A Postcode Album Volume 1, AB (Aberdeen) to BS (Bristol)
| Thu, 5 Jun 2008 16:44 Chris Downer |
The postcode area AB derives its name from the city of Aberdeen and, fairly straightforwardly, comprises the entirety of postal addresses in Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Kincardineshire. (At local government reorganisation in 1974, the old Scottish counties, unlike many in England and Wales, were not substituted by the Post Office, so the old county names remain correct for postal purposes.) The AB area was reconfigured in August 1990, whereby the AB1, AB2, AB3, AB4 and AB5 areas were expanded to two-digit numbers beginning with the original single digit AB1x, AB2x etc. AB10-12 postal address ABERDEEN    AB13 postal address MILLTIMBER, Aberdeenshire (separated from ABERDEEN in January 1996) AB14 postal address PETERCULTER, Aberdeenshire (separated from ABERDEEN in January 1996)   AB15-16 postal address ABERDEEN   AB21-25 postal address ABERDEEN      AB30 postal address LAURENCEKIRK, Kincardineshire AB31 postal address BANCHORY, Kincardineshire AB32 postal address WESTHILL, Aberdeenshire (renamed from SKENE in January 1996) AB33 postal address ALFORD, Aberdeenshire AB34 postal address ABOYNE, Aberdeenshire      AB35 postal address BALLATER, Aberdeenshire AB36 postal address STRATHDON, Aberdeenshire AB37 postal address BALLINDALLOCH, Banffshire AB38 postal address ABERLOUR, Banffshire AB39 postal address STONEHAVEN, Kincardineshire      AB41 postal address ELLON, Aberdeenshire AB42 postal address PETERHEAD, Aberdeenshire AB43 postal address FRASERBURGH, Aberdeenshire AB44 postal address MACDUFF, Banffshire AB45 postal address BANFF      AB51 postal address INVERURIE, Aberdeenshire AB52 postal address INSCH, Aberdeenshire AB53 postal address TURRIFF, Aberdeenshire    AB54 postal address HUNTLY, Aberdeenshire AB55 postal address KEITH, Banffshire AB56 postal address BUCKIE, Banffshire    |
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| Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:43 Chris Downer |
AL is centred on St Albans, and the area covers central Hertfordshire. AL1-AL4 postal address ST. ALBANS, Herts. AL5 postal address HARPENDEN, Herts.      AL6 postal address WELWYN, Herts. AL7-8 postal address WELWYN GARDEN CITY, Herts. AL9-10 postal address HATFIELD, Herts.      |
| Fri, 6 Jun 2008 13:27 Chris Downer |
The postcode area B, alphabetically the first of the eight single-letter areas, is based on Birmingham and is the largest in terms of highest numbered districts, reaching B98 although it is not an unbroken sequence from B1. Since Walsall, Wolverhampton and Dudley have their own postcodes, the B area radiates farther to the south and east than north and west, reaching rural areas of Warwickshire and parts of Worcestershire, also including Tamworth in Staffordshire. Numbers increase in a clockwise spiral from the city centre. For all the districts B1-48, the postal address is BIRMINGHAM: B1-4 city centre     B5 Digbeth; B6 Aston; B7 Nechells; B8 Ward End; B9 Bordesley      B10 Small Heath; B11 Tyseley; B12 Balsall Heath; B13 Moseley; B14 Kings Heath      B15 Edgbaston; B16 Ladywood; B17 Harborne; B18 Winson Green; B19 Lozells      B20-21 Handsworth; B22 Kings Norton; B23-24 Erdington      B25-26 Yardley; B27 Acocks Green; B28 Hall Green; B29 Selly Oak      B30 Bournville; B31 Northfield; B32 Woodgate; B33 Kitts Green; B34 Shard End      B35 Castle Vale; B36 Castle Bromwich; B37 Chelmsley Wood; B38 Kings Norton     B40 NEC and airport; B42 Perry Barr; B43 Great Barr; B44 Kingstanding     B45 Rubery; B46 Water Orton; B47 Hollywood; B48 Alvechurch     B49-50 postal address ALCESTER, Warks. B60-61 