In message
, at
01:29:25 on Mon, 28 Dec 2009, MIG
remarked:
London stops, and Essex, starts at the end of the Shenfield metro.

Having once lived in Brentwood [1] for many years, it's fascinating the
way Londoners regard it as "the first town outside London", whereas
Essex people regard it as "the first suburb inside London".

[1] And Shenfield is just the posh bit of Brentwood.

The railway crosses the London border almost exactly where the M25 is,
which happens to be between Harold Wood and Brentwood stations.

Yes, that's where the administrative boundary is today.

Brentwood is thoroughly in Essex and Harold Wood is in London.

That's what Londoners would say (see above).

Essex people either remember when Romford and Ilford were properly
"Essex", or lump Brentwood in with Harold Wood as "the edge of suburban
London". To the latter, the psychological boundary is the Chelmsford end
of the Brentwood bypass, which is quite close to the junction between
the Chelmsford and Southend branches of the railway.
--
Roland Perry