Talk:Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham

message: The photo on the bottom right of the page suffers horribly from Chromatic aberration. It seems the photo was taken by a wikipedia user who is no longer on very often. This can be fixed easily if the RAW data is available, but I doubt we will be able to get it. Suggest someone local get a better shot of the location to replace the current photo. Gtwy (talk) 00:47, 27 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Chromatic Aberration 

message: Is the 'soviet target' relevant?   Surely that would have applied to most strategic routes in the UK?  Is this text repeated in the descriptions of the Houses of Parliament etc?  Or more up-to-date, a handly list of terrorist targets in the UK?  I need to flag my scarcasm here.   
However, the IRA did leave a small semtex device under the M6 near this junction in April 1997.  Fortunately the bomb was safely defused, which is why the occasion has been largely forgotten.--217.42.93.182 18:14, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: 'soviet target'

message: Any junction that "is so named for its impressive system of intertwined loops and ramps" deserves an image Ae-a 22:56, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Add an image 

message: Although it generated a lot of interest when it first opened - as the first such junction in England, it's not a tourist attraction in the 21st century.  Hence I removed it from :Category:Visitor attractions in Birmingham, England.
What do you mean?  I see hundreds of caravans parked up there every bank holiday weekend...--135.196.104.154 (talk) 07:28, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not a tourist attraction 

message: I've reverted the header from Gravelly Hill Junction to Gravelly Hill Interchange (twice now) for the following reasons:
*Although "Gravelly Hill Interchange" is more of an Americanism, it is more widespread in usage (390 hits on Google, against 4 for "Gravelly Hill Junction". It is also the official name. 
*I live only 2 miles from it, and never hear of it described as "Gravelly Hill Junction". (Spaghetti Junction is the usual name).
* "Gravelly Hill Interchange" is the title of the article, and the header should reflect this.
-- Tivedshambo (talk) 16:41, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Is there any reason this article isn't at something like Spaghetti Junction (Birmingham) anyway?  Morwen - Talk 20:02, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: None that I can think of, if you're willing to update any redirects and redirects that will arise if you move the page. One title is the official name, the other is common usage. I think either would be acceptable. Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham already exists as a re-direct. — Tivedshambo (talk to me/look at me/ignore me) —  13:46, 24 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think I prefer to use the official name in this case, as it better includes the rail and canal network that passes underneath the road junction. DWaterson 13:24, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gravelly Hill Interchange or Junction 

message: A map or aerial photograph would be very useful on this article. However, please ensure that any sources comply with Wikipedia's copyright policy. This excludes screenshots taken from Google Earth for example.– Tivedshambo (talk) 12:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not a problem - it would only be an issue if you (for example) uploaded a screenshot and put that in the article. Linking to copyright material is quite acceptable. It could be argued that it is duplication, as the google maps link can be obtained through the co-ordinate link, though in this case I think a direct link is helpful. – Tivedshambo (talk) 07:20, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Satellite images 

message: I'm inclined to agree with this edit of User:John's. There is very little here which, even if sourced, is of more than passing relevance to the article. Possibly the Cliff Richard film could be included if the junction played a significant part (I don't know the film so I can't say). Other than that, I'd say wipe the lot. Any thoughts? —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 09:56, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: In the absence of any discussion, I've removed it. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 07:39, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cultural references 

message: I just removed "The importance of the site for so many services led to the belief that it was a strategic target for a Soviet nuclear weapon during the Cold War, although this has yet to be verified." This is speculative and unverified. Sounds like the stuff of urban legends to me. I mean if Birmingham were nuked, losing spaghetti junction would have been the last of our problems. It would probably be destroyed by it anyway. Of course, I take this all back if anyone can verify it. RupertMillard (Talk) 23:56, 28 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removal of it being a target for a nuclear weapon 

message: I have reverted the changes made recently which were entirely based upon an article published in the Birmingham Mail in May this year. The article is a piece of self-promotion for the Mail but doesn't provide any substantive evidence for it's conclusions. It mentions 1965, but what is needed is an article from the Mail published in 1965 otherwise they are referring to the pull-out they published in 1972 at the same time as the name "Spagetti Junction" appeared in The Times article I had already provided a source for. Mighty Antar (talk) 18:30, 23 July 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Could you take another look at it? Looks like something went wrong with your edit and the article currently contains both versions, and contradicts itself. I can't quite work out what you meant to leave though. Qwfp (talk) 18:53, 23 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Birmingham Mail's role in creating Spaghetti Junction legend 

message: Surely, per WP:COMMONNAME this article should be under the name “Spaghetti Junction”? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it referred to ad=s “Gravelly Hill Interchange”. Just checking if there are any objections before I make the move. DeCausa (talk)
: No objection. But, just to point out that the article Spaghetti junction already exists, so you'd have to call it "Spaghetti Junction (UK)" or something similar. Also bear in mind that the Worsley Braided Interchange was initially known locally as "Spaghetti Junction" so you might also need a hatnote for that. -- Dr Greg  talk  21:13, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for alerting me to that article. It seems very poorly sourced; most of the “spaghetti junctions” in that article are unsourced. Several of the sources that are there fail verification on checking. I think I found only 3 of the “spaghetti junctions” as properly sourced - with only one (in Atlanta) as clearly habitually referred to as that. None of the sources refer to “spaghetti junction” as a generic name for a complex interchange as that article claims. Chronologically the Birmingham one is clearly the first. I’ll do some more digging but my first thoughts are that the Birmingham junction should be the primary article with individual articles for the two or three others that has sourcing to pass WP:V - unless there’s a source that discusses “spaghetti junctions” as a generic concept, not currently in that article. DeCausa (talk) 21:31, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that the other article seems to be a list of complicated interchanges with very little evidence that any of them are actually known as "Spaghetti Junction". -- Dr Greg  talk  21:52, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[WP:COMMONNAME]] 

