Shropshire is famously the birthplace of the modern industrial revolution (Ironbridge Gorge), but the iron has rusted, and the forest has reclaimed the land. Today, it is a quiet, rolling landscape of hop fields and medieval market towns like Ludlow, which is arguably the food capital of the Shires. You can’t write this post without a nod to the animal. The Shire Horse is the giant, feathered-foot gentle giant of the equine world. These horses were the tanks of the medieval battlefield and the tractors of the farms. They are massive (taller than most cars), docile, and a living link to the agricultural history of these regions. If you see a Shire Horse pulling a dray cart at a county fair, you are looking at the living engine of old England. Why visit the Shires? Because they are the antidote to speed.
In the Shires, you don’t measure time in minutes, but in pubs per mile. The light is softer. The beer is cask-conditioned (warm, flat, and perfect). The church bells ring on Sunday, and the most dangerous wildlife is an angry badger or a loose sheep. shires in uk
Have you got a favorite Shire? Let me know in the comments below—I’ll fight anyone who says the Cotswolds are overrated. Shropshire is famously the birthplace of the modern
So, next time you cross the pond, skip the souvenir shop. Go find a muddy footpath, order a pint of bitter, and lose yourself in the Shires. The Shire Horse is the giant, feathered-foot gentle
In the , the dry-stone walls flow over the hills like stitches on a quilt. Here, the air smells of wet wool and wild garlic. Stop in a village like Grassington or Hawes, buy a slice of Wensleydale cheese (yes, the one Wallace loves), and listen to the accent. In Yorkshire, they don’t just speak English; they improve it. The Gentle Heart: The Cotswolds If Yorkshire is the rugged, no-nonsense northerner, the Cotswolds are the polished, honey-hued aristocrat. Stretching across five counties (Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, etc.), this is the postcard Shire.
You’ve heard the phrase thrown around in movies and books— “the Shires” —often to describe a quaint, Tolkien-esque idyll. But what actually are they? And why should you trade your Tube map for an Ordnance Survey map to find them?
Let’s saddle up and take a trot through the green lanes of the UK’s most beloved Shires. Historically, a ‘Shire’ is a division of land dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period. It was an area ruled by a ‘Shire Reeve’ (which, over time, became the word Sheriff ). Essentially, Shires are just ancient counties that end with the suffix “-shire,” like Yorkshire, Cheshire, or Devon (which, fun fact, is a former Shire but dropped the suffix).