
Titus Street
Pickering
On the western outskirts of Pickering in North Yorkshire alongside the A170 road, is a large pond
known as Keld Head Spring. Legend has
it that this was a favourite haunt and bathing place for the young King
Pereduras, whose palace was on the banks of the pond. The story goes that the King lost a ring,
a heirloom passed from father to son to continued the royal line. Apparently he accused a young servant girl of
stealing the ring. Some time later the
King was served at dinner with a huge pike which had been caught in the nearby
pond and as he cut open the fish, Pereduras found the lost ring inside the
fish. His triumphal discovery gave him
the idea to call the town Pike-a-ring. Of course, he married the servant girl and
they all lived happily ever after.
Thixendale
The Yorkshire Dales are a well known National Park in the
north-west of the county. However, the dales of Yorkshire
are widespread in all corners of the county.
One count revealed as many as 562 dales in Yorkshire .
No less than sixteen dales run into the hamlet of Thixendale on the Yorkshire Wolds.
The name of course means sixteen
dales: Waterdale, Williedale,
Blubberdale, Courtdale, Honeydale, Buckdale, Longdale, Middledale,
Breckondale, Warrendale, Broadholmedale,
Pluckhamdale, Millandale, Fotherdale, Bowdale
and Fairdale.
Llanfair P.G
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the longest place name in Britain . It means ‘St
Mary’s church in a hollow by the white hazel close to the rapid whirlpool by
the red cave of St Tysilio .’ It is said the name of this Anglesey
village consisted of only 20 letters until it was renamed by a local man in the
19th century, making the name 58 letters long. It is better known as Llanfair P.G, although tourists flock there to see the full name in all its glory on the railway station
platform.
Flookburgh
The small village of Flookburgh nestles on the northern edge of Morecambe Bay .
The weathervane on top of the church tower depicts a large fish – a
flounder – which gives a clue to the unusual name of this village. A
Flook is the local name for a flounder, still caught in these parts.
St David’s
On size alone, St David’s in South West Wales, is no more
then a large village with a population of some 2,000 people, but its cathedral
qualifies it as the smallest city in the United Kingdom and it was so
designated by Queen Elizabeth 11 in 1994. The cathedral was founded by St
David, the patron saint of Wales in the 6th century but the present
fine building dates from the 11th century. A casket behind the altar
is said to contain the bones of St David and St Justian.
City of St David's
St David's Cathedral
St David's Shrine
Curious place
names
A signpost on the A614 road at
Holme-on-Spalding Moor in East Yorkshire ,
tells us that The Land of Nod is just 2
miles distant. This remote spot consists
of just two farmsteads.
Dull in Perthshire is paired with Boring in Oregon, USA.
Dull in Perthshire is paired with Boring in Oregon, USA.
Come to Good is the name of
a hamlet in Cornwall
near Truro .
Sixpenny Handley is a
village near Blandford in Dorset .
Sloley is a hamlet near
Worstead in Norfolk .
Great and Little Snoring are twin villages near Fakenham in Norfolk .
Cold Christmas is off the A10 between Ware and Wadesmill
in Hertfordshire.
Fryup is a name to be seen
in the Eskdale area of North Yorkshire .
A small place called
Ugley in Essex
has a similar problem with The Ugley Womens’ Institute!
I don’t know about Sexey in Devon .
Curious street names
The shortest street in York has the longest name
– Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate. In 1505 it was called Whitnourwhatnourgate,
meaning ‘what a street.’ Known as the
street of punishment it is said to have derived its curious name from the place
where petty criminals were whipped, or even to relate to the custom of dog
whipping on St Lukes Day – but nobody seems to know the truth.
The Land of Green Ginger is
the name of s street in Hull
in East Yorkshire .
If you are in the Lake District look for
Leather, Rag and Putty Street in
Hawksworth.
In Cornwall you can find Squeeze Guts Alley in Truro ,
and Squeeze
Belly Alley in Port Isaac.
There are many alleys and yards
in Whitby in North Yorkshire – look for Arguments Yard and Loggerheads Yard ?
Meanwhile do be careful if you
are in the vicinity of Puddletown or Piddletrenthide in Dorset
– a lane in nearby Cerne Abbas is called
Piddle Lane which is where the puddle probably came
from.
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