Station signs with spelling errors

[krus_aragon]

Wales has been replete with these since railways first arrived, due partly to differing ideas of how to spell Welsh place names. A lot of the spellings were standardised by the 70s, thus stations opened as Llanelly, Dolgelly, Portmadoc, Bagilt and Conwil are now known as Llanelli, Dolgellau, and Porthmadog; Bagillt and Conwyl's stations were closed by Beeching and didn't survive long enough to be renamed.

Still, other spellings have (Kidwelly, Pontypool?) have in effect become accepted English equivalents today.

The naming of companies was often no better, perhaps because secretaries and draughtsmen in Parliament knew no better. The Aberystwith and Welch Coast Railway is a prime example, and the Burry Port and Gwendreath Railway presumably saw no need to follow the Gwendraeth Valleys Railway's good spelling. Then there is of course the famous Ffestiniog Railway, still officially the Festiniog Railway, as specified by act of parliament in 1832.

When the Chester and Holyhead Railway opened a railway station near Dwygyfylchi in 1849, it is said that they chose to name it after the nearby promontory Penmaenmawr instead, as nobody east of Chester would have had any idea how to pronounce it!

And finally here's a mis-spelt railway ticket for you (from the Disused Stations website):

(Shurely Llangefni? - Ed.)

 

[Hassocks5489]

Ah, ticket spelling errors; a fertile ground. I'll just mention a few here: in the early days of APTIS, the spelling ABERYSTWTH was downloaded to machines instead of ABERYSTYWYTH, and there are a few others I can't think of now. But APTIS was nothing compared to its slightly less sophisticated predecessor, INTIS. That printed certain details on to partly pre-printed cards, so there was the potential for errors in both places. Quickly grabbing my copy of INTIS: The British Rail Intermediate Ticket Issuing System (Part One), I can see that stock was supplied with the following errors at various times:

• Sutton Coalfield
• Moulsecomb
• Dublin Connely
• Richmon Surrey
• Goldalming
• Bogner Regis

...and machine-printed errors were so common as to be almost standard: GATICK AIRPORT, GATEWICK AIPORT, GATWICK AIPORT, MEBSTHAM, BNIGHTON and many other examples have been recorded, not to mention the famous "FMAT FARE" tickets It was the early 1980s, so computer technology was probably a bit flaky, to be fair.

 

[87 027]

Last time I used the Sittingbourne - Sheerness shuttle the destination display on the train still said "SITTINGBORNE"

 

[thenorthern]

When National Rail tickets are issued to MediaCityUK on the Metrolink they are issued to Media City MTLK which is a completely incorrect spelling.

 

[Busaholic]

Last time I used the Sittingbourne - Sheerness shuttle the destination display on the train still said "SITTINGBORNE"

I lived there for two years in the 1970s. Some disrespectful people, obviously thinking of Sheerness, used to put an extra letter in rather than leave one out.

Other place names often misspelt, but not on station signs, are Bridg(e)water and Newton Abbot(t), the letter in brackets being superfluous. If (WHEN) Okehampton re-opens expect to see it referred to as Oakhampton often.

 

[alwaystouchout]

Broad Green/Broadgreen in Liverpool?

 

[physics34]

not a spelling mistake but there are a few signs with the BR logo round the wrong way isnt there.

 

[thenorthern]

Wasn't Box Hill & Westhumble for a while called BoxHill & Westhumble.

 

[HowardGWR]

If (WHEN) Okehampton re-opens expect to see it referred to as Oakhampton often.

What,as often as on this board?:cry:

 

[Deepgreen]

not a spelling mistake but there are a few signs with the BR logo round the wrong way isnt there.

Here's the Reigate example.

 

[Deepgreen]

LUL's St. James's Park had one sign that read 'St. James' Park' for decades, and I think it has been preserved in situ. The eastbound platform indicator at Betchworth (and those at other stations along that line for all I know) refer to 'Gatwick Airport' as 'Gatwick Airprt' (and not for space reasons either).

 

[greatkingrat]

Not sure if was WAGN or early FCC, but one timetable got published referring to "Arseley" station.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Hanborough on the Cotswold Line between Charlbury & Oxford was changed in the late 90's from Handborough, which was how the railway had always spelt it. The "d" was dropped to reflect the spelling of the village it serves: Long Hanborough.

Or, to be more precise, the "modern-day spelling".

