Trivia: Settlements in eastern counties closer to the west coast (and vice versa)

[PTR 444]

It’s not obvious to non-locals or people who don’t spend all day looking at maps, but one quirk about Yorkshire is that its boundary extends quite far west. So far in fact that its westernmost point is only ten miles from the Lancashire coast. Compare that with the journey from this point to the Yorkshire coast which is a whopping 80 miles!

That means if you live in Low Bentham, Yorkshire, you have to cross a county boundary to visit your nearest beach on the west coast, whereas if you go to the east coast you will somehow manage to stay within your home county despite travelling eight times that distance.

How many other settlements are there in the UK where this situation occurs?

PS: For the purposes of this thread, an eastern county is any one in the South East, Greater London, East of England, East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber or North East regions. A western county is any one in the South West, West Midlands or North West regions

 

[johnnychips]

Deleted: misread the criteria!

 

[Ediswan]

Some places in the SW corner of Northumberland (E coast) appear to be closer to the Solway Firth (W coast) than the North Sea.

 

[NorthOxonian]

A lot depends on your definitions of distance and where the east/west coasts are - but I would imagine much of Oxfordshire and Berkshire count.

For example, from Oxford as the crow flies, it's 79 miles to Weston-super Mare or 86 miles to Southend, both of which would probably count as coastal (even if they're arguably on estuaries rather than the coast). By road, Southend is very slightly nearer than Weston but this is not the case if you're starting in Abingdon, Witney, or Newbury, so those would all definitely be "eastern" towns closer to a western coast.

 

[CarltonA]

Hunstanton, Norfolk.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Hunstanton, Norfolk.

Hunstanton may be West facing on that part of the Norfolk coast, but the Wash is essentially an inlet of the North Sea, and it is hardly located on the West Coast of England.

 

[30907]

It’s not obvious to non-locals or people who don’t spend all day looking at maps, but one quirk about Yorkshire is that its boundary extends quite far west. So far in fact that its westernmost point is only ten miles from the Lancashire coast. Compare that with the journey from this point to the Yorkshire coast which is a whopping 80 miles!

That means if you live in Low Bentham, Yorkshire, you have to cross a county boundary to visit your nearest beach on the west coast, whereas if you go to the east coast you will somehow manage to stay within your home county despite travelling eight times that distance.

How many other settlements are there in the UK where this situation occurs?

The historic West Riding extended as far as Great Mitton near Clitheroe, though this is not quite as near the West coast as the Benthams. It is however nearer the administrative centre of Lancashire at Preston and the (C of E) Cathedral of Blackburn than the Yorkshire equivalents (indeed Mitton is now in both Lancashire and Blackburn).

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If Yorkshire is arbitrarily deemed to be an Eastern county, then any number of major Yorkshire settlements will be nearer the West coast of England, rather than the East coast.

For example...

Skipton (North Yorkshire),

Bradford (West Yorkshire),

Halifax (West Yorkshire),

Huddersfield (West Yorkshire),

and probably also...

Sheffield (South Yorkshire).

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

By definitions listed, half of Derbyshire would count.
While it's said Eastern and Western counties are based upon the old EU Regions, are the coastal areas of them regions also how the East and West Coasts in this thread are decided?
(example, is Bournemouth on the West Coast, and Southampton on the East?)

 

[PTR 444]

(example, is Bournemouth on the West Coast, and Southampton on the East?)

For the arbitrary purposes of this thread, yes.

Also, the entirety of Wales are western counties on the west coast, while in Scotland the east-west split is as follows:

Western counties

• Dumfries & Galloway
• Ayrshire
• Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• Inverclyde
• Glasgow City
• Dunbartonshire
• Argyll & Bute
• Highland
• Western Isles

Eastern counties

• Scottish Borders
• West, Mid & East Lothian
• City of Edinburgh
• Falkirk
• Stirling
• Clackmannanshire
• Fife
• Perth & Kinross
• Angus
• Aberdeenshire
• Moray
• Orkney & Shetland Isles

 

[gnolife]

For the arbitrary purposes of this thread, yes.

Also, the entirety of Wales are western counties on the west coast, while in Scotland the east-west split is as follows:

Western counties

• Dumfries & Galloway
• Ayrshire
• Lanarkshire
• Renfrewshire
• Inverclyde
• Glasgow City
• Dunbartonshire
• Argyll & Bute
• Highland
• Western Isles

Eastern counties

• Scottish Borders
• West, Mid & East Lothian
• City of Edinburgh
• Falkirk
• Stirling
• Clackmannanshire
• Fife
• Perth & Kinross
• Angus
• Aberdeenshire
• Moray
• Orkney & Shetland Isles

Is that defining, say, Brora and Cromarty (among others) as settlements on the West Coast?

 

[PTR 444]

Is that defining, say, Brora and Cromarty (among others) as settlements on the West Coast?

It’s difficult as the idea of these arbitrary rules is that a county must either be east or west. As Highland is technically on both coasts, the only other way to do it would be to divide the county in half, but it’s tricky to draw the line fairly when the west Highland coast has so many little inlets (see coastal paradox).