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!

Gainey’s Well
Gainey was a local publican known for watering the beer. He was found out and in those ancient times ( 1956 ) made to drink the brackish water from the local well. This made him nauseous and he vomited profusely, which is what his customers then did on a regular basis after his pub was re-let and the beer back to full strength. So Gainey’s Well means what goes around comes back around, sort of.

Gotherington
Curtains with too many pleats that hang down in a semi-circle. Sometimes referred to disparagingly as ‘tart’s knickers’, but Gotherington is the proper term. The phrase: ‘This room you’ve decorated in purple would be further enhanced if you were to have a Gotherington finish to the drapes’.

Greet
What people from the North East of England call the Cotswolds having never visited such green and pleasant lands before. A rare win by Newcastle United football club.

Guiting Power
The uncanny way that a vicar is able to pedal a very heavy bicycle at a constant speed no matter what the gradient of the slope or the load carried in the front basket. There is always a front basket.