P O S T C O D E
B O U N D A R I E S Brian Steptoe
Postcode Boundaries Brian Steptoe
Cover: River Blackwater, Moor Green Lakes, 22 August
Postcode The creation of boundaries is an invitation to set differences between conditions on one side from the other. We live in a world of unintended consequences: the creation of the postcode system for improving postal delivery and reducing costs of providing this service is tarnished by a “postcode lottery” of differences in offerings such as health provisions and insurance costs, to name just two.. In the UK, postcodes are made up in two parts: the first designates the broader area to which items are sorted for delivery to their local sorting offices, the second denotes the street and address range for final delivery: the “outward” and the “inward” parts of the code. Postcodes have been adopted for many other purposes, those mentioned above being among them. A whole range of market and demographic uses also apply, not to mention the look-up facilities used to identify addresses from the codes and vice versa. Beneficial as well as more pernicious applications proliferate. How do the actual boundaries get set? We have to look to the Ordnance Survey for this. Code-Point polygons are used to make up the area and boundaries of postcode districts. The accuracy at which boundaries appear on various maps varies with the mapping resolution on which they are based. The free postcode maps have less resolution and may not accurately include or exclude properties close to the boundary in the correct postcode shown on these maps. There is a further step called “mereing”, aligning to actual features on the ground. Even in this mainly urban area, the boundary line avoids housing, crossing fields, placed in country; in locations without an ‘inward’ code.
North end, The Brambles, 5 September
Peacock Lane, 24 October
Heath Lake, 5 September
Cantley Field, 10 May
Lower Sandhurst Road, 28 August
Heath Pool, 2 September
Crowthorne Woods, 25 September
Heath Lake, 5 September
Railway footpath, 30 April
Finchampstead Ridges, 28 August
Cantley Fields, 10 May
off Nash Grove Lane, 28 August
Moor Green Lakes footpath, 22 August
River Blackwater, 22 August
River Blackwater footpath, 22 August
Barkham Ride, 24 April
Barkham Ride, 24 April
Finchampstead Ridges, 28 August
Training Paddock, Equestrian Centre, 29 April
Stream near Tesco’s, 29 April
Finchampstead Ridges path, 28 August
Finchampstead Ridges path, 28 August
Heath Lake, 5 September
Barkham Ride, 24 April
Crowthorne Woods, 25 September
Pound Lane, 20 May
Simons Wood, 2 September
Cantley Fields, 10 May
off Nine Mile Ride, 7 October
Crowthorne Woods, 25 September
Great Hollands Recreation Ground, 7 October
Moor Green Lakes footpath, 22 August
Simonds Wood, 2 September
Simonds Wood, 2 September
Footpath by Equestrian Centre, 29 April
Finchampstead Road, 29 April
Railway Footbridge, 30 April
Crowthorne Woods, 25 September
Equestrian Centre, 29 April
Nash Grove Lane, 25 April
Equestrian Centre, 29 April
Eversley Gravel Pits, 22 April
Footpath, Moor Green Lakes, 22 August
River Blackwater, Moor Green Lakes, 22 August
River Blackwater, Moor Green Lakes, 22 August
Heath Lake, 25 September
Barkham Village Hall, 24 April
Footpath by Barkham Church, 24 April
Great Hollands Recreation Ground, 7 October
Turnbury, Great Hollands, 7 October
Forest Road, 22 August
Eversley Gravel Pit, 22 August
Footpath off Pound Lane, 20 May
Finchampstead Ridges, 28 August
These photographs were taken of objects catching attention during walks on, or as close as possible, to the boundaries of UK Postcode RG40. All were taken during 2013. One of the references that encouraged this work were the photos taken by John Gossage of items catching his eye, particularly on his visit to Auckland, as published in The Auckland Project.
Š Photographs and book design, Brian Steptoe, 2014 Book layout created by InDesign
Hollybush Ride, 2 September