Places that don't really fit in their region

[northwichcat]

Holme Moss was historically the boundary of Cheshire and the West Riding. Hard to imagine pastoral Cheshire as peat bog almost 2000ft high. There's an old stone sign at the bottom of Holme Moss, Yorkshire side quite some distance north of the present boundary, which shows a historic Derbyshire border. Derbyshire ended in Holmebridge it seems.

Of course most of the places in Greater Manchester and Merseyside were either in Cheshire and Lancashire before 1974, so Cheshire included the more industrial towns of Birkenhead and Stockport alongside many rural places now in Tameside (plus Tintwistle which got moved to Derbyshire.)

The Catholic dioceses were drawn up so that Cheshire (with it's original boundaries) was placed with Shropshire, which has been retained to this day. This means that Wythenshawe is in the Shrewsbury diocese not Salford and Birkenhead is also in the Shrewsbury diocese, not the Liverpool diocese despite the Catholic cathedral in Liverpool being visible from Birkenhead!

 

[anti-pacer]

employment prospects also play a part. I am proud to be from the north east but have had to move south for work. I will never be southern. After all someone has to show them what hard work is!

If the North was where all the hard workers are, surely that's where all the companies would want to be. I bet your southern counterparts work just as hard as you.

 

[anti-pacer]

Of course most of the places in Greater Manchester and Merseyside were either in Cheshire and Lancashire before 1974, so Cheshire included the more industrial towns of Birkenhead and Stockport alongside many rural places now in Tameside (plus Tintwistle which got moved to Derbyshire.)

The Catholic dioceses were drawn up so that Cheshire (with it's original boundaries) was placed with Shropshire, which has been retained to this day. This means that Wythenshawe is in the Shrewsbury diocese not Salford and Birkenhead is also in the Shrewsbury diocese, not the Liverpool diocese despite the Catholic cathedral in Liverpool being visible from Birkenhead!

That's always been an odd one with the Catholic dioceses. It must frustrate priests no end to have to travel, when needed, to Shrewsbury rather than nearby Salford or Liverpool, especially when one is in view and it's not yours.

Parts of East London fall under the Chelmsford C of A diocese, despite St Paul's being close by.

 

[DarloRich]

If the North was where all the hard workers are, surely that's where all the companies would want to be. I bet your southern counterparts work just as hard as you.

the CEO's like being near London and think their children will be eaten if they venture north of about Rugby!

Odd because I see few of them in the office with me at 0700 or after 1700. They don't know they are born these cockneys

 

[jochta]

Oxford is nowhere and everywhere. It's either described as south midlands, south east, south and even south west sometimes. As an Oxfordian it is IMO in none of those. Banbury is south midlands, Newbury is south, Reading is south east and Swindon is south west. Oxford falls in the middle of all of these and defies locating. At various times we've had local news from Birmingham, London and Southampton, none of which are relevant.

 

[northwichcat]

If the North was where all the hard workers are, surely that's where all the companies would want to be. I bet your southern counterparts work just as hard as you.

Surely what's 'hard work' depends on the person. Some people would find working with Excel spreadsheets hard work, while some would find it easy but then those who find that easy might struggle with trying to work on a building site.

 

[meridian2]

..and Birkenhead is also in the Shrewsbury diocese, not the Liverpool diocese despite the Catholic cathedral in Liverpool being visible from Birkenhead!

As the Great Western Railway served the Merseyside ports, and the china clay pits of Cornwall, Shrewsbury is on the doorstep comparatively speaking. The Catholic diocese of Southwark, serving London, abuts the diocese of Plymouth, serving Lands End.

 

[northwichcat]

the CEO's like being near London and think their children will be eaten if they venture north of about Rugby!

There seems to be growing trend for businesses to have a small London office and a larger office in the North West (where office space is cheaper and they can get away with not paying typical London salaries.)

