"Central - does not actually exist" Central by zizkov

The picture is of possibly the most remote, yet still inhabited, part of Central. Taken from the lower slopes of Ben Tuilacheann over Inverlochlarig (which was the site of Rob Roy's house) down the Braes of Balquhidder. The tiny red dot on an outcrop in the middle is my mate Frank.

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Meet the locals

More than you probably want or need to know about local govenment organisation in Scotland.

From a long way back, Scotland was divided into counties. These changed slightly over time (for example Linlithgowshire disappeared) but were fairly stable over a long time. They were the main administrative units, though co-existed with the burgh councils that covered urban areas (for example, Stirling or Falkirk). In 1974, however, the councils were reorganised to recognise contemporary needs (supposedly) into a two layer system of local government. The larger units (Regions) are what form the basis of VT classification. Whilst they broadly followed existing demarcations, there was a bit in the middle that no-one knew quite what what to do with. They also had no idea what to call it. So it became Central. It comprised most of Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire, a swathe of Perthshire, a bit of West Lothian (a bit of Linlithgowshire even) and a nibble of Dunbartonshire.

Winter

About twenty years later, minds were changed again, and a new, new, single tier of local govenment was established, with boundaries following generally the District (former second tier) boundaries - which in turn often are similar to the original county boundaries.

So, in Central for example: the Burgh of Stirling in Stirlingshire became part of Stirling District in Central Region and is now part of Stirling Council; the Burgh of Falkirk in Stirlingshire became the seat of Falkirk District in Central Region and is now seat of Falkirk Council. Clackmannanshire (the Wee County) came, went, almost got lumped in with Stirling or Fife and came back again.

The postal addresses never changed, so Falkirk is still in Stirlingshire, Bo'ness in West Lothian and Callander in Perthshire, and some remnants of the regions remain in eg the police and fire organisation.

Strangely, the regions are probably about the most convenient way to organise tips for VT.

• Pros:From beach to mountain with a lot of history between
• Cons:Grangemouth - we always thought they would drop The Bomb here. Also, it smells
• In a nutshell:An argument between three areas