First Village of the North

Those wondering about the claim on the new plaque on the public toilets may like confirmation that Audlem is, geographically, the 'First Village of the North'.

The map is lifted from Wikipedia's article on 'The North of England' and shows the counties of Northern England as defined by HM Revenue and Customs. And while, in the opinion of many, HMRC may get much wrong, on this one we'll take their word as gospel!

The counties included in this definition are Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham in the North East; the four parts of Yorkshire – North, West, South Yorkshire and East Riding; the North West counties of Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and, in the far south, Cheshire.

Audlem is, of course, at the very southern tip of Cheshire on the border with Shropshire and the Midlands.

With various unitary authorities now spread across the region, including Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester, the local government map is far more complex today but one fact hasn't changed – Audlem is still the most southerly village of the North – as the HMRC map confirms.

Maybe 'First Village of the North' would make quite a slogan for the village. It's true, after all, in more ways than one!

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