The expression "traditional County" is a way of referring to those ancient territorial areas into which the country has been divided for many centuries and which are commonly known simply as "the Counties". In "official" language these are described (e.g. by the Ordnance Survey on its "United Kingdom Administrative Boundaries" map) as the "Ancient or Geographical Counties". These are the Counties of our history, our popular geography and our sense of cultural identity. They are the basis of innumerable social, sporting and cultural activities. They form a popular geographical framework which is understood by most people (unlike modern local government geography !). Above all else, they are still places - places where people live and "come from", where they "belong".
Until 1974 the traditional County names formed the "county" element in Post Office recommended postal addresses throughout most of the United Kingdom. However, in 1974, the Post Office changed the "postal counties" in Wales and some parts of England, basing the new ones on some of the new local government areas created in that year. Hence, such entities as "Avon", "South Humberside" and "Dyfed" began to appear in postal addresses. However, these new "postal counties" were unpopular with many people and the traditional County names have continued to be widely used in those areas affected. Furthermore, this policy was only applied to a part of the United Kingdom. In Scotland, Northern Ireland and much of England traditional Counties have continued to form the "postal counties".
Ironically, all but one of the local authorities from which the new 1974 "postal counties" took their names were abolished within 22 years ! Names such as "Clwyd", "North Humberside" and "Cleveland" are already historically redundant. Meanwhile, of course, the traditional Counties in these areas continue to be important cultural and geographical entities. The lesson is clear. In areas such as postal addressing, it is clearly desirable to use a fixed geographical framework: one divorced from the very changing names and areas of administrative units but, instead, rooted in history, tradition, public affection and understanding. The traditional Counties provide this geographical framework and are the only sensible choice to use as the County element in postal addressing.
With the introduction of Postcode Defined Circulation, the "county" component of postal addressing is no longer of operational importance to the Royal Mail. This led to the Royal Mail introducing its "Flexible Addressing" policy in the mid-1990's. Under this policy,one can now use the traditional County name as the "county line" in any U.K. postal address.
In fact, under "Flexible Addressing" there is now no need to include any kind of "county line" at all in any U.K. postal address. However, there are good reasons to continue to use county names within most postal addresses since:
(i) they add invaluable geographical information to an address, making it instantly clear approximately where a particular address is located.
(ii) they can be vital in enabling a determination of the full correct postal address in cases where the postcode and/or Post Town names are missing or incorrect.
(iii) they are a simple but effective way of expressing affection for one's County.
The aim of this Directory, then, is both to encourage the continued use of County names within postal addresses and to promote a return to the use of the traditional Counties as the standard County names used.
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