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Original poster

The poshest county in the UK?

435 replies

Eyes98 · 10/04/2025 22:57

Which one county would you say is the outright poshest in the UK? Let’s not use Greater London here, and I know there will be social diversity in all, but which would you say is the poshest overall?
I’m going with Berkshire, darling.😂

OP posts:
suah · 11/04/2025 09:23

I live in Berkshire and I’m guessing the people who think Berkshire is posh are people who have never been here!

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:23

I am actually baffled you inferred that I was being snide from my post!

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 09:22

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:21

No, you are misunderstanding. I don't think old money is superior to new money but many with old money do. Or do you disagree

I think it depends how they spend it tbh

Wintersgirl · 11/04/2025 09:22

YourAzureEagle · 11/04/2025 09:15

Having lived in Eastleigh I agree, hole and shit come to mind!!

But Amazingstoke is great surely😂

Edited
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Hampshire is a massive county, it's not all Eastleigh and Basingstoke..

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:21

No, you are misunderstanding. I don't think old money is superior to new money but many with old money do. Or do you disagree

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 09:21

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:19

That's why I asked for a definition of 'posh' as it's often a lifestyle 'choice'.
But the choice is helped by being rich.

We could get into the territory of socio-economic classifications and whether posh people are all in the A band, and the plebs are in D band, but that's another thread.

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Well I’m backing off because the more I think about it, the more it seems it’s hard to define posh without starting to be a bit rude.

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:20

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:16

Define posh please

You can be posh without money. I also think some posh people try really hard to hold onto their posh credentials to maintain superiority over the next door neighbours who only just came into money.

But you've not defined what posh is (in your opinion.)

You've just made snide comment about 'new money'

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:19

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 09:13

You absolutely can be wealthy and posh.

But posh is a cultural concept more than a economics concept.

At least it is to me. Clearly some see more overlap between wealth and poshness.

And yes agas are quite posh and there’s nothing wrong with tweed

Show quote history

That's why I asked for a definition of 'posh' as it's often a lifestyle 'choice'.
But the choice is helped by being rich.

We could get into the territory of socio-economic classifications and whether posh people are all in the A band, and the plebs are in D band, but that's another thread.

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 09:17

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:16

Define posh please

You can be posh without money. I also think some posh people try really hard to hold onto their posh credentials to maintain superiority over the next door neighbours who only just came into money.

Definitely they do!

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:16

Define posh please

You can be posh without money. I also think some posh people try really hard to hold onto their posh credentials to maintain superiority over the next door neighbours who only just came into money.

YourAzureEagle · 11/04/2025 09:15

stringbean · 11/04/2025 08:27

Not Hampshire - anywhere that contains Southampton, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Totton and Eastleigh cannot be considered posh. There are pockets - places in the New Forest, Winchester - but not posh as a county overall.

Having lived in Eastleigh I agree, hole and shit come to mind!!

But Amazingstoke is great surely😂

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 09:13

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:07

You can be wealthy AND posh- and sometimes they do go together (ignoring people like the Beckhams.)

Show quote history

You absolutely can be wealthy and posh.

But posh is a cultural concept more than a economics concept.

At least it is to me. Clearly some see more overlap between wealth and poshness.

And yes agas are quite posh and there’s nothing wrong with tweed

ProfessionalPirate · 11/04/2025 09:13

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:06

Define posh please.

Posh is subjective.

It can't be applied to a county unless you evaluate the number of people there who you rate as 'posh'.

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I have defined it, I quoted OED upthread. To be posh a person has to have more than just wealth. There needs to be a degree of ‘U’ there as well. In fact, the OED doesn’t mention money at all. It’s a way of being, not a bank balance. Albeit it does help if one has the funds to pay for the various trappings and activities that being posh tends to entail.

