London Postcodes Are Genius, Here’s Why!

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 19 чер 2023
  • Get 25% off Blinkist Annual premium! Start your 7-day free trial by clicking here: blinkist.com/tomthetaxidriver
    You can find out more about Dave Cunnington here:
    www.hopinhopoutlondontaxitour...
    / londontaxitours_hopin_...
    MY TAXI ESSENTIALS:
    🚕 Everyday stuff - amzn.to/3kVr2MH
    🎙 Audible Subscription - amzn.to/3LdYZTc
    MY SKILLSHARE COURSE:
    🎬 Getting Started with Final Cut Pro X - Beginner to UA-camr - skl.sh/3ZB3ueV
    Get a Free Trial HERE: skl.sh/3Zxthos
    MY SET-UP:
    🎥 Sony ZV-1 (studio camera) - amzn.to/3tz0Bxo
    🎥 GoPro Hero 8 - amzn.to/3tyvCBz
    💡Studio Lighting - amzn.to/3MS7O2s
    💡Fill Light - amzn.to/3aWZJfv
    🎙️ RØDE Video Mic Pro+ - amzn.to/3mGvsEj
    🎙️ DJI Wireless Lav Microphone - amzn.to/3BFeOMH
    CHECK ME OUT:
    💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - www.tom.taxi/newsletter
    🌍 My website - www.tom.taxi
    📸 Instagram - / tomhutley
    🐦 Twitter - / tomtaxidriver
    📖 My Book - amzn.to/3gg0KSF
    🏛 Tripadvisor Reviews - bit.ly/tataxireviews
    MUSIC & SOUND FX USED:
    🎵 Epidemic Sound - bit.ly/3LrQCDV
    WHO AM I:
    I’m Tom, a London Taxi driver of 5 years. I also have a keen passion for all things London whether that’s; history, geography or a good spot for coffee!
    WHY DO I MAKE VIDEOS?:
    To PROMOTE and PROTECT The Knowledge of London
    And to PRESERVE the high standards of London Taxi Drivers
  • Розваги

КОМЕНТАРІ • 458

  • @TomtheTaxiDriver
    @TomtheTaxiDriver  11 місяців тому +6

    Get 25% off Blinkist Annual premium! Start your 7-day free trial by clicking here: blinkist.com/tomthetaxidriver

  • @stuartslyper1479
    @stuartslyper1479 11 місяців тому +46

    London’s postcode system is absolutely brilliant. I’ve lived in four different countries but have never experienced anything that comes close to rivalling London’s postcode system.

    • @moladiver6817
      @moladiver6817 10 місяців тому

      The Dutch postcode system is pretty clever too. Just a postcode and a house number is enough to retrieve the entire address. Works nationally. Online address forms often only allow you to type in a postcode and a house number and then the form fills in the rest. As a return address I usually only put postcode hyphen house number on the back of the envelope.

    • @mattkirby1557
      @mattkirby1557 10 місяців тому

      ​@moladiver6817 that applies to most addresses throughout the UK too. Rarely type out my address, simply a postcode and building number and the rest is automatically filled out

    • @quackcement
      @quackcement 10 місяців тому

      planning a trip to Australia and its a nightmare, have to manually type region and street every time, the stupid thing is they have an area number but its only 4 numbers long, so, you have to type in region and street address. sorta defeats the point of having an area number in the first place.

  • @anonymouse740
    @anonymouse740 11 місяців тому +118

    I didn't realise postcodes were assigned alphabetically, it suddenly makes complete sense. I used to know pretty much every postcode are by heart because I worked as an Addison Lee dispatcher and after a while you just memorise them all.

    • @kevinsmoother
      @kevinsmoother 11 місяців тому +1

      I thought it was distance from Central London lol

    • @xolotlnephthys
      @xolotlnephthys 11 місяців тому +3

      It's not very common outside of London though. Lots of numbers are skipped, and independent areas within a larger postal district are grouped together numerically. Eg in the NG code, areas in Nottinghamshire are numbered 1-25, but areas in Lincolnshire are 31-34. And in Nottinghamshire these are done geographically from the centre, with every code bordering the number before and after them

    • @MrDannyDetail
      @MrDannyDetail 11 місяців тому +1

      Outside of London you're more likely to have 1 at the centre of the postcode region (so SW or N or whatever is the region) then 2 through to some number in a clockwise circle starting north of the centre and working around, and in some cases a second circle outside of that. Most postcodes outside of London and Sheffield were set up in th 1970s and because areas that were rural and sparsely populated back then have since been built on most postcode regions have a few newer codes with non-consecutive numbers that have been patched onto the original system, either by taking territory away from the existing sectors (the first half of a code e.g. SWI is a sector), or by allowing a single geographic sector to have use of two, or even three, different numbers to double, or even triple, the codes available.

