Talk:Higham Ferrers railway station

Name

The article states that between 1902 and 1910 the station was renamed "Higham Ferrers and Irthingborough". If that is the case then there would be TWO stations with exactly the same name at the same time ie this one at the end of the branch line and also the one nearer to Irthlingborough but on the line to Peterborough. ( See the listing for Irthlingborough station Irthlingborough_railway_station ). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.42.247.64 (talk) 22:16, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

There were indeed two different stations with identical names, it was not a crime either then or now (consider for example Euston railway station and Euston tube station). There were two railway lines, each owned by a different company: the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Midland Railway (MR). These two were rivals, and it is unlikely that one of them would ask the permission of the other before putting up station nameboards.

It is conceivable that they deliberately chose identical names, with the intention of misleading the public into using "their" routes instead of those of the competition. Imagine somebody living in Higham Ferrers going to their nearest station (the MR's Higham Ferrers and Irthingborough station) and asking for a ticket to Peterborough. They would be sold one: and the MR booking clerk would also advise them to change trains at Wellingborough and Manton; what they would not be told - because it would not be in the MR's interests to do so - would be that if they walked the mile-and-a-half to the LNWR's Higham Ferrers and Irthingborough station, they could catch a direct service to Peterborough which would be both quicker and cheaper. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 20:39, 17 December 2017 (UTC)

I am not at all convinced Redrose64. If I could I would add a 'citation needed' request to the article but as the person compiling the article has put that part into an Info Box it seems to be protected from editing. One thing is very curious, both articles misspell Irthlingborough in the statement "renamed Higham Ferrers and Irthingborough" (sic). They have missed out the letter 'l'. Why is this? Did the compiler of the article start confusing one station with the other. Do we just have to accept wrong spellings of place names on Wikipedia now? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.42.247.64 (talk) 12:58, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

We use the spellings that the railway used themselves, even if those differ from the "official" spelling of the placename. In this case, it appears that Chevin (talk · contribs) made a typo, which after checking sources, I have corrected.

Generally speaking, this is all in accordance with the policy on verifiability. For example, there is a station named "Didcot Parkway"; in the town of Didcot, there is no road named Parkway - there is a Park Road, and also a Broadway. Furthermore, when that station was first opened (as "Didcot"), it was in a village then known as North Hagbourne - a little to the west, there was another village known as "Dudcote". In the ensuing 150+ years, the latter village has become a town, adopted the spelling that the railway used, and swallowed up North Hagbourne. This town has an Army establishment known as Vauxhall Barracks; it is on Foxhall Road. Which is correct? We cannot attempt to change documented facts. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:02, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

Where is it actually documented that the Midland Railway station was called "Higham Ferrers and Irthlingborough" (the same name as the LNWR station a mile and a half away)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.42.247.64 (talk) 00:55, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 119. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

see this edit. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:24, 30 December 2017 (UTC)