To think if you live in a London Borough you live in London

[MariahLynn]

Saw this on twitter and thought about it twitter.com/yougov/status/1319226163278057472?s=21

Why does this create such controversy?

Surely If you live in a London Borough you are part of London.

I can’t see how anyone can live somewhere which has red buses, can vote for London mayor, pays council tax to a London Borough and maintain they live in Essex or Kent or Surrey.

Is it about pretending to be posher?

When I moved to Croydon from Tooting I was surprised when people spoke about going "into town" they meant Croydon town centre and not the west end of London like I was used to.

In Almeria, Spain, some locals talk of Spain as "the mainland" ... (which I've been told, but never heard some Cornish do with England ...).

If I was going from Harrow into central London, it would always be "into Town".

Nice to see some fellow Plumsteadians in the thread! 😊🙌🏻

Just to throw a spanner in the works of previous arguments -

Greenwich - that I think everyone would agree is in London “proper” - is part of
The Royal Borough of Greenwich...

Not a mention of London anywhere!

As is Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea for that matter...

And there’s definitely a difference, in terms of sense of where you are from, between the locals born and bred in the area and those of us who’ve moved in from elsewhere.

To me “going into town” means central London, but to some of my neighbours it means going into our local high street / town centre.

Maybe some people need a geography revision?

I wonder if in other cities some argue that anything outside the inner city isn’t the city.

I rather like the American use of eg downtown - it’s clear and well defined in lots of cities. They’ve tried to transplant it to London a bit with the awful and ill defined ‘midtown’. Not sure it translates.

I grew up in Carshalton in the 80’s. Yes I knew I lived in the London Borough of Sutton, but my address was Surrey. We used to catch a train to get to London & it was very different than having farmland a few minutes away. Living now in Dorset if asked where I come from I still say Surrey & maybe say near Epsom & Kingston as people have generally heard of them. I suppose I think of London as central London & feel if I said I came from London it would take away my identity.

I'm in tier 2 coz London is, i vote for London mayor and I have a London overground station (no tube unfortunatey) and I am in a tfl zone so I am in London. It doesn't seem as clear as other parts of London though and wheh doing my address on some automated forms, sometimes I'm under London and other times I'm in my own town lol

I have a Big London A-Z and my road is on one of the outer squares on the grid , actually above the Grid 1 ( I think it's numbers at the side , letter at the top)

But I;m still told I'm East London.

My parents last house ‘in London’ had a Middlesex address and was near Chiswick roundabout/Gunnersbury park but technically Brentford, Middx but felt way more London than where I lived in Selhurst, right near Croydon but had a London, SE25 post code.

Iirc Hanwell is W7 postcode but feels much further out than some areas which have a TW8 postcode.

@DemiFrancaise I'm in Woolwich. I was reading an original article about the 90s girl band Shampoo who were from Plumstead. The title was 'The Slags from Suburbia'

[quote TeachesOfPeaches]@DemiFrancaise I'm in Woolwich. I was reading an original article about the 90s girl band Shampoo who were from Plumstead. The title was 'The Slags from Suburbia' [/quote]
(Remembers the Tramshed)

Dr. and the Medics came from there too ...

@headstrong27

Born & raised Londoner here. When I was young everyone from Croydon said they lived in Surrey but now lots of people from there say they live in London. Everyone I know who lives in Mitcham or Thornton Heath says they live in Surrey. 😆

I grew up in Wimbledon (most definitely London) but lots of people from my school lived in Mitcham. They all referred said they lived in London. I spent most of my weekends in Kingston, Sutton or Croydon because the shops and cinemas were better there. And went to college in Carshalton. All technically Surrey, but it never felt like I was leaving London when I went there. The houses just got bigger and posher on the way to Kingston and Carshalton.

I've friends who live in Wallington. They class it as London.

Thornton Heath (or For’neef) being Surrey cracks me up.

DF was born and lived all his life in the SE London postal district. Always denied he was a Londoner. He was from Kent.

@MrsKoala

Thornton Heath (or For’neef) being Surrey cracks me up.

Of course Fort Neaf is in Surrey. All of Croydon is. Everyone knows that.

I've friends who live in Wallington. They class it as London.

I'll lay money they weren't born there.

I'm from just outside Romford. Part of Greater London (London Borough of Havering) but is in county of Essex.

You tell me then, am I from London or Essex???

@PercyKirke 😁 The heaf!

@EggyPegg what decade?

born & bred here, Clapham North (or Brixton hill). The kids I knew from TH or Mitcham were Surrey dwelling. My good friend is a very proud Croydon boyz!

I spent most of my weekends in Kingston, Sutton or Croydon because the shops and cinemas were better there

Better than where?

My Dad grew up in Stockwell/Oval in the 50/60s and people he knew moved to Croydon and he remembers their families showing off that they were moving to Surrey. I find it so funny now as I know where I’d rather live!

When I lived in Selhurst I worked in a school in Croydon and the kids would say incredulously ‘Miss have you ever been to London?’. I’d say of course I have, I live in London it’s just up the road.

Where I live was Kent when I was a child but I was very young when it became a London borough. There are frequent discussions on the local Facebook groups with people arguing whether it is Kent or London.
It is a London borough. It is 50 years since it was Kent. The same with Croydon and Surrey.
However, living in leafy suburban zones 5/6 does not feel much like London.

@Svalberg

I get irritated by drop down menus that insist upon a county (Surrey) and won't let you leave it blank. And London isn't an option for a county. I live in London, not bloody Surrey!

This one hundred times over. Drives me mad!

Boundaries etc have changed many times.

If you're in a London borough you're officially London. End of.

Places like Bromley haven't been in Kent since the 1960s. You'd be surprised how many people think they're in Kent though.

@AuntImmortelle - I think we can safely say you haven't been following this thread very closely:

If you're in a London borough you're officially London. End of.
It's not "End of" because we've had over 200 posts discussing all kinds of alternatives, including some admittedly ridiculous ones from "has to be a London postcode" (which is just down to Royal Mail's dividing up its delivery areas) all the way to "everything inside the M25" (yes, Dartford), so it's fair to say that not everyone is going to agree with your pronouncement.

Places like Bromley haven't been in Kent since the 1960s. You'd be surprised how many people think they're in Kent though.
Again, I wouldn't really be surprised since reading the comments on this thread. (In any case, I grew up giving my address as Bexley, Kent, despite living in the London Borough - Dartford postcode, and not an 01 phone number! ).