    • @thatmarchingarrow
      @thatmarchingarrow 11 місяців тому +1

      ​​@@kevinsmootherThat's how in works in some areas but not all. Manchester post codes for instance do work like that (at least I think they do), but not London post codes.

    • @carlcassidy185
      @carlcassidy185 11 місяців тому +1

      ​@thatcammarc pretty much, yes. Single digits are city centre or Salford, then you can follow the rest in a circle around the city. Until you get the outlying boroughs, they get random numbered postcodes as they joined the GM authority, so not necessarily an order to them. For example, M23 Wythenshawe area is next to M33 Sale area or M46 Atherton is next to M29 Worsley

  • @eddiefara
    @eddiefara 11 місяців тому +53

    londoner for 26 years and always had stacks of questions about postcodes stored in my brain, all now answered! fantastic as always tom!

  • @ashleycrane415
    @ashleycrane415 10 місяців тому +15

    Just for clarification Lewisham is SE13 not SW13. SW13 is Barnes and that's a ball ache away on the south circular. Postcodes are indeed alphabetical however there are variations. E2 to E15 are in order and it starts again at E16 for Canning Town. That used to be in the NE area before it was given to Newcastle. NW starts again at NW9 for Colindale. N starts over at N19 for Archway. SW is a warm up exercise for SE. SW2,4,8 and 9 are all south of the river. SW1,3,5,6,7 & 10 are north. You then start again at SW11 for Battersea and never need to cross a bridge. W has no complications. W2 is Bayswater and W14 is West Kensington. Easy. SE, forget it. They were drunk by this point. There are 28 districts without any semblance of order at all. SE8 is Deptford, SE17 is Elephant & Castle and SE21 is Dulwich.

    • @willmill82
      @willmill82 10 місяців тому +2

      SE Postcodes are largely in alphabetical order, but the names that they use may not reflect those commonly used today. SE2 (Abbey Wood) to SE18 (Woolwich) run in order - SE17 you mention covers E&C but the post town is Walworth. SE19 - Upper Norwood - appears to be an anomaly, but then you've got SE20 (Anerley, not Penge for the sake of ordering), SE21 (Dulwich), SE22 (East Dulwich), 23 (Forest Hill), 24 (Herne Hill), 25 (S Norwood) 26 (Sydenham) and 27 (W Norwood) completing another alphabetical run. SE28 was given to Thamesmead presumably as it's the newest SE district.

    • @airdrawn
      @airdrawn 4 місяці тому

      Lived in Lewisham for 5 years and can definitely vouch that it is indeed SE13 😂

  • @Shads5
    @Shads5 11 місяців тому +9

    That fish & chip shop in Newington Green at 2:20 was bought by my grandad after WW2. My mother and Aunt along with my grandparents lived above it.

    • @manuel_winde
      @manuel_winde 11 місяців тому +2

      It’s still not bad, nice chips that taste like chip shop chips used to 👍🏼

  • @SaffyMirza
    @SaffyMirza 11 місяців тому +25

    Surprised you guys missed this SW13 is Barnes, Lewisham is SE13

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +17

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

    • @MikusMusik
      @MikusMusik 11 місяців тому

      @@davidcunnington8316 Good recovery, any slagging off of Lewisham could have let to civil war

    • @kanedaku
      @kanedaku 10 місяців тому

      @@davidcunnington8316 Great interviewee; I've subbed in case one day you do any 'Tales from a Retired Postman' videos 😆

  • @Sw1a1aa
    @Sw1a1aa 11 місяців тому +56

    Lewisham is SE13 & Catford is SE6 not 4 which is Brockley & Crofton Park . Another quirky one is that the American embassy and surrounding area is SW11 it used to be SW8 but it changed maybe SW11 is a bit posher . Where that embassy is behind it was the main distribution Center for SW London to Royal Mail sold the land. Regards ex postie & cabbie

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +13

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

    • @CJT80
      @CJT80 11 місяців тому

      I was about to say the same. Lewisham is next to Blackheath (SE2) which is deemed quite ‘posh’. Whilst I lived there a new housing development was being built and was marketed as being in Blackheath. Sadly for its residents it has an SE13 postcode!

    • @Sw1a1aa
      @Sw1a1aa 11 місяців тому +2

      @@CJT80 sorry to correct you 😆, blackHeath is se3 & Abbey Wood is se2 it’s all in alaphabetical order , I know what you mean . Was you talking about the old ferrier estate in Kidbrooke. That shithole had to be pulled down .

