Gotham. It's pronounced Gotham.

March 19, 2019 5:24 PM

The village of Gotham, just west of Bunny and close to Thrumpton, is known for its clever fools (more) of some 700 years ago. Residents, known as Gothamites, allegedly built the fence to house the cuckoo on top of a 3,000 year old Neolithic burial mound on a hill to the south. The village also contains a square, several pubs, a 12th century church, a well-equipped hall and a chippy. More etymology. Stop stealing the sign, superhero fans and locals alike.
posted by Wordshore (16 comments total)

If they don't want their sign stolen they should do what Shitterton did and replace it in stone.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:36 PM on March 19, 2019 [4 favorites]

Seems like a missed opportunity for the local council to make some money selling signs. Yes you can probably get a generic "Welcome to Gotham" from some online retailer but I'm sure there'd be a decent amount of people who'd rather get an official one from the actual place.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:47 PM on March 19, 2019 [5 favorites]

That was so interesting! Just the thing after two days of jury duty, thankee!
posted by eggkeeper at 7:20 PM on March 19, 2019

What Gotham needs (and deserves) is a former officer's servant to give out autographs.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:37 PM on March 19, 2019 [2 favorites]

I knew that video had better be Tom Scott. He has tons of short well done videos about interesting places.
posted by zengargoyle at 7:55 PM on March 19, 2019

Gotham is the most famous, but there are several other villages or whole counties in England with similar stories, like the Moonrakers of Wiltshire, who tried to get the moon out of a pond with a rake. Or to quote Wikipedia, "there are many other reputed imbecile centres in England besides Gotham". In my experience of English rural life, it's usually the next village or county along from where you live yourself.
posted by Fuchsoid at 9:21 PM on March 19, 2019 [8 favorites]

Surely, there is a word for goat meat besides gotham, or is this more evidence of wacky lunacy?
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:09 AM on March 20, 2019

My coworker lives in Gotham and when Batman vs Superman came out, everyone in the town got a box full of promo materials from the studio, and the bus to Gotham was all Batman branded for a couple of weeks.

Also, apparently, that chip shop is really good, as I've heard from said coworker.
posted by Katemonkey at 2:51 AM on March 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

I only really go there for the car boot sale during the summer. Good place to find rusty tools to spruce up.
posted by pipeski at 3:21 AM on March 20, 2019

Also, apparently, that chip shop is really good...

I can confirm this assessment; the fish suppers I've had from there were indeed splendid, and well above average for a rural chippy. The food in the local pubs, on the other hand - variable value for money.

The neolithic burial mound is a nice, isolated, spot that's only a few minutes walk out of the village. Was there last Beltane when the bluebells were out; with no-one else around it was a pleasantly peaceful location to consider the people who had inhabited these parts for the last several thousand years.
posted by Wordshore at 4:32 AM on March 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

Stop stealing the sign, superhero fans and locals alike.
I'm not sure if this wasn't a long con to convince the constabulary to post pictures of themselves holding a large sign that reads GOT HAM.
posted by zamboni at 5:40 AM on March 20, 2019

Stop stealing the sign, superhero fans and locals alike.

Who, me? *Wanders off as though I have no cares at all and certainly no need for a Batman-themed road sign*
posted by bile and syntax at 6:06 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

There's another Gotham a few miles away from me in Dorset. There's nothing there, so I assume that folk from Gotham, Nottinghamshire came down and stole everything.
posted by dowcrag at 8:44 AM on March 20, 2019

Well, Gotham, Wisconsin has a batcave, so it's got that going for it.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:07 PM on March 20, 2019

I remember when I was a small kid going on holiday and my dad got lost and we kept going round in circles around Gotham, but never actually went through it.
It was a bit strange because we were actually looking for Grantham and the A52.
posted by Burn_IT at 3:00 PM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]

But this Gotham is pronounced Gotham, not Gotham, so it's completely the wrong sign.

(I feel seriously smug for actually knowing how to pronounce Gotham. Sorrynotsorry)
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 8:07 PM on March 20, 2019