I DON'T usually try DIY place name study but the Gares - North Gare, South Gare, on the opposite banks of Teesmouth, are interesting. The place name expert, Ekwall, lists gara as an Anglo-Saxon word meaning a triangular piece of land. The Teesmouth gares are triangular pieces jutting out into the bay. Can you confirm this meaning?

Also, on the north bank of the Tees I can find no origins for Graythorpe or Haverton Hill. Unofficial popular names also need explanation. For example, Middlesbrough, north of the railway in the loop of the Tees (St Hilda's ward) is known as Over the Border. North Ormesby is Doggy or Doggy-town. The land on the old Stockton road from Middlesbrough to Thornaby was The Wilderness. My uncle once had me totally convinced that Yorkshire puddings were mined there.

I assume this kind of naming is common in other towns. I thought Swans Corner on the A171 south of Ormesby at Upsall was unofficial, but I see it on maps now. This might be from Swan, Coates & Co Ltd who owned the Ormesby iron mines. There is a hill near here called High Godfalter Hill. Also, quite close is Humbledon Hill which is interesting, given that the Hambleton Hills are not far away. - VE Wood, Yearby, Redcar.

GARE, meaning a triangular piece of land, seems a reasonable explanation although we should remember that the mouth of the Tees has been re-shaped and reclaimed during the last three centuries. I cannot improve on your suggestions for Haverton Hill, but we need to know the earliest written form to make an accurate conclusion.

The old part of Middlesbrough is Over the Border because it is cut off from the rest of the town by the railway and the A66. I have never heard of Doggy being applied to North Ormesby.

In County Durham the mining village of Cornforth is called Doggy from the old name for the colliery. This name came about because Cornforth had two railway stations on two separate lines. One station was called Doggy because it was located on Dog Lane. This name passed to the colliery and subsequently the village itself. Perhaps there was a Dog Lane in North Ormesby.

North Ormesby was, of course, a planned town and was not built until 1860. In this respect it is different from Ormesby and other suburbs which were originally separate, older villages swallowed by Middlesbrough's growth. Ormesby is Viking, Orm being a personal name meaning dragon. Upsall derives from Up-Salir meaning high dwellings and has the same meaning as Uppsala in Sweden.

Sadly I haven't found anything about Godfalter Hill, but it is tempting to think it may also be Viking. Humbleton Hill is definitely an Anglo-Saxon name and has the same meaning as the Hambleton Hills and other numerous Humbledons/tons. It comes from Hamel-Don meaning broken, crooked or scarred hill. Names like the Wilderness are fanciful, humorous names. They are common everywhere but rise to prominence when cartographers include them on maps. If they become a name for a town or village they will attract much interest. The Durham village of Pity Me falls into this category.