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?

Herford. In Germany.
Hereford. Near Wales.

Both British Army towns (well, Herford used to be).

Northampton is just next to Southampton

Isn't it?

Until not that long ago when you looked online for the weather in the (real) Leeds, it always came up with the other leeds down south. I always jumped for joy at how unexpectedly nice it was going to be, until I realised...

Lots of places in the north/north west have ‘welsh’ sounding names as the former language of the area was Cumbric which was closely related to Welsh, Cornish and Breton. I’ve attached an image which shows cumbric place names.

Another one here who thought County Durham was in Ireland until my friend met a lad from there and laughed at me when I thought he was Irish!

Northampton is just next to Southampton

Isn't it?

Not even close!

Sheffield isnt any near as far north as it should be. It's pretty much in the Midlands!

I always think that Warwick is up by Newcastle.

I've always had an underlying sense that 'North' is always the direction I happen to be facing.

I always thought carslile was in Wales or at least in the border of Wales and England. Didn't realise it was up there a bit!

Berwick is another town that has been in Scotland and England at various stages of the past.

@Sleeveen Maybe Billericay sounds Irish to me because there are Irish placenames that start with Bally". Bill is similar to Ball and just has the y* in the wrong place.

Leeds Castle is obviously in Leeds. Richmond Castle is obviously in Richmond.

Megan
If pontefrsct was in Wales it would be spelled Pontyfract...lol

I heard yesterday on TV that Watford Gap is a gap between two hills near the town of Watford in Northamptonshire

Bethlehem is in Wales.

@SUBisYodrethwhenLarping
Apart from it’s a village they weren’t wrong.

"I heard yesterday on TV that Watford Gap is a gap between two hills near the town of Watford in Northamptonshire "

When in fact they are 60 miles apart
There is a Wales near Sheffield.

Have told this story on here before, but we were planning a big holiday, an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage. Now obviously, Alaska should be on the east coast just above Canada, so it was perfectly sensible to book cheap flights to New York, then travel north, past Niagra Falls, etc. Except, they'd moved Alaska to the west coast, and didn't let anyone know till after I'd booked both the cruise and the cheap NY flights, which meant we needed to madly save much more money to pay for flights from NY to Vancouver .
Was a fab holiday though

Glad you enjoyed it MyVision I would love to do an Alaskan cruise. Why did it not occur to you to look at a map before booking flights though?

Northampton IS In the north if you are a time travelling Saxon!

Me and my husband were both convinced Brunei was in the Middle East too. And I don’t get the Billericay thing either, it doesn’t sound Irish at all! And I find most people have a very hazy knowledge of Australian geography, including me before I lived here! I have had to reassure many friends and relatives that we are in no danger from the bushfires on the East cost because I live in Perth. It’s as far away as London to Turkey!

@TravellingWanabee For a long time... I thought Blackpool was on the south coast of England
Actually, it is! Blackpool Sands is on the South Devon coast, between Dartmouth and Start Point.

For years, DH though Exeter was near the North Devon coast, not the south. Not too far out, you might think, except that he was at University there...

kiddieminster is a reasonable spelling for kidderminster as locals call it kiddie

Thirsk sounds like it's should be in Scotland

@Ginfordinner I think @Aroundtheworldin80moves can be forgiven for referring to Northumbria, as the name is used by lot of institutions to refer to the region of North East England - among others the Northumbria Police, the Environment Agency & Northumbria University (which just to confuse matters further, has campuses in London and Amsterdam!)

Pennsylvania isn't really in the USA, it's actually in Exeter.