County Watch is a direct action group in the United Kingdom that was set up in 2004 to remove what they consider to be wrongly-placed county boundary signs that do not mark the historical or traditional county boundaries of England and Wales. Since 2005, Count Nikolai Tolstoy has been Patron of County Watch. To date County Watch and its supporters claim to have removed, re-sited or erected 80 county boundary signs in Somerset, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Lancashire, Dorset, Hampshire, Yorkshire and County Durham. Direct action is a form of political activism which seeks immediate remedy for perceived ills, as opposed to indirect actions such as electing representatives who promise to provide remedy at some later date. ... The traditional counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England into around forty areas, which were used for both administrative and general geographical demarcation for several hundreds of years. ... Wales has thirteen traditional counties (or vice counties). ... Count Nikolai Tolstoy-Miloslavsky (born 1935) is a prominent and controversial Russo-British historian and author, who writes under the name Nikolai Tolstoy. ... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... Warwickshire (pronounced either /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃə/ or /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃɪə/) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ... Lancashire is a county and duchy palatine in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... For other uses, see Dorset (disambiguation). ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ...

Another prominent member of the group is Tony Bennett, who was prosecuted for removing road metric road signs which he claimed were illegal. Initially found guilty, his conviction was overturned on appeal. ^{[1] [2]} The group's media spokesperson is Harry Cichy. Tony Bennett, 2000 Tony Bennetts heart, left in San Francisco Tony Bennett (born August 3, 1926) is an American popular music, standards, and jazz singer who is widely considered to be one of the best interpretative singers in these genres. ...

Beliefs

CountyWatch sees the abolition of democratically-elected county councils in the UK as part of a long-term project to weaken the constituent nations of Europe, notably the UK and to concentrate power at two levels: Brussels (the European Commission) and the 'regions' within countries. CountyWatch believe in taking direct action within the law to counter aspects of this project. ^[3] In the British Isles, a county council is a council that governs a county. ... Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Brussels City Hall Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, pronounced ; French: Bruxelles, pronounced in Belgian French and often by non-Belgian speakers of French; German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ...

Direct action

Somerset

• August 2004: Their first action, the removal of five signs saying 'Welcome to the County of Somerset' – which were located in the middle of traditional Somerset due to local government re-organisation in 1974 – was reported by Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph. He described them as a 'shadowy organisation'. The signs were taken down by County Watch members and relocated on the historic borders of Somerset with neighbouring traditional counties Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.^[4]

This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ... Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. ... Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ...

Lincolnshire

• The group was reported by the Lincolnshire Echo (28 July 2005) and Yorkshire Post (28 September 2005) as having removed 16 signs stating: "Welcome to the County of Lincolnshire" which the local authority had placed on its northern borders with the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire (and therefore away from the current ceremonial county border). The signs were deposited in a council depot after being removed.

• 27 July 2005: The group were featured on the BBC TV "Look North" regional news programme, filmed in the act of removing a "Welcome to the County of Lincolnshire" sign near Brigg. Lincolnshire County Council Area Highways Manager Eric Jorgensen described the group as "self-appointed and unelected" and stated that taxpayers would be forced to pay for the signs to be resited.

The Lincolnshire Echo is a daily British regional newspaper for Lincolnshire, found in 1894. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... The Yorkshire Post was founded in 1754, as the Leedes Intelligencer, making it one of Britains first daily newspapers. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... St Clements Church, Worlaby North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority in England, established in April 1996, one of the first unitary councils. ... North East Lincolnshire is a unitary authority in the north east of England, bordering onto North Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... Brigg (fully Glanford Brigg) in Lincolnshire, England, is a small market town on the River Ancholme with a population of 5,076 (2001 census). ...

Lancashire

• 29 September 2005: An article in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph stated that County Watch intended to remove and re-site several dozen "Welcome to Lancashire" signs which are now located in the middle of the traditional county of Lancashire rather than at the historic border, due to several local government re-organisations, which they claim to be widely unpopular.

