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What is the minimal possible UK address?

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Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#241

Post by supernova87a »

1-more wrote: post #231
supernova87a wrote: post #224

Does anyone remember in old-timey puzzle books that you might have read as a kid, the example puzzles (maybe fictional) of how the British postal service would decode people's addresses expressed in rebus form? Like: HILL ---- MIKE ---- WOOD They would say the post office cleverly got it delivered to Mike Underhill, Overwood UK. I guess that was for a more leisurely, less efficient time.

I've heard this story with "MASS" and being delivered in Massachusetts.

Ah yes that's probably it. I'm just remembering it vaguely.

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#242

Post by _a_a_a_ »

I remember something from a long time ago, very pre-Internet. Just checked and I found it easily enough. I would consider it apocryphal, but anyway, an address of

   Wood,

   John,

   Hants.
Was interpreted as

   John Underwood,

   Andover,

   Hants.
And it was claimed, eventually directly delivered. Supposedly

Edit: that and a few more, including (if true) and incredible address of just

   C B N B

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#243

Post by Symbiote »

tfsh wrote: post #133
TuringNYC wrote: post #117

Loved your article! >> I wrote myself a letter, headed to the nearest postbox, and posted it. >> A couple of days later, I was very happy to find this in my postbox! To make this more robust, i'd try this exercise 10-20 times. Different dates (to test for driver). Different sources (to test for source PO)

I wonder if the author posted the letter from a local post box. It could be that locality improves the chances of it reaching its desired address. E.g I wonder what happens if the letter was posted from a more remote location in the UK.

Any post office anywhere in the UK would see the "SE" and know the letter should be sent to London, however that happens.

Most people who live in Britain recognise the first part of postcodes for large cities and neighbouring areas. I'm sure post workers know all of them, they're mostly mnemonic.

Kids in gangs use postcodes to define their territory, they're that easy to use.

The small format is also seen on the back of many business letters as a return address.

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#244

Post by Symbiote »

closewith wrote: post #127
BoxOfRain wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands (among a few other places) aren't crown dependencies or part of the UK, they're the vestigial remnants of the British Empire that rejected full independence for various reasons. Until around the time of the Falklands War they were still called crown colonies but they're now called British Overseas Territories. They're not like France's equivalent where many are integral parts of Fra…

Even then, the Channel Island are a Crown Dependency and use the GB ISO code, while the Isle of Man is also a Crown Dependency and has its own ISO code. The British Indian Ocean Territory and the British Antarctic Territory are both British Overseas Territories, but unlike the Falklands, Bermuda, etc, do not have their own ISO codes. So the determination is more complex than that.

These have codes GG, JE, IO.

Claims of Antarctic territory aren't recognised internationally, so the codes were removed, but it used to have the code BQ.

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#245

Post by Y_Y »

billpg wrote: post #178
ClapperHeid wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and, if you write to a member of parliament at the Houses of Parliament, you don't have to use a stamp. So presumably... HP ...with no stamp on the envelope could theoretically work. Now, which MP has the shortest name?

Ed Davey, Tom Hunt, Rupa Huq, Ben Lake, Ian Levy, Alan Mak, Lia Nici, Naz Shah. I daresay "A Mak" or "R Huq" would work too.

Since not including a stamp should imply it's for an MP maybe it would be enough to choose a unique short name. I think there's more than one Ed, but Lia or Naz should be sufficient.

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#246

Post by fredley »

rax0m wrote: post #88

Olga was a famous doorkeeper at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. Students used to send her postcards from their journeys. It became so popular that it was enough to write "Olga, Sweden" for her to get the letters [0] (source in swedish). [0]: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Boberg

Legend has it that when he was director of music at Eton College, a postcard was delivered to Ralph Alwood from China simply addressed: "Ralph, Eton"

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#247

Post by [deleted] »

madcaptenor wrote: post #183
Lucent wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was excited to learn PO box numbers are unique in my city and have their own ZIP code so theoretically mail could reach me with an address of only "37939-0002" (ZIP only) or "PO Box 2, Knoxville" (no ZIP) if someone wants to test it out. I'll send something fun in reply.

No state either? Would they know which state to route that to? I think yours is the largest but apparently there are a bunch of cities in the US with that name.

[deleted]

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#248

Post by piperswe »

dghf wrote: post #134
seanhunter wrote: post #91

Some brilliant examples of postal detective work in Ireland documented here https://www.quora.com/Can-you-send-mail-in-Ireland-with-the-... . eg Petra Kindler and Donal Moore Unfortunately I forgot the street name but it's near a street named *Cul de Sac* The beautiful city of Waterford, well known for its kindly postmen IRELAND

My favourite was the one addressed simply “Gobshites”, with no further details. It was successfully and correctly delivered to the Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament). ETA: source —- https://www.her.ie/amp/lol/unbelievable-this-letter-made-it-...

Non-AMP link: https://www.her.ie/lol/unbelievable-this-letter-made-it-all-...

Re: What is the minimal possible UK address?

#249

Post by messe »

gpvos wrote: post #174
skrebbel wrote: post #168

This works in the Netherlands too, and people commonly use the format for writing the sender address on the back of the envelope. Eg if you live on Braamstraat 11, 5614LK Eindhoven, you can write “5614LK 11” as the return-to-sender address and it’ll work. Post codes here are always \d{4}[A-Z]{2} so it’s obvious to anyone (incl the address scan computers) where the postcode ends and the house number starts. If you mai…

It is in fact guaranteed that house numbers are unique within a Dutch postcode. I'm not sure if that is the case in the UK.

In Ireland, each house / letterbox receives it's own postcode (eircode), 7 alphanumeric characters long: XXX XXXX. For example, the full address of the official residency of our President (Áras an Uachtaráin), could be written as D08E1W3.
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