Capitalisation of region and place names

[SurreyGuy]

Some of us were discussing place names today and there is a disagreement on the use of capital letters.

Which of these two is correct, please?

1. Newcastle is in north east England

or

2. Newcastle is in North East England

And what about these two?

3. I'm going up to the north east

or

4. I'm going up to the North East

T.I.A.

[Buenchico]

Posts like this nearly always result in differing opinions being put forward. I'll simply state that I'm happy to go along with the conventions adopted by The Times. See under 'compass points':
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_ser vices/specials/style_guide/article986720.ece

Chris

[SurreyGuy]

Thanks Chris - BRILLIANT guide!

So, 2 and 4 are correct? The only reason I ask is coz the "adjectivally" part of that guide "threw" me! :o(

[Buenchico]

2 & 4 are (by The Times rules) definitely correct because 'North East England' and 'the North East' are being used as composite place names.

3 is incorrect because 'the north east' is also being used as a place name (and therefore requires capitals).

However 1 might also be acceptable because 'north east' (which The Times would write as a single word) is effectively being used as an adjective (rather than as part of a composite place name).

Well, that's how I read it anyway! ;-)

Chris

[SurreyGuy]

I'm ignoring the adjective! :o)

[reinganum]

This is a minefield! The difficulty here is because of the political entities (the English Regions (note cap R) created in the 1990s).
If referring to the Region, then caps should be used as in: "The South East Regional Offices are situated in Guildford." , or "Vehicle ownership is highest in the South East" (i.e. there are more vehicles per person in that Region, compared to others) BUT, if referring to a geographical or physical direction, then�
"Guildford is a town in south eastern England", or "The highest average annual rainfall in England is generally to be found in the north west of the country".

This has either helped, or made things much worse....

[SurreyGuy]

Thanks reinganum - I think i will use whichever rule I feel like at the appropriate time! :o)