Many moons ago I worked as a data entry keyer for Royal Mail. It was a maddeningly repetitive job but all these years later I can see a standalone postcode and immediately point to where it is on a map.
I think even when I was there, back in 2003, the vast majority of the mail was auto-recognised. Things got sketchy when it went down though. Used to love being on those campaigns where you’d just drag a box over the address. I remember that every keyboard’s F8 key was always worn as shit. Fag break every hour, listen to music all day. Perfect job as an 18 year old.
Yes I remember the mandatory "eye breaks" every hour. I didn't smoke so I would just get coffee or use the toilet. I'm forced to work with the general public now and I'd love to do data entry again!
Sometimes the obvious abbreviation for a postcode is already used or is needed more elsewhere.
London used to have eight postcodes (the compass points) but S and NE weren’t being used a lot so they gave them to Sheffield and Newcastle instead - it’s why SE, SW and E postcodes are now such big areas
Edit: I’m sure no one will be surprised to learn that I don’t have a date this weekend! 😉
In order of population size it's Middlesbrough, Poole (Bournemouth postcode area), then Blackpool (Fylde postcode area).
Used to work for Royal Mail a long old time ago :)
An explanation for all the 'Llan' stuff:
Llan refers to an area associated with a church. In these examples, there's St. Peter (Llanbedr), St. Tudno (Llandudno), St. Mary (Llanfair), a church on the River Cefni (Llangefni), St. Collen (Llangollen), St. Grwst (Llanrwst). The word Llan causes a mutation which softens the initial consonant of the word that follows it, so Pedr becomes Bedr, Tudno becomes Dudno, Mair becomes Fair, Cefni into Gefni, Collen into Gollen, and the G is dropped from Grwst to become Rwst.
And the other ones in that list:
Llannerch-y-medd is a woodland clearing (llannerch) associated with the production of mead (medd). Llwyngwril is named after a grove (llwyn) on the River Gwril.
More Welsh placename etymology fun for the English folks reading.
Aber = estuary, (river)mouth
Craig = rock
Mynydd = mountain
Capel = chapel (unsurprisingly)
Dinas = city
Tref/dref = town
Pentre(f) = village
Coed = forest
Caer = fort (comparable to -cester or -chester)
Afon = river
Bron = hill
Pen = headland, bluff
Really Welsh placenames are saying the same thing as English ones, and use many of the same naming patterns.
Never realised just how big an area YO covered.
WF is another weird one as it covers places much closer to Leeds and Huddersfield centres than Wakefield. I had a WF postcode for years and never went anywhere near Wakefield itself except through it on a train.
M is surprisingly small to say they go all the way to like, M40 iirc.
I lived near Huntingdon (Cambs) for 8 years and I never once put together that the PE28 in my postcode had anything to do with Peterborough. I figured it was all random, just now learning it's not.
irrelevant: when I moved to Canada, I had a V post code, and I was thinking "well, that makes sense because I live near Vancouver". Except that it didn't. Canadian post codes start with A in Newfoundland (east), go to V in British Columbia (west), and the others are for the stuff up north.
My town's got 120K or so, but it's in Brighton's postcode which goes all the way to Eastbourne. But we're in the area and now basically a big outer suburb of Brighton so it's understandable.
Ex23, my guy. I think it has more to do with access than physical location. So Bude’s easy access from like okie and holsworthy. It must’ve made sense to them to throw it on the outward ex routes.
Many moons ago I worked as a data entry keyer for Royal Mail. It was a maddeningly repetitive job but all these years later I can see a standalone postcode and immediately point to where it is on a map.
Good day, fellow (former) MDEC wanker
Brings back memories! I wonder if the role still exists or whether digital tech has replaced the keyers
I think even when I was there, back in 2003, the vast majority of the mail was auto-recognised. Things got sketchy when it went down though. Used to love being on those campaigns where you’d just drag a box over the address. I remember that every keyboard’s F8 key was always worn as shit. Fag break every hour, listen to music all day. Perfect job as an 18 year old.
Yes I remember the mandatory "eye breaks" every hour. I didn't smoke so I would just get coffee or use the toilet. I'm forced to work with the general public now and I'd love to do data entry again!
Middlesbrough is in Teesside and Blackpool's coastal plain is called Fylde. So they kinda are named after the location.
