After more than a century of debate, the town of Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire has achieved a key milestone in its effort to remove hyphens from its name on digital platforms. Google announced it will eliminate the hyphens from "Bradford-on-Avon" on Google Maps, following a campaign led by the town council and local businesses.

The controversy over the use of hyphens dates back to 1899 when Great Western Railway (GWR) introduced them on station signage, following naming conventions used for other towns such as Newcastle-under-Lyme and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. These hyphens subsequently appeared on maps and were adopted by some residents and organizations, though others have argued the punctuation was unnecessary and incorrect.

The town council spearheaded a push to correct the name’s spelling, reaching out to various stakeholders including Wikipedia, GWR, the Canal Trust, National Highways, English Heritage, and Encyclopedia Britannica for support. Google responded to the request by reviewing official government records and committing to remove the hyphens from its mapping service within 48 hours of being contacted, according to statements from the company.

Sam Blackwell, the mayor of Bradford on Avon, described the outcome as a resolution to “the great dash debate,” emphasizing that the council regards the town’s name as correct without any punctuation. Other online services such as Tripadvisor, Visit Bath, Discover Frome, and Silver Travel Advisor have already updated or are in the process of updating their references to reflect the unhyphenated spelling.

Despite the digital shift, the hyphens remain in use in certain official and physical contexts. Great Western Railway, while applauding the campaign, has affirmed that it will retain the hyphens on station signage due to the complexity of implementing changes across industry-wide systems. Similarly, the official Ordnance Survey maps of the area continue to include the hyphens.

Historical records show that Wikipedia reverted its entry from the unhyphenated version back to "Bradford-on-Avon" in 2018 after a community discussion, highlighting the ongoing ambivalence over the correct form. The current landscape illustrates a gradual transition influenced by both tradition and contemporary preferences as the town seeks to assert its preferred spelling in public and digital records.