From 1st April 2023, Cumbria County Council, Somerset County Council and North Yorkshire County Council and the district councils in their areas are abolished and replaced by several new unitary councils. In the context of the Association of British Counties’ aim to see local government … Continue reading
» Peter Boyce
Cheshire Day – 30th March
Cheshire Day is celebrated on 30th March each year. On 30th March 1300, King Edward I confirmed a charter of liberties for Cheshire. In celebration we present our Map of Cheshire and our portrait of the county. The County Palatine of Chester is a maritime … Continue reading
Gazetteer of British Place Names in Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Websites for Genealogy!
Family Tree Magazine selected the Gazetteer of British Place Names as one of seven websites featured in the 2020 edition of their ‘101 Best Websites for Genealogy’ within the ‘best UK and Irish genealogy websites’ category! Family Tree Magazine say that the list is an annual favourite … Continue reading
Towns astride county borders
If ever one wanted an example of why the historic counties are not particularly suited to local government, this list of towns astride county boundaries is a case in point. From striking cases such as the Cambridgeshire/Suffolk border on Newmarket High Street, to more self-evident … Continue reading
New marker post on Lancashire / Yorkshire border
The Friends of Real Lancashire, one of our affiliated groups, invite you to attend the unveiling ceremony for a new marker post on 22 March 2015 and say: Walkers on the Pennine Way near Oldham will from this week know when they are crossing … Continue reading
Westmorland Road Sign
ABC Member Philip Tibbetts advises that Burton village council organised and funded this Westmorland sign. It is understood that Cumbria council has given Parish Councils the ability to erect signs if they want following on from Eric Pickles’ initiative last April.
Try your luck at the UK County Map Quiz
The UK County Map Quiz is the first interactive activity to launch in the new County-Wise Activity Zone. Try you luck at correctly identifying the counties of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. Or why not try all of them? Try your luck at: activities.county-wise.org.uk
Huntingdonshire
In this series of articles from the archives of This England, we step into Michael Bradford’s vision of Huntingdonshire from the summer of 1993. Local government reform is on the horizon and Huntingdonshire continues to fight for its identity. In 2014, as the prospect of a county flag for Cambridgeshire … Continue reading
Colour Your County on Historic County Flags Day – 23 July 2014
In the run-up to Historic County Flags Day – 23 July 2014, the Association of British Counties is pleased to publish county colouring sheets for the event. Historic County Flags Day aims to get as many county flags flying across the United Kingdom as possible on … Continue reading
Cambridgeshire County Flag Competition
County campaigner Andy Strangeway has launched a competition to establish a flag for Cambridgeshire. Andy says: In recent years the UK celebrated both the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics, two major flag waving occasions. Flags are an ancient art form, developed especially to … Continue reading