Archives relocation uncovers quirky names

SOME fascinating new discoveries have come to light as the county's shared archives service continues its preparations for its move to two new state-of-the-art centres in Chester and Crewe next year.

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An Ordnance Survey map showing the location of Gnat Hole in the Bollington area of Cheshire

Cheshire Archives looks after more than 5,000 Ordnance Survey maps and some of these go back more than 150 years.

The archives team and its volunteers have already carefully catalogued more than 2,000 maps, which date back to 1871.

All editions of the familiar 25 inch to a mile scale maps between 1871 and 1944 have been checked, producing some intriguing results.

Among the discoveries are some wonderfully quirky and long forgotten place names such as Bogginshill, Snape Farm, Gnat Hole and Blackdog.