Rueing regional change

In your Q&A column in the May issue, K.S. asks “Why do people use names for their local areas that do not exist on the map like Périgord or Sain­tonge?” perhaps forgetting that we do the same in England.

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I was born and bred in Wessex, but you will search in vain for any indication of that former kingdom of the West Saxons on an ordinary road map or the Ordnance Survey map today. Similarly, in 1974, the people of Rutland were most annoyed to discover that, according to officials in London, their counties no longer existed.

I suspect you could find similar examples in most countries of local sentiments being crushed by national government policies, but not all local communities are prepared to take such high-handed treatment lying down.

S MORGAN, Finistère

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