I was out digging in my field yesterday (in Ireland, not England) and thought it was interesting that there was a large variance in worm counts. Some areas had massive numbers of worms pushing 20cm, and others had relatively few, smaller ones. The bigger worms were in areas that hadn't been grazed by sheep, but I'm not sure how that relates, if at all (the sheep have been gone for a few years).
It is a well watered island, for one, with climate moderated by the Gulf Stream, even though well north of the US (The Boston USA latitude 42+, Dublin 53+).