By the Sea?

[BeardyMan]

(7 January 2014, 19:50)Scythe13 Wrote:

(7 January 2014, 14:08)bigpaul Wrote: ... that's where The Scythe Fair is held ...

You read that right. There is a fair to celebrate me, every year!!! haha

I have visions of morris dancers in muscle vests and shorts dancing round a phallic pole singing.....


MAKE IT STOP!

[Timelord]

A typical resource rich site would be where a tidal estuary narrows and is fed in the nearby area by freshwater rivers/streams. A non glaciated part of the UK like the more Southern areas where the soil is much richer and still has ancient deep deposits not ground away by glacial action. This soil type supports a greater variety of plant, tree and animal life. The dwelling site to be raised on a small hill or low promontory to aid defence and ease of access to the resources, whilst avoiding flood events. The lie of the land is important because you do not want to be cut off and isolated in the event of a flood - Unless you purposefully choose a raised site that is isolated by high Winter water levels. This could be a wetland environment like the Somerset levels where you adapt to water borne transport in the Wet season.

The Tidal estuarine river environment, combined with the freshwater feed inlets and the nearby sea coast would give the most variety of easy to acquire food items for less effort. The local vegetation should include deciduous woodland, possibly hedgerow and if possible fertile farmland.
The raised site should give good onshore wind flow to utilise for small wind turbines and for visibility.

This type of environment was most favoured by our ancient ancestors including Hunter gatherers.

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Obviously not for the wind turbines!! lol.

[Tartar Horde]

A salient point at this time is to mention flooding and your prospective bug out area. Depending on the nature and severity of "the event" it has huge implications for many areas of the UK regarding flooding and re-growth of ancient flood basins and marsh/Carr land.
Historically large areas of England have been drained to make way for farmland and cities, and are only kept that way through an intricate network of pumping stations, all controlled by electricity and computers. Recent events have shown us that these can be overwhelmed by a succession of bad storms, even though those stations were all working and pumping.
In a scenario where the power grid fails these areas will revert quickly back to their natural state. The area of Holderness where I live was formerly a land of Meres (lakes) waterways and Marshes, with the villages all being found on the high ground. Geoffrey Chaucer 1340-1400 in the Summoners tale (part of the Canterbury tales, opens with the line

"Masters, there is in Yorkshire, as I guess,
A marshy region that's called Holderness"

The only Mere left now is Hornsea Mere 120 hectares and the largest natural lake in Yorkshire, but at Chaucers time there were still 50 or so other lakes. If the pumps stopped in Holderness the vast majority of the land would disappear, the remaining small pockets would only support a small population, travel being more efficient by boat than road.
Other flood plains like the areas around the Wash, the Fens, The levels and South Yorkshire wood be impassable.
When William the Bastard took his army Northwards in the Winter of 1069-70 to subdue the Northern counties he was held up by the local Saxons who had destroyed the only bridge allowing access to the area, the rest of the country being bog and marsh and useless for cavalry. Being unable to pronounce the Saxon word for the place he named it "Broken bridge" in Latin PONTEFRACT. So anyone living in this area should be aware of the natural tendency of this area to become wetland and plan accordingly.
The fens which occupy an area of 1500sq miles has always historically been an area of low lying marshland interspersed with high ridges of land where the villages are found. This area also would revert back to its former condition where travel and living area would be severely compromised. To get an idea how the land would look and the extent, imagine an area from Lincoln to Cambridge going East to the coast, the majority of that land underwater. We have historical accounts that describe the land as "wild Fenland". The area was so remote and hard to navigate that Hereward the Wake 1035-72 a Saxon rebel held off the Bastards Army with a small band of men, only succumbing when the attackers built a series of causeways to their stronghold of modern day Ely, which was known as the Isle of Ely. If you live in this area you need to be aware that what is now dry land won't be if the pumps stop. For those people whose plans include a total breakdown of life as we know it, and the breakdown of industrial infrastructure, I would recommend studying your local areas Historical accounts and Archaeological/Geological material as the area you live in may change beyond all recognition very quickly once the pumps stop.

[Timelord]

Good post. History has the majority of answers if only people would look.. Scenario dictates relevance..

[Tartar Horde]

Here's a tip for anyone living in these areas who wants to map the old settlements that hugged the higher areas of land. You could just use an OS map, fair enough that gives you the high ground but it doesn't tell you where the old rivers, marshes and bogs are. I was taught in my Archaeology days to map out the old medieval and Norman/Saxon churches as I guarantee you they will be built on or near the highest ground in low lying areas. If you map these and also find the old roads and byways, by linking the two you can make a map that will give you the ability to navigate your area if and when it floods. Many of the roads in these areas will be under water leaving only the old routes that will still be viable.
Google Earth is a fantastic resource for this as you can plainly see Archaeological traces such as former river beds, lakes etc.

[Devonian]

Also have a look at the following website, I can spend hours on there looking at different maps!!

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html