Regions of England Question

[SouthBedfordshireFan]

In terms of regions of England I think Bedfordshire often gets counted as East of England. But being from South Bedfordshire it feels like it is not at least to me. I am aware in sporting contexts Bedfordshire is counted as apart of the East Midlands RFU while Bedfordshire clubs were members of the East Midlands FA for a few years before that organisation disbanded. In a similar sense the rugby clubs of the Milton Keynes region are dual registered to both the East Mids RFU and Bucks RFU and the association football clubs I believe were a part of the aforementioned East Mids FA or at least were in the discussions regarding creating it especially considering there is a Berks and Bucks FA already in existence when those discussions were taking place. This suggests to me that Bucks is also potentially a split county too.    

I remember a discussion on this forum regarding East Anglia's extent with both Norfolk and Suffolk being in East Anglia but with Cambridgeshire and Essex under question by at least one user. I know Cambridgeshire as a ceremonial county counts Huntingdonshire within its boundaries. Huntingdonshire does seem to be counted as East Mids in those sporting contexts. 

In that regard I assume (forgive me) you all have travelled a bit more than I have and have experienced and interacted with people from the various different regions is this something you have noticed too? Or am I overthinking this too much and reading into things that are not really there?

Thank you.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

In my northern mind, Bedfordshire would always be considered a Southern county. I always think of it as part of the London commuter built, especially the southern part of the county having Luton in it. I know Luton isn't attached to London but again, in my northern mind it basically is, similar to Watford (Hartfordshire?). 

[Bedford Roughyed]

For BBC local news we have  BBC Look East (West)... just to confuse!

[Bedford Roughyed]

8 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

In my northern mind, Bedfordshire would always be considered a Southern county. I always think of it as part of the London commuter built, especially the southern part of the county having Luton in it. I know Luton isn't attached to London but again, in my northern mind it basically is, similar to Watford (Hartfordshire?). 

Bedfordshire is very Southern and definitely a strong  commuter area (6 trains per hour, 40 min fastest to London).

[The Hallucinating Goose]

16 minutes ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

For BBC local news we have  BBC Look East (West)... just to confuse!

The problem with our BBC local news here in Hull is the vast area in covers. It covers the whole of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, so basically Bridlington right down to The Wash. I don't think people in Brid care whats going on in Boston.

[Gerrumonside ref]

When I lived in Sheffield the locals used to moan about Leeds dominating the news coverage to the point of calling it ‘Look Leeds’ instead of Look North.

[Damien]

21 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

When I lived in Sheffield the locals used to moan about Leeds dominating the news coverage to the point of calling it ‘Look Leeds’ instead of Look North.

Theres probably a lot of truth in that.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Talking of strange news regions, I don't know if its just something I'm doing wrong or what but when I watch itv local news in standard def, I get the correct local news (which is the same area as the BBC one) but if I watch it in HD, I get the West side of the M62. Don't know what thats about...

[Ullman]

On 27/06/2026 at 06:06, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Talking of strange news regions, I don't know if its just something I'm doing wrong or what but when I watch itv local news in standard def, I get the correct local news (which is the same area as the BBC one) but if I watch it in HD, I get the West side of the M62. Don't know what thats about...

I'm watching ITV Calendar in HD and the Humber Bridge is behind the bloke in the studio and they've just had a story about disruption to the water supply in Driffield and Nafferton so I guess it's the "right" version for this area.

The weather map just clinched it.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

18 minutes ago, Ullman said:

I'm watching ITV Calendar in HD and the Humber Bridge is behind the bloke in the studio and they've just had a story about disruption to the water supply in Driffield and Nafferton so I guess it's the "right" version for this area.

The weather map just clinched it.

It must be something to do with my steam-powered, wind-up tele. The crank handle is a bit rusty to be fair.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

On 26/06/2026 at 23:06, Gerrumonside ref said:

When I lived in Sheffield the locals used to moan about Leeds dominating the news coverage to the point of calling it ‘Look Leeds’ instead of Look North.

When I was the director of a small charity in Durham, one coffee break I recall my two admin officers telling me that, at the weekend, they were off to see a band of which they were big fans play at Sheffield Arena.  I asked if that was the only place that the band was playing in the north.  They said I had misunderstood them.  The band wasn't playing in the north; that was why they had to go to Sheffield to see them!

Clearly, relative geography is like beauty; it's in the eye of the beholder!

[SouthBedfordshireFan]

2 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

When I was the director of a small charity in Durham, one coffee break I recall my two admin officers telling me that, at the weekend, they were off to see a band of which they were big fans play at Sheffield Arena.  I asked if that was the only place that the band was playing in the north.  They said I had misunderstood them.  The band wasn't playing in the north; that was why they had to go to Sheffield to see them!

Clearly, relative geography is like beauty; it's in the eye of the beholder!

I have definitely come across people from Northumberland and Durham treat the M62 belt as 'not North'.

 

[N2022]

On 01/07/2026 at 10:38, SouthBedfordshireFan said:

I have definitely come across people from Northumberland and Durham treat the M62 belt as 'not North'.

 

When we moved up to Yorkshire it was funny to see signs say things like Barnsley, The North, as though one wasn't part of the other.

[N2022]

On 25/06/2026 at 16:20, Bedford Roughyed said:

Bedfordshire is very Southern and definitely a strong  commuter area (6 trains per hour, 40 min fastest to London).

On trains, didn't there use to be WAGN, standing for West Anglian ...? A useful description for Bedfordshire and parts of Cambridgeshire?

