Avon

A relatively new county. Formed in 1974 following the then government's re-drawing of boundaries. Formed from parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset it contains the famous city port of Bristol and also the Roman spa city of Bath.

Avon covers an area of just over 500 square miles and is therefore one of the smallest of British counties.

The cities of Bristol and Bath, along with the town of Weston-super-Mare, provide the county's administration centres.

The main feature of Avon is the river of the same name, known as the Bristol Avon in due deferrence to the other rivers with that same name in England.

Products from the county include aircraft and other engineering products, tobacco, chemicals, printing and dairy products.

One famous, adopted, son of Avon was the Navigator John Cabot who, along with his son Sebastian, discovered the islands of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and opened up new trade routes for England in the 15th and 16th Centuries.