You Can Take Me Out Of Romford...

I was born in Oldchurch Hospital, Romford in 1958. Romford was then part of Essex and had, since 1937, been within the Municipal Borough of Romford but as a result of the London Government Act 1963, Romford became part of the London Borough of Havering, along with Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham in 1965. Ever since then there has been some controversy as to whether or not Romford is in Essex since the town has an RM postcode, not an E postcode for London, addresses are written to include Essex (even the London Borough of Havering's address incorporates Essex).  For many people, especially those who recall the migration of Romford into Havering, it is an important matter, one which irks them when Romford is considered part of East London rather than Essex.

Since Essex has been the butt of jokes for many a year, (for example, Q. How do you make an Essex girl laugh on a Saturday?  A. Tell her a joke on a Wednesday); you might think that Romfordians would actually prefer not to be associated with the county, except of course that many Essex jokes merely insert Romford instead anyway, while as far as I know there is no similar array of East London jokes. Supporters of the notion that Romford is in Essex will point to the postal address; opponents will point out that administratively, Romford is in the London Borough of Havering and that you have to drive several miles out of town to find a "Welcome to Essex" sign on the A12 or A127.

You won't find Romford here.

And does it really matter much anyway? Where you live (or wherever you lived that you consider "home", if you have moved away) is a state of mind rather than an address or a Post Code. I consider that I live in Romford; it is in my address, I have an RM Post Code, but I actually live in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (the boundary with Havering is a quarter of a mile up the road) and have an outer London telephone number, but Barking town centre is six and half miles away while Romford town centre is only one and a half miles distant.  Dagenham doesn't really have a town centre, for while Dagenham Heathway is just over two miles away, there is nowhere in Dagenham that has a sign saying "Town Centre." Inevitably when one is on holiday, or on a course from work and meeting new people, you will be asked where you are from. In those circumstances I usually go for wherever I think people will recognise, so variously it is London, or Romford or Essex. Even when I lived in Havering, I would never have thought to say that that was where I was from, though and would not have unless I had moved to the village of Havering-atte-Bower.

Boundaries, especially in the outer London suburbs, are becoming more blurred and less meaningful as time passes. London's boroughs are merging or at least sharing services; the municipal rubbish tip up the road where I take my waste that the dustmen don't take is in Barking & Dagenham, but Havering residents can use it, just as I can use the Havering site if I want to. Councils are considering combining some of their administrative functions and just recently children's minister Edward Timpson said that councils should join forces to match children and families far quicker, and that is the way many council services will go in future. Apart from the current ongoing refuse collectors' strike I have never really had any cause for complaint with my local council, certainly a lot of their services are better than those in Havering, from what I hear from residents of our neighbouring  borough, and for those people who would prefer Romford to revert to being part of Essex, I wonder if Essex County Council services would be superior. Being closer to Charing Cross than Chelmsford, Romford is probably better off as part of London than Essex, but I guess what you lose on the swings you might gain on the roundabouts. Administratively being where I live means coming under the control of the Greater London Authority and the local council as well as national government; sometimes it is difficult to really know where would be more advantageous.

There are rumours that boundaries may shift further in the future, that parts of what is now in Havering could be turned over to Barking & Dagenham, some of which makes sense considering the somewhat weird shape of the latter borough, which has tentacles into Havering already, and the parliamentary constituency of Dagenham is now Dagenham & Rainham, thus taking in part of Havering (Barking is a separate constituency).

The northern bit of Barking & Dagenham, making incursions into Havering and Redbridge.

If residents of Romford have an identity crisis, it is nothing as to those who say they live in Middlesex, a county which some might say no longer exists, although such alumni as Russell Grant will forever argue that that is where they were born and where they will always say they are from.

Born in Hillingdon, Middlesex.

No matter how many administrative changes take place, no matter that boundaries change and residents of Romford have been shifted out of Essex and into London, no matter that I live in Barking & Dagenham but call Romford home, it is all a state of mind. After all, you can take me out of Romford, but you can't take Romford out me.