FROM some people's letters, the impression seems to be that Bolton is now part of Greater Manchester and would like to be part of Lancashire again.

Far from the case. Bolton is still part of the Palatine County of Lancashire.

There is some confusion between the two types of counties in the country -- the traditional, and administration ones.

The first ones are the historical/

geographical counties which still exist, and their names and boundaries haven't been altered or abolished. These traditional ones don't have any authority, but still exist as geographical areas.

The second ones are for local authority administration purposes. Lancashire County Council is an administration area, but covers only part of the traditional county. Greater Manchester County Council was abolished in 1986, though some countywide services still carried on -- Police, Fire, Ambulance, etc.

So Bolton is still part of the traditional/geographical county of Lancashire, though, for some administration purposes, comes under Greater Manchester. Bolton Council now uses the Lancashire name as part of its address.

The big confusion between the counties is mainly because the media started using the administration names, misleading people into thinking that their town had been moved overnight into a new county. The media doesn't use Northern Ireland's district council names, but keeps to its traditional county names. If only the media did the same for the rest of the country and saved a lot of confusion.

Lancastrian