Do you know where Will's mother lives?

[AnnaQuayInTheUk]

For 20+ years I lived in an area where everyone knew about Will's mother. People would arrive late to meetings explaining that they were really sorry, but roadworks on X Road meant that they had to go round Will's mother's.

I'm aware that in the Midlands they know about Bill's mother's, not Will's. And that sometimes it's black over Bills mother's house. But I've now moved to a different part of the country where no one knows about Will's mother's, or Bill's.

So,
YABU - who on earth is Will/Bill's mother?
YANBU - everyone knows about Will/Bills mother.

I know all about Bill’s mother, but my husband (from down south!) had no idea. He now knows 😁

I have no idea whatsoever what you are talking about ....🤔....

It's Will's mother where I'm from. Pretty sure she lives in the back of beyond.

I only heard the expression once I moved to the Fens until then I knew neither Will nor his mother.

Same, no idea what is happening here!

Down South. Never heard this.

No idea!
Is that the same as going round the Wrekin?

I used to live in Cambridgeshire....

I've known it to be black over Bill's mothers but I've never had to drive by her house.

Oooh, I don't know. But very possibly

Apparently... in the W Mids/Brum it's something to do with storms/prevailing winds coming in from the Warwickshire direction, ie where William Shakespeare's mother was from. So "black over Bill's mother's" means a storm threatening from the direction of Warwickshire originally, now used more generally.

I'm far from convinced😂

Where I am, if there are black clouds in the distance and it looks like it’s going to rain then ‘it’s a bit black over Bill’s mother’s’

I know of Bill's mother, but I'm not really from that area. I'd never bring her up in conversation myself.

(I’m in the East Midlands)

This sounds like my dad going to see a man about a dog.

No idea who Will, Bill or their mother are but suspect they live somewhere right round the Wrekin !!

No, I'm confident that means telling an unnecessarily convoluted story rather than doing it more directly (Shropshire family)

I know 'All the way round the Wrekin' to mean going the long way round. It's a hill in Shropshire.

Never heard Will/ Bill's mother.

I'm a southerner and can tell you we know nothing of Will or Bill.

If there are roadworks or a traffic accident and there's a really long diversion, then you end up going "round Will's mother's".

ETA at least, in Cambridgeshire you do

We always say “the wife's mother's”. e.g. It's looking a bit dark over “the wife's mother's” means there's a storm on the way. (S East).

Princess Diana? Kensington Palace I think. RIP.

I mean, I don't necessarily dislike it. And may even consider using it......
But people down here will say "who is Will's Mother?"
What would I say??? 🤔🤔🤔

I've lived in Cambridgeshire for 40 years. Never heard this. Can't just be a Fens thing?

I’m from East London and have no idea what you’re talking about. I now live out in the Essex countryside and have never heard it here either so 🤣