'10' Countries through which the prime meridian passes

Created Kmf164 October 29 2005, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

1. England: The line begins its journey crossing through England, specifically starting right at the Airy Transit Circle in Greenwich, London.
2. France
3. Spain
4. Algeria
5. Mali
6. Burkina Faso
7. Togo
8. Ghana: The line crosses just east of the capital, Accra, and passes directly through the industrial city of Tema.
9. Togo again
10. Queen Maud Land (a territory claimed by Norway)

At the centre of things again

I was on the Greenwich Meridian but north of the Thames yesterday. It reminded me that I had crossed the equator two or three years ago. I am a double crosser! I think I have the same shirt on in both pics. Incongruously I am wearing jeans at the equator and (I assure you) shorts at the Meridian.

10 Royal Places

Arnoprepa1, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>,
via Wikimedia Commons

1. Royal Leamington Spa

"Royal" prefix Civil parish with town council 1838, 1974, 2002

Spa town established in late 18th century. The town received the title of "Royal Leamington Spa" in 1838 following a visit by Queen Victoria. Royal Leamington Spa was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1875, and on the borough's abolition in 1974 charter trustees were formed. The charter trustees were themselves abolished when a town council was formed in 2002.

2. Royal Sutton Coldfield

Historic town, now a civil parish within the City of Birmingham. Honour bestowed by Henry VIII 1528 3. Royal Tunbridge Wells

Unparished area 1909, 1974

Spa town, incorporated as a municipal borough in 1888. In 1909 Edward VII allowed the prefix "Royal" in recognition of the town's connections with the royal family since the Stuart dynasty. The Borough of Royal Tunbridge Wells was abolished in April 1974, and charter trustees were briefly appointed to preserve the mayoralty of the town. The trustees, who were themselves abolished in December 1974, obtained letters patent reauthorising the prefix "Royal" to the name of the town.

4. Royal Windsor, also known as New Windsor

Municipal borough council From reign of Henry I in early12th century

5. Royal Wootton Bassett

Civil parish with a town council 2011 - Repatriation of military personnel

6. Royal Port of Barrow

"Royal" prefix Port 2025

Construction of warships and nuclear submarines for the Royal Navy

7. Royal Greenwich

Royal borough. London borough council 2012-  To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Also birthplace of Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

8. Royal Kensington

Metropolitan borough council 1901 1965. In memory of Queen Victoria, born at Kensington Palace

9. Royal Berkshire, royal county

Location of Windsor Castle

10.Kingston Upon Thames

Municipal borough council in Surrey-Ancient prescriptive right, confirmed in 1927.1965 Coronation place of King Æthelstan in 924–925. Æthelstan described Kingston as royal town in a charter, as did Eadred later in the 10th century. In 1927 the mayor of Kingston upon Thames petitioned George V for the right to use the title of "royal borough". In reply to the petition the king declared that Kingston was entitled to the status, having been described as a royal borough since time immemorial.

10 Places in the UK with a Regis

Old Direction Sign - Signpost by White Post Cross,
Brompton Regis parish by Alan Rosevear, CC BY-SA 2.0
 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Regis signifies "of the king"

1. Bognor Regis in West Sussex
2. Houghton Regis in Bedfordshire
3. Salcombe Regis in Devon
4. Bere Regis in Dorset
5. Lyme Regis in Dorset
6. Milton Regis in Kent
7. Beeston Regis in Norfolk
8. Grafton Regis in Northamptonshire,
9. Brompton Regis in Somerset,
10. Newton Regis in Warwickshire

(Also Rowley Regis in the West Midlands, Melcombd Regis and Wyke Regis in Dorset, etc)

10 Places with a "went" in their name

1. Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire (Urban locality)
2. Caerwent, Monmouthshire (Village)
3. Cas-gwent, Monmouthshire (Town) [Welsh name for Chepstow]
4. St Bride's Netherwent, Monmouthshire (Hamlet)
5. St Brides and St Peterstone Wentlooge, Monmouthshire (Village)
6. Trewent, Pembrokeshire (Hamlet)
7. East Trewent, Pembrokeshire (Hamlet)
8. Mynwent y Crynwyr, Glamorgan (Village) [Welsh name for Quakers Yard]
9. Newent, Gloucestershire (Town)
10. Wentnor, Shropshire (Village)

10 Places in Hertfordshire beginning with H

1. Harpenden
2. Hastoe
3. Hatfield
4. Hemel Hempstead
5. Hertford
6. Hexton
7. Hitchin
8. Hockerill
9. Hoddesdon
10. Hunton Bridge

10 London locations beginning with W

It has often struck me that there seem to be a lot of places in London beginning with W and I have sometimes confused them briefly.

