The 25 most mispronounced place names in Greater Manchester from Blackley to Greenacres

There are some places in Greater Manchester that are difficult to pronounce – regardless of whether you grew up here or not. Some have silent letters, some words vary from accent to accent, and some are not English in origin.

While pronouncing these words wrongly will not see you expelled from the city, it can elicit the occasional eye-roll from those who consider themselves expert Mancunians, so it’s worth double-checking next time you come across a new place name.

We asked our readers on our Facebook page to tell us which names they hear mispronounced most often. Here is what they said, starting off with the borough names.

Of the 10 Manchester boroughs, there are two that are often mispronounced. Bury is sometimes pronounced “Burry,” however most locals refer to it as “Berry” – although this did spark some debate among readers, with some saying that it depends on your accent and which part of Manchester you are from. Readers also said they had heard people pronounce the “a” in Salford, when it should be pronounced “Sol-ford.”

Hall i’ th’ Wood (Bolton) and Besses o’ th’ Barn (Bury) are both similarly confusing due to the apostrophes and letter omissions. The trick with these two is to pretend that it is all one word. They should be pronounced “Ol-inth-wood” – you also have to drop the “h” – and “Besses-o-th-barn.”

There are few more tricky place names in Bolton. One of the most confusing names, according to our readers, is Daubhill, which is pronounced “Dobble.” Others include Breightmet, which is pronounced “Brate-met,” not “Brite-met,” and Westhoughton, pronounced “Westhorton.” This is common with “ough” place names. Other examples include Hough End, pronounced “Huff” and Boggart Hole Clough, pronounced “Cluff.”

Wigan also has a few awkward place names. The “de” in Tyldesley is silent and should be pronounced “Tyl-sley” and  Lowton is pronounced “low” as in “slow.” The “Mesnes” part of Worsley Mesnes comes from French and should be pronounced “Main.” It’s also worth pointing out that Demesne Road in Whalley Range is also pronounced this way – “De-main.”

Greenacres in Oldham is another difficult place name for people who are unfamiliar with the Saddleworth villages. This is not pronounced “Green-acres,” but “Gren-a-kers” – almost like you’re trying to say Greenacres really fast. The neighbouring area of Mossley is also not pronounced as it is written either. It’s not “Moss” as in the plant, but “Moz” or “Mos” – “Moz-ley”

One of the most popular suggestions from our readers was Altrincham. There is no “ch” sound in Altrincham, it should be pronounced as a “g” sound, and the first letter “A” is more “O” – “Ol-tring-am.”

Another common mispronunciation is Hulme and, by extension, Levenshulme. In both cases, the “l” is silent – “Hume” and “Levens-hume,” which does not have a “sh” sound either. This is also the case with Cadishead in Salford, which is pronounced “Cadis-head.”

Similarly, our readers were also quick to highlight Blackley, which is pronounced “Blake-ley” not “Black-ley,” as in the colour. Baguley also came up a few times. Here the “u” is silent and it is said in two syllables – “Bag-ley.” The “y” in Heyrod is also silent and should be pronounced “Herod,” as in the Biblical king.

Finally, remember to drop the “w” in Glodwick and Beswick - “Glod-ick” and “Bez-ick.”