Trivia: Most ridiculously named station in UK

[waynemorrell]

So, what do you think the most ridiculously named station in UK is? And why?

 

[Dr Hoo]

Two obvious starters are Clapham Junction (not in Clapham) and Dalston Junction (re-created at great expense but not a junction these days).

Happy New Year

 

[tsr]

Clapham Junction is now an area of London in its own right (though station entries/exits are still a somewhat lesser function of the station, given its interchange purposes) and Dalston Junction does have a junction, albeit not quite the original track layout!

There are plenty of stations which sound bizarre if you don’t know the local dialect, eg. Hall i’th’Wood. Others need knowledge of local history, eg. Bat and Ball. Some are just not very useful, eg. East Midlands Parkway (don’t get me started). And lastly there are some which can only be explained if you dispense entirely with logic, eg. East Dulwich being the next station north of North Dulwich.

 

[xotGD]

Any station with 'Parkway' in its name. What is it supposed to mean? A park and ride for visiting the place? A station too far from town meaning you have to drive there if you are catching a train to somewhere else? Or just any old station with a very big car park?

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

 

[DelW]

Canterbury East and West, almost exactly due north and south of each other.

 

[Wirewiper]

I have a particular dislike* of Bicester Village.

* In both senses of the word.

 

[Ianno87]

Canterbury East and West, almost exactly due north and south of each other.

The Dulwich stations make even less sense...

Also, try and find Angel Road station from Angel Road itself.

 

[HowardGWR]

Any station with 'Parkway' in its name. What is it supposed to mean? A park and ride for visiting the place? A station too far from town meaning you have to drive there if you are catching a train to somewhere else? Or just any old station with a very big car park?

Indeed and if they ever open it, 'Portway Parkway' will take the prize.

 

[noddingdonkey]

New Pudsey. It's neither New nor in Pudsey.

 

[farleigh]

Always thought that Wye was a questionable name for the station.

 

[Kendalian]

Oxenholme Lake District. It's not in the Lake District National Park.

Penrith North Lakes. Why?

 

[Peter0124]

Crossmyloof

 

[Andrewh32]

Shippea Hill in the fens such a flat low level landscape no such thing as hills

 

[tbtc]

Coatbridge Sunnyside.

(I've been to more than my share of away games at Cliftonhill - the nearby Albion Rovers ground - and if that station is the "Sunny" side of Coatbridge then... well, you can do the punchline yourself...)

 

[mrcheek]

London Paddington. Fancy naming a station after a bear!!

 

[Class465fan]

The station in Wales that has the longest name has got to be one.

 

[PeterY]

I have a particular dislike* of Bicester Village.

* In both senses of the word.

100% agree with you Wirewiper.

Furze Platt (Pratt)

 

[ijmad]

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

I think the station is very sensibly named, given it's simply named after the place it's in. The place name, otoh... there's the problem.

The Dulwich stations make even less sense...

Agreed! Although this is partially the fault of the area names around them as well.

Personally I think a good contender is Stratford International, given it has 0 international services.

 

[fulmar]

Always thought that Wye was a questionable name for the station.

Nice!

 

[EM2]

Wanstead Park.
It's not in Wanstead (or even close) and the Park itself is closer to both Wanstead and Redbridge stations.
Wanstead Flats is only a couple of hundred metres away and would have been a much more sensible name.

 

[James H]

St Keyne Wishing Well Halt

(a charming name, but still slightly absurd)

 

[twpsaesneg]

Any station with 'Parkway' in its name. What is it supposed to mean? A park and ride for visiting the place? A station too far from town meaning you have to drive there if you are catching a train to somewhere else? Or just any old station with a very big car park?

The last one...
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/parkway

 

[PHILIPE]

The station in Wales that has the longest name has got to be one.

Do you mean the one in Post #5 ? It may sound ridiculous to a non Welsh speaker but each syllable has a meaning so when put together makes sense in Welsh..

 

[Melancholia]

St Keyne Wishing Well Halt - Just unnecessarily long!
IBM - ...is no longer where the station is, plus it's strange to use a company name for a station.

 

[LDECRexile]

Can we go back in time?

If so, my favourites were Shirebrook North, which was not in Shirebrook but in Langwith Junction and Shirebrook West which was on the eastern side of Shirebrook. The whole was slightly spoiled by Shirebrook South which actually was in the south of Shirebrook.

Shirebrook West closed in 1964 but reopened in 1998 (from memory) as plain Shirebrook.

 

[theageofthetra]

Coatbridge Sunnyside. Wrong in any sense.

 

[colchesterken]

EM2. I agree but if you called it Wanstead Flats anyone not local would think it was the block of flats built next door
that used to be an engineering works, they used to leave in the rubbish pressings like a can top used to play frisbies with them while watching the steam engines on the semi fasts to Saufend
How about the next one down the line where is Woodgrange Park lived there for 40 yrs and never found it. Bet it has a boating lake and a nice cafe.

 

[lejog]

Shippea Hill in the fens such a flat low level landscape no such thing as hills

Oh yes there is - Shippea Hill farm lies on a "hill" which rises above the 0m contour!

 

[bramling]

So, what do you think the most ridiculously named station in UK is? And why?

Going for some slight wild cards, there are a few central area Tube stations whose names are a little inappropriate, although being well established it doesn't really cause a problem.

TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD - it's appropriate for the Central Line, but for the Northern Line it serves the very southern end of the street. Possible alternative names would be St. Giles Circus or even Centre Point.

GOODGE STREET - formerly Tottenham Court Road and arguably more appropriately so being towards the middle of the said street, whilst Goodge Street itself is a pretty minor street.

HOLBORN - situated at the junction of Kingsway and High Holborn, and nowhere near the street called Holborn which starts some way to the east.

CHANCERY LANE - ironically situated on the street called Holborn, with Chancery Lane being another insignificant back street, which is some way from the current station entrance, but directly adjacent to the former station entrance disused since the 1930s.

CHARING CROSS - I'd suggest the Bakerloo station would probably much better be called Trafalgar Square. Given the iconic nature of Trafalgar Square, in my view that name should feature somewhere on the map. At the very least Charing Cross should be officially named "Charing Cross for Trafalgar Square", although a Bank/Monument solution would be preferable.

EDGWARE ROAD - No idea what it could better be, but it often causes confusion with Edgware, and as Edgware Road itself variously runs all the way to Edgware the name could be said to be misleading.