There are a fair few quirky place and street names across the UK, but there’s one street considered to have the ‘rudest name’. Bell End is a historic road in the West Midlands town of Rowley Regis.
It’s only short, spanning 0.2 miles (or 320 metres) yet has received a lot of media attention recently due to its risque name. In December a statue of Russian president Vladmir was erected on Bell End. People even threw eggs at the statue, which was complete with a plaque stating “Bellend of the year”.
In 2018 a petition was launched calling for its name to be changed as people claimed children were being bullied at school. Our colleagues at BirminghamLive visited the road to see how residents found life there, although the statue of Putin had already been removed. Here’s what they found out.
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Residents told us they liked the name and claimed it had even pushed up houses prices in the area. Several homes on the road featured their house number and the name 'Bell End', proudly adorned on signs.
Greg Roberts, aged 31, said: "We moved here about two years ago. It was a plus reason for moving here.
"When people hear where we live, they react as you would expect." He added: "We found out about the statue because someone posted about it on Facebook."
Nearby, another man who wished to remain anonymous said: "To be honest, the word is something from the 1980s. Before it was a word people made up, there used to a bell tower at the end of the road. That is the reason why the street was called Bell End.
"It is people's minds in this day and age. That is why they want to move down here, they find it funny. It has put the prices of houses up."
Andy Swan, 74, who lived further down the road, said: "It was the clock tower, the name has been there for many years.
"It is the new people moving in making it worse." A 50-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I love the name.
"When you phone people up, you have to say your address very quickly. People start laughing."
Meanwhile, a postman who was out delivering mail, added: "I love telling people I'm the Bell End postman. There was a petition to get it changed about three years ago."
A petition was launched in 2018 to change Bell End's name, generating around 100 signatures. It came amid claims children who lived there were bullied and teased at school as a result of its name.
But a counter-petition was also launched to save it and that amassed nearly 4,800 signatures. Linda George, who launched the counter-petition, said it seemed 'the name dated back to the bell on a hunting lodge, belonging to King John'.
Rowley Regis is rich in history, it began life as hunting grounds which belonged to English royalty. The town grew from a small village, situated around a church, in the 1100s.
In the year 1140AD, the word 'Regis' was added to the town's name, signifying it was part of royal hunting grounds belonging to a past king. Nowadays, the street falls across two Sandwell Council wards – Rowley Regis and Blackheath.
Bell End was ranked fourth on a list of the top 15 most rude-sounding street names in the UK in 2014. Linda told BirminghamLive in 2019: "Last time I was there, the locals were a mixture of amused by the fame and angry that an incomer wanted to change the historic name."
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