postal address BROMSGROVE, Worcs. B62-63 postal address HALESOWEN, W. Midlands       B64-69 were postally WARLEY, W. Midlands until January 1997 when they were separated as follows: B64 postal address CRADLEY HEATH, W. Midlands B65 postal address ROWLEY REGIS, W. Midlands B66-67 postal address SMETHWICK, W. Midlands B68-69 postal address OLDBURY, W. Midlands       B70-71 postal address WEST BROMWICH, W. Midlands B72-76 postal address SUTTON COLDFIELD, W. Midlands        B77-79 postal address TAMWORTH, Staffs. B80 postal address STUDLEY, Warks.     B90-94 postal address SOLIHULL, W. Midlands      B95 postal address HENLEY-IN-ARDEN, Warks. (part of SOLIHULL, W. Midlands until March 2003) B96-98 postal address REDDITCH, Worcs.     |
| Fri, 6 Jun 2008 16:39 Chris Downer |
The postcode area BA, bases itself on Bath and also covers eastern part of Somerset and the southwestern extremity of Wiltshire which is significantly closer to Bath than to Swindon (SN being the next postcode in that direction). The Yeovil post town area also protrudes a small distance into Dorset. In recent years the FROME post town, BA11, has taken the village of Rode and surrounding area from BATH, while the RADSTOCK, BA3, area altered slightly when it became a post town in its own right. NB The postal county for BATH is Avon; the Royal Mail ceased the requirement for county names on addresses in 1996 and these were not updated after local government reorganisation of the following year. Since BATH did not historically require the county name beforehand, though, it is omitted here. BA1-2 postal address BATH BA3 postal address RADSTOCK, Somerset (separated from BATH in December 2000) BA4 postal address SHEPTON MALLET, Somerset BA5 postal address WELLS, Somerset      BA6 postal address GLASTONBURY, Somerset BA7 postal address CASTLE CARY, Somerset BA8 postal address TEMPLECOMBE, Somerset BA9 postal address WINCANTON, Somerset BA10 postal address BRUTON, Somerset      BA11 postal address FROME, Somerset BA12 postal address WARMINSTER, Wilts. BA13 postal address WESTBURY, Wilts. BA14 postal address TROWBRIDGE, Wilts. BA15 postal address BRADFORD-ON-AVON, Wilts.     BA16 postal address STREET, Somerset BA20-22 postal address YEOVIL, Somerset     |
| Fri, 6 Jun 2008 17:15 Chris Downer |
BB is for Blackburn, and the area generally proceeds east from there up the Colne valley towards Burnley, ending with Barnoldswick and the Yorkshire border. BB1-2 postal address BLACKBURN BB3 postal address DARWEN, Lancs. BB4 postal address ROSSENDALE, Lancs. BB5 postal address ACCRINGTON, Lancs.      BB6 postal address BLACKBURN (again) BB7 postal address CLITHEROE, Lancs. BB8 postal address COLNE, Lancs. BB9 postal address NELSON, Lancs.     BB10-12 postal address BURNLEY, Lancs. BB18 postal address BARNOLDSWICK (separated from COLNE, BB8, in July 1997)     There is also the non-geographic postcode area BB94 (post town BARNOLDSWICK) reserved for a specific large user. |
| Mon, 9 Jun 2008 17:19 Chris Downer |
BD concerns itself with serving Bradford and the surrounding area. With HD covering Huddersfield, the BD area stretches further north, rurally, than it does south. However, the southern fringe of the BRADFORD post town, plus CLECKHEATON, are outside the city limits administratively in Kirklees borough. Within the BRADFORD post town, the numbering from BD1 to BD15 runs roughly in a clockwise spiral from the city centre. BD1-15 postal address BRADFORD, W. Yorkshire                BD16 postal address BINGLEY, W. Yorkshire BD17-18 postal address SHIPLEY, W. Yorkshire BD19 postal address CLECKHEATON, W. Yorkshire     BD20-22 postal address KEIGHLEY, W. Yorkshire BD23 postal address SKIPTON, N. Yorkshire BD24 postal address SETTLE, N. Yorkshire      There are also the non-geographic postcode areas BD97-99 (post towns BINGLEY and BRADFORD) reserved for specific large users. |
