Britain's rudest road signs

When we first launched our project we knew we were embarking on a bold and exciting quest to reclaim the country's historic place names from the widespread tendency to snigger and smirk. It was clear that, for some reason, people believed that names like Twatt and Shitterton were rude. This mistake was as damaging as it was infantile, and simply had to be challenged.

But we had no idea how monumental our task would be. The support we have received has been both heartening and inspiring. It is clear that many people wish to support us, realising that there is nothing whatever rude about Little Cocklick, Cum Cum Hill or Pulham Down. We started to believe that a day will come when we will all respect our varied cultural heritage, and that so-called "rude" place names will bind us together in a future of peace and global brotherhood.

But it is also clear that we are not always getting through. Some people have even suggested that our work is, in fact, intended to promote rudeness, somehow ironically revelling in the very phenomenon that we are working so hard to challenge. We won't dignify this view with a rebuttal. However, it strikes us that the people who claim this are projecting their own guilty feelings on to us in order to avoid examining their own actions.

So welcome to this uplifting tour around our land, finding beauty and joy wherever we go. We are convinced that it will make it clear that there is nothing to chortle about.

Extracted from 'Rude UK: 100 Newly Exposed British Back Passages, Streets and Towns' by Rob Bailey and Ed Hurst, published by Boxtree, 10