thanks for the reply... I think your ideas are on the right track...maybe NW11 was originally going to be part of NW3 and maybe also has something to do with the building of a main post office for the area?? The Tube reached G.G. in 1907 so ten years until the area got it´s postal number is not that long... Parts of NW11 weren´t completely built up until the late twenties early thirties... greetings from Berlin IsarSteve 13:43, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Hello again... I´ve always thought that it´s a shame that there´s not a "Greater London" Postcode, e.g. GL ....thus doing away with Middx, Herts, Essex, Surrey & Kent within the GLC area.. The whole of the London Postal System seems like a typically "british" botch-up (meant politely) to me... As someone now used to "German" orginisation..I do find the whole thing unsatisfactory...I´d like to know your views on this..!! thanks Steve IsarSteve 13:53, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

thanks for the info...I didn´t know about Mailsort... that is the same or similar to the system we have here in Germany... our parcels are delivered with bar-code type labels on them...

e.g. for my address 10827-025-155

10827 (postcode)> 025 street>(alphabetically) > 155 House Number

although there has been some talk lately about an extra (sixth) digit on the postcode to make them more precise..

IsarSteve 15:02, 30 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It was (originally) my edits that you reverted, not IsarSteve's, but I understand why. Just thought I'd point you to the comments I just left on User talk:IsarSteve#Main sorting office, in case you're not watching that page. — OwenBlacker 18:31, Nov 26, 2004 (UTC)

Hi S! thanks for your comments, before moving to Deutschland I lived at Woodford Green for ten years...I distinctly remember receiving a booklet sent by the Post Office notifying us of our "new postcode" It definately refered to IG as Ilford & Barking.... anyway until I can find evidence of that, shall we leave IG as just Ilford??? ... greetings from Berlin IsarSteve 15:15, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Ah. That leaflet was probably referring to the the coverage of the IG postcode area rather than the sorting office. I am trying to find some evidence of why IG=Ilford and SM=Sutton. I read somewhere about the post office realised even before optical character recognition that some letters could easily be confused so the use of some must be avoided in postcodes (the reason almost every other country chose to use number and not letters!). Mrsteviec 16:04, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)