To be annoyed at people who live in a London Borough but insist they don't (i.e Im in Surrey, Kent etc)

[Rosehip10]

As in people in places such as Richmond, Kingston (insisting they live in Surrey) or places such as Bromley (insisting they are in Kent).

These places may used to have in a different county but have been part of greater London and a London Borough since 1965.

Is is snobbery? They usually drone only about postal towns which also no longer exist.

I know. The photo represents the former postal county showing the split which is what I was trying to convey.

I know - but it is all the databases/written on most correspondence. I'm not disagreeing with you factually, I'm just puzzled by the strength of feeling.

I know - but it is all the databases/written on most correspondence. I'm not disagreeing with you factually, I'm just puzzled by the strength of feeling

They will all catch up eventually. It's just one of my things. Everyone has something that irritates them more than is really proportional. Mine is counties in addresses. And generally how poor people are at writing addresses correctly, including their own.

There's quite a big difference between saying "London" and "Greater London". Those of us brought up in London probably struggle to see anything outside zone 4 as London the city; as PP said, from NW London we also went "up west" (south east) to Oxford Street. Then there are the actual market towns with a centre that are largely linked by urban sprawl but have and are happy to retain very distinct identities. Bromley, Croydon, Kingston and Watford for example are very clearly towns in their own right that have their own suburbs and then some urban sprawl into London, so Greater London is accurate but calling them just "London" seems weird if you know the actual areas. It's very different than Kensal Green, Hammersmith, Finsbury Park, Camberwell etc that have some shops and pubs but no real centre, they're easily just London boroughs. Brixton is an anomaly as a real little town but totally London. "Greater London on the Kent/ Surrey / Essex borders" makes most logical sense.

Despite being born long after Middlesex disappeared, I was a proud member of the Middlesex Brownie pack. We loved shouting at the big camp that we were from "MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE, SEX SEX SEX". Only beaten by Norfolk with their "NOR NOR NOR, FUCK FUCK FUCK", damn them. I wonder if the Brownies still do that massive camp, anyone know?

I bet you're real fun at parties, OP

Are you going to tell us why this bothers you when all the posts on this thread show that it's not a straightforward issue?

Rosehip10 "Oh so we are going on what some lifestyle magazine says now? The places you mention were in Kent but since 1965 have been in London."
....no, not going by that, just adding that as a footnote to what I already said which is that I lived in Bromley for 27 years and the address was KENT. If you don't like being disagreed with OP then don't start the thread...

I lived in Bromley for 27 years and the address was KENT

Not for at least 30 years though

However if you walk to the south along the river from Bentalls, you will reach the Surrey border. You do not have to be particularly fit to do so! I think it is just over a mile.

This - walked it many times!

Hampton Court Palace (East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU) is only 1.5/2 miles from Bentalls. Whereas Hampton Wick (0.7 miles from Bentalls) was historically in Middlesex!

Middlesex is not formally part of any address.
Used all the time as far as I can see.

Both of the Kingston grammar schools still 'insist' on using Surrey in their postal addresses;
Richmond Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT2 5PL
Queen Elizabeth Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 6RL

John Lewis as well; Wood Street, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 1TE.

I didn't even realise the postal counties have been obsolete for a couple of decades!

The 'proper London' thing is another annoyance... Most Londoners don't actually live in the Victorian terraces of the tightly packed inner city/inner suburbs. I don't understand why some people insist that only a small fraction of the city is 'proper'.

@Clavinova They can insist all they like. They are still wrong.

When I lived in SE19 my bank insisted on including Upper Norwood in my address. Their address database was clearly as out of date and anyone else's which uses counties.

And don't get me started on 0207, 0208 and 0203 phone numbers being formatted like that. Also very widespread but still wrong.

DappledThings
I wouldn't let it worry you.

JoJoSM2
Just checked the contact details for the three Sutton grammar schools - they use Surrey as well.

Clavinova, I think it's still common to use obsolete addresses. However, I've just looked at correspondence from Sutton council and no 'Surrey' in sight either on their or my address.

I checked the post that I got this morning, none of it had my county on it.
I’d never noticed really.
It is pretty much at the bottom of my list of things to get bothered about if people use it or not.

It doesn't worry me, it annoys me. Quite different!

@magicpaintbrush

If you lived in Bromley since 1965 you lived in the London borough of Bromley and not the country of Kent. This is fact despite what anyone may "feel" or assume.

county obviously!

@Rosehip10

FYI (this may have been said already) but on the Royal Mail site they have dropped all counties. Pictures is Devon.

Richmond is in Surrey

HTH

@middleclassproblem

Please define beyond "I know/feel it" how Richmond is within the county of Surrey.

Please define beyond "I know/feel it" how Richmond is within the county of Surrey.

Visit Surrey

www.visitsurrey.com/things-to-do/ham-house-and-garden-p978281

This is what really annoys me:

"London Luton Airport" and "London Stansted Airport"

They are not in London ffs. Stansted is 42 miles away and Luton is 32 miles.

The Visit London website lists Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor as amongst the things to do while there. So, does that mean that they're in London too?

A tourist web site trying to boost visitors to an area by saying what you can see nearby doesn't trump regions that are officially defined. I'm pretty sure how a phone call to the Council Tax collectors in the London Borough or Richmond saying "Oh, I'm not going to pay you Council Tax anymore, I live in Richmond, and Richmond's not in London it's in Surrey. How do I know that? Well the Surrey Tourist web site mentions it. Is it OK if I cancel my Direct Debit?"

Oh yes, London Gatwick, West Sussex.

Evil and Netball - thankyou for the maps. This is as I suspected - all the “TW” postcodes are what was once Middlesex, but they have now been incorporated into Greater London (actually this happened before I was even born, but at least now I know).

And yes - I love that walk down the Thames from the Kingston Bentall Centre and I can quite believe this is basically Surrey - eg. Thames Ditton etc.

I think Hampton is very borderline??

It’s very strange how Kingston is no longer in Surrey, yet Surrey County Council is based in Kingston. Why not shift it to Guildford then?

The Visit London website lists Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor as amongst the things to do while there. So, does that mean that they're in London too?

No, but the Visit Surrey website does give addresses just to annoy you;

Ham House and Garden
Ham Street
Richmond
Surrey

Richmond Park
Richmond
Surrey

Richmond Pools on the Park
Twickenham Road
Richmond
Surrey