 

[meridian2]

Oxford is nowhere and everywhere. It's either described as south midlands, south east, south and even south west sometimes. As an Oxfordian it is IMO in none of those. Banbury is south midlands, Newbury is south, Reading is south east and Swindon is south west. Oxford falls in the middle of all of these and defies locating. At various times we've had local news from Birmingham, London and Southampton, none of which are relevant.

I agree. Oxford's academic detractors call it that small Midlands town, but like its counterpart Cambridge, it has little in common with the immediate locality. I was in Cambridge last year, and there were an uncommon number of Teslas and private helicopters. Five miles outside Corsas with half an exhaust were the thing. For my money Oxford and Cambridge are ornate campuses for a global university, and could be sited anywhere.

 

[anti-pacer]

Oxford is nowhere and everywhere. It's either described as south midlands, south east, south and even south west sometimes. As an Oxfordian it is IMO in none of those. Banbury is south midlands, Newbury is south, Reading is south east and Swindon is south west. Oxford falls in the middle of all of these and defies locating. At various times we've had local news from Birmingham, London and Southampton, none of which are relevant.

I wouldn't class Oxford as South East, but you're definitely South of England. You state you're from Abingdon which I know is close to Oxford, so presuming you are, you're on the same latitude as Enfield, North London.

Definitely South.

 

[Howardh]

Dent. Yorkshire village in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and proud of it., and rightly so. Beautiful spot, ace beer.

Except it isn't, it's in Cumbria. I'm supposed to know my Geography but even that fooled me.

 

[adrock1976]

Viewing the regions from the angle of the postcodes, there are some which straddle neighbouring regions.

For example, Chesterfield and Worksop are in East Midlands Region, but have a high end S postcode, which is centred on Sheffield (Yorkshire).

Burton-upon-Trent once straddled both Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Even though the whole town is in Staffordshire, it is allocated a DE postcode (East Midlands).

Alton (Hampshire) is a high GU postcode centered on Guildford, which is in Surrey.

Berwick upon Tweed is presently in Northumberland (North East Region), even though it has changed hands between Scotland and England various times. It is allocated a TD postcode (TD15 to be precise), with the rest of TD being in Scotland.

In Wales, the northern part of Dyfed (Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, etc) and the northern part of Powys (Welshpool, Newtown, Carsews) is allocated a high SY postcode, centered on Shrewsbury (Shropshire/West Midlands Region).

Todmorden straddled both Lancashire and Yorkshire, with the River Calder separating the two counties. Todmorden is allocated the best of both in that the dailling code is allocated to Halifax exchange (Yorkshire), with it being allocated an OL postcode centered on Oldham (Lancashire).

 

[anti-pacer]

Viewing the regions from the angle of the postcodes, there are some which straddle neighbouring regions.

For example, Chesterfield and Worksop are in East Midlands Region, but have a high end S postcode, which is centred on Sheffield (Yorkshire).

Burton-upon-Trent once straddled both Staffordshire and Derbyshire. Even though the whole town is in Staffordshire, it is allocated a DE postcode (East Midlands).

Alton (Hampshire) is a high GU postcode centered on Guildford, which is in Surrey.

Berwick upon Tweed is presently in Northumberland (North East Region), even though it has changed hands between Scotland and England various times. It is allocated a TD postcode (TD15 to be precise), with the rest of TD being in Scotland.

In Wales, the northern part of Dyfed (Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, etc) and the northern part of Powys (Welshpool, Newtown, Carsews) is allocated a high SY postcode, centered on Shrewsbury (Shropshire/West Midlands Region).

Are postcodes the best measure though? They're just there mainly for Royal Mail and often don't bear much significance to geography. For example, Carrbridge in the Highlands have a 'PH' postcode despite being much closer to Inverness than Perth. Sleaford in Lincolnshire is another one. Much nearer Lincoln but has a Nottingham postcode.

 

[anti-pacer]

Todmorden straddled both Lancashire and Yorkshire, with the River Calder separating the two counties. Todmorden is allocated the best of both in that the dailling code is allocated to Halifax exchange (Yorkshire), with it being allocated an OL postcode centered on Oldham (Lancashire).

