How do UK postal codes work?

[lee31]

Well as I said ealier it's not rocket science.

My post code is LE2 6UG.

Basically,

'LE' indentifies the sorting office location in the UK.

'2' identifies the delivery office location within the sorting office area. Usually the higher the number the further away from the sorting office the delivery office is.

'6' identifies the local neighbourhood within that city or town and again usually the higher the number the further away from the delivery office that neighbourhood is.

'UG' identfiies the road itself (upto 80 buildings).

[Elliot B.]

Well as I said ealier it's not rocket science.

My post code is LE2 6UG.

Basically,

'LE' indentifies the sorting office location in the UK.

'2' identifies the delivery office location within the sorting office area. Usually the higher the number the further away from the sorting office the delivery office is.

'6' identifies the local neighbourhood within that city or town and again usually the higher the number the further away from the delivery office that neighbourhood is.

'UG' identfiies the road itself (upto 80 buildings).

I wasn't really asking to explain the numbers/letters in the postal codes, more how they are allocated on a road/house etc. basis.

[leesmithg]

My mate thinks a postal code is for a small area of a street, whereas I believe a postal code links one side of a street and the other side has a different postal code as that's how it's been at the 11 places I've lived.

Which is more correct?

At my mothers home in London, it's SE22 9XC (9XC is an example).

That is the same postcode for 5 houses or 4 I am not sure on her side of the street.

In my Road, all even are ME19 4YH (4YH is an example) and I live in an odd and all odd are the same also, ME19 4YG (4YG is an example).

I think it has changed over the years as postcodes like telephone numbers are running out, like in London it went from 01 everywhere

to 071, 081 inner and outer London (unsure about this part) then 0207 and 0208.

[lee31]

I wasn't really asking to explain the numbers/letters in the postal codes, more how they are allocated on a road/house etc. basis.

I think that's down to each sorting office and how they choose to split them up on long roads with more than 80 buildings.

My road goes way into the 600's and has numerous post codes but it's not done in an odds and evans way. Each group of 80 buildings (1-80, 81-160, etc) has the same post code as each other so the odds and evans thing is certainly not universal as some believe.

[Joel]

(but to throw a spanner in the works further, my road wouldn't even have been in London during the war it would still have been part of Essex)

Did the bombs have a chip in them that stopped them from being dropped anywhere but London? :blink:

[leesmithg]

I think that's down to each sorting office and how they choose to split them up on long roads with more than 80 buildings.

My road goes way into the 600's and has numerous post codes but it's not done in an odds and evans way. Each group of 80 buildings (1-80, 81-160, etc) has the same post code as each other so the odds and evans thing is certainly not universal as some believe.

Mine goes upto 122, so I guess 61 odd have the same and 61 even have the same.

[Shibby]

Did the bombs have a chip in them that stopped them from being dropped anywhere but London? :blink:

No but because the area wasn't london, it wouldn't have been such a prioritized target. They would have targeted London and other important places. ?But nonetheless it could have still been hit anyway, reading my book about MI5, they were able to give disinformantion about the impact sights and they would say they were overshot or too far west or east.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Did the bombs have a chip in them that stopped them from being dropped anywhere but London? :blink:

Haha no i was basically just rubbishing my previous statement.

I was originally saying that maybe the postcode on my road was all over the place because of rebuilding after the war but then i realised that as my area would have been Essex during the war it therefore was re-postcoded afterwards, It would have been Essex (with an IG postcode) until the 70's when it became part of East London (when it was reclassified as an 'E' postcode).

All this meaning the bombing would have had no effect on current postcodes.

One thing i've never understood is that London seems to have far simpler postcodes, with 'E' for east 'S' for south etc.

5 houses for a single postcode is perfectly reasonable - but you said every house was different and only 8 on the street were the same. If you meant at most 8 houses have the same that's pretty common.

Ah i see, yes you are correct. I just worded my post very badly :p