An Answer to a Question That Nobody Asked
Croydon’s an odd place - I should know, I’ve lived here for over three years now. A lot’s changed in that time. For a start, I’ve had four jobs and three houses. In those few years I’ve morphed from a borderline-alcoholic drifter to a near-teetotal homeowner with a driving licence, steady girlfriend and decent job. Croydon the town has changed too - the pubs I used to frequent in the early months have vanished. Pals has become a hotel lobby, Bar Med is a Chinese restaraunt and McCluskey’s has been through about four failed incarnations. Even the Lytton Tree (home of Jim’s infamous indiscretions) has closed down and re-opened on several occasions.
However, there’s always been one little kneedling question mark that has bothered me since I’ve lived here. When I discovered the explanation it was something of a relief as I hadn’t even realised it had been bothering me:
Post codes.
Why did CR0 seemingly stretch forever, before morphing into CR2? Where was CR1? Why was the post code of my first Croydon-based job (Barclays Insurance call centre) mysteriously CR9 when everything surrounding it was CR0?
This wasn’t something that caused me great distress, didn’t keep me awake at night. In fact I don’t recall ever consciously asking myself the question. Nevertheless, when I happened across the answer I experienced an emotion that I can only describe as ‘relief’.
Wikipedia and I have recently been experiencing a crisis of trust, ever since it led me to mistakenly believe that Paris Hilton has a swastika tattooed onto her vagina. I still visit, still spend time with it. But the trust has gone. I regard every posting with suspicion, looking out for the lies and untruths, seeing constant duplicity where there is none. It’s the break-up of a marriage made in heaven.
And yet, bored at work one Friday afternoon, old habits died hard. I logged onto my wayward mistress. I stumbled across the truth of the Croydon Post Code Conundrum.
It seems that, in the early 1960’s Croydon, along with Norwich, functioned as test areas for a new postal code system that would, eventually, be adopted across the whole country. From Wikipedia:
The scheme was finalised in 1974 when Norwich was completely re-coded but the scheme tested in Croydon was sufficiently close to the final design for it to be retained… The legacy of the Croydon trial can still be seen today:
* CR0 was the only postal district with a zero in that position: all others start with 1
* A separate postal “district”, CR9 is used for large users and PO Box holders.
* The CR0 district contains far more addresses than any other postal district in the country.
* CR1 has never been used — possibly left spare for rationalisation. (The other CR districts, CR2 etc. were coded later and conform to the general standards.)
* There was at one point a movement to change all CR0 postcodes to CR1, but this was rejected.
So maybe there’s a chance. Maybe, deep down, my love for Wikipedia holds strong. Perhaps, one day, whilst driving through the dreadful wilderness, entranced by the seagulls and clawing at the silken struts of humility… aching by the hour for bundles of green forest, lulled into symmetry by the buzz of my bones… maybe, just maybe… there is some redemption.