On 31/07/10 19:07, Tom Anderson wrote:
Evening all,

Not related to transport, but a topic which flares up here now and then:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10825499

I was particularly pleased to see the 'Romford is/is not in Essex'
argument being brought up immediately in the comments. Now, could
someone get on there and tell them about Metropolitan Kent?

The big change was really a couple of years ago when, IIRC, the use of
counties was made optional for all UK addresses (provided the postcode
was included). The proposed change referred to here is really just a
logical progression of that decision.

Prior to that the county was manadatory in most postal addresses, but
there has always been a list of post towns for which the county was
optional.

I know that Cambridge, where I live, was on the list - i.e. you've
always been able to write just "Cambridge" rather than "Cambridge,
Cambs." and I rarely-to-never see anyone include the "Cambs." in an
address here.

But I've always wondered what the general rule is as to when the county
is omitted. Is it basically County Towns (such as Cambridge, county
town of Cambridgeshire), plus those of the modern metropolitan counties
(e.g. Manchester as effectively the County Town of Greater Manchester),
plus of course London, which is a bit of a special case (in lots of ways).

Or is it more complicated or arbitrary than that?

-roy