I struggle with Herts being East of England. Places like Stevenage obviously fit that description, but Berkhamsted and Hemel are an easy drive to villages in Bucks and once you get down round to Watford, and I think even Rickmansworth is Herts, you're inside the m25 and only a few minutes from NW London proper.

[Stirlin]

On 27/06/2026 at 06:06, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Talking of strange news regions, I don't know if its just something I'm doing wrong or what but when I watch itv local news in standard def, I get the correct local news (which is the same area as the BBC one) but if I watch it in HD, I get the West side of the M62. Don't know what thats about...

York , my aerial points to Bilsdale transmitter in North Yorkshire which covers Newcastle area too and I get Geordy local news on BBC HD , ITV HD I get Granada local news but Calendar local news in standard def.

Most of York aerials point to Emley moor , but as we are in a vale well below sea level there is some interference which is why I chose Bilsdale where it is picture perfect all the time......except when it caught fire a few years ago , had to go into therapy till they built a new one.

[SouthBedfordshireFan]

I attempted this map based on this question I have asked in a few forums. 

It is very basic but it gets a gist of the regions.

[Old Frightful]

I have told this story before but anyway...

Some years back, I spent a couple of nights in  Faversham with my then gf. We were in a pub and the landlord came over to us asking if we liked the piped music being played. Turns out it was his son in law's band and they were doing a gig in the pub in a few weeks' time. I explained that we weren't local and wouldn't be able to attend. He asked where we were from and I replied "Hull, East Yorkshire".

He replied "Oh, I have friends in Washington".

I genuinely thought that, for some bizarre reason, he was just creating conversation by saying he knew people in the United States.

Seeing my puzzled face, he added "Tyne and Wear", as though this was some kind of justification.

I pointed out that Hull to Washington was almost two thirds the distance that Hull to Faversham was.

He went off to collect some more glasses.

[wilsontown]

On 04/07/2026 at 21:52, N2022 said:

On trains, didn't there use to be WAGN, standing for West Anglian ...? A useful description for Bedfordshire and parts of Cambridgeshire?

I struggle with Herts being East of England. Places like Stevenage obviously fit that description, but Berkhamsted and Hemel are an easy drive to villages in Bucks and once you get down round to Watford, and I think even Rickmansworth is Herts, you're inside the m25 and only a few minutes from NW London proper.

WAGN probably doesn't help much as it stood for West Anglia - Great Northern...

[M j M]

Is there any point to all these little counties south of the Midlands? Can anyone name them all and, more importantly, does anyone care?

I know where Cornwall is. And Devon is the place just along named after the guy from Knight Rider.  And East Angular is over to the side and Kent in the corner. But the rest is just a big mush with no great identifying characteristics other than being London or not London. Is there any real reason not to just re-merge them all into one big blob called Wessex?

[CanaBull]

32 minutes ago, M j M said:

Is there any point to all these little counties south of the Midlands? Can anyone name them all and, more importantly, does anyone care?

I know where Cornwall is. And Devon is the place just along named after the guy from Knight Rider.  And East Angular is over to the side and Kent in the corner. But the rest is just a big mush with no great identifying characteristics other than being London or not London. Is there any real reason not to just re-merge them all into one big blob called Wessex?

I mean, at least some of the south west have their own accents, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset and all that.  Can’t think of any time people have talked about the Buckinghamshire or Middlesex accents, do they even have them?

Edited July 25 by CanaBull

[Padge]

On this regional dialect map one English town and one English city get singled out as having their own accents.

Wigan and Hull.

Both rugby league hotbeds, coincidence.

https://starkeycomics.com/2023/11/07/map-of-british-english-dialects/

 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

On 25/07/2026 at 19:03, M j M said:

Is there any point to all these little counties south of the Midlands? Can anyone name them all and, more importantly, does anyone care?

I know where Cornwall is. And Devon is the place just along named after the guy from Knight Rider.  And East Angular is over to the side and Kent in the corner. But the rest is just a big mush with no great identifying characteristics other than being London or not London. Is there any real reason not to just re-merge them all into one big blob called Wessex?

You are the reincarnation of Alfred the Great and I claim my 5 danegeld pounds!

[M j M]

10 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

You are the reincarnation of Alfred the Great and I claim my 5 danegeld pounds!

I'm happy with that. 

Let's take Wiltshire though. I bet there's not a single person on here, maybe or maybe not excluding those who live there, who could find it on a map. Is it near East Angular? Is it down by Devon? Is it in the bit in between? Nobody knows. Pointless. 

[Shadow]

On 25/07/2026 at 19:03, M j M said:

Is there any point to all these little counties south of the Midlands? Can anyone name them all and, more importantly, does anyone care?

I know where Cornwall is. And Devon is the place just along named after the guy from Knight Rider.  And East Angular is over to the side and Kent in the corner. But the rest is just a big mush with no great identifying characteristics other than being London or not London. Is there any real reason not to just re-merge them all into one big blob called Wessex?

Bring back the Kingdom of Wessex

[Shadow]

10 hours ago, M j M said:

I'm happy with that. 

Let's take Wiltshire though. I bet there's not a single person on here, maybe or maybe not excluding those who live there, who could find it on a map. Is it near East Angular? Is it down by Devon? Is it in the bit in between? Nobody knows. Pointless. 

You are getting dangerously close to receiving a turnip in the nethers.
Wiltshire is the jewel in the crown of the bit that's not quite properly south west or properly south.
We have bits of the New Forest that are currently on fire, we've got Salisbury Plain, crawling with squaddies, both ours and other peoples, and we've got Stonehenge. Possibly the most underwhelming world heritage site after Liverpool docks.