UK Regions - changes to South West England - Poll

[Graculus]

There has been some discussion in the Facebook UK & Ireland GC Reviewers & Community Tea Bar and forums about the South West region of the UK and which counties it should include. At the moment the majority of caches submitted in Somerset (and Bristol/Bath) are listed by their owners as South West. Some caches from Wiltshire are also listed in the South West and some caches from Dorset are listed as South West. This causes a problem for us reviewers as we have to then either change the region ourselves or get the cache owners to do so. It also makes it difficult for the community where for example you think Somerset should be South West but isn't always included in searchs for that region. The current region for Southern England covers a lot of counties including Somerset (and Bristol/Bath which are the Unitary Authority of North East Somerset), Wiltshire and Dorset as well as Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Perhaps a West of England region would be an idea but we won't be able to get a new region created.

What effect will moving a county to another region have? None really because the current UK Regions map is a guide only and the actual region (South West/Southern England) won't change it's name, it will just have more (or less) counties in it.

The poll is to get your feelings about where the counties should be. You can only vote for one suggestion. Please note the results of this poll are not binding and it is just to find out what the community feels about this. However if there is a majority voting for a change then this can be impleted quite easily.

Before voting please take a look at the current UK Regions map for the South of England (http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/images/southerncounties.jpg). Remember, we can't add a new region it is the boundary of the South West region that is under discussion.

Thank you

Chris
Graculus
Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk (http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk)
Geocaching.com Knowledge Books (http://support.groundspeak.com//index.php)

[keehotee]

Definitely Somerset.
No to Bristol.

[DrDick&Vick]

So many of the 'official' departments have Somerset and Wiltshire & BRISTOl as being in the Sth West so I cant see why we shouldn't

[DrDick&Vick]

So many of the 'official' departments have Somerset and Wiltshire & BRISTOl as being in the Sth West so I cant see why we shouldn't
Met Office map, the black line marks the boundary as they seee it
https://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk85/richardmullans/Geocaching/sw_d1_lg.gif

[keehotee]

So many of the 'official' departments have Somerset and Wiltshire & BRISTOl as being in the Sth West so I cant see why we shouldn't
Met Office map, the black line marks the boundary as they seee it
https://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk85/richardmullans/Geocaching/sw_d1_lg.gif

But the Met Office only has South West and South East - hence the New Forest being classed as South East rather than South.

If we split England into four lumps then yes, Bristol's south west. But there are far more boundaries than the Met Office uses. Bristol's West, not South West......

[Bill D (wwh)]

I'd be happy to see all the above-mentioned areas listed as South West. But of course this is one of those issues where you can't please everyone whatever you do, and I think that perhaps the option which is likely to be acceptable to the greatest number is moving Somerset to the SW and leaving the rest where they are, so that's how I've voted.

[Bear and Ragged]

Haven't voted.
Doesn't seem to be an option to fit my thoughts!

South West.

Somerset. Yes.
Dorset. Probably.
Why? They're on the 'sticky out' bit of the map.

Wiltshire. No.

Bristol? Probably more 'Yes' than 'No'.

[Matthew 7:7 Too]

Not that I cache down there as much as I'd like to, but I'd include Somerset (& Bath & Bristol) in the southwest.

After a family debate, we're not sure whether to include Dorset or not, but would leave Wiltshire where it is.

Chris & Sylvie (Matthew 7:7 Too)

PS: Up our way, I find caches in North Staffordshire being put in NorthWest England by some cache owners instead of the West Midlands!

[Gushoneybun]

PS: Up our way, I find caches in North Staffordshire being put in NorthWest England by some cache owners instead of the West Midlands!
We have Staffordshire caches (in the West Midlands) listed as North West and the East Midlands plus the West Midlands.

Back on topic:
I have not voted, as I am not down there but the South West is where I would logically think of it being, Somerset that is, along with Bristol and Bath But not Wiltshire. To me SW should be Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Bristol.

Edit to add in other counties.

[Mad H@ter]

Haven't voted.
Doesn't seem to be an option to fit my thoughts!

South West.

Somerset. Yes.
Dorset. Probably.
Why? They're on the 'sticky out' bit of the map.

Wiltshire. No.

Bristol? Probably more 'Yes' than 'No'.
Agree. I've voted for the middle option but would have included Dorset had there been an option.

[Stuey]

Somerset: Yes
Dorset: Yes
Wiltshire: No!
Bristol: Possibly.

[agentmancuso]

Somerset: Yes
Dorset: Yes
Wiltshire: No!
Bristol: Possibly.

That's what I would say too, but then I've never been to Bristol.:popcorn:

[Palujia]

Put my vote in for the middle option. But looking at the current poll results it would appear almost a dead heat for all the options !

[Guanajuato]

Somerset: Yes
Dorset: Yes
Wiltshire: No!
Bristol: Possibly.

I voted for the middle one (I think :confused:), but the above would make more sense to me but isn't an option. I'd definitely say Bristol is South West. But its all relative. To some people, Manchester isn't in the Midlands. :ph34r:

[g0akh]

I don't think the Somerset issue should be looked at in isolation - the whole country should be reviewed. Regions should then be based on some already recognised 'official' definition. Alternatively, scrap the idea of regions altogether and base it just on Counties/Unitary authorities *reaches for can opener and large can of worms*

One further thought - why does the CO need to specify it anyway? Could it not be made automatic?

[keehotee]

I voted for the middle one (I think :confused:), but the above would make more sense to me but isn't an option. I'd definitely say Bristol is South West. But its all relative. To some people, Manchester isn't in the Midlands. :ph34r:

Lots of people seem to have voted Bristol into the South West - but how many of them actually live in or near Bristol or the South West?

