Letter: No name, no number mean not suburban

Sir: Derek Parker (letter, 7 April) complains of the difficulty of finding London addresses, since house numbers are frequently not clearly marked or may even be omitted.

Locating a particular house can be even worse in the country, however. Our house is one of the few in the small rural community which states its name clearly and proudly on a board at the gate. I once asked a neighbour why they had no house name displayed and she said it was not worth the bother since the postman and their friends know where they live.

Delivery men, however, lack this knowledge. Several times each week I am stopped by irate van drivers and asked the location of a Turville Heath address. Their bad temper is a result of driving around in vain for a long time with no one in sight to ask directions of until they chance upon me.

The real motive for wishing to live in such secrecy appears to be a curious form of snobbery. To have one's house clearly labelled is apparently considered to be self-advertising, therefore vulgar, or even worse, suburban, therefore common. More secluded = more rural = more posh.

Yours sincerely,

ALICE H. BIRD

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

8 April