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.

@merrymouse

No they don't. Please see www.richmond.gov.uk/council_contact_numbers

And look at the address at the bottom of said page:

Address
Civic Centre, 44 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BZ

See I live in Kent and I laugh when people say they live in London, when they live in Bromley.
I don't think they can win.

Anyone who insists they live in Surrey/Middlesex etc because the area they live in USED to be in that County, would you also apply that to say Dublin today for example? "Oh I live in Dublin, its in the UK don't you know" as it was pre 1922.

This was covered upthread. If you are posting something to someone surely you either know them in which case you already know where they live.

I don't really understand your point. Why make things unnecessarily difficult?

If somebody says

"We're going to a cafe in Freshwater, PO40, do you want to come along?"

It's helpful if I know that Freshwater is on the Isle of Wight, not in Portsmouth, but I can't get that information from the postcode.

rosehip

www.richmond.gov.uk/contacting_the_council

scroll down.

We're going to a cafe in Freshwater, PO40, do you want to come along?

But that isnt what we're talking about. We are talking about postal addresses. The area somewhere is that you might want to visit isnt the postal address. Of course in that example you'd name the town/area/county/whatever that made sense. But if you wanted to post something to that cafe you should use the address as designated by Royal Mail which doesn't include the county.

Anyone who insists they live in Surrey/Middlesex etc because the area they live in USED to be in that County, would you also apply that to say Dublin today for example? "Oh I live in Dublin, its in the UK don't you know" as it was pre 1922.

We aren't talking about a country gaining independence, we are talking about the administrative responsibilities of local councils being re-allocated. There is still a Middlesex County Cricket team, a Middlesex University and a West Middlesex Hospital; and it still makes more sense to talk about the Middlesex and Surrey banks of the Thames than the north and south banks.

This isn't snobbery, it's just a helpful way to explain where you live to people who haven't memorised all the country's postcodes and council boundaries.

But that isnt what we're talking about

The OP is talking about where people live.

The OP is talking about where people live

But I'm only talking about postal addresses and you've quoted me.

But if you wanted to post something to that cafe you should use the address as designated by Royal Mail which doesn't include the county.

Because it will confuse Royal Mail?

Because the extra ink on the envelope will be too heavy?

Because it will confuse Royal Mail?

Because the extra ink on the envelope will be too heavy?

Ha ha! Because it is incorrect, that is all. As I say it's a mistake entirely without consequence but it's still a mistake. Although I would argue that it would be more efficient if everyone used addresses correctly with the postal town/city correctly in capitals followed by the postcode correctly formatted so both machines and humans could read the information quicker.

Dappled I think I am disagreeing with you because you seem to think that Royal Mail are the only people who use addresses and that they have some kind of authority over addresses.

You say Royal Mail define addresses, but I think what you mean is that Royal Mail have a format that they like people to use when they use Royal Mail. There are plenty of other reasons why you might need somebody's address.

they have some kind of authority over addresses.

Of course they do! They decide what they are. My address is:
X Street name
Village
TOWN
Postcode.

There are two more towns pretty much equidistant. I can't just decide to use one of the other towns in the address because I prefer it.

There are plenty of other reasons why you might need somebody's address

Of course, and if you want to say to someone please come over for coffee I live at Xx Street name in town, Kent that's fine. Just don't ask them to onside Kent if they're sending you a letter!

Of course they do! They decide what they are

They advise how they want you to send post via Royal Mail.

There is nothing to stop a courier company asking for latitude and longitude or GPS co-ordinates or that thing where an app identifies your location using 3 words.

Bromley, Bexley, Beckenham, they all play in the Kent hockey leagues, still classed as Kent in postal address and leagues

Just don't ask them to onside Kent if they're sending you a letter!

And yet Royal Mail post letters that include county and country details every day. They will even post letters that include planet details.

They advise how they want you to send post via Royal Mail.

We're going to have to agree to disagree on that. I do not think it is advisory, I think it is official and determined by RM.

Of course a courier company can use another way of describing your location if they want. DH's friend once received a postcard from Australia that was addressed to:
Name
Near the XXXX pub
Village
England.

Doesn't make either the courier company or DH's friend's friend correct.

And yet Royal Mail post letters that include county and country details every day. They will even post letters that include planet details.
I know they do, it's nice of them. Still wrong!

I'm really enjoying this.

still classed as Kent in postal address and leagues.
Are you trying to cause aneurisms with comments like that?

We can't win either way.

I'm in Zone 4. I always say London to non- Londoners, the borough to Londoners. Most Londoners can't place it at all, even those from the next borough. Those that can usually say 'oh, Essex.'

I remember a thread on here a couple of years back where someone was trying to tell me that Stratford, the place where the LONDON Olympics were held, was not in London.

Saying you're from London if you live outside Zone 2 upsets a lot more people than saying you're from Essex/Kent etc.

There is nothing to stop a courier company asking for latitude and longitude or GPS co-ordinates or that thing where an app identifies your location using 3 words.

My friend is a rural firefighter. They’ve had a couple of call outs where the location has been given using What Three Words.

How is it wrong if it gets to the right place?

Again the problem with insisting that a Royal Mail postal address is somehow a definitive address is that it is only really useful if you have access to the Royal Mail postcode database.

My correct Royal Mail address might be

"Street you don't know"
"Village you have never heard of"
"Post code related to an otherwise unrelated city that is twenty miles away that you might be able to guess from the first two letters, but probably not"

However, I think it's useful to be a little less cryptic.

Again the problem with insisting that a Royal Mail postal address is somehow a definitive address is that it is only really useful if you have access to the Royal Mail postcode database

You do. You get 50 free searches a day.

Why does it matter if I've never heard of your street to post something. I'm not talking about coming to visit.

And it's wrong because it's wrong! Because RM determine addresses and their format. You disagree with that which is your prerogative!

Royal Mail determine their preferred format for sending post via Royal Mail and the data they keep on their database, which no longer includes counties. They aren't the address police.

They do not say that it is wrong to include county, just that it isn't necessary.

"There is no need to include a county name, your letters and parcels will reach your intended recipient without one. If, however, you'd prefer to include a county name, you are welcome to do so."

I'm not talking about coming to visit.

You still need an address if you want to visit somebody. An address isn't somehow not an address because it isn't on an envelope.

If you live in Richmond it is clearer if you say you live in 'Richmond, Yorkshire DLXX' or 'Richmond, Surrey TWXX' than Richmond DLXX or Richmond TWXX, because it's doubtful that people who don't live near either Richmond know the local postcodes (or are overly concerned about the changing borders between local councils).