Canny lass

That would be this post by johndawsonjune1955 in the Railway History topic: “Go along towards the old brickworks and the Choppington Station railway sign is to be seen where it was dumped. its still on some of the stone it was fastened too. will take some work to get it out the ditch tho” John rarely looks in these days but I think he’s active on other sites. Maybe Eggy knows how to contact him?

That's high! I just had a quick look on Google Earth. Right at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. You must have an amazing view from your garden!!

Day 44 in isolation and still keeping out of mischief! Finally finding the time to summarise the work I've done on 'Hollymount'. That work's not quite fineshed. I really need one more visit to the uni library but that's out of he question due to this corona mullarkey. However, I can make a start by presenting what I've learned so far. It'll have to be done in installments, I'm afraid. The task was infinitely bigger (and much more interesting) than I envisaged. Long post! Make a cup of tea! Within the study of language, place-names are a science in their own right. There are people who devote their lives to the study of them. I am not one of those people. However, I have to admit that the theory, proposed by @Maggie/915 some time ago, that Hollymount may be a distortion of the expression holy mount, has tickled my imagination more than just a bit. It’s an attractive idea given that: a) we know that the body of St. Cuthbert once rested in our town and b) the Hollymount area of Bedlington lies high on a hill/mount above the river Blyth. Languages are constantly changing, not least in the area of the vocabulary: words come and words go, they take on new meanings, their spelling can change and even the way they are pronounced can change. Therefore, it’s not totally unreasonable to think that holy, at some point in history, could have became holly. The two words are very similar in both form (spelling) and pronunciation (sound) so it’s not such a big step from holy to holly. First a bit of background: The English language we use today bears no resemblance to the original language of Britain, Celtic, which was more or less wiped out by the Romans. However, the Welsh language and some of the Cornish dialects have their roots in the Celtic language and Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic are very close relatives showing many similarities. The main reason for the lack of resemblance is the many changes brought about by the numerous invasions Britain has suffered: Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, all have had a profound effect on our language – often by forcibly introducing their own language and excluding ours. The British themselves, I might add, have given tit-for-tat in forcing English on many of their colonies. Other significant reasons for change are the introduction of Christianity by Christian missionaries and the invention of the printing press both of which have played a big part in standardizing the language. Scholars have classified the development of the English language (that which came after Celtic) into four main periods related to the influences and the changes that occurred (all dates are approximate): Old English (OE) 700 – 1100 AD (Time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions and Christianization). Middle English (ME) 1100 – 1450 AD (Time of the Norman invasions and Geoffrey Chaucer writing The Canterbury Tales). Early Modern English (EModE) 1450 – 1700AD (Time of William Shakespeare writing his plays and Caxton’s printing press arriving). Modern English (ModE) 1700 onwards (Time of the Industrial Revolution). For most of us any authentic text originating before William Shakespeare’s time (1564 – 1616) is unreadable and even Shakespeare can be a bit of a struggle at times. However, after Shakespeare most of us can get some grasp of the content of old original texts because the language used begins to resemble the language we use today. That process of change is still going on and I, personally, don’t think it will be too many years before words such as fyi and imho start appearing in the English dictionary due to the influence of another ‘invasion’ - digital networking and social media. Place names are a part of our language and as such have not been able to avoid the changes outlined above. However, while their spelling, meaning and pronunciation may have changed their function, has not. A place name, since time immemorial, enables us to identify places, whether those places are towns, villages, counties, or a specific part of any of those: rivers, valleys, fields or forests. Today, identification is relatively easy due to the use of town-, road- and street signs. The introduction of signage has also changed the process of name-giving. Today it’s possible to name a place just about anything and we would still be able to identify that place and know where we are just by reading the signs. But, before the introduction of signs how did we do this? In Britain we have some very old place-names, or at least ‘parts’ of names, which give us some clues. These English names, broadly speaking, contain three almost standard elements: the natural and artificial features of the landscape, the names of people and the functions of settlements. Examples of such names today are numerous. Though not necessarily old: Beech Grove is a good example of a natural feature. Newcastle is an example of an artificial feature. Bedlington is an example of a person’s name (though discussions abound as to just whose name it is) and Newmarket exemplifies well the function of a settlement. What I am about to do is to look at the different periods in language development, to see if any of the changes which took place can explain a possible change from Holy Mount to Hollymount. To be continued …

What altitude is Grande Cache at, Vic? Must be high!

