9 .
Many countries ~ possibly including your own country of origin ~ have fairly long and robust traditions of telling silly jokes about the people of a neighbouring land ... who are held to be examples of extreme stupidity. In the case of mainland Britain, the traditional butt of such jokes were the Irish; the French traditionally said similar things about the Belgians, the Chinese about the Japanese (we believe), etc.
For the sake of the story that follows, let's just agree that it was 'Country X'!
'The National Railway Authority of Country X followed-up some research which strongly suggested that in the event of any railway accident, passengers were more likely to become potential casualties while travelling in either the first or last cars of the train (these being more likely to hit, or be hit by, something else along the line). As of next January, they will therefore be abolishing the ... ... carriages on all rail services in Country X.'
... front and rearmost ...
... top and bottom ...
... head and tail ...
... first and final ...
There was, and/or still is, a national competition scheme for Best Kept Village at county, regional and national level in Britain.