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Bury suburb listed among ‘UK’s silliest place names’

The most bizarre place names in Britain have been listed - and a Greater Manchester town has made the cut.

The Manc The Manc - 21st December 2020

Bury suburb Besses o’ th’ Barn has been listed among the ‘silliest names in Britain’.

The name of the small area – which sits between Radcliffe and Prestwich in the top half of Greater Manchester – never fails to raise eyebrows among tourists taking the Metrolink.

Besses o’ th’ Barn’s etymology remains something of a mystery, although one explanation is that the area was once home to a barn-like local pub run by a landlady called Bess.

But whilst this northern-looking and sounding name elicits chuckles from travellers, Britain is in fact home to a numerous, humorously-titled locations further afield.

LeaseCarUk has actually built a map highlighting all the ‘silliest’ places in the country – with the likes of Crackport, Bunny and Great Snoring all making the list.

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Britain’s ‘silliest’ place names – (Image:LeaseCar.uk)

The list in full is as follows:

  • Brawl
  • Lost
  • Brokenwind
  • Whiterashes
  • Dull, Aberfeldy
  • Spunkie
  • Wideopen
  • Pity Me
  • Wetwang
  • Blubberhouses
  • Crackpot
  • Giggleswick
  • Besses o’th ‘Barn
  • Jump
  • Bunny
  • Chemisty
  • Barton in the Beans
  • Great Snoring
  • Plwmp
  • New Invention
  • Nasty
  • Donkey Town
  • Matching Tye
  • Curry Mallet
  • Brown Willy
  • Catbrain
  • Crapstone
  • Loose Bottom

A spokesperson for LeaseCar.uk, which compiled the list, said: “The English language never fails to amaze us, and neither does the imagination and creativity that must have gone into naming these iconic places around Great Britain and Ireland.  

“We’re not sure how residents of Nasty and Crapstone convince people they’re nice places to live with names like that – Bunny in Nottinghamshire sounds much better!”

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Henry Cavill’s audition tape for James Bond has been leaked online – and people have thoughts…

Danny Jones Danny Jones Henry Cavill James Bond audition tape

In case you haven’t already seen it, the man who has been linked with being the next James Bond for what feels like the past decade, Henry Cavill, has seen his audition tape for the role leaked online.

Well, it’s an old tape from when he was first put up for the role but still, we always love watching these.

The Superman, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and former Witcher star has been in contention to replace Daniel Craig as Bond for almost as long as Idris Elba has/was, and while the latter may have drifted from the conversation somewhat in the past few years, Cavill’s only seems to have grown.

Now a fully-fledged Hollywood star, his career’s come a long way since the days of his long-haired audition for 007 nearly two whole decades ago…

He was given three different variations of scenes to perform. Director Martin Campbell can be heard saying his audition was “tremendous”.

Yes, what you see above is a video by YouTuber Ron South revealing Henry Cavill’s audition for Casino Royale: a remake of the 1967 original film released back in 2006 which effectively rebooted Bond for the modern, more serious era.

Uploaded from an original VHS audition tape filmed just a decade into Barbara Broccoli and co’s tenure in charge of the franchise, having taken over from her father in 1995 (we have no idea how he got his hands on, so don’t ask), you get to see a good seven minutes of Henry Cavill as James Bond.

The first thing to note is that besides the flowing mane of dark hair, the soon-to-be leading man was much younger during this recording; he was just 22 when the tape was made and considered too young for the part at the time.

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Ironically, many believe Cavill might be at the very least verging on too old, even though all three of Pierce Brosnan (42), Roger Moore (45) and Timothy Dalton (41 – the same age) were older than him when they first took up the tuxedo and very specific taste for martinis.

Regardless of whether he is the ‘right age’ now or not, the clips being leaked online have divided opinion, to say the least, with many suggesting that while he may not have been ready for the role then, he and his acting chops have matured significantly in the 20 years that have passed.

It’s also worth stating that opinions are just that and some are definitely less popular than others; for instance, many in the comments underneath social media posts said Daniel Craig – the man who famously did get the job back in 2006 – was “overrated” and “only had one good film.”

Come on, Craig wasn’t even our first Bond and you’ve got to admit even if he isn’t your favourite, he was excellent and gave the series a refreshing, grittier spin.

But wait, we haven’t even got to the best part yet: Ron South has also uploaded four other actors’ James Bond audition tapes besides Henry Cavill which you can find HERE – all of which give off a very different vibe. The question is, were any of them right for the iconic character, or are they perhaps now?

What did you make of this glimpse at Henry Cavill as James Bond in his old audition tape and you think he’s still the ‘favourite’ in your eyes for the world’s most famous spy?

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Featured Images — EON Productions Limited/MGM/Ron South (via YouTube)

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You can now name a bin after your ex just in time for Valentine’s Day

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and one company is offering bitter singles the chance to honour their ex in a fitting way.

With less than a week to go until the international day of love itself arrives, and loved-up people across the globe take the time to shower their nearest and dearest with affection, Valentine’s Day isn’t always the happiest of times for those of us who are single or who have a history of mistreatment by an ex partner.

Which is why, commercial waste management company, BusinessWaste.co.uk, is offering singles the chance to get their own back.

Back by popular demand for 2025, after proving to be a huge success in years past, the company is giving single people the chance to clean up their breakups by printing their ex’s name slap bang on the front of a bin.

Anyone who wants to see their ex emblazoned on the side of a bright green bin will just need to fill in a short form on the company’s website.

You can now name a bin after your ex just in time for Valentine’s Day / Credit: BusinessWaste.co.uk

All you’ll need to do is simply enter the name of your ex, select the type of bin you want to add them to, and then pick one of three messages you’d like to send – ‘Binned’, ‘Bin there, dumped that’, and ‘You’re dumped’.

The name with the most entries will then be added to a bin on Valentine’s Day itself (14 February).

“For many people, the memories they have of their ex are quite simply rubbish,” commented Mark Hall, who is the co-founder of BusinessWaste.

“With over 50,000 bins throughout the UK, we wanted to put them to good use and offer people the chance to take the trash out by naming a bin after their ex.

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“We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to turn heartache into healing, a cathartic experience for those who need to dump the past, or the perfect way to cheer up a friend who’s single this Valentine’s Day.”

Fancy it then? You can find more about naming a bin here.

Featured Image – PickPik

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