Thursday, December 11, 2003
Goodbye Hill View
posted by John Davies at 9:28 PM
Northern Earth has been going a long time and reading it (as I did, for the first time, today) will no doubt go some way towards compensation for losing 3rd Stone.
Northern Earth's subject matter is broadly known as 'earth mysteries', appealing to all those with an inquiring interest in historical landscapes, folk lore and custom, the unexplained, earth-based consciousness and spirituality...
Plenty to chew on there; but some earth mysteries are very close to home, and I loved this little article they'd gleaned from a recent edition of the Yorkshire Post:
A recent property survey has identified the most popular names people are giving to their houses nowadays. Top of the list is The Cottage, a position it has held for some time. In 2nd place is Rose Cottage, up one place from 1998, and displacing The Bungalow, on the way down from 1st place in 1993 and now in 3rd position. 4th and 5th are Coach House and Orchard House respectively. The biggest fall is The White House, down from 7th to 29th (what might that tell us?), while Greenacres went from 24th to 45th.
Highest new entry in the Top 50 was The Old Post Office at no. 21, reflecting the growing popularity of closing down rural post offices. Other new entrants were The Stables, White Cottage, The Orchard, Primrose Cottage, The Granary, The Nook, The Old School and Honeysuckle Cottage - but it's goodbye to Hill View, Manor Farm and South View.
House names in Northern England appear to relate more to topography and industrial history, while Midlands names were more agriculatural; Wales has a high maritime segment, and SE England fancies an apple and woodland theme.
"There's surely social comment in there somewhere," they observe. Too right, many blogs worth. But tonight I don't have time; I'm off now down to the old bus depot, now a glitzy pub serving guest 'real' ales...
[Link to house name story here - thanks to Eric Shackle for that]
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john davies
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