    • @leewoods4605
      @leewoods4605 11 місяців тому +3

      Him saying SW13 for Lewisham made me come here 😂. I lived in Brockley and knew Lewisham was an SE postcode.. no wonder my mail keeps going missing 😂😂

    • @DirtyBlack997
      @DirtyBlack997 11 місяців тому

      @@Sw1a1aa I doubt they mean the Ferrier as that is/was SE3 and has Blackheath Park Se3 between it and the SE13 postcode. I lived on the Ferrier and what it needed was social investment rather than being knocked down and the land sold to property investors so they can make huge profits.

  • @letmejustsay
    @letmejustsay 11 місяців тому +10

    Dave seems like a lovely guy and incredibly knowledgeable.

  • @markpunt9638
    @markpunt9638 11 місяців тому +12

    Those early, so-called postcodes are actually postal districts. Postcode proper introduced in about the late 1960s early 1970s

  • @dVb9
    @dVb9 11 місяців тому +3

    When the Naval and Military Club HQ was in Piccadilly, its postcode was W1N 0ES, which its members found highly amusing.

  • @geirmyrvagnes8718
    @geirmyrvagnes8718 11 місяців тому +35

    This makes a surprising amount of sense. I have noticed the codes everywhere in London but never thought I could be bothered to memorize them, since I am there rarely and as a tourist. Most places in the world don't put post codes on road signs, so I didn't even know that is what they are. But if I am anywhere a tourist is likely to go after watching this video, I can orient myself roughly by the first letters on the nearest sign. Nice.

    • @markiliff
      @markiliff 10 місяців тому

      "Most places in the world don't put post codes on road signs"
      Well, now you mention it… Great point!

  • @id70b40
    @id70b40 11 місяців тому +7

    Pre GPS back in the mid 1990s I was a service engineer in the south east of England…mainly PO, RH, BN & TN postcodes…. If I didn’t have a map book of the area I was visiting, I could figure out roughly where I needed to go based on the post code

  • @topfoopa
    @topfoopa 11 місяців тому +5

    i was an N5 boy growing up! lovely to see a reminder. lovely work Tom. greetings from Barbados

  • @TurboTimsWorld
    @TurboTimsWorld 11 місяців тому +4

    You want to live on a farm in Devon 1 post code covers 4 farms about 15 houses over a 3 miles radius, Amazon can get it right first time, the smart meter fitter took 4times before he gave up and all he had to do was follow the power lines ! LOL

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому +1

      Most Amazon drivers struggle to find my house - every single DPD driver has got it right first time. Pay peanuts and get monkeys.

  • @user-ei7ed6zy9k
    @user-ei7ed6zy9k 11 місяців тому +3

    I love how you’re just driving in opposite directions on Mare Street every time you ask a question for the camera

  • @tobyskinner94
    @tobyskinner94 11 місяців тому +67

    Imagine telling a taxi driver giving a postcode and they knew exactly where to go.

    • @Coolcarting
      @Coolcarting 11 місяців тому +3

      They wouldn't.

    • @Sw1a1aa
      @Sw1a1aa 11 місяців тому +9

      Not the full code just like se5 or sw6 . As a taxi driver you have a matter of seconds to start the journey. You won’t see many looking up an a to z or google maps . That map of London is implanted in yer head . You start off going to the correct direction and start filtering out the best route . The killer one is a customer going on a journey across the whole of London and your 1 road away and they say it’s the next left / right driver . Do you think I got all the way here by luck. 😂😂😂

    • @philkaw
      @philkaw 11 місяців тому +1

      That's exactly what happened today.

    • @MrDannyDetail
      @MrDannyDetail 11 місяців тому

      @@Sw1a1aa I want to assume they are just trying to be helpful by giving you the fine tuning at the very end of the journey, and that they aren't actually thinking that you didn't have any idea where to go the rest of the time. I'm not in London mysefl but nonetheless my point here still stands if I say that most (but not all) delivery drivers and tax drivers can easily find my street, but only a suprisingly small percentage can find my exact apartment block (out of a choice of 12 in the street), and even less can see where the slightly concealed front door to the block is to know that that would be a good place to actually come to stop and let me out, so I'd definitely think I was helping my taxi driver by guiding them once we could see my street.

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому

      Do you get to learn places by postcodes or street names ?

  • @paulhoughton5266
    @paulhoughton5266 11 місяців тому +3

    Really enjoyed that, I am a Londoner of 57 years and that was all news to me.

