Todays post is something bit different and perhaps a bit niche, but I’d like to share an image about the name evolution of my hometown, Alston. Alston has a population of only about 1000 people, and is nestled among the hills of the North Pennines in Cumbria, England. It is England’s highest town, and probably […]
England
British and Irish words for British and Irish nations
Infographics mapping out the various origins and etymologies of the names of seven British and Irish nations in the seven main languages of those nations. Before we get into the etymology, you may want to make sure you’re familiar with what all these words actually refer to. Here’s my post about how to use these […]
The Ba Green: the land that Scotland won in a football game
Everybody loves weird borders right?Here’s my favourite: This is the Ba Green, a 3 acre meadow on the English side of the River Tweed that, for no clear reason, belongs to Scotland.Well, it turns out the reason is pretty unusual:Scotland won it in a football game!But this wasn’t football like you think of it today: […]
England Could Have Been Sexland
Here, have some history! England was formed by 2 major groups from what is now northern Germany: the Angles, from the Anglia Peninsula; and the Saxons, from Saxony. There were also the Jutes, from what’s now Denmark. The Saxons settled southern England, founding the Kingdoms of Wessex (West-Saxons), Essex (East-Saxons) and Sussex (South-Saxons). The Angles […]
100 British Words for Rain
In the UK, we talk incessantly about the weather. In a recent study, 94% of British people admitted to having talked about the weather in the past six hours, and 38% in the last hour. There are a few reasons for this obsession; The first is that we have a LOT of weather. In my hometown […]
Where is the North of England?
I’ve been seeing a lot of confused people on the internet recently, with strange ideas about where the North of England is. As a Northerner myself, I feel it is my duty to set the record straight.
6 Ways to divide England linguistically
Author Note: This is one of the first images I ever made, I have since remade all of these maps (and many more) with far more accuracy and precision. This still works as a meme, but I am not at all happy with it as an informative map. Check out this website for all my […]