Strong loyalty to the historic counties endures
sir – The 1974 local government reform did not abolish the traditional county (report, April 23). It simply set up administrative regions that confusingly became called “counties”.
This ignored the feelings of those of us who were proud of our county history and, at the same time, created lots of anomalies, especially here in the Palatine County of Lancashire.
Lancashire Cricket Club and several teams in the Lancashire League do not play in the 1974 administrative “Lancashire”. Southport is in Merseyside but is on the Ribble, not the Mersey, estuary.
Perhaps the silliest effect of the 1974 administrative regions being confused with real counties is some addresses. The post code of our home is WA3, placing it in Warrington, Cheshire. The post office at which we may pick up mail for this address is in Earlstown, Merseyside. We are administered by Wigan Metro, Greater Manchester. But we are Lancastrians – and proud of it.
Dr Malcolm Greenhalgh
Lowton, Lancashire
sir – There are many reasons why people continue to use historic county names. One is that the names of many local newspapers continue unchanged – so we have the Cumberland News and the Westmoreland Gazette, both published in Cumbria.
The main reason however, is the fact that in 2013, Eric Pickles, as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, formally recognised and acknowledged the continued existence of England’s 39 historic counties.
Peter Froggatt
Dorking, Surrey