George Behrend, in his classic old book about the GWR, "Gone With Regret", opened with saying his village station (Newbury to Winchester line) was Highclere, although the village it was in was Burghclere. But, he wrote, it was the 'Nearest station to Highclere Castle, seat of the Earl of Caernarvon, some miles away. For the GWR, the fact that it was in the middle of Burghclere village was neither here nor there'.
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Stations that don't contain the name of a settlement, particularly termini
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I'd imagine you will find a lot more of these on metro systems, because metro systems were often built *after* the various settlements were combined into a conurbation, whereas the national network was largely built before that happened.
On the national network one edge case that springs to mind is Deansgate, it's primerally the name of a road, the term is also used to reffer to the surrounding area, but I wouldn't really call it a "settlement".
adrock1976
Established Member
How about all of the Victoria suffix stations, both still open and the ones that closed a long time ago?
The Victoria in London is sited in the Belgravia district.
The Victoria in London is sited in the Belgravia district.
Belgravia is named after Belgrave Road and Victoria station.
Glasgowbusguy
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Bellgrove in Glasgow while not being a terminal in normal use it does happen and it would actually be better named gallowgate thou the station does need a major update so maybe that might happen
It is both. The place is only a hamlet, but it is there.
Anyhow, surely a large country house, with its associated buildings, counts as a settlement (as per the title).
Ashley Hill
Established Member
Five Ways
isnt the junction Wincobank junction? or did they rename it when they built the station?
That's sent me off topic. I thought of Deepdene station in Dorking (which was what Dorking Deepdene was when I used it as a schoolboy). That then made me realise that all three stations in Dorking have changed their names since I went to school there! I hope it wasn't due to anything I did at the time.
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None of these are confusing though are they? They are the sort where you will look up where the nearest station to your destination is.
It really only matters for termini (of services, not necessarily physical termini) eg if 'the train to Headbolt Lane' is announced when you think you want the Kirkby line.
All the London termini are announced as for example London Waterloo aren't they??
IIRC the Paris Metro didn't/doesn't have Southbound/northbound/Eastbound/Westbound etc
We were left scouring the map because we didn't know whether we wanted a train toward the Parisian equivalent of Cockfosters or Rayner's Lane
It really only matters for termini (of services, not necessarily physical termini) eg if 'the train to Headbolt Lane' is announced when you think you want the Kirkby line.
All the London termini are announced as for example London Waterloo aren't they??
IIRC the Paris Metro didn't/doesn't have Southbound/northbound/Eastbound/Westbound etc
We were left scouring the map because we didn't know whether we wanted a train toward the Parisian equivalent of Cockfosters or Rayner's Lane
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
Wasn’t it always that the only London station with London officially in its name is London Bridge.
DanNCL
Established Member
The majority of the Tyne & Wear Metro was over Ex-BR lines. That said though, of the examples I gave only none of them were ex BR all were new build for Metro, although two were on the sites of former NER stations with different names.
All apart from St Pancras, which is announced as ‘St Pancras International’.
bearhugger
Member
They do now, but originally had the full "James Cook University Hospital" name boards which were changed after the official opening. Train automatic announcements some guards still say the full name, some guards say James Cook Hospital & others just James Cook. Unfortunately I have lost my photos of the construction & opening ceremony.
EDIT: Found some photos.
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lyndhurst25
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The Yorkshire Engine company, builder of industrial locomotives, was based at the Meadow Hall Works nearby the current Meadowhall station. It still stands today as the Pressure Technologies / Chesterfield Special Cylinders factory.
I kind of like my mistyping of Wincobank as Woncobank! The junction on which Meadowhall station is built is called Wincobank Junction.
My original point that prompted this thread was that for National Rail services, Headbolt Lane is the only terminus station that I can think of that does not include the name if the settlement/airport/shopping centre/etc where it is situated. I have no objections to calling points being named after local roads or pubs, but a a train’s final destination gives an idea of roughly what direction it is travelling in, where it will probably stop at the way and how long it will take to get there. Most people on Merseyside have no idea where Headbolt Lane is, let alone the citizens of Manchester, but will likely know roughly where the town of Kirkby is situated.
bearhugger
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That did cross my mind but then I wondered what the old MOD place was called and just can't remember off-hand.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
That one is properly curious. The settlement is the oddly named Wendens Ambo, while you could argue that Saffron Walden Parkway might be more sensible (assuming it has a car park).
A quick Google suggests the name is indeed from that.
I'm not the most geographically aware person, but I don't think I would know where Kirkby (not to be confuses with West Kirby AARGH), Redcar, or Alderly Edge or Barrow-in-Furness were if it wasn't for their railway association.
And then there are ambiguous settlement names, how would someone in Manchester without rail knowledge know that Newcastle meant "Newcastle on tyne" 150 miles away rather than "Newcastle under lyme" only 50 miles away.
Ultimately visitors will use planner apps, regulars will learn what each destination means, even if it's only a small place that they would not otherwise have head of, or indeed a street name.
Auchendinny
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Singer in Clydebank
Thanks for the history.
Understand now, I misread the topic. Can't think of any terminus in the North East but there is Allens West as mentioned and North Road in Darlington. Manor's in Newcastle could be open to debate too as there's no Manor's area of Newcastle as far as I'm aware (which used to be a terminus at one point).
Nelson (Lancashire) was named after a pub.
www.visitlancashire.com
Nelson - Town in Nelson - Visit Lancashire
The town was originally two villages, Little Marsden and Great Marsden. However, the advent of the railways in the late 19th century resulted in the…
Whilst true, it still seems crazy to name a brand new station after a lane, that people living five minutes away have probably never heard of. I have yet to hear the tale of why a sensible name wasn't chosen. Perhaps we should rename all of the existing stations after the road on which they are situated?
Bond Street. There is no actual Bond Street - just New Bond Street and Old Bond Street. I suppose it somewhat meets the criteria!
Also, Elephant & Castle was named after a pub, and the area became known as the same after the station opened.
Denmark Hill sits at the top of a hill that isn't called Denmark Hill. The two approach slopes are separately called Grove Hill and Dog Kennel Hill.
Also, Elephant & Castle was named after a pub, and the area became known as the same after the station opened.
Denmark Hill sits at the top of a hill that isn't called Denmark Hill. The two approach slopes are separately called Grove Hill and Dog Kennel Hill.
Audley End has been de facto Saffron Walden Parkway since before Parkways were a thing.
It has a very large car park, including spaces on the trackbed of the old Saffron Walden branch line.
One of the scary features of my early commuting days was the gin palace on the 1735 from Liverpool Street: a substantial proportion of its customers rolled off the train at Audley End and got in their cars to drive home.
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