  • @essexandy189
    @essexandy189 10 місяців тому +4

    I worked at KEB EC sorting office for over 20 years in the 80’s and 90’s even iv’e learn’t something from this video 👍👍 and lots off ex Postmen became Black cab drivers it was the perfect job to do the Knowledge lot’s off free time because it was a great job back then

  • @CallieMasters5000
    @CallieMasters5000 11 місяців тому +10

    In comparison, the American equivalent - the Zip Code - wasn't introduced until 1963, over a hundred years after London! They start low numbers on the east coast and go higher in western states.

    • @nope2dat
      @nope2dat 11 місяців тому +4

      As a brit zip codes seem totally infeasible to me. Only 5 digits and no letters mean only 90,000 possible combinations or 90,000 individual codes. For a country with over 300 million people and so much territory. There must be so many addresses per each code and so much sorting each post office has to do even after the zip to get a manageable round for each postman

    • @Coolcarting
      @Coolcarting 11 місяців тому +1

      @@nope2dat Zip codes cover a much larger area. There are only 41,704 ZIP Codes in the US, so pleanty more to go around.

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому +2

      @@nope2dat Actually, full zip codes are 9 digits, 5 digits outbound like the first half of the UK code and 4 digits inbound like the second half of the UK code. Most people only bother to state the first digits.

  • @Vickix1185
    @Vickix1185 11 місяців тому +13

    This is fascinating! Gonna be nosey at the street signs next time I’m in London!
    I’m in the Midlands and my mind was blown when a customer on the phones at work explained the postcode compass - he wasn’t keen on visiting a NW postcode from his SE one and explained it to me!

  • @westhamfaithful
    @westhamfaithful 11 місяців тому +1

    Absolutely fascinating stuff, Tom!

  • @Digimonisunderrated
    @Digimonisunderrated 11 місяців тому +3

    Lovely stuff as always Tom!

  • @shakealgoritham861
    @shakealgoritham861 10 місяців тому +1

    Royal mail's response to postcode change request: no hope.
    Rupert Murdoch:

  • @Yimello
    @Yimello 11 місяців тому +2

    Excellent as usual Tom

  • @robs720
    @robs720 11 місяців тому +105

    Lil faux pas with Lewisham, its definitely SE13 not SW13 ;) great vid tho

    • @TomtheTaxiDriver
      @TomtheTaxiDriver  11 місяців тому +12

      🤪

    • @robtyman4281
      @robtyman4281 11 місяців тому +11

      SW13 is Barnes

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +17

      I knew it was SE, meant to say SE and it came out as S!

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +33

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

    • @michaellennon873
      @michaellennon873 11 місяців тому +4

      I used to live in Lee, SE12 so knew Lewisham was wrong straight away.

  • @maxe1729
    @maxe1729 11 місяців тому +2

    Brilliant video , really enjoyed Tom

  • @MatthewGJones1
    @MatthewGJones1 11 місяців тому +2

    A brilliant video once again Tom!

  • @xstoph
    @xstoph 11 місяців тому +11

    Very interesting video. Often wondered how Blackheath's postcode is SE3 and Lewisham's is SE13 (not SW13 like it says in this video lol) when they are right next to each other. Thanks for making it. (BTW, There's only one L in Fulham 🙂)

  • @jasondortch2313
    @jasondortch2313 10 місяців тому

    Love this! I’ve often wondered about London post codes.

  • @hog1810
    @hog1810 11 місяців тому +2

    Love this guy so interesting to listen to

  • @Robslondon
    @Robslondon 11 місяців тому +1

    Fantastic video Tom. Stay well and be lucky 😉

  • @itstimeforham
    @itstimeforham 11 місяців тому +1

    More complex and interesting than I imagined. Nice one!

  • @oliverstemp9132
    @oliverstemp9132 11 місяців тому +2

    Great editing in this video

  • @alexsmith854
    @alexsmith854 11 місяців тому +2

    Great video, really informative.

  • @waynesmith1971
    @waynesmith1971 11 місяців тому +2

    Such a fascinating insight into London postcodes. I lived in London for four years and I had no idea how the post code system was constructed or if there was even a system to it but this video is really insightful

  • @NRJenzenJones
    @NRJenzenJones 11 місяців тому +2

    This was great, thanks!

  • @SL-hw
    @SL-hw 10 місяців тому

    This is the first video I watched of yours and found it very interesting. Proceeded to binge watch and now subscribed because of your insights - thanks for sharing what you do!

  • @Alan_Mac
    @Alan_Mac 11 місяців тому +5

    That was magnificent! Postie to cabbie seems a natural career progression.

    • @redsnapper1959
      @redsnapper1959 11 місяців тому +2

      I went in the opposite direction... cabbie to postie!

