Trivia: Most ridiculously named station in UK

[61653 HTAFC]

The line is still there and they have talked of reopening it but would you call it Six mile bottom or after the biggest employer and the one with a helipad Dick Whites referral? There is talk of a parkway station Dicks Bottom parkway would be good

That's not even the worst name using the parts you mention!

It is however compliant with forum rules (just) though!

 

[whittlesfordok]

I was treading a very delicate line but Dick Whites referrals business is getting bigger! (specialist vet hospital) and it would make a excellent parkway as just off the A11 with adjusted junctions

 

[Calthrop]

There seems to be two different reasons for naming a station '### Road'. The first is that it is simply situated on that road: Wandsworth Road station is where the line crosses the Wandsworth Road (the next station is Clapham High Street, where the line crosses that street). The second is a station on the road to the town that was not served by a railway... and is usually a fair distance away, sometimes several miles. The suffix Parkway is the modern equivalent of the second definition of the Road suffix.

Re the bolded -- indeed so: quite a common convention earlier-on in the railway era -- in my perception, in England and Wales anyway; less so in Scotland. Examples are mentioned in this thread. Llanbister Road (I didn't manage to "quote relevant post, to respond to") -- in wild and hilly Wales, some 5 -- 6 miles from the quite sizeable and prominent village of Llanbister.

Beaulieu Road isn't actually near any road called Beaulieu Road (please correct me if I'm wrong, I've tried to look for it a few times on a map), and is miles off the village of Beaulieu. In fair honesty I don't know what you'd call it? Hatchet Lane?

Beaulieu Road -- an example of the bolded above: 3 -- 4 miles from the prominent New Forest settlement of Beaulieu -- actual local names of roadways, not relevant here. (The next station up the line from this one, was long named Lyndhurst Road, being 2 -- 3 miles from the prominent and well-known village of Lyndhurst; in more recent times renamed, with greater geographical precision, Ashurst New Forest.)

A paradox re this " ****** Road " station-naming custom which has always amused me, and which I have mentioned elsewhere on these Forums: concerning the village of Wansford, west of Peterborough. Wansford station (now on the preserved Nene Valley Railway) was the junction point of the LNWR's Peterborough -- Northampton, and Peterborough -- Rugby, routes; it was also reached, at a relatively late date, by a branch of the Great Northern Railway running south from Stamford. At the point of intersection of this Stamford -- Wansford branch, and the Peterborough -- Leicester main road, now the A47: an intermediate station was instituted, called Wansford Road. In fact the GNR Wansford Road station, one mile east of Wansford village, was closer to the village, than the LNWR Wansford "plain and simple" station, which is situated one mile and three quarters south-east of the village.

 

[700007]

Er, post #19!

Definitely shot past that one, haha!

 

[Spartacus]

Could go for Hull Paragon, not for Paragon, as it’s named after Paragon Street, but due to sharing the same naming issue most places referring to Kingston upon Hull have.

 

[kilonewton]

Milngavie. Just for the pronunciation.

 

[MG11]

Craven Arms sounds like a country pub!

 

[Pseudonym]

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

Seconded!

 

[daodao]

Any station that doesn't give the non-local a clue where it is.
So all stations named after the street they are on. My local station is called Navigation Road, a better name would be Altrincham North.

At least Burnage station isn't called Fog Lane (although that's the name I always think of), but the next station is called Mauldeth Road.

 

[Busaholic]

Does Looe have a working public convenience on it?

 

[extendedpaul]

Aber, just north east of Caerphilly. It was opened to serve the rural Aber valley but here is no district of Caerphilly currently known as Aber and the name causes occasional confusion as there are nine other stations in Wales whose names begin Aber including nearby Aberdare and Abercynon.

It could be renamed Trecenydd or Nantgarw to better reflect the location.

 

[TheAdelante]

Does Looe have a working public convenience on it?

Haha!

 

[daodao]

Aber, just north east of Caerphilly. It was opened to serve the rural Aber valley but here is no district of Caerphilly currently known as Aber and the name causes occasional confusion as there are nine other stations in Wales whose names begin Aber including nearby Aberdare and Abercynon.

It could be renamed Trecenydd or Nantgarw to better reflect the location.

It's nowhere near Nantgarw.

 

[Statto]

Around my way you've got Bermuda Park, no train goes to Bermuda, and there is no park there either! Tile Hill has no hills made of tiles, and there are no hills of snow at Birmingham snow hill!

Snow Hill is named after the Street, Snow Hill Queensway, think the old entrance used to lead onto Snow Hill Queensway, & Snow Hill Queensway is a hill, albeit a slight hill.

