Trivia: Place names that you're not sure how to pronounce

03_179 · 1 Sep 2017

Ardingly is pronounced Arding-lie but oftensaid as Ardinglee. It's the same as West Hoathly (Hoath-lie not Hoathlee).

Ruswarp is pronounce Ruserp

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gg1 · 1 Sep 2017

There's an area of Walsall called Caldmore which is pronounced karma by the locals.

urbophile · 1 Sep 2017

03_179 said:
Ardingly is pronounced Arding-lie but oftensaid as Ardinglee. It's the same as West Hoathly (Hoath-lie not Hoathlee).

But am I right in thinking that East Hoathly is pronounced Hoathlee?

Dr_Paul · 1 Sep 2017

David Emmott said:
But am I right in thinking that East Hoathly is pronounced Hoathlee?

I have a pal who lives in West Hoathly whom I visit quite a bit, and she and her neighbours all pronounce it with 'lee' at the end. Ardingly is another matter: its last syllable rhymes with 'high'. Leigh, a village near Reigate, also rhymes with 'high'.

theageofthetra · 1 Sep 2017

Tonbridge is pronounced the same as in Tunbridge Wells.

2HAP · 1 Sep 2017

theageofthetra said:
Tonbridge is pronounced the same as in Tunbridge Wells.

It was spelled the same until 1870.

Wilts Wanderer · 1 Sep 2017

Taunton said:
Duddult ?

I'd always understood it to be pronounced something like 'thee-oct'.

nw1 · 2 Sep 2017

EM2 said:
Thay-don Boyz.

Yes I suspected that, given we tend to Anglicise French components to our placenames.

Was going to say, surprised there isn't a band of that name.. but a quick google reveals there is.

joshy.fre_2003 · 2 Sep 2017

Should be Pleasington (pronounced Pleh-sing-ton) which most onboard guards and drivers get right but ever since we've had auto announcements rolled out on the west coast, particularly at Preston where such the announcement is made, the automated voice says, Please-ing-ton and it grinds my gears to say the least!

wingsoveryorks · 2 Sep 2017

'Drumfrochor'

Dangerous to say when you have had a few.

CNash · 2 Sep 2017

In southeast London: Eltham (El-tam) and Erith (EAR-ith). Traffic and travel bulletins commonly get Eltham wrong, pronouncing it with a "th", and recorded platform announcements at various stations say "EE-rith".

dvboy · 2 Sep 2017

A couple from round here I've heard pronounced incorrectly:

Smethwick (smeth-ick)
Hednesford (hens-ford)
Cradley Heath (crade-ley)
Wythall (with-ul)
Coleshill Parkway (coze-il/coze-ul)
Rugeley (roo-) heard as "rudge-ley"

On the metro:

Wednesbury (wens-bree)
West Bromwich (brom-ich)
Bradley Lane (brade-ley)
I've heard (location of future stop) Centenary Square pronounced as "sen-ten-arry" which is how I think you should pronounce it if referring to 100 years, but locals seem to pronounce it "sen-teen-ary"

Lastly, Birmingham pronounced with a silent G is one that won't make you any friends round here.

adrock1976 · 2 Sep 2017

Another one I am unsure about (albeit it once had a railway) is the Wiltshire town of Devizes.

Is it "say what you see", "Dev-iz", "Ding" (similar as to how former Lib-Dem MP and leader Menzies Campbell is pronounced "Ming"), or similar to "Devices"?

6Gman · 2 Sep 2017

backontrack said:
Clan-vire-pooth-gwyn-gill-go-ger-eth-oich-en-drob-ooth-clan-ty-sil-ee-o-go-go-goch.

Sorry, but the underlined bits are incorrect.

Harbouring · 2 Sep 2017

dvboy said:
A couple from round here I've heard pronounced incorrectly:

Smethwick (smeth-ick)
Hednesford (hens-ford)
Cradley Heath (crade-ley)
Wythall (with-ul)
Coleshill Parkway (coze-il/coze-ul)
Rugeley (roo-) heard as "rudge-ley"

On the metro:

Wednesbury (wens-bree)
West Bromwich (brom-ich)
Bradley Lane (brade-ley)
I've heard (location of future stop) Centenary Square pronounced as "sen-ten-arry" which is how I think you should pronounce it if referring to 100 years, but locals seem to pronounce it "sen-teen-ary"

Lastly, Birmingham pronounced with a silent G is one that won't make you any friends round here.

But is it Roll-ey or Row-Ley Regis? (Row as in argument)

STKKK46 · 2 Sep 2017

Harbouring said:
But is it Roll-ey or Row-Ley Regis? (Row as in argument)

Row-ley aye it.

anti-pacer · 2 Sep 2017

Apologies if these have been mentioned already (don't think so) but Coventry has a few.

Stivichall (pronounced Sty-chull)
Cheylesmore (pronounced Charles-more)
Allesley (pronounced Aws-ley)

Others around the country...

