I learned today that UK phone number area codes are more than just random numbers. They are *actually* coded areas. This works for most 5-digit area codes beginning 01 … the next number (or often two numbers) contain a reference to the area. Here are some that i know:

01962 - 96 = WN for Winchester
01622 - 62 = MA for Maidstone
01245 - 24 = CH for Chelmsford
01483 - 48 = GU for Guildford
01733 - 73 = PE for Peterborough
01270 - 27 = CR for Crewe

A zero sometimes seems to stand for an O:

01903 - 90 = WO for Worthing
01904 - 90 = YO for York
01202 - 20 = BO for Bournemouth
01206 - 20 = CO for Colchester

It can work for 01×1 big city numbers too:

0121 - 2 = B for Birmingham
0131 - 3 = E for Edinburgh
0141 - 4 = G for Glasgow
0151 - 5 = L for Liverpool
0161 - 6 = M for Manchester

It quite tickles me that there is this hidden code that i'd never known about until today! Maybe it will help me remember area codes if i can figure out the letters that they represent.

Next week … the hidden codes in UK car number plates …! ;)