UK Stations with Foreign Place Names

[Tomos y Tanc]

A Chapel.

Not uncommon in Wales, of course, we also have villages named Bethel, Bethlehem, Nebo, Carmel and Saron all of which take their names from chapels.

 

[WesternBiker]

Clarbeston Road: the etymology of Clarbeston is Clarenbald's farm/settlement, Clarenbald being a continental Germanic / Flemish personal name.

And while it is not a station (only sidings - though there were temporary platforms built adjacent for the Royal Welsh Show in 1927), I've always been intrigued by Mendalgief in Newport. Etymology is unknown, but it has always sounded exotically Tolkien-esque to me.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Clarbeston Road: the etymology of Clarbeston is Clarenbald's farm/settlement, Clarenbald being a continental Germanic / Flemish personal name.

Surely Clarbeston Road is named after 'Clarbeston', which is a UK place name, being the English language version name of a village located in Wales?

Nowhere with that same name overseas, notwithstanding the probable part foreign derivation.

 

[WesternBiker]

Well, Clarbeston is undoubtedly a UK place name - but the derivation is Germanic. (In this case the Welsh, Treglarbes, is a translation of the English.) Depends on how far we want to stretch the 'foreign' bit. Maybe overstretched in this case...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Maybe overstretched in this case...

Maybe, but it was still interesting info, nevertheless!

 

[D6130]

Well, Clarbeston is undoubtedly a UK place name - but the derivation is Germanic. (In this case the Welsh, Treglarbes, is a translation of the English.)

Don't forget that Western Pembrokeshire is often referred to as "Little England beyond Wales" because it was forcibly colonised by Norman barons and their Anglo-Saxon tenant farmers and archers following the Norman Conquest. As a result, there are probably more Anglo-Norman place names than Welsh ones in that area.

 

[WesternBiker]

Don't forget that Western Pembrokeshire is often referred to as "Little England beyond Wales" because it was forcibly colonised by Norman barons and their Anglo-Saxon tenant farmers and archers following the Norman Conquest. As a result, there are probably more Anglo-Norman place names than Welsh ones in that area.

I used to think Manorbier was in that category (having heard someone pretentiously refer to it as 'Man-OR-bee-eh', as if it were French). In fact it's Welsh ("Maenorbŷr - the Manor of Pŷr"). So that one definitely doesn't count.

 

[Gathursty]

I used to think Manorbier was in that category (having heard someone pretentiously refer to it as 'Man-OR-bee-eh', as if it were French). In fact it's Welsh ("Maenorbŷr - the Manor of Pŷr"). So that one definitely doesn't count.

I always call it Man or Beer hahaha.

 

[Dr Day]

Slightly out of scope, but Rialto (tram stop on Dublin's Luas tram line)

 

[Tomos y Tanc]

Don't forget that Western Pembrokeshire is often referred to as "Little England beyond Wales" because it was forcibly colonised by Norman barons and their Anglo-Saxon tenant farmers and archers following the Norman Conquest. As a result, there are probably more Anglo-Norman place names than Welsh ones in that area.

Actually the people who settled in southern Pembrokeshire below the Landsker were Flemings, not Anglo Saxons. The same is true of the southern part of the Gower peninsula which had a Landsker all of its own. That's why some of the names in southern Pembs and Gower look odd to both English and Welsh eyes.

 

[D6130]

Actually the people who settled in southern Pembrokeshire below the Landsker were Flemings, not Anglo Saxons. The same is true of the southern part of the Gower peninsula which had a Landsker all of its own. That's why some of the names in southern Pembs and Gower look odd to both English and Welsh eyes.

I stand corrected but, in that case why is the Western end of Pembrokeshire (allegedly) known as "Little England beyond Wales", according to Welsh speaking friends who live near Caerffyrddin/Carmarthen, and not "Little Flanders beyond Wales"?

 

[MadMac]

Another Khyber Pass, this time in Stockport

Some may recall the “Burma Road” between Shields Junction and Terminus Junction in Glasgow. There are also the Derby Sidings in Motherwell where the reason for the name has been lost in the mists of time…..

 

[och aye]

If you count that, you should count Singer.

Ah, most definitely.

 

[D6130]

Getting back on topic for my 800th post....how about Marino on the Belfast-Bangor line in Northern Ireland? The station was built on land formerly owned by Benedictine monks from Marino, South East of Rome.

 

[John Griffiths]

Syon Lane, named for the monastery of Sion (later Syon Park), itself a form of Zion, an alternative name for Jerusalem.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I stand corrected but, in that case why is the Western end of Pembrokeshire (allegedly) known as "Little England beyond Wales", according to Welsh speaking friends who live near Caerffyrddin/Carmarthen, and not "Little Flanders beyond Wales"?

To a 12th century Welsh-speaker, I imagine all foreigners were "English", whether they actually spoke Norman French, Flemish/Dutch (from which Anglo-Saxon English evolved), Viking Norse or whatever. Similarly, Scots refer to people from south of the border as Saxons (Sassenachs) whether they came from the parts settled by the Angles or by the Saxons.

 

[John Griffiths]

Baldock, originally Baldac, so named by its founders, the Knights Templar, using the French form of Baghdad.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jul 2021 ==

Maida Vale (LU), named after Maida in Calabria, where a British force defeated the French occupiers in 1806.

 

[D6130]

Maida Vale (LU), named after Maida in Calabria, where a British force defeated the French occupiers in 1806.

Good one John! I like it.