Under age magic - just wondering? - The West Country

[Geoff]

No: HPFGUIDX 188339

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bboyminn" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:

Geoff:
> >
> > ...
> > 
> > But to get back on topic. Harry's parents James and Lily were
> > killed at Godric's Hollow. There was a lot of discussion on 
> > this topic a few years back in which it was suggested that 
> > the village was in South Wales which would tie in with 
> > Hagrid's flight path.

> > However, since then, other information has surfaced, to wit:
 
> > '"... Most celebrated of these half-magical dwelling places 
> > is, perhaps, Godric's Hollow, the West Country village
> > ..."' (DH "Godric's Hollow" p.261 UK edition)
 
> > ...

> > However, it is feasible that Hagrid may have steered 
> > sufficiently far north, five or six miles or so, to be 
> > skirting the southern suburbs of Bristol. Bristol is an 
> > extensive city. ...

bboyminn: 
> Well, "West Country" covers a lot of area, I suspect Bristol
> itself would be considered 'West Country'. Next does 'West
> Country' refer to England itself, or would Wales be included
> in the 'West Country'? 

Geoff:
To a Brit, there is a subtle distinction between "West Country" 
and "South West". The latter tends to cover Devon and Cornwall, 
while "West Country" would be approximately east of those 
counties up to a line linking Bristol to the eastern border of 
Dorset around the Bournemouth area.

Wales would most certainly NOT be included. The "West Country" 
is also often referred to as the "West of England".
 
bboyminn: 
> I get the impression that Neville's Grandmother lives in 
> the North 'country'. Though I may only think that because
> Matt Lewis, who plays Neville in the movies, live north
> of London. 

Geoff:
Matthew comes from Leeds which is about 200 miles north of 
London.

bboyminn:  
> Also, keep in mind that Hagrid is flying, so he could be MANY
> miles from Bristol and still see it clearly. As he flew over
> or near, it would be the largest local landmark that could be
> seen at night. So, Hagrid could have been 20 to 30 miles 
> away (perhaps even 50 miles away) in any direction and still 
> could have said he flew over Bristol. 

> I suspect, as you seem to imply, that like many modern cities
> the Bristol metropolitan area is huge compared to the city of
> Bristol itself. This is even true of London. The REAL London
> is just one small section in the center of a much larger city. 
> The larger space we call London, is not really London at all, 
> but a collection of what we would now call suburbs that spread 
> out for many many miles in all directions. 
> 
> So, again, Hagrid could have been 30 miles or more from Bristol
> proper, and he would have still said he flew over Bristol. 

Geoff:
I think that you are perhaps looking at our geography from maps 
and not as we see it on the ground.

I live just over 50 miles from Bristol. If an aircraft flew over our area, 
no way would it be described as being "over" Bristol. Although Bristol 
is the main regional centre in that direction, it is nowhere as widespread 
as London and is perhaps no more than 8 miles or so across.

London, as you say, is interpreted in many ways. You have the 
administrative CIty of London which houses the Bank of England and other 
parts of the financial sector and is often referred to as the "Square Mile'. 
there is the old LCC area which was the administrative area of London from 
1889-1965 and the modern Greater London which was created at this
 point. (It was this change which puts Little Whinging in Surrey).
One rule of thumb which is often used by us Brits is to consider 
London as the area within the M25 London Orbital motorway which lies 
about 15-20 miles from the centre of the city.

I lived in London for 45 years and saw many of these changes occurred as 
I grew up and worked in the area.

bboyminn: 
> He could have been across from Bristol in Southern Wales. I
> think JKR used to live in that area. They could have moved him
> to safety in Ireland. Though that is a long flight. Or Hagrid
> could have been flying from the near North or South, and simply
> turned east near Bristol in order to reach Northern Surrey. 

Geoff:
She was born in Chipping Sodbury, to the east of Bristol and lived 
in Tutshill which is very clsose to the Welsh border on the little 
strip of England which lies on the west bank of the Severn but 
never quite in Wales.

bboyminn: 
> Still, I don't think this will ever be more than pure 
> speculation.