Sending Snail Mail to the UK-How do I do it?

[Ringtop]

Ok,

Deeply silly question, but besides affixing 83 cents worth of stamps to my envelope, making sure my letter weighs less than 2 oz. and writing Air Mail/Par Avion on the envelope, is there anything else I need to do to send mail to the U.K. from the U.S.?

 

The USPS has a lot to say on the subject, but none of it is simple.

 

Ringtop (Vida)

[Pamalisonknits]

Well, the corect format for addresses here in the UK is:-

 

Name

86 King Arthur Road (Use 2 lines if it's Flat 2, 86 King Arthur Road for example)

Southend (Again, use two lines if there's a village name followed by a town name)

Essex (This is the county name and isn't essential)

SS99 7PG (The postcode - this is the most important bit of all)

United Kingdom

 

Then so long as the postage is correct and Royal Mail are feeling in the mood to deliver it, it should get where it's going. It would also be wise to put your address on the back of the envelope/parcel just in case it needs to be returned to the sender, although there's no strict rule that you should do so.

[goodyear]

Purely for interest, and I would definitely not suggest you do this as there's no need, for delivery all you actually need in the UK is

 

Flat/Building number

Postcode

 

Sad as I am, I've verified this experimentally

 

When sending parcels domestically, that's usually all I do for return address (eg 99, AW13 3BZ).

 

There've been a couple of re-jigs of postcodes local to us int he last 15 years, but when I got interested in it all I was told (by a Royal Mail person) that each full postcode only covers a small number of buildings, perhaps 10 to 50 (although I live now in a street of 64 houses, all with the same postcode), so apart from it the number is enough to get delivered.

 

In the past a single postcode was described to me as a 'walk', but lately I've mainly heard that term applied to the route of one delivery person.

 

I am not an expert, I do not work for RM, I'm just curious.

Edited February 5, 2007 by goodyear

[twdpens]

Just ensure that if your destination is a town or village in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland that you don't put "England" as the country :blink:.

 

Otherwise, make sure you have the postcode correct. For example, if you go to a website like Multimap and type in a postcode, say the one for BBC Broadcasting House you'll see that anywhere in the UK can be located quite closely with that piece of information. A building number gives the rest.

 

Martin

[Judybug]

Hi, Ringtop --

 

According to the U. S. Post Office website, a letter to the UK weighing up to 1 oz. is 84 cents and a letter weighing between 1 and 2 oz. is $1.70. Check it out here

http://pe.usps.gov/text/Imm/immicl/immicleg_021.html

Scroll down to the bottom and you'll see a chart.

 

Judybug

[*david*]

A little table is shown here as well. It has basically the same information that was already given.

[Ringtop]

Thank you Everybody.

 

I think I brought a letter to the PO before and had them tell me how much postage I would need to send it to the U.K., and the answer was something like .84 cents. (It was a long one) I think I write 1 oz. letters, then.

 

I am a worrywart. Thanks for all the great pointers.

 

Ringtop

[Col]

Purely for interest, and I would definitely not suggest you do this as there's no need, for delivery all you actually need in the UK is

 

Flat/Building number

Postcode

You're right, it would not be good advice generally to do this. Postcodes are read by machines, and there may be errors if they're not written clearly enough. Also, the postcode may be incorrect. In both cases, it helps if there's a full address to fall back on; put the name of the town/city in block capitals for good measure. Unless the town/city is a unitary authority, you should also include the county name.

 

In the past a single postcode was described to me as a 'walk', but lately I've mainly heard that term applied to the route of one delivery person.

The latter is correct.

[Carrie]

Also, be prepared for your letter to go round and about the hedges in the States whilst the US postal service figures out that the England you're referring to isn't really New England. Yes, I really have had that happen with a couple of letters I've received. One arrived with a scrawled note on it "England is not New England. Try the UK"

 

Other than that, I think everyone has summed it up. Postcode being all important and so should always have its own line.

[sonia_simone]

I use United Kingdom rather than England and have so far had reasonably quick delivery times.

 

I also always put the name of the country in capital letters on its own line as the very last thing on the envelope. That seems to help the US postal machines figure it out.

 

Edit because I forgot one thing--if I'm mailing an ink sample, I write "Contains ink sample, no cash value" on the outside of the package, for customs. Although that might create a different set of issues as the USPS is terrified of liquid ink.

Edited February 5, 2007 by sonia_simone

[ericthered2004]

I always thought RM recommended that the postcode came after "United Kingdom". I wonder if they've given up and abandoned this piece of (widely ignored) advice?

 

Regards,

Eric

[OldGriz]

QUOTE (Carrie @ Feb 5 2007, 04:57 PM)

Also, be prepared for your letter to go round and about the hedges in the States whilst the US postal service figures out that the England you're referring to isn't really New England. Yes, I really have had that happen with a couple of letters I've received. One arrived with a scrawled note on it "England is not New England. Try the UK" Other than that, I think everyone has summed it up. Postcode being all important and so should always have its own line.