  • @davidpriestley1650
    @davidpriestley1650 11 місяців тому +3

    One of the most unique Postcodes was a large office block on Bridle Road, Bootle, Liverpool. which was should have been within L30 4YD but as it was part of the General Post Office (when it was built in the 1960's) it got GIR 0AA - home to the Post Office Girobank. Since it was taken over by Alliance & Leicester, and now Santander - it lost its unique postcode and it changed to L30 4GB (as a nod towards its previous incarnation as Girobank).

  • @haltendehand1
    @haltendehand1 11 місяців тому +7

    Been told that Ilford is 'IG' as it is short for 'Ilford and Gants Hill' - which matches the actual geographical area, so makes sense.
    I believe the only exception to the 'head office is XX1' rule is in "W" - W2 is Paddington as it was a second 'head office' for the area.
    Lewisham is SE13, not SW13!
    I believe at least one area has managed to get a proper postcode change - the Barbican was initially part of EC1 when it was being built, but became EC2Y during the 70s. Allegedly a result of the City of London exerting significant pressure on the Royal Mail to move their 2,000 brand new 'luxury' flats away from the very downmarket (at the time) EC1 postcode. Probably only possible due to EC1 being 'overcrowded' anyway though.

    • @davidowen2396
      @davidowen2396 11 місяців тому

      I've researched this...apparently the G comes from the last letter of BarkinG. Not sure why. Apparrently IL was avoided as it may be written too closely resembling LL (Llandudno) or L1 (central Liverpool)...

    • @MrDannyDetail
      @MrDannyDetail 11 місяців тому

      W1 today is handled by a different mailcentre to all the other W codes if I remember rightly.

    • @robertyoung9611
      @robertyoung9611 11 місяців тому

      Doesn't IG cover both Ilford and Barking? Also Ilford used to be part of Barking back in the day. Hence Barkingside, actually once being part of Barking.

    • @davidowen2396
      @davidowen2396 11 місяців тому

      @@robertyoung9611 Yes, but an interesting way of incorporating Barking into the code..maybe IB would have made more sense?? (I don't know if IB is the code for another area already....

    • @robertyoung9611
      @robertyoung9611 11 місяців тому

      IB would indeed make more sense, I can't think of IB being used for anything else.

  • @SouthLondonCyclist
    @SouthLondonCyclist 11 місяців тому +1

    Great video, really interesting. Dave was excellent!

  • @kevowski
    @kevowski 11 місяців тому +3

    Fascinating
    I work In London frequently and often wondered why there seemed to be no logic to the numbering after the main letters 😊

  • @benwakefield93
    @benwakefield93 11 місяців тому +1

    Great video idea mate!

  • @louisbrooks28
    @louisbrooks28 11 місяців тому +4

    this was really interesting! I'm not from London (or the UK for that matter), but I've been to London multiple times and absolutely love exploring the city. I love your other videos to see some cool stuff about the city and now i finally know what the postcode stuff is all about. Thanks for the great work both of yous :)

    • @MolloyPolloy
      @MolloyPolloy 10 місяців тому

      Greatest city on the planet.

  • @FrozenHero2010
    @FrozenHero2010 11 місяців тому +1

    Welwyn Garden City is divided in the same way as Wembley. We have the East Coast Main Line running through our town, and our postcodes are AL7 (St. Albans) for properties east of the railway, and AL8 for the west side.

  • @mypradasatthecleanerss
    @mypradasatthecleanerss 11 місяців тому +1

    Fascinating! Dave shared great insights. I couldn’t not be reminded of the roadie in Wayne’s World 2 however!

  • @karimcy
    @karimcy 10 місяців тому

    Great, insightful video!

  • @paulsz6194
    @paulsz6194 10 місяців тому +2

    Great video, I always found London postcodes a little confusing. This gives people visiting London a good idea on how the postcodes work and the little bit of history was great as well . 👍🏼 This video deserves more views.

  • @iandrew6347
    @iandrew6347 11 місяців тому +2

    Wow very interesting Sir great video as always

  • @dziltener
    @dziltener 11 місяців тому +2

    It is interesting how very different post code systems have turned out in different countries.
    Another example: the Swiss system. They somehow managed to cram multiple things into it. First, you can easily calculate the difference between two four-digit postcodes due to how they are assigned. Then, the way they work is that the first digit designates the greater region, the second one the area, the third one the railway line used for delivery, and the fourth one the location. There are two more internal digits used to designate the delivery route.

  • @walkamileinmyshoes7096
    @walkamileinmyshoes7096 11 місяців тому

    Really interesting Tom!! Thanks mate.

  • @thedeeprot
    @thedeeprot 11 місяців тому +1

    Love your uploads Tom! 👌

  • @OneAndOnlyMe
    @OneAndOnlyMe 4 дні тому

    That was fascinating! Thanks for sharing. It's interesting because I read that in other parts of UK, the postal codes radiate outwards, Suffolk for example.
    Ilford is IG because, if I'm not mistaken, it originally was the code for the "Ilford Grounds" area, back in the 1800s.

