Talk:CountyWatch

message: I have removed the following text temporarily from the article:
:Berkshire
31 March 2006, CountyWatch Patron Count Tolsoy re-sites 'Welcome To royal County of Berkshire to its true 'Berkshire' border from Oxfordshire.''
pending the finding of a reliable source - I have not heard this reported in the media as yet, and this needs to be corroborated.  Thanks, Aquilina 11:46, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I have reinstated with appropriate source.  Lancsalot 13:56, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: 31st March

message: Is it "County Watch" or "CountyWatch", with StudlyCaps?  BBC are using the latter, as are the Guardian.  Morwen - Talk 14:48, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Spelling

message: This section seems to contradict the rest. How does moving some signs hope to achieve their aims re: the EU? MRSC 14:51, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the idea goes
*the regions of England are a European plot to destroy England and the United Kingdom
*there is therefore also an plot to undermine genuine local identity and replace it with a fake regional identity
*this is helped by the destruction of historic county identities instigated by the Local Government Act 1972
Bennett seems to be quite the character.  Morwen - Talk 15:03, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

text: Yes, the moving of signs in itself does nothing wrt. the EU, but it draws attention to the cause I guess. Owain (talk) 08:37, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Beliefs

message: Herewith some brief responses.
This week, one contributor on another page noted that this article was close to violating guidelines on 'Wikipedia Soap' articles, and pointed out that Wikipedia was not there to represent particular political points of view. The writer also claimed that the article on CountyWatch had become too 'Bennettcentric'. Unfortunately I don't know how to reach that page (though I've tried), so am answering the writer here.
I accept both observations, and would like to say that I think Wikipedia's editorial policy on this article has been very fair to date.
One reason why I hope the article will stay more or less unaffected is that CountyWatch (we spell it that way, but it doesn't really matter) receives great public support wherever our actions take place (plus of course some opposition from County Hall bureaucrats). 
To give just one example, our most spectacular action to date was carried out in Lancashire over three days in November 2005 when 40 'Welcome to Lancashire' signs, mostly around 20 to 30 miles north of the traditional Lancashire border with Cheshire - namely, the river Mersey - were removed, and deposited for collection by Lancashire County Council on the historic border with Yorkshire near Nelson. Our action was filmed by BBC North West on two separate days - the third time a regional BBC programme has filmed us in action (other occasions were our actions in Lincolnshire and County Durham). 
BBC North West then invited its viewers to submit by 'phone or e-mail their views on whether this action was 'unjustified vandalism' or 'justified action in support of Lancashire's historic boundaries'. Peter Marshall, the journalist and presenter, together with the editor of BBC North West, both told us afterwards that there had never ever in the history of BBC TV North West been a greater resposnse to any other single news item and viewers' poll - and in terms of the weight of opinion it was, to quote the BBC verbatim, 'overwhelmingly' in support of our action.
I will try not to post any more on this article unless there are press reports which are significant, which I will add as references. However, I would say that with further break-up of our historic county administration in the pipeline - such as in Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire etc., there is likely to be continued public interest in and discussion of this subject.
We have, along with other eurosceptic organisations, continually warned that the 'game plan' was to abolish county adminisrtation altogether, creating regional government on the basis of the nine new English regions, with a series of 'unitary authorities' below them - with both Counties and District Councils abolished. The government's announcement in July this year on the creation of a whole swath of new unitary authorities tends to prove our assessment correct.
Quite apart from that, most of our county boundaries have had virtually unchanged boundaries for over 1,000 years - until the Edward Heath re-organisaion of local government in 1974. They are, say CountyWatch, part of the historic fabric of the country and give us a sense of place and sometimes of identity; we think these boundaries, for which many people have a continuing affection, should be preserved, not destroyed. 
Finally, I am currently preparing an article for Wikipedia on the historic counties of England, which will be entirely non-political and will simply give factual information about them - see the notice I have just posted earlier today under the 'Discussion on the Historic Counties of England' page. In my article, I hope to address these stated concerns about the existing article on historic Counties:
1) List/table showing which went on to become administrative and non-metropolitan counties and which did not (and how the ancient subdivisions were used as the basis for some admin counties) 
2) Expanded references 
3) Section detailing role of the ancient counties - still needs work.
Finally, thanks to those who have contributed above to explain that they too regard the issue of maintaining and promoting our historic county boundaries as an important one.
If anyone want to see a draft of the proposed article on historic counties they are welcome to 'phone me and I'll e-mail it.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Tony Bennett (talk • contribs) 10:01, 12 August 2007
: To explain why I removed all of the above users edits from earlier today - the edits were added in a haphazard manner which made, to put it bluntly, a mess of the section. Incorrect sources were used; for instance using a wikipedia article itself - in this instance the Luton article - as a source in contradiction of wikipedia guidelines on reliable sources. I have re-inserted one part of the edits, as it had a source. I have however, balanced it out as much as possible to reflect both the views of CountyWatch and of the County Council. ♦Tangerines♦·Talk 16:40, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Response by Tony Bennett of CountyWatch

message: Unless anyone can show that CountyWatch still exists I suggest we change the article to past tense. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 10:30, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: No longer?

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thread_title:  External links modified