Talk:Haverhill, Suffolk

Haver the Pirate

I removed the piece about the etymology of Haverhill being based on a Danish pirate named Haver. I have heard this story before but is there any evidence? The only source for this that I can find is from a copy of the Haverhill Echo from 1971 (sent in from someone in Australia?). See: http://www.haverhill-uk.com/pages/haverhill-was-named-after-a-pirate-721.htm

Furthermore, this story alleges that Haver killed King Edmund (of Bury St. Edmund fame). But there is no mention of this on the wikipedia page for Saint Edmund: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_the_Martyr I would think that local scholars would know something about how Edmund died and certainly whether there was any possible connection to a Danish pirate.

I suspect that this was an invented story from many years ago. If it is in any way real, there should be some evidence for it. Nod 17:01, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Unregistered user, but I made the claim using that very article. You have a fair point. It is listed on a poster at a local pub (The Haver arms) too, which I know is nothing to go by. I have also been told it means "three hills" growing up, but whether this is another story that has been twisted I don't know. I've checked briefly around the internet and there seems to be no claim to this. Anyway, thanks for your time!

>According to http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/visit/hh-to-1899.cfm the towns name came about because "... it became known as the place where oats were grown, or in Old English, Haver Hill. " DavidTooke (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:06, 10 March 2010 (UTC).

It is pronounced 'Hay-ver-il'.

Is it? My family have lived there since the 1970's and we mainly prono8unce it Hay-ver-hill. I do know that some people pronounce it 'ayv-ril' but surely thats just a contraction like 'bu!er' instead of butter. I do agree about they 'hay-ver' rather than 'havva' though! BubbleChog 12:11, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I have never heard "Haverhill" pronounced as "Hay-ver-il," and I've lived there more or less all of my life. I do wonder who put that change in the first place? Baldingbarrymore 14:27, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to be bold and remove it. BubbleChog 15:36, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Hi I'm not a registered user, but have lived in Haverhill since 2001. I put the phonetic form back-in (although I wasn't responsible for the original addition, which was made on 12 March 2007). I regularly have conversations with an elderly local gent who has lived here his entire life; a genuine Suffolk-boy. He makes a point of politely correcting my "London" pronunciation. Sadly the "real" Suffolk accent has become quite a rarity in the town these days. [JTW]

I was born in Haverhill but was moved to Bury St Edmunds as a nipper. That's still in Suffolk where nobody, but nobody native, pronounces the letter "h". The name of the town is almost always something like "Ayvril". I'm being big and brave and adding an annotation to that effect. (Viragored (talk) 08:02, 4 March 2011 (UTC))

I'm from eastern Massachusetts, an area filled with names transported from England but scattered indiscriminately. Who would ever put Cambridge next to Boston, but there it is! Anyway, the city of Haverhill, Massachusetts, with name obviously borrowed, is always HAY-vrill, except when spoken by non-locals who think it is HAVVer-hill. We don't drop our aitches, but sometimes have trouble finding the letter R at the end of words. If in need of a strong discussion of pronunciation, look up Chelmsford, Massachusetts (another of the borrowed names) and try to find out why I pronounce it CHEMS-fidd. Or perhaps CHEMS-fdd. Snezzy (talk) 12:19, 28 December 2017 (UTC)

Map

What is the context of this map to this article (i.e., where is the dot on the map?)? Ufwuct 16:58, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Good question. I've fixed it. CiaranG 17:02, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm very impressed with your speed, especially considering that there was no talk page here before. Thanks. Ufwuct 17:06, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Ah, but if the main page is on your watchlist, so is the talk page. CiaranG 17:17, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Leisure

Started a new section for Haverhill's leisure facilities which clearly can be greatly expanded, but this will hopefully serve as a spring board. Couldn't find a website to link to snooker club. Is there still a go karting place somewhere outside of Haverhill? Nod 16:59, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

In 2000, a photographer photographed most of Haverhill and morphed their faces together. The link to the website is here: http://www.haverhill2000.com/ . I'm new here, so I don't know if this qualifies for entry in an article, which is why this is going on the talk page instead of straight into the atricle. Leahbookworm 18:11, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

"Economically Deprived"?

I'm not sure if, in the very first sentence of the introduction, Haverhill should be described as "economically deprived"? Certainly it has a mixed housing stock, but then most towns in England do. The town has a strong mix of industrial and service industries, and the rate of unemployment is relatively low compared to the UK national average. Furthermore, the Science Park which has commenced construction to the west of the town will reduce local unemployment further. The town is infact relatively dynamic, with a young population, and with a growing percentage of professionally qualified people who choose to live in the area and commute to Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds, and even London. I therefore believe it is inappropriate to describe Haverhill as "economically deprived".

I have therefore decided to remove this 'socio-economic' reference from the introduction.Ds1994 (talk) 20:05, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

"small but noticeable Portuguese and Polish communities"

I'm aware of a small Filipino community, but not a Portuguese one. I note that there is already a 'citation needed' against both Portuguese and Polish. Would the census data be acceptable? — Preceding unsigned comment added by WobblySpelling (talk • contribs) 21:13, 3 August 2015 (UTC)