For most of history, settlements have rarely had a single definitive spelling. Look back at any 19th century Act of Parliament, such as the enabling acts for railways, and you'll find plenty of spellings that seem strange to modern eyes.

In fact, it was often the arrival of the railway and the building of a station that pushed villages towards one particular spelling. In the majority of cases the "railway spelling" won. But there are a few examples where the locals settled on another spelling. Whittlesea is one; Hanborough another.

Indeed, there's one more example nearby in Oxfordshire. The village of Bletchingdon was served by a station at Bletchington. The station has closed, but the aggregates business that operates from the station yard still calls itself "Smiths of Bletchington". This nuance was lost on dear old Oxfordshire County Council, who have erected a "Welcome to BLETCHINGTON" sign at one end of the village and "Welcome to BLETCHINGDON" at the other...

 

[tsr]

The name "Merstham" can cause confusion, because (although unlike the spelling in Post #32!) there have been several different correct spellings and pronunciations used over the years. Fortunately I rarely, if ever, see any differences on railway signs/literature, because the current version is very much the most widely accepted. However, some older local people will still talk about "Merstram", for example, which is also OK.

 

[table38]

not a spelling mistake but there are a few signs with the BR logo round the wrong way isnt there.

Yes, they managed to get the signs for Hyde North round the wrong way!

 

[rf_ioliver]

The Daddy of them all.....no contest!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7702913.stm

I don't see any spelling errors there

t.

Ian

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Here's the Reigate example.

View attachment 20582

The Sealink logo had the arrows ''backwards'' as boats overtake on the right and it made an ''S'' shape. I guess that Reigate didn't have Sealink ships though!!

 

[table38]

I thought Sealink had them on the funnel so that the top arrow always pointed forward (so the starboard one was "right" and the port one was "wrong". Or maybe something else I have misremembered!

 

[plastictaffy]

Birmingham New Street is spelt wrong. It should say - The Hole.

Also, Gloucester should say - Stay Here, Don't Go Any Further West Unless You Have Webbed Feet.

 

[adrock1976]

I remember when I was on a school trip from Birmingham to Llandudno that when travelling beyond Chester, the next station call was Fflint.

Nowadays, it seems the second "f" has been dropped from various railway timetables and literature today.

In peace

Adam

 

[tsr]

The Sealink logo had the arrows ''backwards'' as boats overtake on the right and it made an ''S'' shape. I guess that Reigate didn't have Sealink ships though!!

Hopefully not. It is on an embankment above the shops and offices below! That said, it always does feel a bit damp...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

not a spelling mistake but there are a few signs with the BR logo round the wrong way isnt there.

Milton Keynes Central appears to have, from the inside!

 

[krus_aragon]

I remember when I was on a school trip from Birmingham to Llandudno that when travelling beyond Chester, the next station call was Fflint.

Nowadays, it seems the second "f" has been dropped from various railway timetables and literature today.

Not at all. It's written as "Y Fflint" or "Fflint" in Welsh, as the letter f is equivalent to a v sound in Welsh. Arriva's timetables, for example, list both. At the station itself, the signs give only "Fflint".

 

[GWRjake]

Cholsey's platform 2 sign reads "ho se" (very drôle, I know) but that is of course due to witty banter/minor vandalism rather than a mis-spelling.

 

[6Gman]

When Canton first got 158s somebody decided that the Welsh for Central was Canalog rather than Canolog.

 

[krus_aragon]

When Canton first got 158s somebody decided that the Welsh for Central was Canalog rather than Canolog.

I'm sure I've seen Caerdydd Canalog somewhere else (in the past few years), now that you mention it...

 

[Crossover]

During the 1990s there was a suburban station in Leeds called either Cross Gates or Crossgates, depending on which sign you looked at.

A station which is very much still there and I believe may retain one spelling on one platform, and the other on the other one!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

A station which is very much still there and I believe may retain one spelling on one platform, and the other on the other one!

AFAIK the signs are now all correct (2 words). My use of past tense was in reference to the signs that included the error being a thing of the past, rather than the station itself!

 

[Muzer]

I'm sure I've seen Caerdydd Canalog somewhere else (in the past few years), now that you mention it...

Of course, a few years back they all switched to Caerdydd Cdigital

(That joke would work a lot better in America... or actually, it wouldn't since they didn't have our digital switchover, or Wales for that matter )

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

A station which is very much still there and I believe may retain one spelling on one platform, and the other on the other one!

The Crossgates station resulted in a station near Scarborough being wrongly named Seamer.