1. Walthamstow
2. Wandsworth
3. Wapping
4. Wembley
5. West Ham (and a few other wests - West Hampstead, West Hendon, etc)
6. Westbourne Park
7. White City
8. Whitehall and Westminster
9. Willesden and Willesden Green
10. Wimbledon

(Also Walworth, Waterloo, Wanstead, Wealdstone, Whetstine, Whitechapel, Woodford, Woolwich, Wood Green, Winchmore Hill)

10 Welsh Place Names that include the word Holm

The word holm usually refers to an islet, especially in a river or near a mainland. It can also refer to a piece of flat ground by a river which is submerged in times of flood.

1. Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel
2. Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel
3. Burry Holms off the Gower Peninsula
4. Grassholm west of Skomer
5. Middleholm east of Skomer
6. Skokholm south of Skomer
7. Priestholm, former name for Puffin Island, Anglesey
8. Gateholm tidal island off the south west coast of Pembrokeshire
9. Brooksholm wood near Monmouth
10. Waterholmes, historical name for a place near Wiston, Pembrokeshire

10 countries through which the equator passes

Cburnett, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>
via Wikimedia Commons

1. Ecuador
2. Colombia
3. Brazil
4. Gabon
5. Kenya
6. Uganda
7. Somalia
8. Indonesia
9. The Maldives
10. Kiribati

Alo Sao Tome and Principe and the two Congos.

At the centre of things

We travelled today from Eldoret to Naruku. I had not realised that would involve crossing the equator but it did. First time standing on the equator line. (I have stood on the Greenwich meridian before now. To stand on both at the same time, you have to be on Null Island, somewhere out in the Atlantic.

10 Nants

As we travel about in Wales we see a lot of places whose names begin with Nant-. Here are ten examples.

1. Nantyrarian, Brecknockshire (Silverbrook)
2. Nant-y-Bwch, Brecknockshire (Cowbrook)
3. Nantddu, Brecknockshire (Blackbrook)
4. Nantyglo, Monmouthshire (Coalbrook)
5. Nantmel, Radnorshire (Honeybrook)
6. Nantglas, Radnorshire (Bluebrook)
7. Nant Mawr, Flintshire (Greatbrook)
8. Nantycaws, Carmarthenshire (Cheesebrook)
9. Nant-y-ffin, Carmarthenshire (Borderbrook)
10. Nant-y-felin, Caernarfonshire (Millbrook)

10 Republics of various sorts

1. Plato's Republic - Socratic dialogue by Plato (c 380 BC) about justice, the order and character of the just city-state and the just man.

2. Dominican Republic - Country in the Caribbean

3. Banana Republic - Fashion chain owned by Gap.

Also used to refer to describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent on the exportation of a limited-resource product, such as bananas or minerals. In 1901, American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and its neighbours under economic exploitation by US corporations, such as the United Fruit Company

4. Coffee Republic - Coffee chain

5. OneRepublic - American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002

6. Constitutional Republic - a form of indirect democracy where the represenatives are elected and the rules set down in a written constitution. It is often simply called a "republic". The head of state and other representatives are elected. They do not have uncontrolled power.

7. People's Republic - a title used by some sovereign states with republican constitutions. The term was initially associated with populist movements in the 19th century (ege German Völkisch movement and Narodniks in Russia). A number of the short-lived states created during WWI and its aftermath called themselves people's republics. Many of these were in the territory of the former Russian Empire which collapsed following the Russian Revolution. 1917. Additional people's republics were created following the Allied victory in WWII. The term has become associated with countries adhering to Marxism–Leninism, although its use is not unique to such states.

8. Pizza Republic - Pizza chain

9. Weimar Republic - Germany's government 1919-1933, the period after WWI until the rise of Nazi Germany. It was named after the town where Germany's new government was formed by a national assembly after Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated.

10. Urban Republic - Clothing chain

New islands discovered

I thought this was an interesting item here 
Also see here.

