Where is London?

[namechangenumber45]

This is not intended to be a "London bashing thread" so please take question (from northerner) in spirit intended - one of curiosity.

I have been watching the news and an awful update on situation in Penge where a young boy and woman killed. I've never heard of this suburb and couldn't place it on a map - but on looking it seems to be a bit further from what I'd class as "London".

So my AIBU to ask where London starts and finishes?

Have the boundaries expanded? Are there some areas that would be SouthEast a few years ago but are now London?

I always remember a mate of mine asked 'Where is North London?' and everyone laughed.

But it seems she was ahead of her time....

My nan grew up in penge, by crystal palace which they saw burn down, back then apparently one side of the road was a London postcode and her side came under Kent lol but its all London now.

London is inside the M25

mostly

At the bottom of Penge, the high street (which has the SE20 postcode) leads into beckenham road (which has the BR3 postcode.) The two street signs are side by side right outside one house. I've always wondered what the address of that house is, which postcode they use and whether they use london or Kent in their address.

Middlesex wasn't consumed by London, but was disbanded and bits went to London, Surrey, Berkshire & Hertfordshire.

Yes, you are right, most but not all Middlesex became part of Greater London; the exceptions were Staines and Sunbury which became part of Surrey and Potters Bar which joined Herts.

Remember the Penge Bungalow Murders.

I realise it may not be your fault Julius but the outer boroughs, of which the London Borough of Bromley is chief offender in my eyes, overwhelmingly voted for Boris Johnson.

Instead of a serious mayor for a major world city, they saddled us with a posh Fred Scuttle with a plan for world domination but no plan for the city he was supposed to represent. I cannot forgive that.

And Bromley will forever carry the stain of whining about Fair's Fair and thus acting as Thatcher's cat's paw for destroying the GLC because they didn't have a tube station. Wah!

You may not have realised this when you bought your house, but that's the legacy you were bequeathed by your forefathers in the London Borough of Buggerihg Bromley.

I'm sure you're a nice person but I can't get over it

Bromley is in Kent, btw

We live in NW7. It was a few minutes to fields and country pubs but 10 mins to Kings Cross on the train. Perfect.

Oops, lived

I am joking btw.

A bit

It's actually very simple. There's a difference between the City of London and Greater London

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_London

dibdobs my nan saw Crystal Palace burn down too! They lived over Croydon way.

ACTUALLY very simple is it?

Is it?

To be fair penge is a confusing one as it's in the London Borough of Bromley, but bromley is technically in Kent. Penge is definitely a border suburb of London...

What do you mean "Bromley is technically in Kent"? Historically, it might have been, and might be considered so now by some of its inhabitants, but I don't think it is officially.

If you were to write an address as

123 Mumsnet Lane
Bromley
London
BR99 1MN

it would be incorrect there is no such address

But it could be if you changed London to Kent

Most Londoners would be amused someone from Bromley telling them they live in London

Estate agents would not advertise homes in Bromley as London because it's part of Kent (though a London borough) and London adds to property prices Kent doesn't

PigletJohn

Remember the Penge Bungalow Murders.

Every week, at Pommeroys over a glass of Chateau d'Thames Embankment.

To me if it is in a borough that starts with London Borough of... then it is London.

"Estate agents" - oh, that kind of technically. The ones that relabel Herne Hill as West Dulwich for the cachet.

I grew up in Bexley, and tell people these days that I grew up in London. Yes, I'm sure some Londoners would be picky about that, but for the rest of the world (yes there are people who don't live in London) it's good enough to convey where I come from, a bit of suburbia that merges into the capital.

So, I disagree that there would be anything too strange about someone from Bromley saying they come from London.

enthusiasm

The official addresses are actually

123 Mumsnet Lane
Bromley
BR99 1LJ

Kent is no longer in the address officially, but people still use it out of custom and habit.

Really, most of Bromley (except Penge) is in both London and Kent. It is administratively part of Greater London. It is historically, culturally and ceremonially part of Kent (after the Kent House boundary at the south end of Penge marked by Kent House station.

People have been arguing about this in Bromley for years and that is the only reasonable conclusion to reach.

It's the LONDON borough of Bromley. Most of the older people I know who say it's in Kent seem quite happy to accept their Freedom passes though!

I generally say to non Londoners that I live in London but to Londoners that I live in Bromley. But actually I think it's no big deal whether it's in Kent or London, the big deal is that the fast trains to Victoria take less than 20 minutes....

Clearly there is huge passion for people wanting to be part of their old county. For those Kent and Surrey refugees just move to Tunbridge wells or Guildford then you can relax in the home counties glow and not be associated with nasty londoners

Enthusiasm
Wembley doesn't have a London postcode does that mean Wembley stadium isn't in London. If you use postcodes then the Hanger Lane Gyratory is just on the outskirts of London. I don't think many people would agree with that.