Writing
The English Shires
Geoffrey Kingscott’s last finished book is called The English Shires. It examines how our county system came into being, why it has lasted 1,000 years and still has a lot of life left in it, and continues to give people a sense of local identity. But it is now threatened by bureaucrats and politicians who cannot stop constant tinkering with boundaries, by the proliferation of quangos and new administrative authorities, each with their own 'area' offices, and by the regionalisation promoted by the European Union.
The author is pictured on the boundary between Rutland and Northamptonshire. Rutland is England's smallest county, but its residents have put up a doughty fight in recent years to prevent it being legislated out of existence.