In message . li, at
00:21:04 on Tue, 3 Aug 2010, Tom Anderson
remarked:
I was particularly pleased to see the 'Romford is/is not in Essex'
argument being brought up immediately in the comments.

Having been brought up in the vicinity, I'd say that all of those
were in Essex, as is [ObLRT:] Upminster and Epping.

Whereas having been brought up in Essex, i'd say they were in London!

Brentwood is an interesting case (I lived there for a while).

People "from London" used to regard it as the "first market town out in
the countryside of Essex". (Although strictly it didn't have a market,
but people used to go there for a "day/evening out in the country").

Whereas people who lived in the real countryside (eg in Chelmsford or
Billericay) used to regard it as "the first town that's inside Greater
London metro area".
--
Roland Perry