Todmorden's dialling code is 01706. Halifax is 01422.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Harrogate. A piece of Surrey that got misplaced in Yorkshire.

 

[jochta]

I wouldn't class Oxford as South East, but you're definitely South of England. You state you're from Abingdon which I know is close to Oxford, so presuming you are, you're on the same latitude as Enfield, North London.

Definitely South.

I agree I'm a southerner and Oxford is in the south of the country but it's not got any affinity to areas south of here.

South east is probably the best (and is the most usual) description for the city and immediate area. It has more in common with places towards London. It definitely has nothing in common with the Midlands, the south coast cities or places towards Bristol.

 

[adrock1976]

Rather than me having a lengthy post above, I was going to mention that I believe that postcodes were rolled out across the whole of the UK in the mid 1960s, so were most likely based on transport routings at that time.

Obviously, it was before the Metropolitan Counties and local government reorganisations subsequently has made some postcode allocations no longer aligning up with the counties that they were once in.

Postcodes are used for public services, such as GP surgeries for registering patients so as to determine if it is within the catchment area.

 

[anti-pacer]

Harrogate. A piece of Surrey that got misplaced in Yorkshire.

It annoys me when people say this. It's as if Yorkshire couldn't possibly have wealthy towns so a bit of the South has been planted up north.

Every single region in this country has its wealthy towns, it's not exclusive to the South.

Most North Yorkshire towns are reasonably wealthy. Most West Yorkshire towns aren't but we have some, and even places like Wakefield has areas of wealth.

 

[infobleep]

Guildford is interesting. It gets BBC London TV and London region ITV. However for Radio it gets BBC Surrey. That also covers North East Hampshire.

Now BBC Surrey is joined with BBC Sussex, there being no BBV North East Hampshire.

BBC Sussex broadcast all the Sussex County Cricket Club matches online and provide updates to the BBC Sussex and no doubt BBC Surrey listeners get them too.

Surrey County Cricket Club are based in Vauxhall and their cricket matches are covered by BBC London. Not the TV station but the radio station. This includes online commentary and updates to BBC London. However Thwy don't provide live updates to BBC Surrey, despite the fact it is a Surrey County Cricket Club. In fact Surrey hold a week long cricket festival in Guildford once a year, so they see themselves as Surrey.

As for the people in North East Hampshire, they would get a score update on Hampshire Country Cricket Club from the studio but never from the ground, as the commentators on that only provide updates to BBC Hampshire and BBC Hampshire isn't broadcast on North East Hampshire!

 

[meridian2]

Harrogate. A piece of Surrey that got misplaced in Yorkshire.

On a smaller scale, Aldborough just off the A1. Village green, maypole, idyllic period houses with prices to match. The home counties down the road from Boroughbridge.

 

[anti-pacer]

Guildford is interesting. It gets BBC London TV and London region ITV. However for Radio it gets BBC Surrey. That also covers North East Hampshire.

Now BBC Surrey is joined with BBC Sussex, there being no BBV North East Hampshire.

BBC Sussex broadcast all the Sussex County Cricket Club matches online and provide updates to the BBC Sussex and no doubt BBC Surrey listeners get them too.

Surrey County Cricket Club are based in Vauxhall and their cricket matches are covered by BBC London. Not the TV station but the radio station. This includes online commentary and updates to BBC London. However Thwy don't provide live updates to BBC Surrey, despite the fact it is a Surrey County Cricket Club. In fact Surrey hold a week long cricket festival in Guildford once a year, so they see themselves as Surrey.

As for the people in North East Hampshire, they would get a score update on Hampshire Country Cricket Club from the studio but never from the ground, as the commentators on that only provide updates to BBC Hampshire and BBC Hampshire isn't broadcast on North East Hampshire!

TV regions are odd but this is mainly down to topography rather than designated regions. Harrogate, just 15 miles north of Leeds gets mainly ITV Tyne Tees/BBC North East, whereas Heanor in Derbyshire, just 12 miles from Nottingham gets ITV Yorkshire/BBC Yorkshire. On paper it makes no sense, but it's the power of transmission.

