Quirky International Borders

[Mr Celine]

I've always been fascinated by some of the more unusual frontiers in the world and their history. The arrival of Google Earth has meant I've found a whole lot more since trawling atlases years ago.

Any other examples?

A recent post of mine in the 'trig point baggers / interesting geographs' thread -

A curious border anomaly explored on Wednesday.

View attachment 524116
The national boundary follows the centre of the River Tweed for several miles apart from two small deviations. The larger anomaly is the field shown above on the south bank which is part of Scotland. (The smaller anomaly is a very small part of the north bank opposite Horncliffe which is in England.)

From the east end of the field, looking west -
View attachment 524119
B6350 is behind the hedge to the left. The uncultivated strip which the bike is standing in is presumably no mans land. River Tweed is off to the right.

From the point where BS is marked on the map, looking east -
View attachment 524123
and from the same location looking north towards the river -
View attachment 524124

A row of posts, the first of which the bike is leaning on, head towards the river and seem to follow the English side of no-mans land. I couldn't find any sign of the Boundary Stone marked on the OS map. The first edition 25 inch to mile from 1860 shows other boundary stones nearer the river, but I was wearing cleats and didn't fancy the walk.

The only explanation I have read about this field is a probably fanciful tale that it and an equivalent on the north bank opposite were played for annually in a primitive football match between the young men of Coldstream in Berwickshire and those of Cornhill in Northumberland. The former grew to be a much larger settlement with a bigger pool of players and consequently won the match, and the field, every year. Eventually they won it outright, or the match was such a foregone conclusion that it stopped being played.

 

[Glow worm]

Last one for now for anyone still awake! ... Canusa Avenue/ Rue Canusa - is the only street in N. America with the US/ Canadian border running along the middle.

The right hand side is in French speaking Quebec, the left, in Vermont. The fellow in the yellow house is presumably keen to remind the good folks across the street which country he's in. (The house next door is for sale- I may put an offer in).

(From Google Streetview)

I don't know for sure, but I think the homeowners on the left, (on the south side) in the US, have to go through US customs to access their own homes- that's what the road layout (below) looks like, unless anyone knows better? (The US customs post is on the left of the photo below, just south of the junction with Rue Principale).

From Google earth.

That dirt track looks promising though- I'd probably use that to avoid customs, certainly on the bike. After all, US Immigration are notoriously laid back!

Nearby, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House straddles the border. The reading room is split between USA and Canada with a black line on the floor marking the border (from Wikipedia).

 

[johnblack]

Nothing on the international scale but I think the shortest British mainland land border, or maybe English, is 19 metres between Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire.

 

[bitsandbobs]

And another one- Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertzog - in the Netherlands. I discovered this one in an atlas as a kid and thought I'd love to go there one day. It consists of several Belgian exclaves of land within Dutch territory. In places there are islands of NL within the Belgian exclaves. It does your head in.

Here's the map from Google Earth (yellow lines = the borders). Most houses have flags on the front door so you know which country they belong to.

View attachment 533736

I finally cycled there 3 years ago and stopped for lunch at a cafe, I parked my bike next to my table- the bike was in Belgium, the table in NL. Hours of fun.


View attachment 533740

This hairdressers shop lies in both countries. It has both flags by the door and both a Dutch and Belgian Street number.

View attachment 533742

The enclaves and exclaves of Bangladesh/ India (100s) make the Baarle Nassau look tidy in comparison- maybe for another time. If anyone's still awake.
Any other examples?

It created the slight odd position during the recent COVID measures that at least one shop which straddled the border had to be partially shut. Half the shop was roped off with red tape.

 

[Dirk]

The perimeter wall of Wolford chapel in Devon is actually an international border between England and Canada.
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/devon/churches/wolford-chapel.htm

 

[Milkfloat]

I don't know for sure, but I think the homeowners on the left, (on the south side) in the US, have to go through US customs to access their own homes- that's what the road layout (below) looks like, unless anyone knows better? (The US customs post is on the left of the photo below, just south of the junction with Rue Principale).

I believe that locals are able to just telephone the Customs Agents and let them know they are crossing.

 

[Glow worm]

The perimeter wall of Wolford chapel in Devon is actually an international border between England and Canada.
https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/devon/churches/wolford-chapel.htm

That's amazing - thanks. I'll have to let my Canadian father in-law (now living over here) know about that.