• November 2005: County Watch started direct action in Lancashire to remove and re-site "Welcome to the County of Lancashire" signs. Their actions were filmed by the BBC TV North West region and subsequently the County Watch Secretary, Tony Bennett, was asked to attend Blackburn Police station. He did so on 22 November but to date has not been charged. The group removed a total of 35 'Welcome to Lancashire' signs from Blackpool to Rochdale, placing all of them on the historic Lancashire/Yorkshire border at Blacko Bar near Nelson, where they telephoned the Council's Solicitor. Officials from Lancashire County Council later recovered them all and some months later re-erected most of them. When the event was reported on BBC North-West Tonight, the newsroom received their largest ever influx of telephone calls and e-mails, 90% of which favoured County Watch's actions.

• 7 December 2005: On the BBC Radio 4 You & Yours programme Tony Bennett, Secretary of County Watch, was asked "What is your defence?" regarding his recent boundary activity in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Lancashire Labour Councillors were reported as 'seeing red' over Mr Bennett and County Watch activity but some supported his action.

September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... The Lancashire Evening Telegraph is a local tabloid newspaper distributed in Blackburn and East Lancashire. ... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Al Jazeera bombing memo • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Black sites scandal • Conservative leadership race (UK) • Fuel prices • Irans nuclear program • Jilin chemical plant explosions • Kashmir earthquake • Malawi food crisis • Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal • New Delhi bombings investigation • Niger food crisis • North Indian cyclone... Lancashire is a county and duchy palatine in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about Blackburn in Lancashire, Great Britain. ... November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Location within the British Isles Nelson is a town in Lancashire in north-west England with a population of around 30,000. ... Lancashire County Council is the local authority for the county of Lancashire, England. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Lancashire is a county and duchy palatine in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Berkshire

• April 2006: The group set up "Royal County of Berkshire" signs on the traditional border between Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The signs were quickly removed. The Mayor of Wantage, one of the affected towns, was quoted as saying that "They need to face reality", further noting "I know there are many older people in Wantage who still think of themselves as Berkshire people, but the reality is that time has moved on and we can't go backwards." The Mayor of Faringdon said that "Faringdon should stay in Oxfordshire" noting that "county hall in Reading was so far away. It's much better for us to get into Oxford.". [1]

April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Events 1 April 2006 (Saturday) Marcos Pontes, Brazils first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station. ... Berkshire (IPA: or  ; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in England and forms part of the South East England region. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... Wantage is a small town in the Thames Valley, southern England. ...

Dorset/Hampshire border

County Watch supporters have to date removed three 'Dorset' signs placed on the current administrative boundary between Dorset and Hampshire – one at New Milton on the A337, one between Christchurch and Hinton on the A35, and one at Bransgore. Two have been re-affixed on the historic Dorset/Hampshire boundary at the border between Poole and Bournemouth. Two 'Hampshire' signs – one on the A35 and one at Bransgore – have also been removed. One has been reaffixed on the main A35 as you enter Bournemouth from Poole. ^[5] For other uses, see Dorset (disambiguation). ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Map sources for New Milton at grid reference SZ235955 New Milton is a market town in south west Hampshire, England. ... Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the third largest city in the country. ... Hinton is the name of some places in the world: Hinton, Alberta, Canada Hinton, Iowa, United States of America Hinton, Oklahoma, United States of America Hinton, West Virginia, United States of America Hinton, South Gloucestershire, England Hinton Township, Michigan, United States of America Hinton St. ... For people with Poole as surname, see Poole (disambiguation) Poole is a coastal town, port and tourist destination in the traditional county of Dorset in southern England. ... Bournemouth is a seaside resort on the south coast of England. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Durham

