Well I never, that’s where that town is!

[CormoranStrike]

I have spent fifty years - okay, cumulatively probably just fifty minutes - being utterly convinced Exeter was near Cambridge.

Today I had to check it in a map! Who knew? It’s kind of a Torquay/Plymouth way.

My world is tilting in its axel.

Anyone have other random finds like this?

@TeddyIsaHe That's just blown my mind!!

Rutland is the weeny one sandwiched between Leics, Lincs, Cambs and Northants.

Then there's the Scots border. It wiggles so much that one parish church is NORTH of the nearest point on it.

I remember loads of us thought the Falkland Islands were off Scotland when the crisis arose. I was a child but adults at the time did too.

It’s also really freaky some of the places that on the same latitude, like Toronto and Florence or Montreal and Venice.

Uttoxeter springs to mind, I imagined it somewhere like Wiltshire. It's in Staffordshire.

I know where Rutland is but only because a friends son went to school there.
I know Crewe as a big railway interchange (daughter of a train spotter here) but now I am thinking about it.... Where is Crewe?

Without googling Rutland sounds to me it should be somewhere near Warrington?I'll Google in a minute My parents live near Summerseat which sounds very similar to Somerset in my mind ,Summeseat is a small village near Bury in Gtester Manchester .

I was surprised that Edinburgh is further west than Carlisle

And Bristol.

Cambridge (considered to be south east) is as far north as the midlands

I’m 2 miles over the Rutland border so I’d be cheating on that one!

People think that John O'groats was Scottish but he was Dutch and also, it's not the northern most point on the mainland, it's Dunnet Head.

I was envious when my soldier husband told me he was off on a course to South Cerney - I thought palm trees and golden beaches - he just looked at me - I may have got confused with South Pacific - apparently it’s just outside Gloucester

always assumed Hartlepool was in the NW (I think I associated it with Blackpool).

You mean it's not?
Where is it then?

Crumlin. I know it's in Wales. We lived near it for a while. But it should be in Ireland.

My mate thought copenhagen was near Bedford

Years ago I was travelling from N Wales to Scotland. There were suddenly signs above the road, one lane. for Preston and the other for Manchester - which to choose?

It's in the north east @ EmmaGrundyForPM the opposite side of the country to Blackpool.

@EmmaGrundyForPM

@bookmum08 I'm from Crewe! It's south Cheshire, south of Manchester and north of Stoke-on-Trent

Agree I was shocked Pontefract wasn’t in Wales. A uni friend lived there and I was boggled.

My geography and sense of direction are awful. I've even got lost in the small town in live in because I think I know where I'm going when I don't. People obviously think that I look like I know where I am as I'm always asked for directions. I sometimes wonder if they ever found where they were going without asking someone else.

Glasgow and London I find are my safest places to get lost in as I'll find an underground station eventually. Saying that though my Scottish geography isn't too bad for the cities and major towns at least.

Anywhere else is just awful though even though I've travelled around a good amount of mainland UK over the years.

DH still takes the piss out of me because I thought Scunthorpe was "just down the coast" from Blackpool.

For those who thought the Falklands were near Scotland was it maybe a mix up between them and the Faroes? I did that (although I was very small when the war happened). I also thought the Faroes were much further away than they are.

@Buttons4me, the Cotwolds are Cheltenham/Gloucester way, south of Birmingham!

I'm from Crewe! It's south Cheshire, south of Manchester and north of Stoke-on-Trent

I thought Crewe was near Bournemouth. I've done it again. Glad DH won't see this.

I thought Bangor was in Northern Ireland! Are there two of them?

GlitchStitch Yes two of them

I am another one that thought Dunstable was on the South Coast

I always thought Northampton was on the coast near Blackpool, like a Northern version of Southampton.
I used to think Swindon was abroad.
Comedian Sara Pascoe does a bit about going on Holiday to Costa Rica thinking she’s going to Spain, and not realising until the pilot says the flight time.