message: :The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 
The result of the move request was: not moved. Common name arguments hit a snag because forcing the move to just "Spaghetti Junction" would require this junction to be the primary topic, a premise that has no consensus in its favour. A new RM can be opened for whether we stay here for good or move to disambiguated titles like "Spaghetti Junction (Birmingham)", but the simple name "Spaghetti Junction" is emerging as not viable. (non-admin closure) — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 13:17, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Gravelly Hill Interchange →  – This is the common name for the junction, and what appears most prominently in sources. For example : BBC News, BBC News, Birmingham Mail, ITV. Note that some sources call it the Spaghetti Junction, but I don't think there's enough for a consensus there. Per the above thread, the existing article with this name is problematic, with entries both unsourced and failing verification; nevertheless, I would propose that article should be merged with Spaghetti Junction (disambiguation). Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 10:16, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

text: Comment as can be seen from the above thread i’m generally supportive. The only thing that’s giving me pause are the other junctions with that name outside of the UK. I meant to follow up that thread with some further research, but never got round to it. From an initial review I did think that in the US in was applied as a generic descriptive name with some specific local names. As a Brit, to me “Spaghetti Junction” only means the one in Birmingham but I didn’t really bottom out whether that stands up from a global perspective. I wonder whether Spaghetti Junction (Birmingham) or some such would be better?  Or is the proposal that the scope of the article be both the Birmingham junction and other uses including the generic description? DeCausa (talk) 10:35, 24 April 2022 (UTC)
replies: text:  I think that's a fair comment. The principal reason for choosing the Birmingham one as the primary topic is that I think it is the one that is dominated by specific references in multiple reliable sources. However, I'm also aware that all of the sources I have looked at have a UK bias. If somebody can present an equivalent number of sources that show a nationally, or even internationally, prominent junction of the same name in the US (or any other country), then some sort of disambiguated article title would make more sense. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 10:54, 24 April 2022 (UTC)

text: It was known as Spaghetti Junction (or at least described thus) at least six years before it opened. Or do you mean formally, which is not what WP:COMMONNAME says. As mentioned above, the other Spaghetti Junctions appear to be either non-notable or don't have anywhere near enough comparable coverage in sources. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 17:49, 25 April 2022 (UTC)

text: What about Spaghetti Junction (UK) as mentioned above? Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 20:35, 3 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Probably not necessary per WP:NATURAL since the actual name is unambiguous and reasonably common even though "Spaghetti Junction" is sometimes used by sources. Also it would be Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham not Spaghetti Junction (UK). I knew the junction was called "Gravelly Hill Interchange" long before coming across this page so while "Spaghetti Junction" may have some formal use I don't think its desirable over the actual name. Crouch, Swale (talk)  22:05, 3 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: I seriously doubt “Gravelly Hill Junction” is anyway as well known as “Spaghetti junction”. Indeed, if you google it the few times it comes up it’s almost always caveated with “better known as” Spaghetti junction, or similar eg this BBC article. DeCausa (talk) 22:16, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

text: Unnecessary. I prefer using the official name of infrastructure like this generally -- it's more consistent and likely to remain unambiguous. Elli (talk | contribs) 22:42, 3 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: This does seem be be supported by WP:FLORACOMMONNAME where we use the actual name rather than a nickname which is ambiguous. Crouch, Swale (talk)  16:01, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Spaghetti Junction not being a plant, I don’t see how it supports it. DeCausa (talk) 16:34, 6 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: The same principal applies, the current name is ambiguous and formal and is what it could be called anywhere while the proposed one is ambiguous especially with other junctions like Tom Moreland Interchange. Crouch, Swale (talk)  17:37, 6 May 2022 (UTC)

text: *Being older means nothing, and that is not true anyways; the UK has generally been late to the game when it comes to highways, but even another junction in the UK had this name nearly a decade earlier. - Floydian τ ¢ 16:42, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

text: That's still kind of irrelevant; Spaghetti Junction (Birmingham) is perfectly acceptable. - Floydian τ ¢ 18:21, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham but yes I'm someone in the UK and I oppose this. Crouch, Swale (talk)  16:30, 25 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move 24 April 2022 

message: :The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 
The result of the move request was: Moved (non-admin closure) >>> Extorc.talk 04:53, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Gravelly Hill Interchange →  – Pretty much a continuation of the previous RM, as suggested by the closer. I appreciate the arguments re the Tom Moreland Interchange mean this isn't the primary topic, but we still need to consider the WP:COMMONNAME aspect - no sources refer to the interchange by its formal title; all use "Spaghetti Junction". Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 17:51, 9 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move 9 June 2022 

message: Gravelly Hill Interchange → Spaghetti Junction – This is the common name for the junction, and what appears most prominently in sources. For example : BBC News, BBC News, Birmingham Mail, ITV. Note that some sources call it theSpaghetti Junction, but I don't think there's enough for a consensus there. Per the above thread, the existing article with this name is problematic, with entries both unsourced and failing verification; nevertheless, I would propose that article should be merged with Spaghetti Junction (disambiguation). 195.195.4.115 (talk) 02:46, 18 May 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: This isn't a formal move request and the current title is the result of the discussion above. "Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham" was agreed on because there are other junctions in the world that have acquired this nickname. Gravelly Hill Interchange is the official name but this is hardly ever used; see WP:COMMONNAME.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 06:55, 18 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move now