MikeRafone · 11/04/2025 09:11

posh is not the same as wealth or class, but posh is about appearance & money helps

Wintersgirl · 11/04/2025 09:08

Jijithecat · 11/04/2025 08:55

Surrey is a bit more nuanced than that. North Surrey is more suburban, which is likely due to it's proximity to London.
Towns like Haslemere and Cranleigh with it's surrounding villages are pretty and leafy.
Loads of National Trust properties, listed buildings and independent schools like Charterhouse and Cranleigh.
Surrey's definitely not like that all over, it has it's rough patches, but it's also not all new money either.

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I know I said this thread is pointless but I have to agree about Surrey, there's Haslemere, Cranleigh, Farnham, Godalming which are very upmarket, plus you have Virginia Water and the Wentworth estate which is off the scale......and then the flip side is Aldershot!

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:07

ProfessionalPirate · 11/04/2025 09:02

Even more are confusing wealth with posh!

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You can be wealthy AND posh- and sometimes they do go together (ignoring people like the Beckhams.)

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:06

ProfessionalPirate · 11/04/2025 09:02

Even more are confusing wealth with posh!

Show quote history

Define posh please.

Posh is subjective.

It can't be applied to a county unless you evaluate the number of people there who you rate as 'posh'.

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 09:04

Calliopespa · 11/04/2025 08:52

A lot of posters are confusing wealth with posh is more like it I’d say …

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so how do you define posh?

There will be an ONS survey on this and posh will be defined by both the cost of housing and the income of the residents.

So it will come down to wealth.

If you want to define 'posh' as going to Glyndebourne, wearing tatty old tweeds, driving an ancient Jaguar, hunting, having an Aga or two, and eschewing the trappings of wealth as shown by Oligarchs, that's different.

ProfessionalPirate · 11/04/2025 09:02

DevonCreamTeaPlease · 11/04/2025 08:51

I think Surrey or Berks are the winners.

A lot of posters are confusing 'pretty villages' with wealth.

Even more are confusing wealth with posh!

Trumpsgoneloco · 11/04/2025 09:02

Clearly lots of people here live in Surrey so are offended that others don't think it's that posh - which is very apt for Surrey residents 😆

Delphigirl · 11/04/2025 08:59

Assistantarchibald · 11/04/2025 08:43

Surrey easily wins. 29% of kids at independent school, highest house prices outside of London, more than 120 golf courses. Most wooded county in England.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 at the thought that golf courses = posh
they are the antithesis of smart
but I agree, very surrey

Springhassprungxx · 11/04/2025 08:59

Gogogo12345 · 11/04/2025 08:11

It's highly annoying that. Rural Essex has sweet sod all to do with Towie yet most of the country labelled like it. Add Basildon to that and Essex has no chance of being called posh lol.

But I think it's the same as most other places. Some nice bits and some dives.

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Agree! I live in north Essex, on the border of Suffolk - a world away from Basildon but as soon as you say Essex....

Ilovelowry · 11/04/2025 08:58

BG2015 · 11/04/2025 07:18

Cheshire - loads of footballers live in Wilmslow, Alderly Edge. Lots of expensive houses.

Footballers and new money isn't posh. I grew up near there.

My offering is wiltshire. Camilla's house is there, Marlborough, Bath, lots of expensive schools. Old money landowners.

Delphigirl · 11/04/2025 08:56

Jijithecat · 11/04/2025 08:55

Surrey is a bit more nuanced than that. North Surrey is more suburban, which is likely due to it's proximity to London.
Towns like Haslemere and Cranleigh with it's surrounding villages are pretty and leafy.
Loads of National Trust properties, listed buildings and independent schools like Charterhouse and Cranleigh.
Surrey's definitely not like that all over, it has it's rough patches, but it's also not all new money either.

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Nobody smart ever went to cranleigh, that’s for sure

Frowningprovidence · 11/04/2025 08:55

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a posh county. Over the road from me is a 'stately home' still lived in by the lord and not mational trust and my sons school is on another estate (as in country estate, not housing estate) but I think that sort of thing is scattered across the country fairly evenly.