Why change a perfectly good name?

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Why change a perfectly good name? by AlastairG as part of the Geograph project.

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Why change a perfectly good name?

Image: © AlastairG Taken: 6 Mar 2026

Prior to being given, "Shoemakers' Way", the totally meaningless "Lovers' Lane" was in use until pressure called for it to be changed to the name by which it had been known for at least 100 years. The people who deal with such things went part way. The original name by which it was known by the natives of the town was, "Cobblers' Lane". Linlithgow was the centre of a thriving leather industry with one local company, Wm Morrison, producing nothing but boots for several years - the boots went to the WW1 trenches, so cobblers would have been a familiar sight in the area.

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Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
55.969225
Longitude
-3.605649