Friday, September 26, 2008

On the name of things

With the mild concussion caused by separating the Stour Bridge from the Stourport Bridge, I thought it best to set down some form of guidelines I can follow.

By far the simplest method of identification is to use the official designation as in the A449 or B4193, however problems arise simply due to length; the A451 for example runs from Great Witley, through Stourport, Kidderminster and ends in Stourbridge.

Another method would be using the street names. This too can be troublesome if I refer to Worcester Road do I mean the A4025 or the A449, can it be confused with Worcester Street; what about New Street and New Road?

What happens when you want to talk about a particular section of a road? Strictly speaking the small island just over the Stour in Stourport is the Worcester Road island, though again which Worcester Road. In this case the island in question is known informally as the Parson's Chain island due to the proximity of the company in question. Except they're no longer there and the island is now sponsored by OGL.

Thus hassle. I think the basic creed is too assume I'm talking about Stourport and using commonalities from Stourport unless I specifically say otherwise or it's clear from context that I'm not. Likewise I'll try to use the modern terminology lest any 'youngsters' query where this non-existent company's island is. If confusion is possible I'll try to be clear where I'm talking about.

So we have Worcester Road; Worcester Road, Kiddy, OGL Island, Mitre Oak island, Stourport Bridge, Stour Bridge, Millfields Bridge, etc.

Suddenly I have a lot more sympathy for those who have to go inspect roads ;-) Still wish they'd reach a consensus on what to call Stourport for the reports though.

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