.... and I thought 'husband' meant I would be getting my own private pop group!

Hi @Jammy. Welcome to our forum! We have a special forum for this kind of thing. Chat Central, Good Jokes: Not for the faint hearted (adult content). Have a look in. You can spend many a pleasant hour there and have a good laugh! Vital in these Corona times.

Friday again already! Time for a spot of brain gymnastics! 1. What name do we give to the study of flags? 2. In which Dickens novel does Richard Carstone appear? 3. What is the boiling point of water on the Fahrenheit scale? 4. Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? 5. In which year was Grace Kelly born? 6. The Colorado Beetle attacks which plant in particular? 7. With what is the organization CER N concerned? 8. What breed of dog is Scooby Doo? 9. Which part of Britain was called Vectis by the Romans? 10. Who, in a song, was thrown out ‘with nothing but a fine tooth comb? 11. Euclid is associated with which branch of mathematics? 12. Which boxer’s real name was Walker Smith? I’ll bet you didn’t know … The word bride comes from an ancient German word meaning ‘one who cooks’! Answers on Thursday.

Sortly before the huts were demolished, around 1957, there were children from the camps at Nedderton Village Junior school.

Answers to last Friday's quiz: 1. Anne Boleyn 2. Eric Clapton 3. Soup 4. Christ Church, Oxford 5. 9 noughts = 9 000 000 000 6. Danny De Vito 7. Steeleye Span 8. Vodka Martini 9. Benjamin Disraeli 10. Ken Bates, Chelsea 11. Six 12. ST 1 (Bonus 71 DXC) New quiz tomorrow.

You're forgiven! Haha! It took a while for the penny to drop. Did you miss out a word?

Probably not a Halliday then but thanks for trying.

I knew it was still in use HPW, because Maggie has mentioned that the History Society meets there, but i didn't know that it still had a religious purpose. Good to see you're safe and well!

14 has some of the facial features of the Halliday family but I can't say with any certainty that it's one of them. Maybe the suggestion of 'Halliday' might jog someone else's memory.

Clothing is optional! Point redeemed!

Go on then. you can have a bonus point! However, I'll have to deduct one point for the jokes as today is Sunday. Stand-up Comedy night is Tuesday but there's a chance to redeem your point if you can honestly say that you were not standing up when you wrote them. Never let it be said that I am anything other than generous!

Whatever lights your fire, sunshine. You're among friends here!

I still make Anzac biscuits but I always make them at Easter because my mother made them at Easter.

You're never too old to learn, they say. That's the first time I've heard of sewer gas lamps! What a brilliant idea!

Here's a corona challenge for you Eggy: Tuesday night is 'Stand - Up Comedy Night*. One joke every Tuesday night for the duration of the lockdown. Get crackin! We could all do with a good laugh. Good idea!

Well done lads1 I'll have to make these a bit harder! 1. Who was the mother of Queen Elizabeth 1? 2. Which guitarist is nicknamed ‘Slow hand’? 3. In general terms, what kind of food is bisque? 4. Which English cathedral is also a college chapel? 5. How many noughts are there in 9 billion? 6. Who directed the 1989 film The War of the Roses? 7. Who did Maddy Prior sing with? 8. What is James Bond’s favourite tipple? 9. Which Prime Minister made Queen Victoria Empress of India? 10. Which football club chairman once called his fans ‘scum’ and offered to forfeit a match? 11. How many legs does a queen bee have? 12. In the 1962 TV series ’The Saint’, what was the registration number of the Saint’s car, a 1962 Volvo P1800? (Bonus point if you know the original registration number when newly purchased). I’ll bet you didn’t know … The liver of the polar bear is so rich in vitamin A that it’s poisonous to humans!

Pleased to see you're putting the lockdown to good use, Andy! the site is fine by me. The only thing missing is meals on wheels. You couldn't arrange that could you?