Is Manchester in Lancashire

Answer 1

It lies within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. However since 1974 it was made a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester.

Although not administratively part of Lancashire, the creation of metropolitan counties did not intend to alter the historic county boundaries or the loyalties to to historic counties; which was confirmed by the government at the time of the creation of Greater Manchester.

Therefore you could argue that Rochdale is infact part of Lancashire and that it also forms an administrative metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester does however exist as a geographical frame of reference and exists in law.

Answerbag2010's answer:

Rochdale is neither in Manchester nor Lancashire. Rochdale is a town, which lies in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester county.

There is no such legal notion as being located within an "historic county boundary." It is a fictitious statutory position which is fabricated by people and pressure groups such as the Association of British Counties (http://www.abcounties.co.uk/) and Friends of Real Lancashire (http://www.forl.co.uk/) who remain opposed to the Local Government Act 1972 and it's reform of sub-national governance.

In response to the statement in the original answer that "...the creation of metropolitan counties did not intend to alter the historic county boundaries or the loyalties to to historic counties; which was confirmed by the government at the time of the creation of Greater Manchester," the LGA 1972 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70) did indeed intend to alter the boundaries of the pre-1974 CE counties; this was the whole point, to make the boundaries more relevant to the people who reside within them in terms of seeking services from local government. The only confirmation which can come from government is in the form of the law, so any comments from politicians to the contrary are merely sound bites designed to placate people who are resistant to change.

It cannot be argued that Rochdale "is infact part of Lancashire" because no part of the law states this. Indeed, it was only in 1996 that the postal counties -based on the pre-1974 boundaries- were abolished for the purposes of directing mail. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postal_counties_of_the_United_Kingdom) It was the permanence of these which can be said to be a factor in making people believe that various towns in Greater Manchester still formed part of Lancashire.

Manchester and Greater Manchester are not (yet) coterminous, as London is for Greater London. This can explain the confusion surrounding the idea that something in Greater Manchester, is automatically part of the city of Manchester.

Answer 2

Yes, Manchester is in the county of Lancashire. Various administrative areas were created following the local government act of 1974, but these did not affect the continuing existence of the underlying counties that have existed for centuries and which still persist. Manchester is placed unequivocally within Lancashire.

Manchester sits in the low ground of southern Lancashire drained by the Mersey basin and the rivers feeding it, with the Pennines to the north and east. The Cheshire plain lies to the south, across the Mersey. The city centre, the town's origin, is built on a sandstone bluff near the meeting of the rivers Medlock and Irwell.