| Mon, 9 Jun 2008 17:19 Chris Downer |
BH is centred on Bournemouth, and covers eastern Dorset and the southwestern fringe of Hampshire. Much of the CHRISTCHURCH area includes bits of Hampshire, while RINGWOOD includes an area of east Dorset. BH1-11 postal address BOURNEMOUTH            BH12-17 postal address POOLE, Dorset       BH18 postal address BROADSTONE, Dorset BH19 postal address SWANAGE, Dorset BH20 postal address WAREHAM, Dorset BH21 postal address WIMBORNE, Dorset BH22 postal address FERNDOWN, Dorset (separated from WIMBORNE in March 1991)      BH23 postal address CHRISTCHURCH, Dorset BH24 postal address RINGWOOD, Hants. BH25 postal address NEW MILTON, Hants. BH31 postal address VERWOOD, Dorset (separated from WIMBORNE, BH21, in June 1991)     |
| Mon, 9 Jun 2008 19:49 Chris Downer |
The BL area contains the fewest post towns of any mainiland postcode area outside the London postal area, featuring just two: BOLTON and BURY on the northern fringe of Greater Manchester. However, since Greater Manchester was not updated as a postal county in the local government reorganisation of 1974, Lancashire remains the correct county name for postal purposes. The area's northern extremity does encroach into Lancashire proper, in Edgworth and north of Ramsbottom. The BL area makes fairly rare use of zero in the district BL0, possibly because, with exactly ten districts, it was considered preferable that they all be single-digit. BL1-7 postal address BOLTON        BL8-9 and BL0 postal address BURY, Lancs.    There are also the non-geographic postcode areas BL11, 78 and 80 (post town BOLTON) reserved for specific large users. |
| Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:50 Chris Downer |
BN refers to Brighton, and includes the western East Sussex and eastern West Sussex. It would appear that BN4 was split at some stage into several districts numbered in the fortysomethings. BN1-2 postal address BRIGHTON BN3 postal address HOVE, E. Sussex    BN5 postal address HENFIELD, W. Sussex BN6 postal address HASSOCKS, W. Sussex BN7-8 postal address LEWES, E. Sussex     BN9 postal address NEWHAVEN, E. Sussex BN10 postal address PEACEHAVEN, E. Sussex (separated from NEWHAVEN in May 1990) BN11-14 postal address WORTHING, W. Sussex       BN15 postal address LANCING, W. Sussex BN16-17 postal address LITTLEHAMPTON, W. Sussex BN18 postal address ARUNDEL, W. Sussex     BN20-23 postal address EASTBOURNE, E. Sussex     BN24 postal address PEVENSEY, E. Sussex BN25 postal address SEAFORD, E. Sussex BN26 postal address POLEGATE, E. Sussex BN27 postal address HAILSHAM, E. Sussex     BN41-42 postal address BRIGHTON BN43 postal address SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, W. Sussex BN44 postal address STEYNING, W. Sussex BN45 postal address BRIGHTON      There are also the non-geographic postcode areas BN88 and 99 (post town BRIGHTON) reserved for specific large users. |
| Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:50 Chris Downer |
The postcode area BR is in southeast London, centered on Bromley. The addresses within Greater London but outside the London postcode areas still allude to their historical counties, so Kent is still the correct county name. BR1, BR2 (part) postal address BROMLEY BR2 (part) postal address KESTON, Kent BR3 postal address BECKENHAM, Kent BR4 postal address WEST WICKHAM, Kent     BR5-6 postal address ORPINGTON, Kent BR7 postal address CHISLEHURST, Kent BR8 postal address SWANLEY, Kent     |
