Rise of the PL postcode – why pockets of Cornwall are ‘basically Plymouth’

Yep, we’re really doing this. To the other 14 people with a slight interest in postcodes, thanks for coming. Our AGM is next month, and it’s Jerry’s turn to bring the fizzy pop.

Ever wondered why your postcode is different to your mate’s, even though they only live across the road? Questions like that keep me up at night.

Places such as Saltash and Torpoint are welcomed by Plymouth with open arms, but reject us in favour of Cornwall. We’re all PL zones and 01752 numbers. Can’t we just get along?

It’s a tricky one, and bound to cause an identity crisis if you let it. So why are places like Bodmin, Padstow and Lostwithiel in PL postal regions?

Strap in for this one.

The year is 1959 and Luton Town have just lost to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup Final. Sir Christopher Cockerell’s hovercraft defied the odds to cross the English Channel.

Meanwhile, in Norwich, an experiment was taking place. And it would change the world.

The revolutionary idea of a postcode system was trialled, the very idea that gave us the 124 postal zones we all know and love today.

Sing them with me, from the top: ‘If AB is Aberdeen, then AL must be St Albans…’ You know the words.

These areas are not affected by political boundaries, such as county and local authority.

So what about those places like Saltash, the Plymouth pretenders, with our dialling code? Zero, one, seven, five, who?

A BT spokesperson said: “Telephone area boundaries are not related to legislative boundaries.

“Many other factors came into play such as geographical features and social factors affecting calling patterns.”

Interesting, but there’s a PL95 and I’m not sure I agree with that.

And what about Sherford? They’ve only been around five minutes, have a guess what their code is?

With a special delivery, here’s a Royal Mail spokesperson: “The PL postcode area takes its two-letter code from Plymouth – that being the main city within the area.

“The PL postcode area is one of many across the UK that straddle county boundaries, in fact some – like SY (named after Shrewsbury) sit across country borders too.

“Postcode Districts were originally numbered outward from the regional mail centre, so you’ll often find that the centre of a major city such as Plymouth has the area (PL) followed by the district number 1.”

So, some postcodes are shared by different countries? Cornwall seems to thinks it’s a country…

As if 2020 isn’t confusing enough, without all these blurred boundaries.

What we have learned from this horrific year is the importance of putting our differences aside and being a good neighbour.

I’ve mentioned Saltash a couple of times, let’s nip over the bridge to check on them, and see how Cornish they feel. Without starting a turf war.

Kernow Pet Supplies – PL12

On the main street in Saltash there’s a shop called Kernow Pet Supplies, so why wouldn’t I ask them?

Most of their customers come to the Fore Street store from right there in Saltash. Outside of that, they get more coming from Plymouth than the nearest Cornish towns.

Especially in the past few months, since launching their website and a free delivery service throughout Plymouth. Favouritism?

“Plymouth and Saltash have an inextricable relationship. Many people from here are employed in Plymouth, some have moved here from Plymouth and vice versa.

“It’s our closest city and so naturally a lot of people that choose to live here, love to visit, and I know we get many Plymouth visitors from the amount of customers we meet from Plymouth every day.

“I’d say its everything you would expect from two places as close as we are, though the very physical county border of the Tamar makes us more distinctly separate.

“Is the front door of your house more inside or outside? It entirely depends on which side you are stood. In fact, you are never more aware of being inside than when you just get through that door.

“Saltash is the gateway to Cornwall. The ‘just inside the door’ residents, tourists and businesses alike all very much feel that they are in Cornwall the moment they cross that bridge.”

Wow, beautifully put.

Torpoint Athletic – PL11

There’s got to be a rivalry in football, right? When you’ve got Torpoint away and you Google their ground, a PL postcode comes up.

You’re just a bus stop in Plymouth.

Joking I am, but how do Torpoint Athletic feel about being so close yet so far?

“It has its advantages and disadvantages. People forget we are in Cornwall because we are so close to Plymouth.

“It’s a weird one really. I guess it’s because we are so close, divided by a river but, it’s not really something we think about to be honest.

“The ferry is the main advantage and disadvantage. Great when we have three running but not so good if we are down to one.”

The team hopped on the ferry just days ago, as they faced us lot across the river, Plymouth Parkway.

According to the match report, it was a ‘stuttering, at times disjointed performance by Parkway. Against a well organised, committed and spirited Torpoint.’

Torpoint valiantly lost the game 3-2 to their hosts. It didn’t sound like a fierce game, here’s why.

“We are not rivals, more friends really. Parkway are in a higher league than us.

“The derbies are the heated games. Ours are generally Millbrook and Saltash.”

So much love. I have no problem with that.

Jamaica Inn – PL15

Jamaica Inn has meant beer and bed for many a traveller over the past 270 years. It is a Cornish icon, immortalised by a book of the same name.

