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.
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? shires in uk
The villages have names like Castle Combe, Bibury, and Burford . The buildings are made of Cotswold stone that glows like amber when the sun sets. This is where you go to walk the Thames Path , drink tea in a garden that looks like a watercolor painting, and pretend you are solving a murder mystery with a retired vicar. Often overlooked by tourists rushing from London to Edinburgh, Shropshire is the Shire for the introverts. It’s the land of A. E. Housman ’s poetry—blue remembered hills and lazy rivers. In the Shires, you don’t measure time in
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 church bells ring on Sunday, and the