10 Names in Welsh for English Counties

1. Ebrauc/Efrog (York)

2. Henffordd (Hereford)

3. Rhydychen (literally, "oxen ford" Oxford)

4. Dyfnaint (Devon)

5. Cernyw (Cornwall)

6. Gwlad-yr-haf ("land of summer" Somerset)

7. Caer (Cheshire)

8. Caerwrangon (Worcester)

9. Caerloyw (Gloucester)

10. Caergrawnt (Cambridge, from Grantchester)

10 Names in Welsh for English Towns

1. Llundain (London)

2. Caer or Caerlleon (Chester)

3. Llwydlo (Ludlow)

4. Rhosan-ar-Wy (Rosson Wye))

5. Caerwynt (Winchester)

6. Yr Amwythig (Shrewsbury. It means "the fort in scrubland")

7. Croesoswallt (ie "Oswald's cross" Oswestry means "Oswald's tree" which could be referring to a cross)

8. Bryste (Bristol)

9. Lerpwl (Liverpool)

10. Llanllieni (Leominster)

(One erroneous "translation" is Rhydwely for Bedford, which is really Beda's ford)

10 Places on the island of Ireland also found in Wales

1. Larne, County Antrim; Laugharne, Carmarthenshire (Latharna, Talacharn)

2. Bangor, County Down; Bangor, Gwynedd and on Dee

3. Derry the city in Ulster; Deri the village near Caerphilly

4. Kerry the County; Kerry, Powys

5. Crumlin, Belfast, Crumlin, Dublin, etc; Crumlin, the village near Caerphilly (Cromghlinn, Crymlyn)

6. Holywell, near Swords, Dublin; Holywell, Flintshire

7. Newcastle, small places in Tipperary, Wicklow, etc; Newcastle Emlyn and two others

8. Newbridge, two places in Kildare and Galway; three places, including one on the Usk and one on the Wye

9. Newport, County Mayo; Newport, South Wales and Pembrokeshire

10. Newtown, loads everywhere in Ireland and a few in Ulster; Newtown, Powys.
(New Inn would be a similar example to these last)

10 Teams in the alternative world cup

 Read more on this here

1. Abkhazia
2. Northern Cyprus
3. Székely Land
4. Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin)
5. Felvidek (Upper Hungary)
6. Tamil Eelam
7. Western Armenia
8. Tuvalu
9. Tibet
10. Matabeleland

10 Countries with interesting shapes

1. Bulgaria

2. Bosnia Herzegivinia (not Croatia as I had previously)

3. Cyprus

4. Luxembourg

5.Slovenia

6. Australia

7. Wales

8. Finland

9.Italy

10. South Africa

The Age of Walls Tim Marshall

I was in the bookshop the other day and spotted a new book by Tim Marshall The Age of Walls: How Barriers Between Nations Are Changing Our World. Having enjoyed his previous books on geopolitics I was eager to get this and had it read in no time. Sorry I've been a bit slow to draw it to your attention. We're all aware of Trump's talk of a wall and many of us are old enough to remember the Berlin wall. Once you bring in Hadrian's wall (no mention of Offa's Dyke - not a wall I guess) and the great wall of China you are away. It is surprising to know how many walls and fences there are out there and with a  good theme Mr Marshall manages to produce a book that is both interesting and informative and sometimes surprising.

The spiel says

“We are seeing walls being built along borders everywhere. Despite globalisation and advances in technology, we seem to be feeling more divided than ever. Thousands of miles of walls and fences have gone up around the world in the twenty-first century. At least 65 countries, more than a third of the world’s nation states, have built barriers along their borders; half of those erected since the Second World War sprang up between 2000 and now.”

10 Cities that have changed their names

1. Bratislava (after 1783) in Slovakia was once better known as Pressburg (German name) or Pozsony (Hungarian name)

2. Tokyo (ie Eastern Capital since 1868) in Japan was once Edo

3. Oslo (since 1925) in Norway was once Christiania (1838) and Kristiania (1877) though Oslo is the orginal name.

4. Istanbul (the most common name for the city after 1928) in Turkey having once been known as Byzantium then Constantinople (from 330 AD)

5. Ho Chi Minh City (since 1976) in Vietnam was once Prey Nokor  and Gia Định and Saigon

6. Harare (since 1982) in Zimbabwe was once Salisbury (and the country was called Rhodesia)

7. Volgograd (since 1961) was once Tsaritsyn (1589-1925) and Stalingrad (1925-1961)

8. Nuuk (ie Cape since 1979) in Greenland was once Godthaab and Godthåb

9. Chennai (since 1996) in India was once Madras

10. Polokwane (since 2005) in South Africa was once Pietersburg