skip to main content

A society dedicated to celebrating and promoting the 92 historic counties of the United Kingdom and the important part they play in our culture, heritage and geography.

 Menu

» featured

Shropshire Day – 23rd February

The first county day of 2021 is Shropshire Day on Tuesday 23rd February, the feast day of St Milburga. Sadly, the covid restrictions will mean this is a lower key affair than usual but there are still many ways to celebrate the charms of this … Continue reading

20 February 2021 31 July 2024 2 responses

Caernarfonshire Day – 28th Nov

Caernarfonshire (Sir Gaernarfon) is a maritime county in north Wales. A large proportion of the population is Welsh-speaking. The county may be reckoned to have three distinctive areas: the coastal lands (Arfon and the coast to the River Conwy), Snowdonia and the Llŷn Peninsula. The … Continue reading

28 November 2020 31 July 2024 start the discussion

Bedfordshire Day 28th Nov

Bedfordshire is an inland county in the south-eastern Midlands of England. The southern end of the county is swept by the chalk ridge of the Chiltern Hills. The rest of the shire is part of the broad drainage basin of the River Great Ouse and … Continue reading

28 November 2020 31 July 2024 2 responses

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

Wiltshire Day – 5th June

The lockdown has done nothing to dampen the celebration of county days this year. Although celebrations have been restricted to being on social media, the year on year growth in their popularity continues. On 23rd February we celebrated Shropshire Day. In March we celebrated Cornwall … Continue reading

4 June 2020 31 July 2024 one response

More “county councils” to go – to the huge benefit of our historic counties

Upcoming local government changes continue the trend which will eventually clear-up the confusion in the public mind between the historic counties and local government – to the huge benefit of both. A core aim of ABC is to see a clear line drawn between the … Continue reading

27 February 2020 31 July 2024 10 responses

Shropshire Day – Sun 23rd Feb

Shropshire has the privilege of kicking off the county day season for 2020. Sunday 23rd February 2020 is Shropshire Day, a day to celebrate everything we love about this beautiful shire. And there is much to love. The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, … Continue reading

22 February 2020 31 July 2024 one response

Gazetteer Gets An Upgrade

We’ve spent the last few months giving the Gazetteer of British Place Names (http://www.gazetteer.org.uk) a major upgrade. We first published the Gazetteer back in 1997 and it quickly became the standard reference work for the geography of Great Britain. Since then it has been hugely … Continue reading

11 February 2020 31 July 2024 2 responses

Westmorland Day – Sunday 29th September 2019

Sunday 29th September is the day to celebrate everything we love about the beautiful historic county of Westmorland. From Kirkby Lonsdale to Newbiggin, from Ambleside to Kirkby Stephen, from the top of Helvellyn to the waters of Windermere, it is a day to celebrate the … Continue reading

28 September 2019 31 July 2024 4 responses

Cumberland Day – Tuesday 24th September 2019

Tuesday 24th September is the day to celebrate everything we love about the magnificent historic county of Cumberland. From Millom to Longtown, from Whitehaven to Penrith, from the top of Scafell Pike to the shores of Derwentwater, it is a day to celebrate the extraordinary … Continue reading

18 September 2019 31 July 2024 4 responses

Contact Us • Terms & Conditions • M Fielding Design Copyright © 2011- The Association of British Counties.