• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Mutant Lemming

Mutant Lemming

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2011
Messages
3,194
Location
London
John Luxton said:
You are correct Wirral did have L (Liverpool) post codes and they were changed for the reasons you suggested. It was quite a local news story at the time.
Click to expand...

Nothing to do with people wanting their codes changed and all to do with the Post Office saving money. They changed the main sorting office for the Wirral from Liverpool to Chester partly to save on Mersey Tunnel fees.
 
Stampy

Stampy

Member
Joined
21 Sep 2014
Messages
377
Location
Peterborough
Mutant Lemming said:
Nothing to do with people wanting their codes changed and all to do with the Post Office saving money. They changed the main sorting office for the Wirral from Liverpool to Chester partly to save on Mersey Tunnel fees.
Click to expand...

Indeed, most of the Wirral area is now done from the Mail Centre at Warrington now - from memory, CW, L, WA and WN codes.

I think Chester now only does it’s own stuff (CH) and LL codes.
 
A

adrock1976

Established Member
Joined
10 Dec 2013
Messages
4,450
Location
What's it called? It's called Cumbernauld
Stampy said:
Indeed, most of the Wirral area is now done from the Mail Centre at Warrington now - from memory, CW, L, WA and WN codes.

I think Chester now only does it’s own stuff (CH) and LL codes.
Click to expand...

Warrington as mentioned deals with L, WA, WN, and CW codes.

Chester deals with CH, LL, and SY since the mail centre at Shrewsbury closed a few years ago.

Shrewsbury used to deal with SY, TF, and LD codes. TF went to Wolverhampton, and LD went to Cardiff, which also deals with CF and NP.

Getting back on topic, although not necessarily the placename but the name of the station, I have head Bradford Forster Square both being pronounced as Fore-ster and Foster by the automated announcements.
 
I

IanXC

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
6,335
gtis said:
What about Wombwell
Pronounce Wom well
Neil
Click to expand...

Surely its Womb-well (or Woom-well if you prefer).

adrock1976 said:
Getting back on topic, although not necessarily the placename but the name of the station, I have head Bradford Forster Square both being pronounced as Fore-ster and Foster by the automated announcements.
Click to expand...

Definitely Foster.
 
hexagon789

hexagon789

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Sep 2016
Messages
15,775
Location
Glasgow
David Emmott said:
Why so? I've always said (and heard it said) Forster. They are two distinct surnames and if I was called the one I'd hate to be addressed by the other.
Click to expand...

We're talking about a place name though, and they often seem to follow different rules to personal names.
 
I

IanXC

Emeritus Moderator
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
6,335
David Emmott said:
Why so? I've always said (and heard it said) Forster. They are two distinct surnames and if I was called the one I'd hate to be addressed by the other.
Click to expand...

Nothing other than observation. Every local I have spoken to has been absolutely adamant that its Foster.
 
D

DavidGrain

Established Member
Joined
29 Dec 2017
Messages
1,236
IanXC said:
Nothing other than observation. Every local I have spoken to has been absolutely adamant that its Foster.
Click to expand...

It is named after William Edward Forster, a Victorian MP and philanthropist, and nothing in Wikipedia gives any indication that the first 'r' in his name was silent. Having said that, it was his name and he could pronounce it any way he liked
 
hexagon789

hexagon789

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Sep 2016
Messages
15,775
Location
Glasgow
DavidGrain said:
It is named after William Edward Forster, a Victorian MP and philanthropist, and nothing in Wikipedia gives any indication that the first 'r' in his name was silent. Having said that, it was his name and he could pronounce it any way he liked
Click to expand...

An old thread on this forum gives Foster (no medial r sound) for Forster Square, but I can't find any official pronunciation for it.
 
E

exile

Established Member
Joined
16 Jul 2011
Messages
1,336
I have been told that people who are natives of Greenwich pronounce it "Green-ich" rather than "Gren-ich" but that may be an urban myth.
 
Dr_Paul

Dr_Paul

Established Member
Joined
3 Sep 2013
Messages
1,358
exile said:
I have been told that people who are natives of Greenwich pronounce it "Green-ich" rather than "Gren-ich" but that may be an urban myth.
Click to expand...

I've always thought the classic London pronunciation is 'Grinnidge'; that's how I say it.
 
U

urbophile

Established Member
Joined
26 Nov 2015
Messages
2,073
Location
Liverpool
DavidGrain said:
It is named after William Edward Forster, a Victorian MP and philanthropist, and nothing in Wikipedia gives any indication that the first 'r' in his name was silent. Having said that, it was his name and he could pronounce it any way he liked
Click to expand...
Only Scots and other rhotic speakers would pronounce the 'r', but in standard English it affects the pronunciation of the vowel sound. I'd be surprised if Mr (Sir William?) Forster pronounced it to rhyme with Gloucester. That was the other fella.
 
hexagon789

hexagon789

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Sep 2016
Messages
15,775
Location
Glasgow
David Emmott said:
Forster Square is a place named after a person. Why should the pronunciation of one differ from the other?
Click to expand...

Sorry I wasn't very clear was I? I think the point I meant to make was that places named after people don't always have the same pronunciations. Mount Everest v Sir George Everest for example.
 
Millisle

Millisle

Member
Joined
7 Jul 2013
Messages
233
Location
Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire
My friend from Bradford laughed her head off when I as typical in Scots accent pronounced the first 'r' in Forster.
Rather like my Mancunian friend when I tried Chorlton, in fact.
 
A

AY1975

Established Member
Joined
14 Dec 2016
Messages
1,755
I used to think Burntisland was "Burnt-is-land" (with the "s" pronounced), but according to Wikipedia it's "Burnt island" (as if it were two words).
 
Esker-pades

Esker-pades

Established Member
Joined
23 Jul 2015
Messages
3,766
Location
Beds, Bucks, or somewhere else
So many Welsh places:
Dolwyddelan (Dol-oui-the-lan?)
Betws-y-Coed (Betoos?)
Blaenau Ffestiniog (Blai-now?)
Dyffryn Ardudwy (Diff-rin Are-dud-ooi?)
Llandanwg (Llan-dan-oog?)
Llandecwyn (Llan-deck-oo-in?)
 
P

Parallel

Established Member
Joined
9 Dec 2013
Messages
3,937
FelixtheCat said:
So many Welsh places:
Dolwyddelan (Dol-oui-the-lan?)
Betws-y-Coed (Betoos?)
Blaenau Ffestiniog (Blai-now?)
Dyffryn Ardudwy (Diff-rin Are-dud-ooi?)
Llandanwg (Llan-dan-oog?)
Llandecwyn (Llan-deck-oo-in?)
Click to expand...

I believe:
Dolwyddelan = Dol-oui-thelan
Betws-y-coed = Betoos-uh-coid
Blaenau = Blay-nigh
Dyffryn Ardudwy = Duffrin Ar-did-wee
Llandanwg = Hlan-dan-oog
Llandecwyn = Hlan-dec-ouin

Though may be a little bit out (I’m not a Welsh speaker)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top