No Place
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No Place is a village near to the town of Stanley in County Durham, England, south of nearby Beamish and Beamish Museum, east of Stanley and to the west of Chester-le-Street.
The origins of the village's unusual name are uncertain however a popular theory suggests that it was part of a ploy to avoid taxation in medieval times. The story about this says that the local tax collector had a witch at his side who could tell when someone was telling the truth or not, with the name of No Place when asked what was in the location of the village someone could safely say 'No Place' and not be found to be lying.
The local council tried to change the name of the village to Co-operative Villas in the 1970s however they met with strong protests from local residents at the removal of all signs pointing to No Place. Today the signs say both No Place and (at the request of some residents) Co-operative Villas.
No Place is home to the award winning real ale pub, the Beamish Mary Inn.
Other funny place names in the North East include the village of Pity Me, Bearpark, Idle (home of the famous Idle Working Mens club), Once Brewed, Twice Brewed, Wetwang and many others all of which have a unique story behind their names.
