It was ceremonial counties, which isn't straight forward.
Merseyside is a former metropolitan county until 1986 but counts as a ceremonial county. Middlesborough reverts back to N. Yorks though with Cleveland or Teesside not counting. So unless you studied it you wouldn't know ceremonial counties, as on the same basis Merseyside would be in part Lancashire and Cheshire. Same with Humberside which was completely scrapped but the region is still called Yorkshire and Humber (dropped the side).
With unitary authorities and the County Council system almost scrapped I wouldn't expect a youngster to have a clue. Cumbria goes in April 2023 as a county council and using pre-1974 names.