The Friends of Real Lancashire are a pressure group affiliated to the Association of British Counties calling for the wider recognition of the historic boundaries of Lancashire. Its chairman is Chris Dawson. Pressure groups in the United Kingdom can be divided into two categories. ... 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 historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. ... Lancashire is a county in North West England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ...

Background

The historic borders of Lancashire. ^[1]

Non-metropolitan Lancashire shown in red, with the two unitary authorities in ceremonial Lancashire orange. ^[2]

The Friends of Real Lancashire are concerned to promote, what they view as, the true boundaries of the county, which were altered ^{[3] [4] [5]} following the 1974 enactment of the Local Government Act 1972. ^{[6] [7]} Lancashire saw more upheaval than most counties, having most of its population transferred to the new counties: Manchester and south east Lancashire became part of Greater Manchester; Liverpool and south west Lancashire became part of Merseyside; Furness became part of Cumbria; and Warrington and Widnes became part of Cheshire. ^[8] Image File history File links EnglandLancashireTrad. ... Image File history File links map of Lancashire within England File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. ... Manchester is a major city within Greater Manchester in North West England, historically notable for being the worlds first industrialised city, and its subsequent central role in the Industrial Revolution. ... Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England which roughly encompasses the conurbation surrounding the City of Manchester, and has a population of 2. ... Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in North West England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. ... Arms of the former Merseyside Metropolitan County Council Merseyside is a metropolitan county, located in the North West of England. ... Furness is a peninsula in north-west England. ... Cumbria is a county in the North West region of England. ... Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Cheshire Plain - photo taken adjacent to Beeston Castle The Cheshire Plain - photo taken towards Merseyside The Cheshire Plain panorama - photo taken from Mid-Cheshire Ridge Cattle farming in the county Black-and-white timbered buildings on Nantwich High Street Cheshire (or, archaically, the County of Chester) [1] is a...

The boundary changes ^[9] were not intended to affect loyalties but they caused concern in some areas ^{[6] [4]} and in practice it is the new boundaries ^{[10] [4]} which are now shown on maps and marked by road signs. They have also been widely adopted by the media as geographical designations, despite the fact that many within the new counties continue to regard themselves as Lancastrians. The traditional county boundaries continue to be used as the basis for organisations such as the Duchy of Lancaster, Lancashire County Cricket Club and Lancashire Football Association (although its area overlaps with Manchester Football Association). ^{[11] [12]} A not-so-nice duchy. ... Lancashire County Cricket Club is an English first-class cricket club based at Old Trafford cricket ground, Manchester. ...

The area under the control of Lancashire County Council, or shire county, became even smaller in 1998 when Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen became unitary authorities. ^[13] Although they remain part of the ceremonial county, they are often no longer mapped as part of Lancashire and "Welcome to Lancashire" road signs have been placed on their boundaries with the shire county. A shire county or non-metropolitan county in England, is an administrative county which is not a metropolitan county. ... Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England. ... Blackburn with Darwen (Dwrgwyn) is a borough in Lancashire, North West England. ... A unitary authority is a term used in a two-tier local government system to describe a unit of local government that operates as a single tier. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to administrative counties of England. ...

The group counts at least six MPs amongst its supporters and has been mentioned in Hansard. ^[14] It has received limited support within local government, ^[15] and its campaign has also mentioned in the local press. ^[16] Lancashire Life magazine identifies itself as an enthusiastic supporter of the group and continues to cover the historic county area. ^[17] Hansard is the traditional name for the printed transcripts of parliamentary debates in the Westminster system of government. ...

Aims

FORL has the following aims:

• The restoration of the historic boundaries of the Lancashire ceremonial county with the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire covering everywhere within the traditional borders.
• Road signs to mark the traditional boundaries with Cheshire, Yorkshire, Westmorland and Cumberland.
• The traditional boundaries to be shown on Ordnance Survey and other maps rather than the current boundaries.

