PRO-YORKSHIRE campaigners are planning to mark the new millennium by restoring - in name at least - the historic county boundaries which held sway for a thousand years.

Some dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshire Tykes have never fully recovered from the hammer blow dealt them in 1974, when a review of local government hived off parts of their beloved broad acres to neighbouring counties.

Many West Craveners still harbour a deep resentment at being unceremoniously exiled to Lancashire and the newly formed Pendle Council without so much as a by-your-leave. Even 25 years on, the discontent rumbles not far below the surface.

But now the white rose West Craveners can take some solace from news that Lancashire County Council seems to recognise their plight. It is at least paying lip service to the established fact that the changes in 1974 were to the administrative boundaries only. They were never meant to change the thousand-year-old historic county boundaries, nor people's longstanding county loyalties.

In 1999, the red rose authority bowed to pressure from campaign group Unite Craven to allow official county signs marking the historic boundaries where roads cross them.

The only provisos were that the signs should be stone-built and sympathetic to their surroundings, and paid for at no cost to the council.

Now, Unite Craven is pressing ahead with its plans and already has funding for at least four signs.

They would be placed at the roadside on the A56, the A59, the A682 and the B6251 - the four major routes crossing the boundary in West Craven.

The Yorkshire Ridings Society has offered to pay for the sign on the A59 at Sawley, while Unite Craven has a fighting fund of around £800 donated by its supporters to pay for the others.

As its name suggests, Unite Craven would ultimately like to see West Craven fully restored to its Yorkshire roots and administered by a Yorkshire authority. But its members look on promoting the historic boundaries as a good start.

They have already publicised their cause through putting up unofficial "Welcome to Yorkshire" signs at the historic boundaries, almost daring the Lancashire authorities to come along and move them.

Wisely, they chose to turn a blind eye and have now sanctioned the official replacements.

British Waterways has also expressed interest in having one of the signs on the towpath where the Leeds and Liverpool Canal crosses the historic boundary.

The next step for Unite Craven will be to submit detailed proposals for the new signs to Lancashire County Council for approval.

The campaigners hope that, if all goes well, the first signs could be in place for summer 2000 - a fitting way to mark the new millennium.

Anyone who wants to know more about Unite Craven and its aims and activities can contact its chairman, Geoff Hoyle, at 38 Burnside Crescent, Skipton, Yorkshire, BD23 2BJ. Tel: 01756 798692.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.