Sir, Count Tolstoy and his colleagues from County Watch are to be congratulated on their efforts to boost the identity of old Berkshire by erecting road signs at the entrance to the county (Report, April 7). The counties have existed for many centuries and a mere change in local government boundaries cannot remove that heritage, 1,146 years in the case of Berkshire.
The map of England was thrown into confusion in 1974 when the old counties ceased, in many cases, to be administrative units. In their place came Avon, Humberside and other alien creations. These only lasted a few years before being abolished. The last 30 years have been a time of constant change in local government and again we are about to undergo another change with the promised creation of more unitary authorities. It cannot be expected that a local population can feel any sense of identity with an authority which was not there yesterday and will probably not be there tomorrow. In the First World War the troops often went over the top shouting the name of their county. Would that have been the case if the rallying cry was 'For the Unitary Authority of North East Lincolnshire'. I think not.
The identities of the geographical counties (which still exist) should be promoted and road signs have an important part to play. This was even recognised by some of the new authorities and Humberside County Council erected signs at the entrance to the Ridings of Yorkshire and parts of Lincolnshire. It is not unusual to see signs around Yorkshire announcing the old county on its borders.
The county council road engineers seem to have been rather officious in quickly removing Count Tolstoy's signs. They are not usually so zealous at removing private advertising signs, which appear every day on roadside verges.
Rather than removing the signs they should be erecting (brown) signs indicating the boundaries of real counties which, at present, lie sleeping beneath the newer creations, but which will be revived when people assert their right to a real identity.
Paul Hornby, Oxford
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