I'm from the South West, but now live just outside Bristol - and they are poles apart.
Geographically you might just squeeze that part of modern Bristol south of the Avon into the South West via North Somerset. But historically, politically and socially Bristol is not part of "the south west". It's WEST - along with South Glos, and Gloucestershire (of which it used to be a part).

Unfortunately the situation as it stands is muddied by having to choose from South West, South, and West Midlands - none of which really apply - hence the use of south west by most people in Bristol as the "least wrong" option!

Rather than move these areas into another wrong category, can't we have the West Country for Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, BANES and South Glos - where they belong?

[agentmancuso]

One further thought - why does the CO need to specify it anyway? Could it not be made automatic?

Yes, that would make a great deal of sense.

[sandvika]

We have the same issue in Berkshire with some convinced its in the SE, when officially S in GS. I made the mistake of putting a cache 'over the border' in Surrey in S, not SE.... But AFAIK Graculus & The Long Man don't appear to quarrel over it.... unless it's going to be pistols at dawn? :lol:

[Hampk]

I've voted for the third option, as I think Dorset is definitely part of the South West - I was born in Devon and brought up in Dorset, and consider myself from the West Country :) Not sure about Wiltshire - they talk different there..! That having been said, I live in Stoke-on-Trent now, so maybe best not mention accents :ph34r:

[Dan1980]

There isn't an option that exactly matches what I think constitutes the South West, so I selected the closest one (option 3).

I would say that as a minimum Dorset and Somerset should be added to Devon and Cornwall as part of the South West region.

As for Wiltshire, Bath and Bristol... that's a bit trickier. I would probably go for leaving those in the region that they are already in (that seems to be the consensus with Bristol cachers). If you move them then you're going to end up with a very small Southern England region....

[Dan1980]

Rather than move these areas into another wrong category, can't we have the West Country for Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, BANES and South Glos - where they belong?

That would work, the only drawback being that the Southern England region wouldn't be very big after the change. The Yorkshire region was recently renamed, so I'm guessing that there's no reason why South West England can't be renamed West Country...

[Graculus]

That would work, the only drawback being that the Southern England region wouldn't be very big after the change. The Yorkshire region was recently renamed, so I'm guessing that there's no reason why South West England can't be renamed West Country...
We won't get a 'new' region called West Country. Renaming SW to W? Not sure the Cornish would consider themselves as being in the West Country. It's difficult isn't it?

Chris
Graculus
Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk (http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk)
Geocaching.com Knowledge Books (http://support.groundspeak.com//index.php)

[keehotee]

We won't get a 'new' region called West Country. Renaming SW to W? Not sure the Cornish would consider themselves as being in the West Country. It's difficult isn't it?


But Cornwall's just as much in the south of the West Country as Bristol is in the north of the South West..... :wacko:

I don't envy you, whichever way you go :)

[Mrs Blorenge]

We won't get a 'new' region called West Country. Renaming SW to W? Not sure the Cornish would consider themselves as being in the West Country. It's difficult isn't it?

Chris
Graculus
Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com
UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk (http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk)
Geocaching.com Knowledge Books (http://support.groundspeak.com//index.php)

Being Cornish, I could live with it. :p Cornwall's more West-ish than South-ish to me.

(Just don't tell the Welsh they're then going to be designated "North of West England")

[Stuey]

To be honest, after several years of having the regions in place, I don't think the definition of these areas makes any difference. I'm not aware of anyone who uses regions. I'm sure there might be a tiny minority who find them useful, but I wouldn't be bothered if they vanished again. An automatically assigned "county" would be the ultimate, but where people are allowed to designate a cache in any region they wish (one in the south-west was mistakenly classified in the east last week), I can't see the regions can be relied on, and are therefore of limited value.

[Guanajuato]

Lots of people seem to have voted Bristol into the South West - but how many of them actually live in or near Bristol or the South West?

I'm from the South West, but now live just outside Bristol - and they are poles apart.

Kind of what I was getting at really. Your viewpoint depends on your position. To me, I think of the southwest as the sticky-out bit below the Severn Estuary, so Bristol would be in that.
My comment about Manchester was tongue in cheek (not that you could tell:rolleyes:). To me, 'The North' starts at a line drawn from the Humber to the Dee, running south of Sheffield/Manchester. But to others, 'the North' starts at the river thames. Even when I lived in Sheffield, Chesterfield (and even Dronfield) were considered the Midlands. Anywhere south of Leicester/Northampton would be 'The South'. But to people in Thurso, Aberdeen is 'The South':wacko:

We should have gone with the BBC regions when it was all set up. You know, 'London' and 'Unimportant' :D :ph34r:

If people in Somerset are setting the region as SW, then that probably means it should be in the SW region.

Oxfordshire is a wierd one - South Geographically, but SE demographically, if that makes sense. So that would explain some of the inconsistency of region selection there.

As long as the region is selected consistently (a vote for automated I guess!) then it doesn't really matter. Could we just change all the regions to some names picked at random out of a name book. :lol:

But, in the great scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.

[hobo and miss]

The only time the region seems to matter at all is when doing earthcaches as our regions count as different "States" for people trying to find earthcaches in a number of different "States".

Incidentally - we voted for option 3.

[Dan1980]

We should have gone with the BBC regions when it was all set up. You know, 'London' and 'Unimportant' :D :ph34r:
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[DrDick&Vick]

or even Inside the M25 and Outside the M25