26 MARCH 1994, Page 25

Existential point

Sir: Concerning English counties, J. Enoch Powell writes: 'Staffordshire is not a place of its own. It is an oblong slab of country situat- ed in the West Midlands, in between Lan- cashire, Shropshire, Worcestershire — all of which are places — and Birmingham.' (Where they swap old Enoch stories', 5 February). Where does this leave Cheshire? We know that, in cricketing terms, we are a minor county, but we did think that we existed somewhere between Staffordshire and Lancashire. It was the Cheshire cat that disappeared, not Cheshire itself.

G. E. Hester

St Ambrose College, Hale Barns, Altrincham, Cheshire