TODAY, November 27, marks Lancashire Day - a celebration of the historic county which can trace its origins back more than 800 years. 

Lancashire Day is the county day of historic Lancashire in England.

The county traces its origins back more than eight centuries to 1182.

Lancashire Day is held on November 27, to commemorate the day in 1295 when the county first sent representatives to Parliament, to attend the Model Parliament of King Edward I.

Lancashire Day was first held in 1996.

READ > The story behind St Helens' new coat of arms

The day is always one that raises the age-old debate in St Helens of which county the town should be attributed to, its historic Lancashire home or Merseyside, the creation of the 1974 Local Government Act which carved up the ancient counties - though only for "administrative" purposes we were told at the time. 

Whereas across the Pennines the White Rose county of Yorkshire was, aside from the odd boundary tweak, largely more or less just split into north, south, west and (eventually) east, Lancashire was cut up into a mish-mash of 'new' counties, like Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Meanwhile, some Lancastrian areas in the south of the county were put under a new amended 'Cheshire', and in the north given to Cumbria.

Despite the 'Merseyside' name being latched on to enthusiastically by our Liverpudlian neighbours, and ubiquitously featuring on envelopes, and the names of our police and fire and rescue services, many people in St Helens still remain proud to associate with their Lancastrian identity.

Of course, Merseyside County Council itself was to be abolished only 12 years after its creation, in 1986.

And townsfolk are right to say that they still live in Lancashire, as the 1974  Government legislation itself states: "The new county boundaries are administrative areas, and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties, nor is it intended that the loyalties of people living in them will change despite the different names adopted by the new administrative counties.”

Political volunteer-run group Friends of Real Lancashire was established in 1995 to promote, protect and preserve the true identity of the county of Lancashire.

Of course, St Helens isn't the only Lancashire town to have its identity confused by the 1974 Act. Neighbours Warrington and Widnes were similarly shunted out of the Red Rose county's administrative area, and given a fresh coat of gloss emerging as part of the Cheshire set.

Meanwhile, our old friends 'over the Lump' in Wigan were sentenced to life in the land of the 0161-ers – Greater Manchester.

So wherever you are in St Helens, or across the Red Rose County, Happy Lancashire Day!