Places / Streets etc that sound nothing like they are spelled

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 6:24 pm

Calverley was either Carvery or Carverly in me brother's vocab ! Bet he even thought that's where the famous cross came from......

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 6:45 pm

somme1916 wrote: Calverley was either Carvery or Carverly in me brother's vocab ! Bet he even thought that's where the famous cross came from...... That reminds me of a genuine tale from when I was at school. The Winter Olympics were being held in Calgary (Canada), but there was a lad in our class who was convinced they were taking place just past Rodley on the far side of the Ring Road...

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 11:07 pm

"He lives dahn t'navvi " - round here that means he lives besides the railway cutting.

book · Post by **book** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 11:27 pm

We knew the canal as a navi

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Wed 06 Jun, 2012 11:59 pm

book wrote: We knew the canal as a navi Dahn 't'navvi is actually Falls Lane railway cutting/navigation-hence railway workers being called navvies(navigators)....East Ardsley had one of the biggest rail sidings in the country until late 60's when it was shut.Ernie Wise was allegedly born or brought up in Railway Terrace opposite the pub of the same name.

Chrism · Post by **Chrism** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 2:04 pm

somme1916 wrote: book wrote: We knew the canal as a navi Dahn 't'navvi is actually Falls Lane railway cutting/navigation-hence railway workers being called navvies(navigators)....East Ardsley had one of the biggest rail sidings in the country until late 60's when it was shut.Ernie Wise was allegedly born or brought up in Railway Terrace opposite the pub of the same name. We used to call it the navvi too, in fact I still call the Trent & Mersey it as well. ie... "I'm just of forra ride up t'navvi luv, sharnt be long" My missus doesn't know what the hell I'm going on about sometimes.

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 2:35 pm

Chrism wrote: somme1916 wrote: book wrote: We knew the canal as a navi Dahn 't'navvi is actually Falls Lane railway cutting/navigation-hence railway workers being called navvies(navigators)....East Ardsley had one of the biggest rail sidings in the country until late 60's when it was shut.Ernie Wise was allegedly born or brought up in Railway Terrace opposite the pub of the same name. We used to call it the navvi too, in fact I still call the Trent & Mersey it as well. ie... "I'm just of forra ride up t'navvi luv, sharnt be long" My missus doesn't know what the hell I'm going on about sometimes. Interesting idea of the "dual" ambiguity of the term (navvi).Check out IMDB 2001 "The Navigators" film by Ken Loach.As well as being blackly comical,it's quite poignant too.Guess where you were brought up/raised had some bearing on an individual's take on the word !

BillyBritvic · Post by **BillyBritvic** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 3:01 pm

I believe the original name "navvies" was coined to decscribe the Irish that came over to dig the canals, which was before the railways were started. An old, late, friend of mine, a Leeds bloke called Frank Walker wrote a great book, published back in the 70's called The Navvies are Coming. It was fictional but was about the building of the Leeds & Liverpool canal and contained accurate descriptions of the men, the work and what the locals thought about them.

Jogon · Post by **Jogon** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 6:49 pm

billyI've heard that too.The Canals coined the term (often derogatory) 'navvies' - canals were known as "inland navigations".Aire & Calder Navigation etc, and so the bands of travelling workers who built them were known as Navigators, shortened to Navvies.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Thu 07 Jun, 2012 7:17 pm

The workers who built the impressive Ribblehead Viaduct (on the Settle & Carlisle line) were known as 'navvies'. They lived next to the site in a shanty type place known as Sebastapol. Very many died during the construction and are buried at the Chapel-le-Dale church. I think that is all correct, but I'm relying on what I think I know and not on what I've just read!