Talk:Black Potts Railway Bridge

Apostrophe, or not Apostrophe?

 * ...with apologies to William Shakespeare!


 * (aka) Proposed page move

The following is a discussion, between myself (EdJogg) and User:Motmit (the page creator), on the latter's talk page, trying to establish whether the name of this bridge should include an apostrophe or not.


 * Hi. I see you've created an article about this bridge. I just wanted to be sure about the spelling you've used for the article name. I had never seen it spelt with an apostrophe before, and a quick Google seems to confirm my suspicions (about 200 hits for "black potts railway bridge" against 21 for "black pott's railway bridge", 85% of the latter having come from Wikipedia or mirror sites.) Now, one way or the other, this [article] is the opportunity to educate the world about the correct spelling...!


 * I checked the OS map for Windsor but it doesn't give the name. Also, googling for "black potts ait" gives two hits against zero for "black pott's ait". So, do you have any authoritative references that can confirm which is correct?


 * EdJogg 22:21, 9 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Copied from EdJogg's talk page to keep the discussion in one place:
 * Hi - I just created the article against the pre-existing red links which had an apostrophe. I was concerned about the apostrophe but as it appeared in every link, I decided to leave it. I checked Google and there were some references with apostrophes but intuitively I think the apostrophe is wrong. I found references to fishing in the Black Potts area which I may incorporate somewhere. (Incidentally the reverse happened with Platts Eyot, which I think ought to have an apostrophe.)
 * Motmit 07:09, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
 * EdJogg 08:34, 10 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I think that you are probably in a better place to determine whether the apostrophe should be present or not. Bear in mind, though, that the redlinks on WP may well have been added (incorrectly) by the same person, or some added and the rest copied! As we both feel that the apostrophe should not be present, I think you could safely move the page to the 'correct' name and then wait until someone provides some good references that contradict this. (I found that the article about Edward Akroyd, a 19th century manufacturer and MP, had had an incorrect article title for TWO AND HALF YEARS, until I checked with online references, in particular, his entry at the National Portrait Gallery!)


 * EdJogg 08:34, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Please note that, for clarity, some sentences (unrelated to this topic) were not copied from the talk page.Also note that the sentence concerning Edward Akroyd has been re-written, having had the chance now to confirm facts!

Having looked a little more deeply into some of the Google references, I have discovered that such bodies as the Environment Agency and contractors working on the Jubilee River do not include an apostrophe in the name. Therefore, I feel that it is safe to move the page to the correct title and correct the WP references. Hopefully, in time, the various mirror sites will catch up, and the correct spelling will prevail.

EdJogg 12:53, 17 October 2007 (UTC)