Hertfordshire County Council's reaction to people beginning to be made aware oif the truth was further distortion of that truth by erecting "Hertfordshire" signs on the roads entering the district from Enfield and Monken Hadley, (both Middlesex) which were not on the Hertfordshire county boundary at all and were, therefore, not only geographically inaccurate but also highly misleading. People need signs indicating counties and places within them so that they know exactly where they are, they do not usually wish to know which local authority area they have just entered. The same is equally true of postal addresses which should not be altered every time there is a change to the local authority. If local authorities wish to mark their boundaries that's one thing but they should be in addition to, and not instead of, geographical county signs and any such signs should unambiguously state the name of the relevant county council and not merely the name of the county they represent.

There should never have been any conflict with local authorities on this issue and there would have been none if the local authorities had not done everything in their power to eradicate true county identities and promote their own identities at the expense of the traditional counties. Nobody is attempting to interfere with local government. Indeed it should be totally unconnected with county identity. If the true geographical counties wewre shown on maps, used in all postal addresses and marked on all true county boundaries with proper county signs there would be no identity problems and local government could carry on as it and Parliament wished without upsetting anyone as far as out historym heritage and local identities were concerned.

The false "Hertfordshire" identity of Potters Bar was further reinforced in 1970 when Parliamentary constituencies were altered and Potters Bar was transferred from Enfield West (Middlesex Division) to South Hertfordshire Parliamentary Constituency. The alien identity was further, and even more strongly, enforced in 1974 when the Local Government Act 1972 came into force and making Potters Bar Urban District part of the newly created Hertsmere District Council. Thus further diminishing of the ancient Middlesex connection as well as confiscating Potters Bar's own identity as a separate local government entity (it had been the Rural District of South Mymms since 1898 and the Urban District of Potters Bar since 1934) The final blow came in 1996 when Potters Bar was finally removed from the Metropolitan Police area and transferred to jurisdiction of Hertfordshire Police. There could have been no reason for this other than to sever the last remaining link between Potters Bar and its true and ancient Middlesex identity. It had been in the Metropolitan Police Area since the latter's creation in 1839 and it had not been considered necessary to change the arrangement in 1965 and the fact that it was eventually done can only be due to pressure for such a change by Hertfordshire County council in order to consolidate it's hold over it's occupied territory.

It will be apparent that these latter alterations to Potters Bar's identity were absolutely unrelated to the 1963 Local Government Act. The very fact that they occurred at different dates after 1965 demonstrates that such alterations were not occasioned by, nor related to, that Act because they were nothing to do with local government and, consequently, there was absolutely no reason for such changes other than for the purely political expedient of reinforcing the "Hertfordshire" misrepresentation ever more deeply and making any possible extrication more and more difficult. Similarly the change of recommended postal address in 1965 which should never have happened served no purpose other than altering people's perception of where they lived. No postal change happened in Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames and it is evident, therefore, that it was unnecessary as, again, it had no connection at all with local government legislation. Yet the Post Office will still insist, when questioned, that they had to do it because Potters Bar "moved to Hertfordshire"! Potters Bar did not "move" anywhere and is still in the same place it has always been, physically, geographically, and spiritually in the County of Middlesex!

Though the identities of many other counties and places within them have been adversely affected by misunderstood local government alterations, none has suffered the total obliteration of its proper county identity as has Potters Bar. At least Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames retain their recommended Middlesex postal address and, thus, the perception of their true Middlesex identity by their inhabitants. Nowhere else has been taken over by an alien county authority and also had its own municipal identity changed to reflect the occupying power as well as its Parliamentary constituency name. One can only wonder why this has been so.

What has Potters Bar done to deserve having its history, heritage and real identity totally eradicated and its inhabitants deprived of their proper birthright? Without going into the realm of conspiracy theories one can only think that this is a very likely case of one having been perpetrated but that still doesn't answer the question of why it was done. The only reasonable answer would seem to be, simply, that, once having taken control of Potters Bar in 1965, Hertfordshire County council, desperate to consolidate its ill-gotten gains, actively sought all the later changes to ensure that no vestige of its connection to Middlesex remained so that no possible divisiveness or "disloyalty" amongst the occupied people would linger for very long and anyone in the future who might have the temerity to challenge the situation and dare to try to disseminate the truth could be written off as a crank or a "King Canute" attempting to stop the tide of "progress". If "progress" means wiping out all traces of the past and abolishing truth then it is not something worthy of those elected to represent us and they have no right to feel proud of their achievements. Change for the sake of change is NOT synonymous with progress and those who believe it is are deluded and just as guilty of assisting the destruction our heritage as those who initiate the unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted changes in the first place.

Stephen Fenn - former County Secretary of The Friends of the County of Middlesex

February 2006