• 25 May 2006: County Watch gives notice that it will be relocating County Durham signs from the border with the unitary authority of Darlington to the historic, and current ceremonial, border with Yorkshire on the River Tees [2]
• 26 May 2006: For the third time County Watch is filmed by the BBC removing what they say are wrongly-sited county boundary signs, this time at Royal Oak. Tyne Tees Television also filmed the event. Twelve signs saying: 'County Durham: Land of the Prince Bishops' were removed and three of them re-erected along the traditional border between Yorkshire and Durham – the River Tees - also the current ceremonial border. The Council were informed by County Watch of the location of the other signs they removed. Durham County Council issued a statement saying that County Watch's actions were "equivalent to those who vandalise telephone boxes". According to County Watch's own website, Northern Echo reporter Daniel King told the group that the newspaper had received a number of letters in support of their actions, five of which were printed.
• 31 May 2006: A subsequent editorial in The Northern Echo praised the group's actions, calling the council's statement "a trifle wide of the mark" and ending with the exhortation: "Carry on CountyWatch".^[6]

May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ... View of Darlington including the town clock. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Tees is an English river which rises on the eastward slope of Cross Fell in the Pennine Chain and flows eastwards for about 87 miles (137 km) before emptying into the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar. ... May 26 is the 146th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (147th in leap years). ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... The Royal Oak is the name given to the tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651, located in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. ... Tyne Tees Television Limited is the ITV television contractor for North East England. ... The Prince Bishops of Durham existed from 1081 to 1836. ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in northeast England. ... The Northern Echo is a regional newspaper serving the north-east of England. ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (152nd in leap years), with 214 days remaining. ...

Tony Bennett Arrested in Oldham

On 28 May 2006 Tony Bennett was arrested on the Tameside/Oldham boundary at 7.00 pm and taken to Ashton-under-Lyne police station for questioning on suspicion of causing criminal damage to a road sign in Saddleworth. Saddleworth was administered as part of the West Riding of Yorkshire before Edward Heath's 1974 local government reforms, and is now administered by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. Derek Norman, Chairman of County Watch, reacted to the address by saying: "It is a total disgrace". Bennett was later released without charge but was bailed to attend Ashton-under-Lyne police station on 27 July 2006. ^{[citation needed]} May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ashton-under-Lyne is a town in Greater Manchester with a population of 44,400 (2001 estimate). ... Sir Edward Richard George Ted Heath, KG, MBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005), soldier and politician, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ...

See also

• Association of British Counties
• Friends of Real Lancashire
• Yorkshire Ridings Society

ABC map of counties, based approximately on reputed boundaries from first edition Ordnance Survey maps The Association of British Counties (ABC) is one of a small number of pressure groups in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting the traditional counties of Britain. ... The Friends of Real Lancashire are a group affiliated to the Association of British Counties calling for the wider recognition of the continuing existence of the traditional county of Lancashire. ... The Yorkshire Ridings Society is a group affiliated to the Association of British Counties calling for the wider recognition of the continuing existence of the traditional county of Yorkshire and its traditional subdivisions, the North, East and West Ridings. ...

References

1. ^ 'Imperial vigilante' guilty of theft - BBC News - 22 May, 2002
2. ^ 'Imperial vigilante' wins legal appeal - BBC News - 31 October, 2002.
3. ^ Tony Bennett, "The Counties" Association of British Counties newsletter, Spring 2006
4. ^ Christopher Booker's notebook 22/8/2004, The Daily Telegraph.
5. ^ A sign of disapproval, Dorset Daily Echo 12 November 2005
6. ^ Defending the land of our fathers, The Northern Echo 31 May 2006

ABC map of counties, based approximately on reputed boundaries from first edition Ordnance Survey maps The Association of British Counties (ABC) is one of a small number of pressure groups in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting the traditional counties of Britain. ...

External links

• Official website
• Yorkshire Post article
• BBC – Boundary protest 'to be reported'
• BBC – County signs dumped after protest
• County Watch members remove a sign at Rossendale
• Thisislancashire – Lancs signs dumped at border
• Further County Watch Actions in support of 'Real Lancashire'