May I on behalf of Friends of Real Lancashire encourage Lancashire folk to celebrate our wonderful county on Wednesday 27th November.

Whether it’s having drink with friends, holding a Lancashire quiz or a charity event or even visiting somewhere in Lancashire you’ve never been to before.

Town Criers will be giving the Lancashire Day Cry on Wednesday in Clitheroe, Blackburn, Darwen, Accrington and Great Harwood.

For these and other events, please see our website for details - www.forl.co.uk

Of course we are very honoured as a county as her Majesty the Queen is Duke of Lancaster.

Perhaps schools may like to give a little time in their curriculum to talk about ‘Lancashire’.

It’s worth remembering that this day is about ‘Real Lancashire’.

In other words, the Historic, Geographical, Traditional or as some will say – “Proper Lancashire”.  

That’s the area from the River Duddon in the north to the River Mersey in the South, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines.

The term “Old Lancashire” should never be used because the boundaries are still there and have never been removed!  

Because so much attention has been given to the smaller admin area of Lancashire since 1974, there are many younger people who will not be aware of how large our real county is.

The boundary is over 430 miles!

Besides the towns in the administrative area of Lancashire, you cannot talk about the history or traditions of Lancashire without including the cities of Manchester, Salford and Liverpool or the towns of Warrington, Wigan, St Helens, Southport, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Ashton-under-Lyne and Bury.

Then there are the Lake District towns of Barrow and Ulverston and the villages of Grange over Sands, Coniston and Hawkshead.

Friends of Real Lancashire and our parent organisation, the Association of British Counties have been campaigning for nearly 30 years to have proper signage restored on our county boundaries.

It’s been a long haul and there is still some way to go but in April we were encouraged by the release of a document by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - ‘Guidance on Celebrating  the Historic Counties of England’.

The eight page guidance was designed to encourage communities to boost community pride and help families learn about local traditions. The guidance stated that local authorities should also look to fly their county flags and erect signs which show where historic boundaries lie. 

We do say though that signs erected by Lancashire County Council a few years ago on the boundaries of Blackburn with Darwen are not necessary and should be removed as they are already sited in the county.

Work has already started as Trafford Council has erected signs on the River Mersey at Flixton showing that the river was the historic boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire. Signs have also been erected on a bridge over the River Tame in Reddish Vale Country Park near Stockport.

The guidance is at present voluntary and we hope other councils will follow.

Philip Walsh

Chairman

Friends of Real Lancashire