tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post692559931369307820..comments2024-02-24T16:51:25.849+00:00Comments on Erin Mae: Four countiesMartinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08084401790316697529noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-73637950177786848372016-10-17T20:19:38.115+01:002016-10-17T20:19:38.115+01:00I'm up for that. Personally I always refer to ...I'm up for that. Personally I always refer to it as the three counties ring anyway!Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14502754753792780008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-57617422194722864912016-10-13T22:46:17.508+01:002016-10-13T22:46:17.508+01:00Yes, Bradshaw published both "guides". ...Yes, Bradshaw published both "guides". By the way, the word "gongoozler" is given its definition in the waterways Bradshaw.Halfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00167481543065324357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-54218294746830788022016-10-13T22:41:53.670+01:002016-10-13T22:41:53.670+01:00Ah, that's a new one for me. I associate Brads...Ah, that's a new one for me. I associate Bradshaw with Michael Portillo's Great Train Journeys.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084401790316697529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-23617235303612199382016-10-13T22:29:03.303+01:002016-10-13T22:29:03.303+01:00No, Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Waterways ...No, Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Waterways of Britain (if I have remembered the title correctly). Of 1904 (I think). Every waterway is listed with its owner, length, locks, junctions, maximum size of craft and counties passed through. The author was Henry Rodolph de Salis who undertook his own research navigating most of the network as it was then. An amazing feat.Halfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00167481543065324357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-47832963360272316482016-10-13T22:17:34.901+01:002016-10-13T22:17:34.901+01:00Halfie – is that the railway guide you're talk...Halfie – is that the railway guide you're talking about? Do they have rings as well?Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084401790316697529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-43786945706170151642016-10-13T22:14:30.723+01:002016-10-13T22:14:30.723+01:00Jim, that's magnificent! Your reply got me re-...Jim, that's magnificent! Your reply got me re-interrogating Wikipedia – I'd never realised how complicated it had all got. Maybe we should start a ginger group to lobby at IWA rallies or something for Three Counties. When I were a lad, everyone knew what a county was. Middlesex was mine and they played cricket. They still do, but it must be the only bit remaining of the Middle Saxons.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08084401790316697529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-76537938420447717552016-10-13T22:08:26.989+01:002016-10-13T22:08:26.989+01:00Ah! If only I had my copy of Bradshaw with me (it...Ah! If only I had my copy of Bradshaw with me (it's on the boat).Halfiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00167481543065324357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2576670202526573146.post-15354716158437270962016-10-13T22:04:31.007+01:002016-10-13T22:04:31.007+01:00The West Midlands County came into being in 1974 a...The West Midlands County came into being in 1974 and was abolished in 1986. The Ring was named during this period. Prior to 1974 the bit that became part of the West Midlands was in Staffordshire. The 1974 re-organisation was a mess but was only ever intended to re-organise the governance of the counties rather than the counties themselves, but it all got too complicated.<br />After further re-organisations in the 1990s when Stoke-on-Trent was removed from Staffordshire (in governance terms) the Ring should now really be called "The Three Counties, One Metropolitan Borough and One Unitary Authority Ring" (These being Cheshire, Staffordshire & Shropshire; Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent". As I say, it's a mess but in geographical terms it's the THREE counties ring and it would have been called that had it been named before 1974!Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14502754753792780008noreply@blogger.com