ABC Towns and Villages

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
I’ve just stumbled across this – a nice thread!

A couple of queries .. I realise it has to be done sequentially but is there a start date? .. does it have to be done in a calendar year? Or just as and when you have the time?

I’d have thought ‘X’ would have been a real problem here in France but as ‘Great Oxenden’ (upthread) is OK then I’ll have a better chance.

Any non-UK contributors – or would I be the first?

I’ll get cracking on this is April.
 

Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
No specific rules re start so as and when is common. Three byes were said to be permissible so if X is your only concern you could skip it and then use the ?X place for a second letter version.
 

Willd

Guru
Location
Rugby
No time limits, some people have done it over several years :smile:

AFAIK there are no UK place names beginning with X. So for my first go - first word variant, I used Exhall, (Oxhill was also available) and on the second word version Great Oxendon, as you've mentioned :okay:

It'll be interesting to see a French version.
 

bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
@Mike_P and @Willd .. thanks for your replies.

OK – it’s a bit more complicated than I first thought and I may well need to take advantage of the three byes mentioned above.

I’ll start with ‘one word’ place names and see how I get on.

I’m also thinking about a French variant which is ‘La Ville xxxxxxxx’ – there are loads of those … probably not an ‘X’…. but who knows?

After that, ‘two word’ place names (and in most of those, ‘Le’, La’ or ‘Les’ will be the first word).

I never need a reason to be out on my bike (I’m out every day) but it’ll be nice to have another reason to have the camera with me when I’m out.
 

Mike_P

Guru
Location
Harrogate
Q was one I did take a bike by the sign picture when I did them originally - a slight fudge with it being a school name
QEs.jpg

Revisited RST today
rst bike combi.jpg
 

BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
Oh no!

I'm cycling in the Netherlands and just noticed that there is a town called Xanten over the border in Germany.

A round trip of 140km just to take a photo of a place name.

What am I to do?

Go for it! ;)

PS. Mrs @BoldonLad's assessment of my "collecting" photographs of place names, Saint's names etc is "you are mad you, harmless, but mad". ;)
 

bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
I spent April pouring over local maps – and most of May dithering, unsure as to which category to start with (single placenames, two-word placenames beginning with le, la, les or l’ – or three-word placenames beginning with ‘la Ville).

It dawned on me that I’d probably be pushing up the daisies before I posted anything (or simply too old to get on my bike) so .. I’ve decided to start with my ‘la Ville’ series.

I’ve located 20 out of 26 of these so far – hopefully I’ll find another two or three this summer (which aren’t too far away from home).

I will visit – and post – all these places in alphabetical sequence .. but the posted photos may come from my photo archive (if they are better than those taken on the day of my visit).

First up is la Ville Aumont, visited today. It’s just off the road between Mauron and Trémorel, about 1km north of the sablière at la Ville Caro.

la Ville Aumont pic 2.JPG
 

bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
Two more additions to my ‘La Ville xxxxx’ series, both visited this afternoon…

.. la Ville Coquelin, roughly midway between Guilliers and le Bois-de-la Roche. I hadn’t been here for a couple of years but there used to be a sign for the village as you approached from the north which gave a great view over the roofs of the village, the valley of the Yvel and (in the distance) the Forêt de Paimpont. Maybe a combine had taken the sign out because it’s not there any more – nor are the any signs on the roads that join from the west and the east … but thankfully there was still a sign at the bottom of the village ..

la Ville Coquelin pic 1.JPG


… and la Ville Davy, north of Mauron. It’s on the road between Mauron and Trémorel and I must have arrived at rush hour (or what counts for rush hour in this quiet part of France) as cars and lorries were almost constantly thundering past in the few minutes it took me to throw my bike into the undergrowth, grab my camera and take a couple of photos. However, I did manage to get a traffic-free photo…

la Ville Davy pic 4.JPG
 
Top Bottom