Mark Brader wrote:
John Upton:
The on board scrolling displays and the tube maps say it is spelt St John's
Wood with apostrophe but the platform roundels omit it.

"San John's Wood"? Interesting variation. :-)

So which is right?

Either, both, or neither, as you wish. There is no single definitive
source for the "true" name of an Underground station, and many stations
have had this sort of variation.

Logic would suggest that St John's Wood is more likely to be correct,
because the wood then belongs to St John, rather than being a wood
consisting of multiple "St John"s, or named after "St Johns"...

....whereas Earl's Court or Barons Court could reasonably have their
counterpart spellings, given that a court might either belong to an earl
or a baron, or be composed of multiples thereof.

My local Shepherd's Bush always bugs me, because although most Tube maps
show it "correctly", buses rarely do - partly because although the
location seems to be officially named "Shepherd's Bush" and the green
space is called "Shepherd's Bush Common", the road that runs along the
southeastern and western sides of the Common is apparently "Shepherds
Bush Green"*. Argh!

I can understand how a bush would *belong* to a Shepherd, but a bush
composed of shepherds? Or maybe even "bush" is a verb... dogs bark,
sheep bleat, shepherds bush?

Of course, if the station was named after something, and *that* has an
official or universally used spelling, you might take that to be indicative...

* depending on which maps you consult (A-Z or Bart's) and whether you
prefer the LB Hammersmith & Fulham's usage (which rarely includes an
apostrophe on anything Bush-related).

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London