The group also campaigns to have public bodies named in accordance with traditional rather than contemporary county names e.g. NHS ambulance authority reforms. The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to administrative counties of England. ... Flag of a Lord Lieutenant The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarchs personal representatives around the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. ... The Cheshire Plain - photo taken adjacent to Beeston Castle The Cheshire Plain - photo taken towards Merseyside The Cheshire Plain panorama - photo taken from Mid-Cheshire Ridge Cattle farming in the county Black-and-white timbered buildings on Nantwich High Street Cheshire (or, archaically, the County of Chester) [1] is a... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Westmorland is one of the 39 traditional counties of England. ... Cumberland is one of the 39 traditional counties of England. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ...

Successes

FORL's campaign has met with limited success. In 1994 it raised a petition with 30,000 signatures calling "for the restoration of Lancashire's historic boundaries" ^{[14] [18]} - the petition requested that the "Metropolitan Counties of Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria [sic] be abolished and the real and historic county of Lancashire be restored". In response to other suggestions of restoring former boundaries, the Government has commented that although it has no plans to restore the historic borders of counties, boundary changes which have occurred need not affect loyalties. ^[19]

The Local Government Commission for England made draft recommendations in as part of a review of the structure of local government in Cumbria that the "areas of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council and South Lakeland District Council formerly in Lancashire should be returned to historic Lancashire for ceremonial and related purposes".^[20] The final recommendations noted that "the Commission heard from few people on this subject during the consultation period, although support was indicated by the Friends of Real Lancashire", and consequently proposed no change.^[21] Map showing counties and unitary authorities from 1998. ...

The group succeeded in having signs erected near Clitheroe, Nelson and Colne marking the traditional border with the West Riding of Yorkshire, on roads which are currently managed by Lancashire County Council. The signs were paid for at no expense to the council.^[22] A similar request to Cumbria County Council, to mark the historic borders between Westmorland and Cumberland and Lancashire was denied in 1996.^[23] Statistics Population: 15,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SD742417 Administration District: Ribble Valley Shire county: Lancashire Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Lancashire Historic county: Lancashire Services Police force: Lancashire Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: North West Post office and telephone... Location within the British Isles Nelson is a town in Lancashire in north-west England with a population of around 30,000. ... Colne is a town (population approx 20,000), in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England, close to the Yorkshire border. ... The West Riding as an administrative county prior to its abolition in 1974. ... Lancashire County Council is the local authority for the county of Lancashire, England. ...

In 2001, the leader of the council was presented with a framed map, created by the group, depicting the historic boundaries. It was put on display at County Hall ^[24] Lancaster City Council endorsed the group's position in June 2002, resolving that the Council "support the Friends of Real Lancashire’s campaign to restore the former geographical county boundaries"^[25] The City of Lancaster is a local government district and city in Lancashire in North West England. ...

The Royal Mail no longer require the use of their former postal counties when addressing letters and instead use the postcode and post town to direct mail. As part of their flexible addressing policy, anyone may now include "Lancashire" as part of their address. Where a county is provided however, it will be ignored and to this end, an alias file supplement to the Postcode Address File cross references county and other postally-not-required information to the correct postal address. ^[26] Royal Mails logo Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. ... The postal counties of the United Kingdom, now known officially as the former postal counties, were subdivisions of the UK in routine use by the Royal Mail until 1996. ... The Postcode Address File (PAF) is a data file available from the Royal Mail. ...

Lancashire Day

As part of its campaign the group has adopted 27th November as Lancashire Day, this being the day in 1295 when Lancashire sent its first representatives to Parliament. It was first celebrated in 1996 with the Loyal Toast to "The Queen, Duke of Lancaster". Lancashire Day paralleled the similar Yorkshire Day, first held in 1975. Lancashire is a county in North West England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... The Loyal Toast is the first toast to be given at a formal gathering to the presiding person. ... Yorkshire Day is celebrated on August 1 to promote the English county of Yorkshire as a good place to be born, to live, to work in and to visit. ...

Lancashire Day has been widely publicised, including mentions on the BBC website. ^[27] It has also been supported by both district councils ^{[28] [29]} and the county council. ^[30] The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of £4 billion. ...

References

September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• CountyWatch

CountyWatch 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. ...

External links

• Friends of Real Lancashire