  • @markpunt9638
    @markpunt9638 11 місяців тому +3

    Downing Street mail is not actually delivered to Downing Street - for security reasons. It is handled centrally via mailing house

    • @user-rz6uw6ur3m
      @user-rz6uw6ur3m 11 місяців тому

      Thanks. Thought I’d use it as an example as everyone has heard of it

  • @ebismusic8813
    @ebismusic8813 11 місяців тому +3

    Tom your videos are so interesting I don’t even skip the promos 😅

  • @FateBoost
    @FateBoost 11 місяців тому

    I know in Durham the way it seems to work is the county is divided into regions beginning in the city at DH1 going all the way to DH9 on the very outskirts. There are some DL postcodes which you tend to find quite close to Darlington (the two county’s are related to each other as Darlington was struggling many years ago, and is why they have Durham & Darlington fire rescue and not separate and within democracy it tends to be treated as a borough of Durham rather than its own county rlly).
    The second part of postcodes tends to be more specific to the pocket of land assigned the postcode, first number tends to be a rough area, a couple of small villages for example, then the last two letters tends to be in alphabetical order from what I can gather through informal observation

  • @Jnthnpg
    @Jnthnpg 11 місяців тому +4

    Fascinated by postcodes. Simple but so effective. I grew up in Cumbria but we still used the old LA Lancashire postcodes from pre-1974 times!

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому +2

      LA = Lancaster

  • @discodiscodiscoking
    @discodiscodiscoking 11 місяців тому +2

    Brilliant video

  • @travellinmark2745
    @travellinmark2745 11 місяців тому +1

    I spend three months a year in London and have never been able to get my head around Postcodes until this video.

  • @6lack5ushi
    @6lack5ushi 11 місяців тому +1

    ALPHABETICAL assignments was the key I could never decode on my own. GREAT VIDEO! thanks for E20! MAKES SENSE

  • @oneteaminbristolbcfc
    @oneteaminbristolbcfc 11 місяців тому +5

    Thanks for this I really enjoyed this! The guy you had on was brilliant can you thank him for all his knowledgeable information.

    • @TomtheTaxiDriver
      @TomtheTaxiDriver  11 місяців тому +1

      Thanks! I want to tap into more wealth of knowledge from cabbies! We all have our unique experiences we bring to the job!

  • @epifanny
    @epifanny 10 місяців тому

    Fantastic video!

  • @nigelh4617
    @nigelh4617 11 місяців тому +1

    Dave Cunnington.
    He da man.

  • @MattBasch
    @MattBasch 11 місяців тому +4

    Always cracked me up that the American Embassy is SW11 7US. 😂

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому +1

      The US government gave Royal Mail a large amount of money to make that so.

  • @barrycoppock
    @barrycoppock 11 місяців тому +4

    Lewisham has SE postcodes with a part bordering on Bromley which has a BR postcode.

  • @georgedoty-williams2085
    @georgedoty-williams2085 11 місяців тому +3

    This is gonna be so interesting

  • @Tommyevansbackup
    @Tommyevansbackup 11 місяців тому +1

    N4 Is in the Boroughs of Haringey Hackney and Islington

  • @lukewalder4445
    @lukewalder4445 11 місяців тому +1

    He was a great guest!

  • @lyno1980
    @lyno1980 10 місяців тому

    What an absolutely lovely guy, great video

  • @MrJtyne
    @MrJtyne 11 місяців тому

    What a knowledgeable bloke! Feel he'd be great to have on your team in a pub quiz

  • @SillyEngineer
    @SillyEngineer 10 місяців тому

    13 years living in london, now i know, thank you sir.

  • @ZeeWatcher1000
    @ZeeWatcher1000 10 місяців тому

    I love videos like this

  • @parasinthephilippines
    @parasinthephilippines 10 місяців тому

    TK 501 was my post number.
    Still have a fascination on posy codes.

  • @marshac1479
    @marshac1479 10 місяців тому

    Fantastic video

  • @lukaszbien2904
    @lukaszbien2904 11 місяців тому +4

    Working with UK's postcodes for last couple of years, nice to fill in the gaps. Great video!

