Mistranslated Welsh sign to be corrected after more than a decade

Twm Owen - Local democracy reporter

A Welsh sign is to be corrected after a mistranslation entirely changed the meaning of a street’s name.

It’s thought the mistranslated street nameplate had been in place for more than a decade before the error was picked up and reported to the local council.

The Welsh word ‘gwanwyn’, meaning the spring season, was placed on the nameplate alongside the English name Springfield Road.

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'Water source'

Monmouthshire County Council considered a complaint which was reported in its annual Welsh language standards and monitoring report covering April 2024 to March 2025.

It stated: “The word ‘spring’ had been mistranslated to reflect the season rather than a water source.”

The council’s Welsh language officer and the street naming and numbering officer investigated and following consultation with a translator, agreed on the corrected version “Heol Cae’r Ffynnon.”

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Corrected

The monitoring report said the nameplate will be corrected during the next round of nameplate updates.

It stated: “The original translation, made over a decade ago, predates current standards and no records exist explaining the initial decision for this translation.

"As a result, the council continues to strengthen its translation process through collaboration between officers and a dedicated translator, ensuring consistency and cultural sensitivity in all future street naming processes.”