It has a ‘smuggling museum’ full of artefacts, where tales of Cornish smugglers, wreckers and villains come to life in film.

And a farm shop, stacked with local Cornish produce. It’s fair to say, this one’s Cornish and proud.

Owner Allen Jackson isn’t, he commutes from Surrey and has done nearly every week for the past five years.

It’s exactly 225 miles, door to door. He thinks Cornish people are lovely, though.

What does he think about his Bodmin business having a PL postcode? Not much.

“It never occurred to me. It’s just a postcode, it’s just letters and numbers. Whether it’s PL, or CO, whatever.

“If it was ‘Plymouth-15 7TS’ then yes, but it’s just PL. That could be anything, it could be plough because there’s a lot of farming around here.”

Staff come to work from other parts of Cornwall and the Inn gets regular customers from as far as Okehampton, over the border.

They’ve had their ‘busiest August ever’ and most of that is down to the loyal, local customers, from both Devon and Cornwall.

Kelly’s of Looe – PL13

Looe, for those who don’t know, is like Cornwall’s Dawlish.

It’s on a train line which makes it easy access for us Plymothians, if we want to spend a day on the sand in the sun.

It wouldn’t be complete without fish and chips, and as far as I know, there doesn’t seem to be a dispute between our counties as to who makes this seaside staple the best.

One contender would be Kelly’s of Looe. Not that they’d admit it, after saying people from Devon and Cornwall are pretty much the same and refusing to take the bait.

“Mr Kelly, the original owner, has always been in Cornwall and his grandfather was Italian.

“As far as I know he was the first person to bring the original yellow vanilla ice cream to Cornwall.

“We, however, live in Plymouth but work in Cornwall. So we’re a little on the fence with the rivalry.

“We also have mainly Cornish staff and sell Cornish produce.”

Charlie and the gang have only recently taken on this Looe institution, but friendly Cornish folk and lovely tourists have been treating them well.

“We have been there for approximately eight weeks and business has been busier than expected.

“It’s very popular and we have plenty of trade there. We’re looking to completely refurbish the building in the winter to further enhance our customers dining experience.”

Well, everyone seemed nice, didn’t they? I think this rivalry can be put to bed.

We’ll always argue over who makes the best pasties (Ivor) or whose county is more gorgeous (probs you) but we can still be friends.

Ultimately, the PL district is a spectacular place to deliver post.

Wait a minute, postal worker

I mentioned the world changed one day back in Norwich, 1959. Here’s a bit more information, thanks to Royal Mail:

“Postal districts within the UK were developed in the first half of the 20th Century to make it easier to differentiate mail for identically named towns and villages in different parts of the country.

“The current postcode system was first trialled in Norwich in 1959, and Royal Mail celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the postcode last year.

“Postcode allocation is designed to help sort letters around the country. The UK is divided into 124 postcode areas which reflects Royal Mail’s delivery network.

“The postcode system is centred on mail delivery areas, and not affected by political boundaries such as county and local authority borders.

“The number of UK postcode areas hasn’t changed in years and is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

“However, we do allocate, add, amend and delete new postcodes every day as new housing developments and business parks are built, demolished and redesigned across the country.”

PHONEday

I don’t know why it’s stylised that way, but in case it’s before your time, here’s a recap of a major event from 1995. Courtesy of BT:

“On April 16 1995 ‘PHONEday’ introduced the number one after the initial zero. This was designed to increase the telephone numbers available on the network.

“Certain areas had grown so much that pressure on available numbers was great and another solution was also applied.

“The idea of area codes really started in 1959 with the introduction of STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialling).

“Main exchanges in towns were called by their name even before customers could dial their own calls.

“A customer would ask the operator for the town and the telephone number wanted.

“To keep this idea main towns/cities were named with codes, as far as possible, with letters that represented the town/city e.g. LE was used for Leicester.

“The letters worked fine for a period of time but with the advent of international dialling it became a problem that rotary dials across the world having different letters to numbers associations.”

Hello, neighbour

Welcome to Plymouth, our newest neighbour, Sherford. On the outskirts of the city, history is being made every day.

Still in its first stage of construction, Sherford spans 1,200-acres of land, to be divided almost evenly between green space and buildings.

The first residents arrived in May 2017, and now it has over 1,000 people calling it home, with 380 homes occupied. It will eventually be home to over 12,000 people in 5,500 homes.

A thriving community spirit, Sherford has a Community Trust, Community Church and Youth Group – and formed the Sherford Mutual Aid Group to provide support in the lockdown.

£8 million has been invested in the creation of Main Street, to connect Sherford to the A38. Work is well underway and is due to be completed this year. A far cry from the first brick being laid in July 2016.

You can see a collection of images from Sherford’s development here.