Friday 17 August 2012

Bark From The Park, Toppin Topography Continued!


Molly The Wally in the park.

Weird & Wonderful Place Names in Great Britain.


The cities, towns, and villages of Great Britain have gone head to head in a new survey to identify the most unfortunate place name. There were many contenders but according to ‘Find My Past’ the tiny hamlet of Shitterton on the edge of the village of Bere Regis came out on top. Residents got so fed up with pranksters stealing its’ sign they clubbed together to have a £680 one-and-a-half-tonne Purbeck stone version set in concrete made up.
Second was the valley of Scratchy Bottom which is thought to take its name from the fact that it is a rough and rugged hollow. We think that would go down a treat in Blogville!
Brokenwind was third, known as 'Broken Wynd' in the 19th century, with ‘Wynd’ being a Scots word for a narrow path that snakes between two larger roads.
Fourth came Crapstone, a picturesque village on the western edge of Dartmoor in Devon, just ahead of Golden Balls in Oxfordshire, Ugley in Essex, Crackpot in North Yorkshire, Backside in Aberdeenshire, Great Snoring in Norfolk and Happy Bottom in Dorset.
Surely we would get gold if there was an Olympics event for unlikely place names? Rude place names, such as Slag Lane in Haydock, Merseyside, was also on the list. The name simply refers to the slag heaps that were formerly a characteristic of the area. This was hotly contested by Hooker Road.
Then there is a small village in Kent called Pratts Bottom, Pratt coming from the Latin word Pratum meaning meadow. Our favourite though was the town of North Piddle, in rural Worcestershire, its’ name deriving from the old English word piddle referring to a marsh or fen, which, overtime lent its name to the nearby stream Piddle Brook. We can easily see a piddle or two in Blogvile!
The best of British and long may they continue! Let’s hope some politically correct idiot jobsworth doesn’t changes them because they may offend somebody!

31 comments:

  1. I'm with you.... I like North Piddle the best and I love that it's name comes from Piddle Brook... MOL...

    hugs, Max

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  2. We do have some really funny and rude names for some of our villages..Yoz want's to snoop around Wales, Molly..sure to be some tongue twisters up there..Bol
    Have a great Furiday..gonna be hot's the weekend :)

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  3. Scratchy Bottom - that's my favorite! Love it!

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  4. Hmm, I wonder if we visited North Piddle with our foster dog, would she potty a little bit faster?

    Here in the U.S. we have lots of housing developments with stupid names that have nothing to do with the topography of the area. One that gets my husband steamed is called Camelot and with streets named for King Arthur, Merlin, etc.

    I love colorful names that describe a place or its history. I too hope no one decides to make the names more boring. :)

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  5. Hehehehehe. I would laugh every time I told people I lived in one of those towns!

    Happy Friday, Hailey and Zaphod!

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  6. I am choking again on my own spit from laughing and your great insight, Molly! Oh, you are such a pretty girl! LOVE YOUR BREED!!!!!!!!!!! And honestly, some of the names out there in GB just make me laugh....I love it all.

    Anita

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  7. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Our mom's brain has completely shut down due to her laughing. She LOVES the names. We think that Crackpot is the place she should move!

    Shelle, Milo, Dixie and Newby,
    http://simpaticodreams.blogspot.com/

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  8. Teeheee! Maybe us Brits are a bit childish, but we live near a place called 'Cockermouth' and Mum has a chuckle every time!

    Slobbers

    Dante, Daisy Boo and Sampson

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  9. We wanna move and live in Crackpot! That would fit us all very well. Thanks for making us laugh again Molly.

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle

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  10. Verrrry interesting and colorful names. :-) Crackpot, North Piddle - they're all great and the explanation to go with.
    Tailwags
    Ernie

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  11. Those are great names! I can't think of anything silly near us!

    Sam

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  12. Mom needs to live in crackpot she would fit right in...or maybe smoky bottoms...lol....
    Hugs to yu
    Stella Rose

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  13. OMD those are awesome! SO many jokes there! I am partial to Shitterton and Golden Balls, myself. LOLOL Hilarious!

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  14. MOL Molly those are some pretty funny what in the world were the folks thinking when they named the villages such amusing names? Goodness me!!!
    Mom and Dad both enjoyed reading these names. We agree #1 should be #1!!
    Mom tried to think of a few odd ones near us. She came up with a few (there are more) Lizard Lick, Turkey are in the county we are in and there is a small community in our county called Upchurch...which is our last name but we don't know anyone there. MOL
    Hugs Madi your BFFF

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  15. Ha woo! Those are some pretty funny names - until you understand the "why"!!!
    When Mom and Dad lived in Belgium, they lived near the town of "Silly". Hmm....
    Luv,
    Dave

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  16. Hi Molly, love all thise funny place names, just getting dad to change our small village name to BUM RUB BOTTOM, sounds good, we all like bum rubs!

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  17. Golden Ball, Ugley, North Piddle, and so many more that you mentioned are all names that make us gasp and giggle but once you know where the names derived from they make a lot of sense! We have a town in NH called "Dummer" and it always makes people laugh when they ask for directions to get there!

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  18. Whoever gets to choose those places names has a pretty good job we reckon!
    Dip Bridge and Elliot x

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  19. That is funny Molly! We wonder how the towns people ever agreed to such names?

    Your friends,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  20. That is some very interesting history about those town names!!
    How do you get so knowledgeable?
    love
    tweedles

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  21. Nice report Molly. There is also Sandy Balls camping in the New Forest and Shags Meadow in Lyndhurst! ....the list goes on.

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  22. BOL!! Those are great, what a laugh!

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  23. Now this post made me giggle! Especially Piddle Brook! hehe! :)

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  24. hey Molly,

    I love history and your post is so interesting! I enjoyed reading all the fun and goofy town names, and the history to some of those names. It is fascinating how word meanings can change over the years, so what was an innocent town name back then is rather funny or slightly blush-inducing today. My favorite is Scratchy Bottom, only because my human had a dog long before I came along who always had a scratchy bottom. Of course I don't. But, I do piddle some brooks now and then. BOL!

    Suka

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  25. that's funny Molly. And you're lookin good.
    Cotton:)

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  26. Helloooo Molly ~ you are making me laugh. Scratchy Bottom yep I could live there. I have been scratching my bottom all week since I came back from the groomer. She did me a clean shave back there and it itches. I loved all your entries in the Blogville Olympics. Have a good weekend!
    Thanks for being a friend
    Sweet William The Scot

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  27. We have names that don't make any sense at all, I like the names there cause they make you giggle.

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  28. Libbing on the odder side ob the big pond, I find yeur post boaf eddyeucayshunall and all so... kinda funny. I deu [ok, the Mom deus] lubbs hisstory and all so English and Latins and deribayshuns ob words and all...

    Yeu really can naught tob Norf Piddle. Juss saying.

    wif lubbs from Little Reufus

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  29. We loved reading those funny place names....we have a beach called Tiddy Widdy Beach.. and we always have people laugh at that - but its nothing compared to those names!

    Tail Wuggles, Rubie xxx

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  30. Our daddy TOTALLY qualifies for an honorary citizenship in Great Snoring. Just meowing. MOL

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