Last updated 14:03, Thursday, 27 November 2008

FURNESS and Cartmel may have been part of Cumbria for a third of a century but old habits clearly die hard.

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Type Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, into the Google search engine and you get more than 500,000 references – people offering hotel rooms and all manner of goods and services still think, or would prefer, that the controversial local government reorganisation of 1974 had never taken place.

And today, all those keen to uphold the ancient traditions of the former giant county will be celebrating Lancashire Day.

Throughout the old county a proclamation was being read this morning at places as diverse as Ulverston, Grange, Lancaster, Southport, Garstang and Great Eccleston.

And on Saturday Barrow and Dalton will be joining in.

Barrow will mark Lancashire Day at the Dalton Road/Portland Walk junction at 10am, while Dalton’s Lancastrians can hear the proclamation at Bank Corner, Market Street, at 11am.

These and dozens of other sites are listed on the Friends of Real Lancashire website at www.forl.co.uk

We are still surrounded by reminders of how things used to be in the old “Lancashire North of the Sands” which includes Barrow, Ulverston, Coniston, Broughton, Cartmel, Dalton, Askam and Ireleth.

When the monks were thrown out of Furness Abbey by Henry VIII the lands went to the Duchy of Lancaster.

Despite the boundary changes in 1974 Barrow Rugby League Club continued to play in the annual Lancashire Cup competition until it was abandoned in 1993 – and won it in 1983 against Widnes by 12 points to eight.

In cricket the traditions are even stronger, with local teams playing in the North Lancs and Cumbria League but everyone refers to it simply as North Lancs League.

Until 1988 Lancashire County Council – as lord of the manor – still read the 1593 Broughton charter proclamation in the town square and threw pennies to the children.

Broughton’s links with Lancashire go back much further as the manor was probably granted to Aliward de Broughton after 1160 by William de Lancaster.

The traditional meeting point for the boundaries of Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmorland is now firmly within Cumbria at the Three Shires Stone found at the summit of Wrynose Pass.

This limestone monolith with Lancashire carved down one side was cut in Cartmel in 1816 for William Field but not put in place until 1860.

It was restored in 1998 after a road accident left it in four pieces.

From here to the sea 15 miles away, the River Duddon acted as the boundary between Lancashire and Cumberland.

Keeping alive the traditions of the historic county is a key aim for the Friends of Real Lancashire and in 1995 it promoted the Lancashire Day proclamation, picking November 27 as this was the day in when Lancashire sent its first representatives to the Parliament called by King Edward I.

If you don’t get a chance to catch one of the ceremonies this is the wording: “Know ye that this day, November 27th in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and eight, the 57th year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Duke of Lancaster, is Lancashire Day.

“Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of Her Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn, Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians.

“Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this day shall ever mark the peoples’ pleasure in that excellent distinction – true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.”

The huge cost of change makes it likely that Furness will remain within Cumbria for council services but it almost returned to Lancashire in 1994 for ceremonial purposes.

A review by the Local Government Commission for England decided to take no action after claiming that consultation found few people except the Friends of Real Lancashire were in support of change.