How Many Counties In The Uk End In Shire |verified| Review

Arthur sat bolt upright. "Scotland! I was only counting England!"

Arthur leaned back, staring at the ceiling beams as if reading a map etched into the wood. He took a slow sip of his bitter.

Inside, two men sat hunched over a table that was usually reserved for dart matches. Arthur, a retired geography teacher with a tweed jacket that seemed older than the hills themselves, was cleaning his spectacles. Opposite him sat Ben, a young, sharp-witted trivia buff who had just bet Arthur the price of a steak and ale pie that he could stump the old man.

Arthur began to rhyme them off again, grouping them this time. "The Home Counties: Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire. That is five." "The Midlands: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire. That is nine." "The North: Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire. Three." "The East: Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire... No! Huntingdonshire is gone. Lincolnshire, Norfolk (no), Suffolk (no). So, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire. Three." "The West: Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset (no), Devon (no), Cornwall (no). Two."

"To Geography," Arthur replied. "The only subject where the answer changes depending on what year the map was printed."

"Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall—no, no shire—Cumbria—no—Derbyshire, Devon—no—Dorset—no—Gloucestershire..."

Arthur looked defeated. "So the answer is for England."