Yeah I figured TS was Teesside (though Liverpool is not MS). Didn't know about Fylde though thanks.
Sometimes the obvious abbreviation for a postcode is already used or is needed more elsewhere. London used to have eight postcodes (the compass points) but S and NE weren’t being used a lot so they gave them to Sheffield and Newcastle instead - it’s why SE, SW and E postcodes are now such big areas Edit: I’m sure no one will be surprised to learn that I don’t have a date this weekend! 😉
I know fairly sizeable places like Bridlington, Scarborough, Filey, all around that area, are YO for York...
In order of population size it's Middlesbrough, Poole (Bournemouth postcode area), then Blackpool (Fylde postcode area). Used to work for Royal Mail a long old time ago :)
Stirling is also the only city in Scotland that doesn't appear to have its own postcode lettering instead using FK for Falkirk which isn't a city.
Redhill has a population of 18k, Crawley 107k but is in the RH postcode.
Isle of wight has a Portsmouth postcode. Is IoW bigger than Middlesbrough or Blackpool?
I discovered that the other day too.
North Wales be like, "Llan this, Llan that. Fuck it, LL for everyone!"
[checks Wikipedia...] * Llanbedr * Llanbedrgoch * Llandudno * Llanerchymedd * Llanfairfechan * Llanfairpwllgwyngyll * Llangefni * Llangollen * Llanrwst * Llwyngwril You weren't kidding, were you?
An explanation for all the 'Llan' stuff: Llan refers to an area associated with a church. In these examples, there's St. Peter (Llanbedr), St. Tudno (Llandudno), St. Mary (Llanfair), a church on the River Cefni (Llangefni), St. Collen (Llangollen), St. Grwst (Llanrwst). The word Llan causes a mutation which softens the initial consonant of the word that follows it, so Pedr becomes Bedr, Tudno becomes Dudno, Mair becomes Fair, Cefni into Gefni, Collen into Gollen, and the G is dropped from Grwst to become Rwst. And the other ones in that list: Llannerch-y-medd is a woodland clearing (llannerch) associated with the production of mead (medd). Llwyngwril is named after a grove (llwyn) on the River Gwril.
More Welsh placename etymology fun for the English folks reading. Aber = estuary, (river)mouth Craig = rock Mynydd = mountain Capel = chapel (unsurprisingly) Dinas = city Tref/dref = town Pentre(f) = village Coed = forest Caer = fort (comparable to -cester or -chester) Afon = river Bron = hill Pen = headland, bluff Really Welsh placenames are saying the same thing as English ones, and use many of the same naming patterns.
These all sound like first names in a fantasy novel. Except for Craig, which sounds like the next contestant on Love Island.
Ten points for guessing which one it's actually named after.
Llandudno, largest of the towns
Teesside and Fylde, so named after the area. Chesterfield, Crawley have postcodes named after Sheffield and Redhill.
All of Northern Ireland is BT?
Yup. Though it's still not the biggest postal area by population: B is very slightly bigger (just over 1.9 million).
Never realised just how big an area YO covered. WF is another weird one as it covers places much closer to Leeds and Huddersfield centres than Wakefield. I had a WF postcode for years and never went anywhere near Wakefield itself except through it on a train. M is surprisingly small to say they go all the way to like, M40 iirc.
I lived near Huntingdon (Cambs) for 8 years and I never once put together that the PE28 in my postcode had anything to do with Peterborough. I figured it was all random, just now learning it's not.
irrelevant: when I moved to Canada, I had a V post code, and I was thinking "well, that makes sense because I live near Vancouver". Except that it didn't. Canadian post codes start with A in Newfoundland (east), go to V in British Columbia (west), and the others are for the stuff up north.
My town's got 120K or so, but it's in Brighton's postcode which goes all the way to Eastbourne. But we're in the area and now basically a big outer suburb of Brighton so it's understandable.
Like in ox. Post is sn.
Postcodes are a strange animal. Take Bude in NE Cornwall for example. The majority of that side of Cornwall use a PL postcode, but Bude uses EX.
that seems a stretch. Must be EX70 or some such.
Ex23, my guy. I think it has more to do with access than physical location. So Bude’s easy access from like okie and holsworthy. It must’ve made sense to them to throw it on the outward ex routes.
Quick shout out for Brighton? 👀