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.

But Bromley is still Kent, as well as being a London borough. I say I live in Kent to Londoners and locals. But I say I live in London to everyone else who doesn't live in or isn't over familiar with the South East. But having lived in London first and then moved to Bromley, I don't feel like I'm in London. On top of this, the locals don't describe home as London. So for many it's less complicated to say they live in London/ Kent.

Not snobbery just ease.

I live in a London Borough which also happens to be in another county. I use whichever descriptor seems good to me at the time.

I live in one of those type of boroughs and class it as Kent because it is on the map regardless of its name, being from London Id find it rude someone saying my address is London! I find it more annoying when people in Bromley say they live in London it’s a Kent postcode end of. some of them are referred to as a London borough like bexley but technically boarders Kent and not always within the m25 to be ‘proper’ London. SE,SW,NW,N,W,E,EC are London postcodes anything else is surrounding.

*less complicated to say Surrey/Kent

I think YABU OP

I opened your thread and my immediate reaction was but Richmond IS in Surrey and Bromley IS in Kent

My council is a London one, my postal address is Surrey. I usually say London suburbs.

But they are not in ‘London’. They are in Surrey /Kent etc and have postcodes that are defined by this. They are part of greater London but largely are independent as far as Boroughs are concerned.

Why does this bother you? It is not snobbery at all, it is often just telling it as it is.

I always thought unless you have a London postcode you’re not London.

Born and bred in zone 2 here. Anyone with a London telephone number is London anything starting 01 isn't [gravel]

Interesting - I’ve lived in a bexley and a Bromley borough at some stage... bexley I said London, the Bromley one I said Kent... no idea why really!

I live in a London borough with a Kent address. I say I live in SE London but there are other Londoners who get very snotty about it. Proper Kent to me is the Medway towns and beyond.

I once read the opposite on here...as in Bromley is not real London and people just say London to appear better, so you can't win.

Both are valid

I think it’s because postal addresses don’t include the word ‘London’ or the borough you are in! I grew up in Kingston, now live in Richmond. Kingston address didn’t have ‘Kingston’ in it, just smaller area we lived in that was in the borough of Kingston and ‘Surrey’. Same with Richmond address, there’s no Richmond in it just the area we are in within the borough of Richmond and ‘Middlesex’.

I’ve been researching my family tree and lots of family were living in Holloway, Highbury, Islington - all part of Middlesex. It’s weird but there it is, London is spreading and our addresses are staying the same.

Growing up, Sutton, Croydon, Kingston, all surrey. Now I class London as anything with an 08 or 07 phone code for simplicity.

I have friends who live in the London Borough of Merton. If I want to annoy them I remind them that their postal address is Surrey. They definitely see themselves as Londoners.

I’m not from SE - to me anything inside M25 is London!

Kent used to start after Penge (Kent House). I find people with longer links to the area call it Kent while newcomers tend to London.

It’s a bit of a pointless argument that never gets solved. Bromley is traditionally part of Kent and now a London Borough. Either is acceptable.

I live in one county but the postal town to which my postcode is attributed is in another county. Now that causes a lot of issues! And it is nowhere near London.

@JulietTango

Your address isn't Essex though - people may thing it is, but the royal mail address format for somewhere in Barking for example is:

Buller Road
BARKING
IG11 9UA

I don't think it's snobbery, it's just what they're used to. Bromley (near me) is definitely London Borough and a bit of Bromley is part of the London Borough of Lewisham. I have come across people who objected to that because they'd always considered themselves to be a man or maid of Kent! Not snobbishly, how could it be, but traditional I suppose. I'm not a traditionalist so don't care.

I live in a London borough but don't have a London postcode so get told it's not real London.
Tbh I would say Bromley was in Kent if someone asked me. There's lots of places in "East London" that I'm sure used to be in Essex as well.

I have found this too and always find it quite funny - it’s usually people who think it sounds more upmarket to live in the Home Counties as opposed to London.

As far as I’m concerned, if there are London/TFL buses (as there are in Bromley, Kingston etc) then it is LONDON.

These are also the sorts of people who will defend London to the day they die in some contexts and regard anything north of Watford with abject horror.

Love the idea of Concrete Kent and Rural Kent - maybe they should be renamed to that

@fluffygal

The postal address is not kent, whatever people may think or what it was in the past - you look up the official Royal mail address format for bexleyheath and it is, for example,

218 Broadway
BEXLEYHEATH
DA6 7AU

I think the problem is that most people believe that Croydon and Bromley are still in Surrey and Kent respectively for postal purposes. Whether that is true or not I don't know. So people happily accept that they live both within the London Borough of Croydon/Bromley but also in Surrey/Kent

@Svalberg

No-one is disputing that Kingston was in Surrey pre 1965 - it isn't now though.