One of my exes lived in Bedford and she got TV from London.

 

[meridian2]

even places like Wakefield has areas of wealth.

True, there's Wakefield Grammar, a fee paying private school so there must be some brass about, and no shortage of fancy cars outside Wakefield Station doing the London commute. Even Barnsley, hardly a synonym for gentility, has lovely Cawthorne.

 

[anti-pacer]

True, there's Wakefield Grammar, a fee paying private school so there must be some brass about, and no shortage of fancy cars outside Wakefield Station doing the London commute. Even Barnsley, hardly a synonym for gentility, has lovely Cawthorne.

Sandal is wealthy in the most part. Some huge millionaire houses up there. Newmillerdam is wealthy too. Other nice areas are parts of Wrenthorpe, Alverthorpe, Stanley, St John's, Crigglestone, Heath, and some of Outwood.

Elsewhere in the Wakefield district there are plenty of nice areas. There are plenty of dives too. Fitzwilliam anyone?

 

[jochta]

I agree I'm a southerner and Oxford is in the south of the country but it's not got any affinity to areas south of here.

South east is probably the best (and is the most usual) description for the city and immediate area. It has more in common with places towards London. It definitely has nothing in common with the Midlands, the south coast cities or places towards Bristol.

Another way to think of Oxford (and Abingdon) is geographically we are in the Thames Valley so we are connected to London via Reading by the river. Between us and the south coast (even Newbury) are the sparsely populated chalk hills of the Berkshire Downs, that separates us from the south coast and forms a natural barrier between the true "south" and places north of that.

I feel we are more connected to the people of Reading than we are of Swindon (i.e. a rivalry between the towns exists) and that puts us in the south east.

 

[anti-pacer]

Another way to think of Oxford (and Abingdon) is geographically we are in the Thames Valley so we are connected to London via Reading by the river. Between us and the south coast (even Newbury) are the sparsely populated chalk hills of the Berkshire Downs, that separates us from the south coast and forms a natural barrier between the true "south" and places north of that.

I feel we are more connected to the people of Reading than we are of Swindon (i.e. a rivalry between the towns exists) and that puts us in the south east.

Well South East or South I'd go with, but one thing you're definitely not is Midlands. Banbury at a push maybe, but certainly nowhere south of Deddington.

 

[meridian2]

Apparently West Bromwich is the least middle class place in England. No coffee chain outlet, no bookshop or any other markers of bourgeois entitlement.

 

[anti-pacer]

Apparently West Bromwich is the least middle class place in England. No coffee chain outlet, no bookshop or any other markers of bourgeois entitlement.

There's a Costa Coffee in the New Square shopping centre, and WHSmith sell books.

However, you're right, it's hardly middle class. It's also home to the ill-fated "The Public" arts centre which has been dubbed the biggest white elephant since the Millennium Dome. It's now closed down but at least the Dome has in recent years come alive again.

 

[DarloRich]

On a smaller scale, Aldborough just off the A1. Village green, maypole, idyllic period houses with prices to match. The home counties down the road from Boroughbridge.

You try being an off comer. They might (might) acknowledge you in the shop after 15 years. Solid Yorkshire. PS The Ship did a decent pint last time i visited

 

[martinsh]

To me, geographically the Midlands starts at Mansfield in the east, and just above Crewe and Congleton in the west.

I live in Crewe and I can assure you it is definitely in the North West !!! :mad:

 

[meridian2]

There's a Costa Coffee in the New Square shopping centre, and WHSmith sell books.

However, you're right, it's hardly middle class. It's also home to the ill-fated "The Public" arts centre which has been dubbed the biggest white elephant since the Millennium Dome. It's now closed down but at least the Dome has in recent years come alive again.

My info must be out of date. West Bromwich has attracted photographers like New Yorker Bruce Gilden and Martin Parr for its "characters".