Is (or was) Milton Keynes considered to be in Buckinghamshire?

[radamfi]

Why do people get het up about postcodes? It happens all over the place and it is nonsensical.

The purpose of postcodes is for the Royal Mail to route mail. They have no other formal purpose. Therefore, the postcode you get is based on which way your mail is routed, not where you are, nor where you are associated with.

Anyone who reads additional things into them, gets het up about them being "insulting", or uses them for another purpose, is doing it off their own back.

They no more identify where you live in "association" terms than your broadband IP address does.

Certain postcodes are considered prestigious in the property market, for example W8 or SW3. There is even a certain amount of snobbery about having a "proper" London postcode, rather than KT, CR, BR etc. It's crazy.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Certain postcodes are considered prestigious in the property market, for example W8 or SW3. There is even a certain amount of snobbery about having a "proper" London postcode, rather than KT, CR, BR etc. It's crazy.

It is. Maybe RM should have used purely numeric postcodes like most other countries and that wouldn't happen.

 

[Jimini]

Try telling the denizens of Wanstead that when someone sees E11 and tells them they live in Leytonstone

 

[Domh245]

It is. Maybe RM should have used purely numeric postcodes like most other countries and that wouldn't happen.

It still would, unless the purely numeric postcodes end up entirely randomly allocated. The US system still has a hierarchical system where you have state/region/area in effect their first 3 numbers still fulfil the same role as the first half of UK postcode with the last 2 being the unique identifier. Rather than SW3 or W8 (or SK10) being prestigious, you end up with 072xx or 088xx (or 142xx) being prestigious instead

 

[DelayRepay]

Not quite post codes, but I am sure I heard about a massive hoo-ha when Harpenden was given a Luton telephone code instead of the St Albans code.

 

[Ianno87]

Why do people get het up about postcodes? It happens all over the place and it is nonsensical.

The purpose of postcodes is for the Royal Mail to route mail. They have no other formal purpose. Therefore, the postcode you get is based on which way your mail is routed, not where you are, nor where you are associated with.

Anyone who reads additional things into them, gets het up about them being "insulting", or uses them for another purpose, is doing it off their own back.

They no more identify where you live in "association" terms than your broadband IP address does.

Tell that to the residents of Windsor who have those frightful letters "SL" as their postcode. Thoughts and prayers to them.

Apparently when a campaign started to create a "WM" postcode, Royal Mail told them it was "unlikely" it would succeed. Basically a coded way of saying "Grow up, and worry about real problems".

 

[cactustwirly]

Tell that to the residents of Windsor who have those frightful letters "SL" as their postcode. Thoughts and prayers to them.

And Ascot.

Basingstoke also has a Reading postcode, despite being 15 miles away, and in a completely different county.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Tell that to the residents of Windsor who have those frightful letters "SL" as their postcode. Thoughts and prayers to them.

And of course the only reason that they do is that their mail is routed via Slough sorting office. There is literally no other reason

You see that on Merseyside too. Southport is in the former Merseyside area, and has a PR postcode. Ormskirk is in Lancashire and has an L postcode.

 

[cactustwirly]

And of course the only reason that they do is that their mail is routed via Slough sorting office. There is literally no other reason

You see that on Merseyside too. Southport is in the former Merseyside area, and has a PR postcode. Ormskirk is in Lancashire and has an L postcode.

Does Slough still have a sorting office?
All the post through Reading actually comes from the Swindon sorting office.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Does Slough still have a sorting office?
All the post through Reading actually comes from the Swindon sorting office.

Perhaps "had" might be more accurate, I don't believe they have changed any postcodes when they changed routeing.

 

[xotGD]

If we didn't have post codes people wouldn't be able to complain about something or other being 'a post code lottery '.

Nor would we have gangs who feel it is fair game to knife someone just because they've strayed across the divide from the neighbouring post code area.

 

[edwin_m]

Why do people get het up about postcodes? It happens all over the place and it is nonsensical.

The purpose of postcodes is for the Royal Mail to route mail. They have no other formal purpose. Therefore, the postcode you get is based on which way your mail is routed, not where you are, nor where you are associated with.

Anyone who reads additional things into them, gets het up about them being "insulting", or uses them for another purpose, is doing it off their own back.

They no more identify where you live in "association" terms than your broadband IP address does.

When introduced in the 70s, with sorting mostly manual and IT very basic, the first part of the postcode would have identified the main sorting office and later parts more local offices that the letter would pass through. So the structure of the codes reflects Royal Mail's distribution network at that time.

However I'm sure that network would have changed many times over the years with new technology and economies being made, and not least the removal of most mail from the railways. But there haven't been re-structurings of the postcode system to reflect this (sometimes an existing code is split into several new ones but I think that's more to do with new development meaning there weren't enough codes available). So I think now the computers decide what route a latter will take via a lookup table of postcodes, and in many areas the structure of the code no longer matches the distribution network.

 

[Bald Rick]

Not quite post codes, but I am sure I heard about a massive hoo-ha when Harpenden was given a Luton telephone code instead of the St Albans code.

Well, Harpenden is a suburb of Luton really (ducks for cover).

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Tell that to the residents of Windsor who have those frightful letters "SL" as their postcode. Thoughts and prayers to them.

Apparently when a campaign started to create a "WM" postcode, Royal Mail told them it was "unlikely" it would succeed. Basically a coded way of saying "Grow up, and worry about real problems".

Although not entirely impossible.

Having grown up in SL6, although within the Slough urban area rather than Maidenhead, I don't have much sympathy with the people of Windsor on this one. But living now in L20 (previously Bootle 1) I have seen the parallel argument applied which 20 years or so ago saw Wirral move from having postcodes in the L (Liverpool) series to CH (Chester) ones, which has been a stunning success in that North Birkenhead is a much more refined place now (/sarcasm). But it does prove that it is possible to carry out wholesale changes to postcodes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Although not entirely impossible.

Having grown up in SL6, although within the Slough urban area rather than Maidenhead, I don't have much sympathy with the people of Windsor on this one. But living now in L20 (previously Bootle 1) I have seen the parallel argument applied which 20 years or so ago saw Wirral move from having postcodes in the L (Liverpool) series to CH (Chester) ones, which has been a stunning success in that North Birkenhead is a much more refined place now (/sarcasm). But it does prove that it is possible to carry out wholesale changes to postcodes.

Crikey, you're doing the tour of all the nice places, aren't you - Slough to Bootle

 

[Ianno87]

But it does prove that it is possible to carry out wholesale changes to postcodes.

But presumably some benefit to the postal service in doing so; e.g. accounting for new developments or changes to their distribution network.

Not just to satisfy a bunch of over-entitled snobs.

 

[Mike395]

Surely the real insult in this area is that the neighbouring county town of Bedford has Milton Keynes postcodes e.g. MK42 9DJ for Bedford Hospital, South Wing.

The way I see it, that's made up for by Bedford having the easiest to remember area code for phone numbers in the entire country

(Seriously though, like @Bletchleyite I don't get why people get het up on certain postcodes being more prestigous than others!)