Background London is one of the world’s top tourist destinations, receiving about 30 million visitors each year, and is often the only part of Britain that overseas visitors see. Which is a pity, because in so many ways it is…
A bit about South West England
Last Updated on 28th February 2020Including Bristol and Bath, the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and the Isles of Scilly. I keep returning to the West Country. Somerset’s worth visiting for the place names alone – where…
A bit about South East England
Last Updated on 13th December 2016Including the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. The South East is the most heavily populated region in England. It has more businesses, including…
A bit about the East of England
Last Updated on 13th December 2016Including the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. A radio disc jockey once did a dedication for someone living in Bury Street, Edmunds. Without wishing to offend the delightful town of Bury…
A bit about the East Midlands
Last Updated on 13th December 2016Including the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. What can you say about the East Midlands, an area that spawned Tennyson, DH Lawrence, Margaret Thatcher and the legend of Robin Hood? Sherwood…
A bit about the West Midlands
Last Updated on 13th December 2016Including the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. Just to confuse the unwary, the English West Midlands is a region that also includes a county called the West Midlands. The West…
A bit about Wales
Last Updated on 26th May 2019There are 22 ‘counties’ or ‘principal areas’ in Wales. Most modern guides differentiate between ‘North’, ‘Mid’ and ‘South’ Wales – though some don’t offer any regional breakdown at all. For the time being, that’s the…
A bit about Yorkshire and the Humber
Last Updated on 29th September 2019Including the counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Yorkshire is often referred to as ‘God’s own county’. It is (by British standards) huge and the…
A bit about North East England
Last Updated on 26th May 2019Including the counties of Co Durham, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and the Tees Valley. To visit North East England is to enter the old kingdom of Northumbria, formed when Bernicia – which stretched way into…
A bit about North West England
Last Updated on 29th September 2019Including the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. North West England extends from the attractive market towns of Cheshire, through the vast urban areas around Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackburn/Burnley, to the…
A bit about Scotland
Last Updated on 26th May 2019Scotland is a nation within a state, one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. It retains its own unique identity, has its own parliament and its own laws. So it’s not…