 

[BigCj34]

Cark and Cartmel as the name is a bit ambiguous. I believe for branding purposes it is known as Cark, which makes sense as Cartmel is 2 miles away. It does come up as Cark and Cartmel at times on websites. The village itself can also be known as Cark in Cartmel as it is on the Cartmel peninsula.

 

[jazza374]

Holytown, it's not in Holytown, it's in the next village New Stevenson

 

[kieron]

I heard that in the 1800s potatoes from the fens had a poor reputation in London so fetched low prices. The local growers persuaded the railway company to change the name from Shippea to Shippea Hill as everyone knows there are no hills in the fens. Apparently it worked for a while!

There's some information about Shippea Hill on this page.

It says that it was renamed from Mildenhall Road to Burnt Fen in 1885 when the line to Mildenhall opened. It was renamed Shippea Hill in 1905. The page quotes the reason you gave, but doesn't say if it's true or not. There may not be anything left now which says why the change was made, only that it was made.

The Mildenhall line closed in 1962, and it says Shippea Hill was used by people going to and from RAF Mildenhall until the 1980s. It doesn't say what happened after that, but there's not much chance of a reversal in the station's fortunes with the base scheduled to close in 2023.

Beaulieu Road -- an example of the bolded above: 3 -- 4 miles from the prominent New Forest settlement of Beaulieu -- actual local names of roadways, not relevant here. (The next station up the line from this one, was long named Lyndhurst Road, being 2 -- 3 miles from the prominent and well-known village of Lyndhurst; in more recent times renamed, with greater geographical precision, Ashurst New Forest.)

"Lyndhurst Road" seems like quite an ambiguous name to me. It's only about a mile nearer to Lyndhurst than Beaulieu Road is, as the railway takes a big detour around Lyndhurst.

 

[Calthrop]

"Lyndhurst Road" seems like quite an ambiguous name to me. It's only about a mile nearer to Lyndhurst than Beaulieu Road is, as the railway takes a big detour around Lyndhurst.

The rail route between Southampton and Poole / Bournemouth (especially including its earlier version west of Brockenhurst, running via Ringwood -- this section abandoned in 1964) has always been renownedly "twisty and tortuous" -- winding its way through the New Forest, paying more heed to topography than to closeness / convenience vis-a-vis settlements. When inaugurated, the line -- one of its chief promoters, a Mr. Castleman -- was nicknamed "Castleman's Corkscrew".

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Craven Arms sounds like a country pub!

Which it was - the station was named after it. Norwood Junction used to be called the Jolly Sailor for the same reason...

 

[Kneedown]

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

If it was written in English it'd be twice as long!

 

[DelW]

Snow Hill is named after the Street, Snow Hill Queensway, think the old entrance used to lead onto Snow Hill Queensway, & Snow Hill Queensway is a hill, albeit a slight hill.

The "Queensway" was only added when the inner ring road was built in the 1960s, before then the road along the northeast side of the station was simply called Snow Hill.

IIRC it was steeper before the ring road landscaping, the rise is sufficient that the railway goes from embankment north of the station to tunnel south of it. There was direct access to the platforms level from Snow Hill (road), whereas from Colmore Row it was necessary to walk through the hotel and down a flight of stone steps.

 

[Howardh]

If it was written in English it'd be twice as long!

Saint Mary's Church In The Hollow Of The White Hazel Near A Rapid Whirlpool And The Church Of St. Tysilio Of The Red Cave Parkway

 

[Taunton]

Which it was - the station was named after it. Norwood Junction used to be called the Jolly Sailor for the same reason...

And Bat & Ball still is.

 

[urbophile]

And Bat & Ball still is.

Nelson – not just the station but the whole town – is named after the Lord Nelson pub. And there is Old Roan station in Liverpool, next door to the eponymous (but last time I looked, closed) pub.
This could be a whole new thread.

 

[Essan]

I supppose Locheil Outward Bound could sound a bit silly to anyone not realising it's named after (and built solely to serve) the outdoor pursuits centre of that name. You are, btw, permitted to embark or disembark there on inward bound trains too

 

[paok]

Denham Golf Club - if you are playing golf at the golf club then you should get off at Denham as it quicker whether onward travelling by foot or vehicle. Should really be renamed Higher Denham.

 

[flierfy]

The name suffix International is ridiculous. Not only is it questionable due to the lack of international services at one of these stations. But more importantly it makes Britain, and England in particular, look so insular.
Stratford International could become Stratford Highspeed and the other stations could just drop that suffix from their names as they don't need it for distinction.

 

[EM2]

The name suffix International is ridiculous. Not only is it questionable due to the lack of international services at one of these stations.

Do you mean Harwich?

 

[delt1c]

Haha!

If it does I bet it is flushed

 

[Ash Bridge]

If it does I bet it is flushed

The usual bog standard reply there from you Mr d