Over 20 people attended a talk by local historian and journalist, Anthony Poulton-Smith, on “The Etymology of English Place Names”. The speaker has written a number of books on regional place names, and these were on display and available for purchase after the meeting.

During the first half of his talk the speaker explained how many place names are based on topographical features such as hills and rivers. Others are based on farmsteads and the names of their owners. So for example, the suffix -ham means a homestead e.g. Birmingham, and the suffix -don denotes a hill, e.g. Bredon (Hill). Likewise, the ending -hay means an area of land enclosed by a hedge, e.g. Cheslyn Hay.

Whilst the Romans had Latin names for their towns, later settlers such as the Saxons, Vikings and Normans found these names incomprehensible and difficult to pronounce, and consequently most of the town names we have today relate to post-Roman names. The Viking occupation left us with the ending -by, meaning a village, as in Ashby. The Normans, by and large, kept these names and added their own, most noticeably Ashby de la Zouch – the village of Ashby, which was owned by the Zouch family.

During the second half the speaker held a question and answer session. This lasted for a good 45 minutes. A host of local names were put forward by the audience, ranging from Nuneaton to Worthington to the oft mispronounced Gilwiskaw (Brook). The latter name, unsurprisingly, somewhat flummoxed the speaker, and the origin of this name is unknown.

Throughout, the speaker related anecdotes and kept his audience entertained and amused with his somewhat idiosyncratic sense of humour.