About the ABC

The historic Counties of Great Britain are fundamental to our culture. Older than cathedrals, more historic than stately homes, Counties like Lincolnshire, Cornwall, Middlesex, Anglesey and Fife are basic to our life. Their names belong to the ground we tread. They are an indelible part of our history. They are important cultural entities. They are sources of identity and affection to many people. Organisations galore - sports clubs, businesses, societies, regiments, farmers' unions - are based upon them. Above all else, the Counties are places - places where people live, places they are proud to "come from". And they give us something else. Like every country Great Britain needs a stable geography- a set of commonly accepted names and areas for communication between people in all walks of life: business, education, the media etc. For centuries, the traditional Counties have fulfilled this role.

Now its all at risk. From 1888 to 1965 local government "administrative counties" were closely based upon the traditional Counties. The last 50 years have seen numerous local government reforms: a modern local government map now bears little resemblence to the traditional Counties. However, the Government has always maintained that local government changes do not actually directly affect the Counties themselves. Despite such re-assurances, the tendency for the media, map-makers, publishers etc. to use local government areas as a basis for popular geography has obscured the identities of the Counties. In fact, local government names and areas change so frequently that they are totally unsuitable for such a geographical purpose. Surely we cannot be expected to re-learn our whole notion of "where places are" every 20 years or so ? Neither should we be robbed of our cultural inheritance. There really is no need for it. The 6 Counties of Northern Ireland - Antrim, Armagh, Down and the rest - have no role in local government but are used by everyone as the basis of its geography. ABC advocates the same practice for Great Britain.

ABC encourages the use of the historic Counties in postal addressing, in guide books, on boundary signs and maps and encourages their further use as a basis for sporting, social and cultural activities and organisations. ABC is voluntary, non-party political and non-sectarian.