  • @PaulBeecham-xw3yd
    @PaulBeecham-xw3yd 11 місяців тому

    Nice one! Dave was my boss in Royal Mail 👍

  • @harryliddle8753
    @harryliddle8753 11 місяців тому +5

    I’m from Lewisham and Dave saying its postcode is SW13 hurt me 🤣

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +2

      So sorry, I knew it but didn’t concentrate

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому +2

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

    • @harryliddle8753
      @harryliddle8753 11 місяців тому +2

      @@davidcunnington8316 It's fine, no need to apologise! These things happen - Tom didn't do you any favours by leaving it in the video lol

    • @user-rz6uw6ur3m
      @user-rz6uw6ur3m 11 місяців тому

      Once it was released and we got the replies, we thought about editing it out, but left it in. Generates interest! I saw a draft of the video and missed it and the Brockley/Catford one, kicking myself now😂

  • @Pathofplenty
    @Pathofplenty 11 місяців тому

    Hats off. Walking code book bloke wees a bit when that one pub quiz questions comes up

  • @davidowen2396
    @davidowen2396 11 місяців тому +3

    To the chap in Ilford who has tried to get it included in the London postcode areas...keep pushing. The snobby residents of the Wirral on Merseyside campaigned to have their postcode changed to CH (Chester) from L (Liverpool) in 1999...there, they simply changed the first letters so that the number on the stem corresponds to the old Liverpool postcode (eg Prenton changed from L43 to CH43). Since 1999, the economy of Liverpool has surged whereas the Wirral's fortunes have lagged. They need to refer to Wirral now as part of the Liverpool city region to capitalise on the connections to Liverpool....should've kept the L !!

    • @Wasserfeld.
      @Wasserfeld. 11 місяців тому

      Having lived with people from Bromborough and New Brighton at uni, I find that hilarous

    • @davidowen2396
      @davidowen2396 11 місяців тому

      @@Zoltanlouis2009 Apologies...then it looks as though I've been pushing an urban myth...

  • @UnwittingSweater
    @UnwittingSweater 11 місяців тому +1

    Great video

  • @Nooticus
    @Nooticus 11 місяців тому +2

    Great video. This man clearly knows his stuff (except from the very minor SW13/SE13 Lewisham mix-up at the end!)

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

    • @Nooticus
      @Nooticus 11 місяців тому +1

      @@davidcunnington8316 no worries mate!

  • @MrDennisDash
    @MrDennisDash 11 місяців тому

    Fascinating guy. Just shows that cabbies have had so many previous occupations which is what makes using a London taxi so interesting.

    • @jackiedelvalle
      @jackiedelvalle 10 місяців тому

      Mad that he was a global director then went into cabbing.

  • @BLX187
    @BLX187 11 місяців тому +2

    Good vid.

  • @GanGstaBG
    @GanGstaBG 11 місяців тому +3

    Lewisham is SE13. He just said when he was talking about the route from the blue books that SW13 is in Castelnau, Barns 😅.

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому

      So sorry, I knew it but didn’t concentrate

    • @TomtheTaxiDriver
      @TomtheTaxiDriver  11 місяців тому

      I think in the pop quiz we were so concentrated on numbers 🤪

    • @GanGstaBG
      @GanGstaBG 11 місяців тому +1

      @@TomtheTaxiDriver Totally agree, Tom! It was a great video anyway. He has an amazing amount of knowledge.

    • @davidcunnington8316
      @davidcunnington8316 11 місяців тому

      So sorry, I knew Lewisham is SE13, I meant to say SE13 and my brain didn’t tell my mouth that so I said SW13, then said it again! I like Lewisham and spent days cycling every road of it whilst on the Knowledge. Always happy to take a far there in the cab.

  • @ahmedjama8307
    @ahmedjama8307 11 місяців тому +7

    Great video. I live in Bracknell and found the Windsor & Maidenhead (Ascot) part hilarious, because they actually hate the SL postcode soooo much. Slough is horrid crack central and Ascot Windsor and Maidenhead are very affluent.

    • @snich63
      @snich63 11 місяців тому +1

      Yes indeed - I used to live in Windsor in the late 1990s. I also learned that moving into a newly built block of flats that doesn’t have an allocated postcode is a headache, as the postcode is used for things like finding a doctor or theatre bookings.

    • @kanedaku
      @kanedaku 10 місяців тому

      @@snich63 Yeh, RM are quite slow in assigning postcodes to new builds. I used to do credit checks in the 2000s and the majority of new build residents would fail, as the credit agencies wouldn't have been notified of the new postcode for the verification part.

  • @BarneyLeith
    @BarneyLeith 11 місяців тому

    Fascinating!

  • @matthewferro9908
    @matthewferro9908 11 місяців тому +2

    I work in the news uk building. It’s an SE1 postcode. Unless RM have dual postcodes for it and accept both.