In Lancashire, Barrowford is pronounced Barrow-FORD rather than Barrowfud.

Over here in Yorkshire, Barnsley is pronounced as "Taaaarn"! :lol:

Buzz Lightyear · 2 Sep 2017

How about Cholmondeley in Cheshire ? It's pronounced Chumley.
I live near Keighley and that strangers struggle and sometimes call it Keg lee.

anti-pacer · 2 Sep 2017

Buzz Lightyear said:
How about Cholmondeley in Cheshire ? It's pronounced Chumley.
I live near Keighley and that strangers struggle and sometimes call it Keg lee.

The town I grew up in near you - Colne.

Pronounced locally as "Cawne", or to outsiders "Cooowne".

tsr · 2 Sep 2017

Dr_Paul said:
I have a pal who lives in West Hoathly whom I visit quite a bit, and she and her neighbours all pronounce it with 'lee' at the end. Ardingly is another matter: its last syllable rhymes with 'high'. Leigh, a village near Reigate, also rhymes with 'high'.

Ardingly is pronounced as you say. West Hoathly can be pronounced either way and most people will not be offended, but the way you advise is the most common.

Leigh (near Reigate) and Leigh (west of Tonbridge) are pronounced the same, both rhyming with "lie" or "high". The latter is often said as a slightly less elongated word. The former lies in an area which up until the last few decades still had distinct village accents - certain locals who lived in the villages surrounding Reigate and Dorking were certainly able to tell each other apart by their accents until the 1970s or so. This concept has now largely disappeared.

theageofthetra said:
Tonbridge is pronounced the same as in Tunbridge Wells.

Indeed. People who pronounce the "Ton" in Tonbridge to rhyme with the measure of weight are sadly incorrect.

chorleyjeff · 2 Sep 2017

AY1975 said:
Can you name any place names in the UK that:

(a) you're not sure how to pronounce
(b) you struggle to pronounce correctly
(c) are often mispronounced
(d) you've heard being pronounced in more than one way
(e) are pronounced differently from how they are written

Two places on the Cambrian line spring to mind here. Machynlleth is "Ma-hunc-leth" but to an English person it looks as if it is "Ma-chin-leth", and Pwllheli is "Pwathelly" but a lot of English people think it's Pwelly or Pfwelly.

Over Peover in Cheshire - Pronounced Peever.

plymothian · 3 Sep 2017

adrock1976 said:
Another one I am unsure about (albeit it once had a railway) is the Wiltshire town of Devizes.

Is it "say what you see", "Dev-iz", "Ding" (similar as to how former Lib-Dem MP and leader Menzies Campbell is pronounced "Ming"), or similar to "Devices"?

It is say what you see - di-vi-ziz.

roversfan2001 · 3 Sep 2017

joshy.fre_2003 said:
Should be Pleasington (pronounced Pleh-sing-ton) which most onboard guards and drivers get right but ever since we've had auto announcements rolled out on the west coast, particularly at Preston where such the announcement is made, the automated voice says, Please-ing-ton and it grinds my gears to say the least!

Or, for locals, 'plezzy' :lol:

Springs Branch · 3 Sep 2017

A minor one, but just this week I watched Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journey on the West Highland line, and discovered Tyndrum (of Upper and Lower fame) is pronounced "Tie", rather than "Tin" which I'd always assumed.

AndyW33 · 3 Sep 2017

Was that Michael himself saying the place name, or a local? Don't assume he got it right if he did it himself. I well remember his programme on the preserved Great Central, where he told the audience he was at "Rothley" (with a short o) whereas locals, including everyone he spoke to before filming, pronounce it Row-thley, with the Row as in rowing boat.

Calthrop · 3 Sep 2017

theageofthetra said:
Tonbridge is pronounced the same as in Tunbridge Wells.

tsr said:
Indeed. People who pronounce the "Ton" in Tonbridge to rhyme with the measure of weight are sadly incorrect.

Call me thick; but I can't reconcile the above two statements. Could some kind person clarify? (Or is this an example of that Earthling thing called "humour", with which my kind often have problems?)

Adlington · 3 Sep 2017

Springs Branch said:
I watched Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journey on the West Highland line, and discovered Tyndrum (of Upper and Lower fame) is pronounced "Tie", rather than "Tin"

AndyW33 said:
Was that Michael himself saying the place name, or a local?

According to Wikipedia, it's "Tie"...

InOban · 3 Sep 2017

Of course it is. It's Tigh an Druim. In god's own language, Tigh is a house.

reb0118 · 3 Sep 2017

Awl ni muth?

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

InOban · 3 Sep 2017

Since we are including p!aces without stations, at least now, I believe that in N Yorkshire, Runswick is Runsik, Staithes is Steers, Marske is Mask, and Great Ayton on the line to Whitby is Canny Yatton!

Trivia: Place names that you're not sure how to pronounce

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