Hereford and Worcester

views updated May 14 2018

Hereford and Worcester. This was a new county, formed under the Local Government Act of 1972. It included the county borough of Worcester, the old county of Hereford, and all of Worcestershire, save for Dudley, Halesowen, and Stourbridge, hived off to West Midlands. There was considerable opposition from Herefordshire, the smaller of the counties, complaining that it had little in common with the industrialized parts of north Worcestershire. A Hereford bull was paraded in Whitehall in protest. The debate turned largely on the extent to which the Malverns formed a natural barrier. But in accordance with the Banham commission recommendation of 1994 the two counties were separated once more in 1998.

J. A. Cannon