There was a brief US news item last week concerning Groundhog Day, an annual ceremony in Pennsylvania in which a large but docile rodent emerges from its burrow and predicts the weather for the coming year. No need for professional forecasters. It is celebrated in a small Pennsylvania town with the magnificent name of Punxsutawney.
The groundhog resides in a spot quaintly known as Gobbler's Knob. The rodent has become quite a celebrity and is known as "Punxsutawney Phil" which sounds a bit like a gunslinger from a B-grade Hollywood western. Mind you the name does lose a certain appeal when translated from its Native American origins as "town of mosquitoes".
In the US there are all sorts of exotic town names and there's even a place called Peculiar in Missouri (more of which later). There are also plenty of normal names including the town of Normal in Illinois. Some places seem to go out of their way to be anonymous, such as a small town in Colorado called No Name. Then there's the town of Nowhere in Arizona, not to be confused with a nearby settlement called Nothing.
One less than appealing name is Drain in Oregon. And there's a Texas settlement called Toadsuck which sounds an ideal name for a punk band.
For trivia buffs, the popular 1993 film Groundhog Day was not actually shot in Punxsutawney, but Woodstock, Illinois. Because of the film's success Woodstock now holds its own Groundhog Day, featuring another celebrity rodent called "Woodstock Willie".
Most Peculiar
The origins of the aforementioned city of Peculiar are worth noting. Apparently, when it was founded in the mid-19th century, the settlers couldn't agree on a name, so in a letter to the postmaster-general they wrote "We don't mind what name you give us as long as it is sort of peculiar". The official suggested "Why don't you call it Peculiar?" and so it stood. The town's motto appropriately is "where the odds are with you".
Which brings us to a town called Odd, in West Virginia. Once again, settlers were struggling for a name and during one discussion someone came out with "that's odd" and the town name was born. It has a close relative in Oddville, a village in Kentucky.
Trinity of tedium
My favourite American place name remains the town of Boring in Oregon. It seemed appropriate when Boring announced a dozen years ago that it had become twinned with the village of Dull in Perthshire. There is even an official "Dull and Boring Day" celebrated annually by the two communities. On the second anniversary the people of Boring marked the day with a "not too exciting party". Citizens were spotted supping a Boring beer in a Boring pub talking to Boring people.
In Scotland, however, there was a bit more excitement. "There's never a dull moment in Dull," a resident told The Scotsman newspaper, somewhat unconvincingly considering there's less than 100 people living there.
The success of the Dull and Boring link-up prompted another place to get in on the act -- Bland in New South Wales, Australia. It now has links to the other two places to form what the Scotsman newspaper termed, a "trinity of tedium", Bland, Dull and Boring.
Home sweet home
I'd love to come from a place with a name like Punxsutawney. My hometown, Reading, doesn't quite have that exotic ring to it although some people still pronounce it incorrectly, calling it "Reeding".
In Thailand when people ask where I am from in England my answer is invariably met with a blank look so I have to add "a town west of London" which I suspect doesn't make things much clearer. It would be nice if I came from somewhere that sounds a bit more intriguing like the magnificent Nempnett Thrubwell in Somerset. Then there's Bishop's Itchington in Warwickshire, although that sounds more like a skin complaint. However it's hard to beat the magnificent Great Bulging in Sussex.
Incidentally, a friend suggested a village in Gloucestershire would be an ideal place for Crutch to retire -- Old Sodbury.
Snoring news
Some of the best names come from Norfolk, particularly the villages of Great Snoring and Little Snoring. Thai officials transferred to inactive posts would find themselves quite at home there. Close to the "Snoring" villages there is a place called Seething, which one day led to the memorable headline in the local newspaper "Little Snoring Man Marries Seething Woman".
Up north, if you come from the quaintly-named Yorkshire villages of Bugthorpe, Blubberhouses and Ugglebarnby I am not sure whether that would be a good conversation opener, or a stopper -- possibly the latter.
Also in Yorkshire is Wigtwizzle, which sounds like a character from a Dickens novel.
Triple Cockup
There's a delightful hamlet in Devon called Splatt, not to be confused with the Welsh village of Splott -- that would make a good name for a firm of lawyers, Splatt and Splott. And we must not forget Tiddleywink in Wiltshire, which acquired its name from rhyming slang as a place to get "a quick drink".
Finally, for mountaineers who would like to have a conversation piece, a trip to England's Lake District is recommended. On the Skiddaw range they can conquer three hills known affectionately as Cockup, Great Cockup and Little Cockup. Now that must be worth a few tales.
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