Talk:Stratford, London

'Capital of East London'
Lived in the area for many years, and still a regular visitor, and I've never once heard the terms ‘capital of East London’ or ‘East London’s Town\City Centre’ uttered. Do we have any evidence of their popularity? Perhaps they are and I'm merely out the loop, but to me they smack of terms transplanted by a marketing organisation or public sector body. Grunners (talk) 10:29, 1 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Grunners - I added this statement, without logging in I'm afraid, a bad habit of mine. It really is the kind of thing marketers might come up with!

I've heard variants of this a number of times since around 2011\12.

Its been people from elsewhere in London, and also Essex rather than local people. People who have been drawn to use the area when they never would have done before Westfield opened. Its generally but not exclusively been in the context of using the shopping facilities, but the great increase in prestige must have been a factor.

I've been planning to re-organise the article for ages, adding a little here and there. Will probably do this in the next week or two. I'll clarify the statement as best I can, but I'll de-emphasise it too, as it's too sweeping as it is.

Regards — Preceding unsigned comment added by AlasdairDaw (talk • contribs) 18:47, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

I've taken it out now, the spontaneity of the phrase appeals to me, but its hardly mainstream and hardly well established. Perhaps I'll reintroduce it in future if I hear it much more. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AlasdairDaw (talk • contribs) 15:30, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

Recent lead edits about historic counties
user:WOSlinker has asked me here to comment about your edits user:PlatinumClipper96. This was one article mentioned. I might be wrong, but you appear to be unaware of the default county in articles about UK places, which is the ceremonial/lieutenancy county, not the historic county. This makes sense because there needs to be a default county and because the 1997 statute defines the UK in this way. Some of your changes, such as to Stratford, muddy the waters and can be confusing. By consensus, we can mention the HC in the lead, but that is all. We should not make out that it is the primary county in the UK which is what your edits sometimes do. This does not of course mean that HCs are unimportant or not extant entities. The new field in the IBX does not give editors carte blanche to change the established layout of an article's lead section. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 09:43, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Stratford a town?
Stratford is more of a neighbourhood in London's East End. It isnt even large enough to be considered as a town within the conurbation of the city. The approximity of that area isn't that far from Central London. LDas12345 (talk) 17:59, 23 January 2024 (UTC)


 * Ordnance Survey recognises a place called Stratford New Town. Wire723 (talk) 18:24, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's called "Stratford New Town" as a government ward in Newham. It doesn't fit the fact that Stratford is a town in England though but rather an Inner-city suburb. LDas12345 (talk) 19:13, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
 * "inner-city suburb" looks like a contradiction. But, in any case, we will follow what the sources call it. Stratford is a bit harder to search for because of Stratford-upon-Avon, but I don't think there are any sources just calling it a neighbourhood. London is a city of towns. That is how the sources describe them. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 19:27, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
 * There are no sources mentioning Stratford as a town but as a suburb LDas12345 (talk) 10:25, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
 * This is incorrect. A search of Newspapers.com, for instance, shows it has been referred to as a town since at least the 19th century (at which point it was in Essex). See, e.g., Essex Newsman-Herald 4 Jul 1874, page 2, which repeatedly calls it a town. It had a town hall that opened in 1869, and has a traditional town centre. Newspaper sources and others continue to call it a town. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 11:09, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
 * But it was in the 1800s before Stratford got completely absorbed into the city as an inner-area neighbourhood of London. Plus I don't see any articles or videos that state Stratford as a standalone town but either as a neighbourhood or a suburb of London. Stratford New Town is just a ward name of Newham. LDas12345 (talk) 11:57, 31 January 2024 (UTC)
 * See my answer at Talk:Walthamstow. Sources very strongly favour calling these towns. In the case of Stratford, the unscientific but indicative Google search for "Stratford is a town" +"London" -Wikipedia gives > 12,000 hits. "Stratford is a suburb" gives 7 hits. "Stratford is a neighbourhood" gives 3 hits. But google-fu is merely an indicator. Those aren't sources for an article. Looking at the sources, it is very very clear that Stratford is consistently referred to as a town in primary and secondary sources. Sirfurboy🏄 (talk) 12:47, 31 January 2024 (UTC)