It sounds daft, but travelling to the middle of Siberia made me realise that I don’t properly know my own country.
It should not have taken numerous 30-hour train journeys through Russia’s gigantic icy plains to reach this realisation; but it was actually getting to a wild, far-away fascination of mine that the thought of “hang on, I don’t know my home” hit me like the gigantic Russian locomotive I was travelling on.
I have always been interested in remote, little-known, exotic places and, of course, I still am. However, exploring and learning about your homeland does feel slightly richer and more meaningful due to the fact you, and your wider family, are personally connected to these places.
In England’s case, those 30-hour train journeys through Russia also showed just how tiny this country is – and how easy it can be explored. I travelled the equivalent length of my home country numerous times to visit obscure parts of the world, and this made me uneasy with the fact I hadn’t cared to visit more of England and rest of the British Isles.
So with everything in mind, I hereby challenge myself to visit and sample the key elements of all 39 Historic Counties of England*. I originally planned to do all 39 within one year, but due to the current restrictions I simply will visit them all as soon as I can.
A full map of the original, historic counties can be found here.
The Historic Counties and their character
I feel that recognising the Shires of England is important as they make up the historical culture and general fabric of the overall nation. England, although small in size, really has some huge differences when you travel about.
Geordies, Scousers, Brummies, West Country folk; they all sound totally different in their accents, the words and phrases they use and arguably their general personalities. They’re all English, but they have been shaped by their region – the Shire Checklist aims to get to know the wildly diverse counties of England.
When visiting each county, I will complete a checklist to experience the key trademarks of the region. Although by no means comprehensive, this should provide a good taster of each Shire’s character – however all suggestions for more points on the checklist are more than welcome!
The 8-point checklist is below:
- A photo of the flag
- Try 3 local beers
- Try the local dish
- Go inside the main cathedral
- Climb to the highest point (or highest hill/mountain if the actual high point is easily accessible by car!)
- Visit the oldest pub
- Engage with local traditions/culture
- Visit a famous landmark
Right, with all that said I better get a move on – time to finally get to know of the patch of land I call home.
*There are currently 48 official administrative counties. However, these were only created in the 1970s and do not have their own distinct cultural heritage or geographical trademarks. The 39 Historical Counties were relatively intact for around 1000 years and thus provide a true account of England’s regional identities. You can find more information on this here: https://abcounties.com/about/