The upcoming electoral boundary changes will fuck things up even more.
It means you could be in a different county to the one you vote in, the one your postal code is, your historical one, the one you were born in, the one that polices you and the local health authority you are under.
All without moving.
It's actually fucked up in terms of identity. So actually I think people belligerently imposing what they think others are on them is an act of rudeness and has no bearing on where people necessarily 'live their lives' especially in areas of significant overlap of various administration.
Cheshire effectively no long exists as a county with any power. It is purely an historical entity.
Cheshire Police covers parts of Runcorn which is part of Halton. Halton is part of the six boroughs of Liverpool City Region. Yet the metropolitan are of Merseyside is five counties not including Halton.
Warrington and Halton are part of the same hospital trust. Warrington is a unity authority and part of neither Chester and Cheshire West nor Cheshire East. Warrington has a WA postcode.
Altrincham and Knutsford also have WA post codes. Altrincham is in Trafford. Knutsford is in Cheshire East. One of the main postal distribution centres is in Altrincham and covers a wide area - including many parts not in the same county.
Tatton is about to be abolished. It was created from parts of Runcorn, Cheadle, Northwich and Knutsford. Its history owes a lot to the historical boundaries of the old Cheshire hundred 'Bucklow'. See the map. It dates back to 1260
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucklow_Hundred Bucklow Rural District (you know where you register births, deaths and marriages) existed from 1894 to 1974. It was the rural area to the around Knutsford. Being more rural this shaped it's development and actually this has a lot to do with the current character of these areas today despite them being in multiple different authorities for different things. Where is built up and developed owes a lot to this boundary today. Planning decisions and priorities made in the 1950, 60 and 70s remain very relevant (where roads and houses were plonked and create their own new boundaries and communities which still exist today).
Then let's talk about Ellesmere Port. Currently part of Chester and Cheshire West. It used to be its own county of Ellesmere Port and Neston. A relic of this is Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency which still exists. Neston used to be part of Wirral.
Warrington South Constituency broadly follows the border of the Mersey. This is where the old county boundary of Cheshire was. It is about to change. The character of Warrington South differs considerably to Warrington North. Warrington has one of the highest levels of inequality in the country - and that pretty much follows the old Cheshire border. People from Warrington North will still put Lancashire on their addresses, which the South will put Cheshire. It's not simply about snobbery as it happens both sides of the Mersey. Warrington North is more urbanised and centres around the town, whilst Warrington South is firmly suburban commuter belt with people more typical working greater distances from home (or since COVID working from home). People in Warrington South will often have closer ties with other areas rather than being tied to the town itself.
All of this is relevant to where you regard yourself from. And what your identity is.
Personally I think the idea of being Mancunian tends to link with how urban the area you live in is now - how close you live to a metrolink stop has more of a bearing than whether you are within the confines of Greater Manchester.
The towns to the north of Manchester tend to have particularly strong local identities whilst still forming part of Greater Manchester. This also ties with migration patterns: the south Manchester commuter belt has seen more of an influx of people from the south England and more people have left to go to university/ find jobs elsewhere, which has broken traditional senses of identity in a different way to the north where people have stayed for longer.
This is also why not everyone gets why these identities remain important to some. They don't share in that history and have perhaps moved about more either themselves or their parents have in recent years. And there are elements of socio-economic history and pride that remain important.
People who are dismissive of this, don't understand and are looking to remove things which are important to others. Things do change and we don't live in 1974 anymore but there are still things which continue to be important and have an impact on lives and there is a heritage contained in there too. Cheshire was a very rural area (much of it still is). If you don't have good public transport that has an impact on your day to day life and how you live it. For me a modern Mancunian identity relates to this concept of urban connectivity.
The whole thing fascinates me tbh.