Boundaries to Counties in the United Kingdom, like most other Countries, change for many reasons. Originally, county boundaries often followed the course of a river which seems a very sensible way of deciding a boundary to an area.  Changes to boundaries are usually caused by political aspirations of one party or another. British people have long memories and many refuse to recognise 'political' counties, such as metropolitan boundaries. Sometimes smaller counties such as Rutland, return due to public pressure and others like Shropshire, once renamed 'Salop' return to their former name.

The Fat Badgers, in most cases, use original English boundaries as defined by Ordnance Survey. Boundary maps were first printed in 1805 and many counties remain almost unchanged. There are many other 'areas' of the United Kingdom which are well known but are not official counties such as The Black Country, The Potteries, and The Cotswolds. More information on these areas and former Counties.

Due to the high number and history of Inns located around the London area, the Fat Badgers use a 'London' page which is based on the 'Greater London' Metropolitan County for ease of use and because of the area covered by Yorkshire, the more modern boundaries of North, South and West Yorkshire are used.

The Welsh boundaries are also ever changing, with the original boundaries shown here, but with a lower population and therefore less inns, the Fat Badgers use the larger counties shown on the clickable maps.