The London Areas That Don't Want To Be In London At All

Harry Rosehill
By Harry Rosehill Last edited 81 months ago
The London Areas That Don't Want To Be In London At All
Photo: Wright Archive

We love London. Heck, we love it so much we run a website dedicated to it. Some other people... let's just say they're not huge fans. Time to run through the London neighbourhoods who'd like to divorce themselves from the city.

Croydon

Croydon has applied to become its own city six times. You feel like after five, one would get the message and move on, but Croydon hasn't. Let's clarify, this is six times and counting. Don't put it past the wily south London borough to give it another go in the near future.

Croydon Trams. Photo: Andrew Smith

This article in the Croydon Advertiser laments the fact that city status hasn't been granted, has a particularly poignant quote from local historian John Hickman.

Croydon should become a city because it has all that a city requires.However, I think our big disadvantage is we are too close to London to be a city.

Lets examine this carefully. He uses the phrase "too close to London". Not: "we are already in London", or "being a London borough". No. These people are in denial. Having your own trams doth not a city make.

Romford

Photo: Matt Brown

This one's a tad more divisive. As with most of the areas on this list, London subsumed Romford in 1965 through the London Government Act. Before then Romford was firmly entrenched in Essex and some haven't quite adapted to that change.

TV show The Apprentice stoked the embers of the debate by referring to Romford as Essex in a 2012 episode. Romford residents are firmly split down the middle as to whether they consider themselves Londoners or Essexonians. Some (correctly) point out that they're in a London borough, and pay council tax. Perhaps other just want a personal connection to TOWIE.

Even as time goes on, the media still refers to Romford as Essex. Evening Standard's property section used the incorrect "Romford, Essex" terminology in their 2015 guide to the area. The confusion rages on.

Orpington, Bromley and Biggin Hill

Admittedly, the rest of London doesn't have these. Photo: David Howard

These three neighbours contain many citizens just clawing at the chance to be in Kent. They don't seem to realise that not having a traditional London postcode, doesn't mean you're not in London. See an explanation of that below.

We'll excuse a couple of locals incorrectly believing they're in Kent, but the same cannot be said of the Post Office. The addresses for their Bromley branches all end in Kent. The way we see it, if you're in a London borough you're in London. Surely these are the people that are supposed to be setting an example. Shame on you Post Office, shame on you.

Last Updated 23 June 2017