It’s not a new book or even a new idea, but my own little book: Glossary is a diversion, hopefully not a contraflow. It’s available on Amazon, and briefly, it is a collection of Gloucestershire place names given new meanings by me.

I am publishing some selected pages here over the next few weeks. If you would like a copy of the entire collection, you can find it right on Amazon; just search Glossary by Paul Davies.

I suppose this is my version of sharing a joke. For the uninitiated, it is a great pastime when travelling: to give new meanings to place names. Try it!

Posdmead
Home-brewed cider/alcohol. Early versions are said to have been helped in the fermentation process by the addition of a deceased wild animal; badger was a favourite, but a rat would suffice.

Quedgeley
Unidentified material found dumped on a pavement; could be in a black plastic bag with the Quedgeley inside.
A small Quedgeley can be chewing gum, always sticky. Try not to touch, ever.

Salperton
A salty taste from whence you do not know.

Sapperton
Shortened to Sap sometimes. Originally a term for a village idiot or fool, but now generally used to describe a  male who hangs about the outside of a tattoo parlour, smoking and holding a bloodied arm, the result of several hours under the unsteady needle of a fellow Sap who has evidently no artistic ability
whatsoever and has trouble with spelling.

Saul
Early English for slightly overweight, not exactly a term of abuse but not very pleasant for the recipient.
Used to be a farmer’s term for a particular type of large farm beast.