One very important reason for using United Kingdom when addressing the mail

[captnemo]

I correspond quite a lot overseas. I was taught by my parents back in the 60's to always write the country name big in all caps as the last line of the address, all by itself, and underlined or double-underlined. I still do it that way.

 

When I was receiving airmail in Central America, I had a lot of trouble with people putting:

 

Nicaragua, CA

or Guatemala, C.A.

 

and the letter would go 'round and 'round up in California before they figured out that Guatemala is not a town in California.

 

GUATEMALA

NICARAGUA

UNITED STATES

TURKEY

UNITED KINGDOM

GERMANY

 

...is all that should appear on the last line by itself. Doing this, I've never had a problem sending mail from anywhere to anywhere.

[sonia_simone]

Since the poor letter actually has to escape the United States (in this case) before RM has anything to do with it, I second the recommendation to put UNITED KINGDOM as the last line when mailing from the U.S.

 

 

[Col]

I've never really got used to the name 'United Kingdom'. When I was at school, and we ruled an empire so vast the sun never sank upon it, it was always 'The British Isles', or 'Great Britain' for postage purposes. OK so I know it's an abbreviation of 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', but at what point did it change, and who decides these things anyway? The same people who removed the ancient county of Middlesex from the map, probably.

[OldPott]

QUOTE (Col @ Feb 22 2007, 12:32 AM)

and who decides these things anyway? The same people who removed the ancient county of Middlesex from the map, probably.

Ooops. I think that last bit may have been me. Not all by myself, you will appreciate; I was a mere child, following orders, honestly gov.

 

The 1972 Local Government Act changed the boundaries and the names of some of our lovely historic counties and boroughs... and I was there. Mostly.

 

Latterly, they've been at it again, abolishing counties- you look at Berkshire: the county no longer exists as a council, it's all unitary districts now. And who invented Avon?

 

We saved Rutland tho'...

 

Royal Mail, if you are interested, doesn't give a fig (or any other fruit-based curse) for county names. They don't want them. In my current gainful employment, I'm busy devising computer systems which no longer tolerate counties. For which I'm am truly sorry.

 

If I'm sending letters to my friends in Scotland, Wales or Northen Ireland, then I'll use the appropriate country name, obviously. They always send replies to England (but spit on it first, of course)(JOKE - sort of; I know my place).

Edited February 22, 2007 by OldPott

[Carrie]

I'm originally from Bolton. I was born in 1975 after the creation of that wonderful county - Greater Manchester. I will always refer to Bolton as Bolton, Lancashire. I never like putting Bolton, Greater Manchester. There's been various campaigns over the years to have Bolton returned to the Red Rose County and I remember reading a few years ago that something like 98% of all mail that the Royal Mail receives addressed to Bolton give the county as Lancashire. Of all the major utility companies sending out mail, it was said at the time that British Gas was the only one who put Bolton, Greater Manchester on their letters.

 

Also, be very careful, you might just be taking your life in your own hands if you ever go to Warrington and mention which county they currently reside in

 

Talking of counties and things, weren't the Ridings of Yorkshire resurrected a few years ago? Seem to remember that it was an idea that was being muted when I was doing my Bachelors dissertation.

 

Now, do you reckon all our resident Americans are sitting back and rolling their eyes at the fact that once again someone asked a simple question and the Brits have gone off on a tangent and started ranting

[Col]

QUOTE (OldPott @ Feb 22 2007, 01:44 PM)

Latterly, they've been at it again, abolishing counties-  you look at Berkshire: the county no longer exists as a council, it's all unitary districts now...

Consider the case of poor old Slough. Originally in Buckinghamshire, latterly in Berkshire; snubbed by Windsor when plans to create a combined unitary authority were mooted, who in an act of blatant snobbery instead combined themselves with Maidenhead (even though it made much less sense geographically).

 

As for your participation in the demise of Middx, no doubt you'll receive your reward in heaven - which for you is Valhalla, presumably.

[johnr55]

Actually, I find the discussion fascinating. I guess, as a Texan, I'd always thought that British people considered their counties as an important part of their heritage. Not something to manipulate around like we play with our Congressional districts.

 

We have 254 counties here in Texas. While it's not really considered an important identifier for us within our State, I can't see people merrily reallocating county boundaries. In fact, I think they'd be fighting words--

[plipule]

Does that mean, then, that Berkshire is no more? But I was born there - how on earth did I not notice that? Thank goodness for the BBC which continues to acknowledge its continued existence in the minds of all right minded Englishmen! Look - Berkshire News!

 

In similar vein, I shall continue to include 'Berkshire' in addresses (where appropriate) as a small rebellion against whoever was responsible (since it seems to have been 1998, that presumably means I can blame TB) in the same way that I have spent most of my adult life rebelling about 'Middlesex'. The post generally gets there anyway!

 

LONG LIVE BERKSHIRE!