  • @simonchilli2088
    @simonchilli2088 10 місяців тому +2

    The reason for Ilford being IG we were told when we were learning to code(which is when we used to type the postcode of letters infront of us on a small conveyor belt.) was that it was from an old name for Ilford. It was 1983 so my memory is telling me it was Iglesham. However I can't find any reference to this. My wife thinx it may have been Ingatestone. I think that's somewhere else tho.

  • @graemesbikingdiary232
    @graemesbikingdiary232 11 місяців тому

    Very interesting!

  • @tasty_fish
    @tasty_fish 11 місяців тому

    Here in Glos we don't have GL21 to GL49. It starts again with Cheltenham and GL50. Love UK postcodes, not many countries in the world have a code specific to a small group of buildings (or even individual buildings)

  • @grahammathieson4023
    @grahammathieson4023 11 місяців тому +2

    Dave confirms to me that I have a Brain like a sieve .

  • @adlam97531
    @adlam97531 11 місяців тому +3

    Sewardstone is E4 post but it is in Essex, the only place as such in London

    • @Tommyevansbackup
      @Tommyevansbackup 11 місяців тому +1

      Yep the only Settlement outside London with a London postcode

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому

      It was in London once, but boundaries change. Sensibly, Royal Mail decided to keep its postcodes fixed wherever possible - they almost never change.

  • @stevieinselby
    @stevieinselby 10 місяців тому +1

    Interesting thing about N and SW not being there is that the SW area goes through the alphabet _twice_ ...
    SW has SW1 (Central), then SW2-10 as Brixton to West Brompton (South-West) and SW11-20 as Battersea to Wimbledon (South)
    although interestingly neither N nor E does the same, so presumably NE was removed from the plan earlier and S was a late change after the districts were allocated?

  • @alexdavis5766
    @alexdavis5766 11 місяців тому +9

    Great video, very interesting.
    Would you ever be up for doing a video with me for my channel all about how wheelchairs users get on/ off and use London taxis? I know a lot of wheelchair users, especially those visiting, are so unsure of what to expect, they don’t use them. My channel (not this one, this my personal one) aims to show other wheelies how accessible places are and what to expect. Would help a lot of people out 😊

    • @Laser2120
      @Laser2120 11 місяців тому +1

      Sounds like it would make a interesting video ! I hope he see's it

  • @michaelwood3099
    @michaelwood3099 11 місяців тому +4

    Ilford postcode is IG because IL could be misread as I1 or LL, the G is the final letter of adjacent postal area Barking.

    • @mjt8199
      @mjt8199 11 місяців тому

      Nice copy n' paste from Wikipedia there. They couldn't use IB either as it would should like IP on the phone and stuff ends up in Ipswich.

    • @LiveFromLondon2
      @LiveFromLondon2 11 місяців тому +1

      Nonsense, it was Ilford General

    • @haltendehand1
      @haltendehand1 11 місяців тому +2

      It's Ilford and Gants Hill

  • @PsychicLord
    @PsychicLord 11 місяців тому +2

    Perhaps you could do a similar video on London house numbers. There is a methodology used, and knowing about it can help a person find at which part of a street a house is located.

    • @Sw1a1aa
      @Sw1a1aa 11 місяців тому

      Was told once you could travel from any part of England to London by using door numbers if you was sat travelling from Sheffield to London If you followed the highest to lowest you’d be travelling in the direction of London , and that would be from anywhere . This was told to me years ago . Not sure if it’s true but would be interesting if it was .

    • @kanedaku
      @kanedaku 10 місяців тому

      I don't think there is a uniform rule. Where I live now, odds and evens are on opposing sides of the road, but where I grew up one side would e.g have 1-50 and the other side 51-100. The only thing that I could see as a pattern is that number 1s are usually the closest to the main thoroughfare.

    • @PsychicLord
      @PsychicLord 10 місяців тому

      @@Sw1a1aa It used to be the case that the lowest house number was closest to the sorting office. So in theory, if you were ever lost in any town, you could head in the direction of the lowest number to reach the sorting office, which years ago were often close to the town centre. Today, this is unlikely to be the case.

  • @pokerformuppets
    @pokerformuppets 10 місяців тому

    In Birmingham, you can often tell what the area is like just by the postcode. B9 is a pretty harmless all round, while a defeatist attitude prevails in B10. B3 doesn't like to conform, while B4 used to be smart, but it's looking a bit dated now.

  • @AthynVixen
    @AthynVixen 11 місяців тому +1

    It's weird though. i live in Uxbridge town centre which should be UB1 you should think but it is UB8. Really interesting video Tom.

    • @hb1338
      @hb1338 11 місяців тому +1

      UB1 is Southall, which is the location of the main post office for the district - as explained in the video.

  • @Sheba_316
    @Sheba_316 10 місяців тому

    Interesting video.. thanks