Places in my English Dictionary Quiz

Answer: Eye

A quaint little market town with a ruined castle and a Grade 1 listed church, St Peter & St Paul. The town name apparently derives from the Old English word for island. If so, why aren't there a lot more places with the same name?

Answer: Sandwich

One of the Cinque Ports, denoted as such by Edward the Confessor, it still has many medieval buildings. As to the article of food, times were obviously frugal when my dictionary was published in 1933; sandwiches are much more substantial these days and have more varied content.

Answer: Battle

Battle is a small town in Sussex, named for the site of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William the Norman built an abbey here which no longer exists.

Answer: Leek

Leek is a picturesque town on the edge of the Peak District National Park. This market town is a long way from Wales, so it is a coincidence that the leek is one of the Welsh emblems, together with the daffodil and the red dragon.

Answer: Wells

Wells is a city in Somerset, and has a truly magnificent cathedral with a central tower and two western towers. Wells is combined with the city of Bath to make the single diocese of Bath & Wells.

Answer: Harrow

The large town of Harrow in the County of Middlesex, in Greater London, is also known as Harrow-on-the-Hill. The public school here, the great rival of Eton College, was where Winston Churchill was educated. It was the scene of one of the first fatal railway accidents in 1838, and a serious modern railway accident in 1952 when three trains collided killing 112 people.

Answer: Stone

Stone is one of the towns in Staffordshire renowned for making pottery, among other things.
The town is on the river Trent and is at one end of the canal that links the rivers Trent and Mersey. It was originally known as the Grand Trunk Canal, but is now called the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Answer: Diss

Diss is a town in Norfolk some 20 miles from Norwich.
The phrase "to diss someone" is to treat them with contempt, or (obviously) disrespect, and is a slang term used mainly in the USA.
I have to confess I was surprised to find a meaning for diss in my old dictionary, but sure enough it is a kind of grass with the botanical name "Ampelodesmos mauritanica", and is also called Mauritania vine reed and Rope grass.

Answer: Ware

Ware is a town in Hertfordshire on the River Lea. It is most famous for once housing the "Great Bed of Ware". This was an enormous oak four-poster bed originally (around 1590) housed in the White Hart Inn, and reputedly able to accommodate four couples! It is now in the Victoria and Albert museum in London.

Answer: Hull

This port in Yorkshire is officially called Kingston-Upon-Hull, and lies at the junction of the River Hull with the Humber Estuary. It was the UK City of Culture in 2017. There is a town called Keele, but it not spelled like the part of a boat.

Answer: Bury

Bury is a town in the Greater Manchester area. Bury has a football team which was founded in 1885, but which sadly was expelled from the English Football League in August 2019 for "unpaid debts and poor ownership".

Answer: Stoke

Stoke (official name Stoke-on-Trent) is a city in Staffordshire, and is in the centre of the district known as "The Potteries". It has been called the pottery capital of the world. Royal Doulton, Spode, Minton and Wedgwood were all founded here. The present city was actually formed in 1910 by the amalgamation of six smaller towns.

Answer: Slough

Slough is a big town in Berkshire, and a massive business centre. Many international companies have their headquarters there.
Apart from the meaning of a mire or swamp, or a muddy estuary, the word has another the meaning, the casting off of dead skin - as many snakes do. As for the pronunciation of these different meanings in different versions of English, I have to refer you to a good website such as the Cambridge Dictionary. Good luck!

Answer: Hove

The town of Hove in Sussex adjoins the bigger town of Brighton, on the South Coast. The two places have been amalgamated into the City of Brighton and Hove.
The use of the word hove is mainly nautical, and is seen in phrases such as "hove to" and "hove into sight".

Answer: Deal

Deal is a seaside town in Kent, close to the similar town of Sandwich. On a clear day the coast of France may be seen, 22 miles away. Allegedly!