It is January 2024. There are two national railway stations with a two-word name where the first word is 'The'. Any idea which they are? Join me as I visit the two stations and discover why the stations are named as they are
Imagine the scenario , a clueless tourist and a clueless railway employee , the tourist asking how to get to The Lakes (Lake District) and the employee sending them to The Lakes
Plenty of confusion though with Stratford and Stratford-upon-Avon, Abbey Road DLR being nowhere near Abbey Road of Beatles fame, and Alton being a very long way from Alton Towers.... As to The Lakes, surely Earlswood Lakes would have been a better name?
I think I once sent someone to Redditch instead of Reddish. We all make mistakes! I've been to The Hawthorns station a couple of time, but not the other one which is in the middle of nowhere.
I grew up two stations away but Grime Hill Railway Station - now renamed to Wythall. In those we referred to it as Lakes Halt. Not sure whether it was The Lakes Halt though! The other station with the Halt suffix was Whitlocks End. I believe they were halts because they weren’t staffed. I believe all other stations, on the line, were staffed until the 1970s. Can’t be 100% sure about Wood End of Wooton Wawen though!
