We Are In Edinburgh
We are here in Edinburgh for the Festival. More about that next time, but first something that Tamara noticed as we were traveling north on the A1 to Edinburgh.
The A1 is a major road runs from London all the way up to Scotland, and as we left Leeds, Tamara noticed that the road sign said The NORTH.
It was written that way – with a capital ‘T’ in ‘The’ and the word NORTH in capitals.
Tamara is American, so although we have lived in England for more than twelve years she does not claim to be familiar with all the tiny minutiae of British place naming.
Still, the road sign struck her as odd because the thing is that Leeds – from where we had set out – is in the north of England. In other words, we were already in the north when we set out, so where was The NORTH?
If the road sign was just intended to indicate a direction, then why did it not just say ‘North’?
I had never thought of it before, but now I had to ask myself where exactly was this mysterious place named The NORTH.
Wikipedia says:
Northern England, also known as the North of England or as the North, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered by Scotland.
I knew that the north of England reached as far as Scotland, and I was prepared to accept that it started as far south as the River Trent in Nottinghamshire.
However, since when we started on our journey in Leeds we were already in The NORTH, how could the road sign indicate that The NORTH was even further north?
It seems that the road signs might be WRONG.
I guess I will have to write to the Highways Department for an answer to that one.
Update
I wrote to the Highways Agency, who passed it to A-one+ as it is called. Here is A-one+’s reply:
Mr Bennett,
Your Email to the Highways Agency’s Action Line has been forwarded to me to respond to as A-one+ maintains part of the road that you referred to.
The attached document indicates the limited advice given by the Department for Transport to sign designers on the use of Regional Destinations. Given that the Pennines extend to the Scottish Border, ‘SCOTLAND’ tends only to be used in the most northerly part of the North East Region.
I note that your query related to your journey northwards from Leeds. However, when travelling from Scotland to the north east of England, technically the southbound direction signs could include ‘The NORTH’ as a regional destination.
I trust that this response has cleared up any possible confusion.
Regards
Peter Spencer
LNMS VM Manager
A-one+ Integrated Highways Services
Valley House
Valley Street North
Darlington
