Okay so let’s tell you how I made this Manchester postcode checker thing. Wanted to build something dead simple where you pick an area in Manchester and bam – shows all the postcodes instantly. Felt proper frustrated last week when I needed Wythenshawe codes and spent twenty minutes digging through rubbish council pages.
Starting Point: Data Hunting
First job? Find the bloody postcode data. Tried scraping Manchester council’s site but kept hitting dead ends. Then remembered Royal Mail sells official data but nah – not paying seventy quid for this. Found an old CSV dump from some open data project instead. Had like twelve thousand Manchester postcodes but half were outdated or had wrong areas. Spent two hours just cleaning the mess manually.
Building the Basic Tool
Set up a basic dropdown picker using simple HTML and JavaScript. Wanted it super clean – just:
- Step 1: Load all Manchester areas into the dropdown (made 21 main areas like Chorlton, Moss Side etc)
- Step 2: Connect each area to its postcodes in the backend
- Step 3: When someone picks “Hulme”, show M15 codes without any “searching…” nonsense
Hardest part? Some postcodes sit on area borders. M21 spans Chorlton and Didsbury both – spent ages arguing with myself about where to put them.
Almost Trashed the Whole Thing
Thought I was done Wednesday night. Tested Hulme – perfect. Tested Salford – worked… until I realised Salford isn’t technically Manchester. Gutted. Nearly deleted the repo in a rage. Ended up adding both “Greater Manchester” and “Central Manchester” options next day. Compromised like a true politician.
How It Actually Works
Final version runs on this ancient laptop. You pick:
- Any area from Ancoats to Withington
- All valid codes instantly appear
- No signups, no adverts, just the damn postcodes
Tested sending letters to ten different M postcodes this morning – all arrived. Proper chuffed when the Heaton Chapel one got there in one day. Mission accomplished.
