Doing Geography wrong.
For years I thought that Milton keynes was up near Liverpool somewhere. It was only when I happened to be on a London to Birmingham train that stopped in Milton Keynes that I was enlightened. (Although that was only after one of those soul-blasting moments of horror when you realise you might be on entirely the wrong train.)
Also, in my defence Culdrose and Falmouth sound like they ought to be in Scotland.
(Big D, Thu 15 Jul 2010, 21:27, 10 replies)

For years and years and years and years I thought Billaricay was somewhere in Ireland....
It does sound a bit Irish though, doesn't it?
(FartThroughAWalkieTalkie wished you were dead in ditch on, Thu 15 Jul 2010, 21:37, closed)

You mean it's not????
(mad-mother, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 0:09, closed)

Billericay!
Ha! I always thought it was a made-up place, non-existant like Timbuktu (which is also real, apparently).
Confused...
(GforGermany looks like some sort of retaining plunger, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 10:07, closed)

And Surbiton
I thought it was a place similar to Suburbia
( e.m.m.y. foxtrot uniform charlie kilo india tango, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 10:50, closed)

Places that deceive us by sounding like they aren't where they are supposed to be
This is almost a question in it's own right, there are loads of places like this. I've always felt that Cannock should be in Scotland as should Ormskirk and recently a friend was working in Pontefract and his wife asked him whereabouts in Wales it was.

There is something inherent in some names I guess...
(Trojan Hussar blowing fag ash into your PSU since, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 0:21, closed)

At the start of the Falklands war, my dad couldn't understand why the Argentinians were invading Scotland... took him a while to figure that one out.
(deadsetgav, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 9:08, closed)

Ormskirk is wonderful though

( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 12:18, closed)

"Kirk" is an old Norse word for church
Much of Scotland and the Isle of Man came under Danish, and later Norwegian, rule from the 8th century up until the mid-13th century. The word "kirk" was just absorbed into the Gaelic language, and that's why places like Selkirk and Falkirk are so named. At the time the Fylde coast and the area to the north of Liverpool was mostly uninhabited, until a load of vikings settled there. The Wirral peninsula is also named for the old Norse name.

I don't know if Dunkirk is also named for the Norse word (the Norse did make huge inroads in Normandy - that's actually why it's called Normandy) but it sounds like it should be.
(Vlad the Inhaler forgot his password, Wed 21 Jul 2010, 23:12, closed)

Culross and Falkirk, your supposition is not unreasonable.
(Benzyl, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 17:08, closed)

There are also two River Dees
One in Chester, one in Scotland.
(Vlad the Inhaler forgot his password, Wed 21 Jul 2010, 23:13, closed)