Talk:Romford

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Contents 1 American towns 2 East London? 3 Famous Residents 4 History expansion - brewery 5 Crime

[edit] American towns

Is there any evidence that the American towns of Rumford (in Rhode Island and Maine) were named after Romford? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.212.81.20 (talk • contribs) 19:19, 3 August 2005.

Romford has been known as 'Rumford' in the past. A 1610 map lists it as Rumford. It's entirely possible. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.23.255.111 (talk • contribs) 21:09, 29 September 2005.

[edit] East London?

Last time I checked, the postcode for Romford didn't start with an E. Everyone, including official channels consider Romford to be Essex. The Greater London idea is just a tax grab. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.23.255.111 (talk • contribs) 21:09, 29 September 2005.

Municipal Borough of Romford explains its transfer to Greater London in 1965. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by MRSC (talk • contribs) 07:48, 9 December 2005.

Official channels consider Romford to be Greater London - i.e. you get to vote for Ken Livingstone. [or not!] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lovetrot (talk • contribs) 16:18, 3 April 2007.

Romford of course is in Greater London, but many of it's residents mistakenly believe themselves to still be part of Essex, simply because of their postcode. On the other hand, the majority of people from Dagenham understand their G.London status despite their Essex postcode. Why this is I'm not sure. Nearly every time I hear Romford mentioned on TV they call it Essex. Undisputed1972 18:36, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

I always find if it a story related to crime then it's in East London and if it's something "good" then it's in Essex! --Richhoncho 19:20, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

"Nearly every time I hear Romford mentioned on TV they call it Essex." - Thats because TV news people do their homework, and know that Romford is in Essex! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.2.175.77 (talk • contribs) 10:45, 20 March 2008

Romford IS ESSEX, it just is covered by London Boroughs. Its the same story with Ilford with is in Essex but controlled by London Boroughs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Spymo (talk • contribs) 19:42, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

In Essex, just covered by London Boroughs? Please explain further. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.132.17.189 (talk) 22:06, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

If you lived in the area you would understand. Some places like Upminster, Romford, Ilford etc. are now controlled by London Boroughs but boundaries where never changed to make these places officially part of 'Greater London', hence these areas having the address of Essex not London and also having Essex postcodes and not London ones i.e. 'E17' they have postcodes like 'RM' & 'IG'. Furthermore, they have Essex telephone numbers, Romford has never had a London '020' dialling code! (82.2.175.77 (talk) 10:38, 20 March 2008 (UTC))

Postal boundaries are not the same as geo-political boundaries. A postal address is just a routing instruction. Also postal counties do not form part of postal addresses anymore. Your assertion that boundaries where never changed to make these places officially part of 'Greater London' is not evidenced by the London Government Act 1963 or published works describing it. Finally, telephone codes are even less tied to geographic areas than postal addresses. The E postcode area goes beyond Greater London at Sewardstone and 020 goes way into Essex and Surrey. MRSC • Talk 11:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure if you understand what I'm saying. An address identifies were you are and from, Romford does not have "London" in its address, please check it out, locate Romford Station or a shop in Romford they will have "Essex" in there address line! I agree there is a grey area in Essex where '020' is used and even where the Metropolitan Police are in place instead of Essex Constabulary (although its not as big an area as you make out, only a few towns), but this does not take away from the fact that just because an area is covered by a council that is classed as a "London Borough" it does not make the area London. There is similar confusion in the Essex town of Ilford, where though the town is very much Essex it is controlled by a London Borough. Simple homework people! Its also helps if people that live in or near the area comment!

Here is an example: Redden Court School, Cotswold Road, Harold Wood, Romford, Essex RM3 0TS (ESSEX)

Leyton Sixth Form College, Essex Road, Leyton, London, E10 6EQ (LONDON)

However, a lot of business in Romford write the address without the Essex and just use Romford, as you would use London. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.2.175.77 (talk) 15:36, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

This has been discussed before and the decision was taken at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (places) not to use postal geography as a primary reference frame. The addresses you gave are incorrect and should read, according to Royal Mail as follows: [1]

Redden Court School, Cotswold Road, ROMFORD, RM3 0TS

Leyton Sixth Form College, Essex Road, LONDON, E10 6EQ

The part in capitals is known as a post town, these do not correspond to the boundaries of actual towns and they only number around 1,500. London is one of the better examples of this as it only corresponds to about 40% of Greater London. Another example is the Birmingham post town which does not include all of Birmingham district but does include parts of Solihull, Sandwell and even extends beyond the West Midlands county into North Warwickshire. Which brings me on to the counties you included. These are postal counties and these have been obselete since 1996. Relying on postal counties means that Bath must be considered part of Avon instead of Somerset. Also the localities (Leyton, Harold Wood) are not part of the address. The examples of Leyton and Romford are interesting as they were both municipal boroughs of Essex until 1965 (see Municipal Borough of Leyton and Municipal Borough of Romford). What you are asking us to accept is that the Royal Mail decides what is part of a place (in this case London) and what is not. This is not within their remit and according to published sources their function is to devise a delivery system that is as efficient as possible. Read post town and postal county, these articles should give some indication of how divorced postal geography is from geo-political divisions. MRSC • Talk 16:03, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Incidentally the keen-eyed will have noted from London Postal Area#Origins that the original London postal district of 1856 included Romford (and presumably places closer to the centre of London like Ilford, Dagenham, etc).. Pterre (talk) 21:09, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Famous Residents

I believe that Steve Davis was born in Plumstead, he moved to Romford after becoming a pro. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nickthecoder (talk • contribs) .

I thought he was a South Londoner too, but couldn't find confirmation to remove him from the list. --Richhoncho 00:21, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

This section is totally unreferenced (as these sections often are). I think all the entries need to cite a source or be removed. MRSC 06:48, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

All the names are sourced within WP with the exception of Davis & Col. Blood. I'm not sure the "unreferenced" is going a tad too far, better to bemove Davis - it's a common mistake. Otherwise each entry needs to be independently sourced and that would get far too cumbersome. --Richhoncho 13:16, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Other Wikipedia articles cannot be cited as sources (although the sources used in those articles could be). Fear of cumbersomeness isn't good enough reason to not provide sources. MRSC 15:34, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History expansion - brewery

This article needs a section on the brewery that is now closed down, it is pretty important aspect of the history. MRSC • Talk 05:08, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Crime

Maybe the one element that makes Romford truly what it is is not mentioned anywhere in the article. The shining night-life of South Street (along with it's long string of killings, stabbings, criminal damage, sexual harrassment and drunken violence) is surely more than necessary to accurately portray the place? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.34.34.9 (talk • contribs) 00:08, 22 June 2007

Havering is currently reported as having the lowest crime levels in London. [2] [3] [4] MRSC • Talk 22:50, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

This is true, and Essex has even lower crime rates, inflamatory and biased comments (often attributed to "unsigned") have no place on this encyclopaedic website, please bear that in mind before recklessly editing any articles. On a personal note, the list of criminal behaviour you provided could relate to any town in the UK!! Angryafghan (talk) 03:44, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Crime gets added in a lot of places, its obviously a common concern. I think it can be included, but with two important caveats, (1) it must be referenced to a reliable source and (2) the comparative figures (for London, at least) should be included - where it comes in a 'crime table'. cheers Kbthompson (talk) 11:30, 26 March 2008 (UTC)