The county day phenomena continues to gather pace in 2024. May 2024 has seen four county days (so far): Staffordshire Day (Weds 1st May), Surrey Day (Sat 11th May), Somerset Day (Sat 11th May) and Middlesex Day (Thurs 16th May). All four have been the … Continue reading
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Yorkshire Ridings: Road-sign Rollout Begins
On the fiftieth anniversary of the infamous 1974 local government changes, the Yorkshire Ridings Society and the Historic Counties Trust have unveiled the first of a set of new road-signs marking the border of Yorkshire and the borders of its ridings. The first “Historic North … Continue reading
The Strange Case of the Counties That Didn’t Change
For the 50th anniversary of the local government re-organisation of 1st April 1974, we present a retrospective on the myth of the “changed” counties. We also call on the Government to finally resolve the ‘county confusion’ created in 1974, by establishing a set of local … Continue reading
2023: Historic County Highlights
The Association of British Counties would like to wish all of our supporters a very Happy New Year. We finish off 2023 with a look back at some of the highlights of year. ABC exists to promote and celebrate the historic counties and their role … Continue reading
Bedfordshire Day 28th November 2023
Bedfordshire Day is celebrated each year on 28th November, the birthday of John Bunyan. The celebration in 2023 was the biggest yet. Huge thanks are due to our friends at The Friends of Bedfordshire Society and to the many people and organisations which took part. We … Continue reading
Lancashire Day 27th November 2023
Lancashire Day 2023 has seen another huge celebration of the red rose county. As ever, huge thanks and congratulation go to our friends the Friends of Real Lancashire. We present some highlights from the day.
Bogus M5 ‘Welcome to Somerset’ sign removed after 49 years
We have good news from our friends the Somerset Guardians. The ‘Welcome to Somerset’ sign on the southbound M5 near Webbington has finally been removed. The sign has been a source of annoyance since it was first erected in 1974 by the former Somerset County … Continue reading
New Flags for Banffshire and Morayshire
On Saturday 28th October 2023, the new flags for Banffshire and Morayshire were revealed and hoisted for the first time. The flags were decided by competitions organised by the Flag Institute and bring the number of Scottish counties with a flag included in the UK … Continue reading
Historic County Flags Day – 23rd July 2023
Historic County Flags Day is celebrated each year on 23rd July. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the creation of the flag of Devon in 2002, which started the momentum of the modern concept of a county flag. Twenty-one years later, 53 … Continue reading
Middlesex Day 16th May 2023
Middlesex Day is celebrated each year on 16th May. Middlesex Day, as with most county day celebrations, has been growing in popularity year on year. 2023 has been the biggest event yet with the Middlesex flag flying above 10 Downing Street and celebrations throughout the … Continue reading