Colony

[The Local Ned]

Whilst I can appreciate the motivation behind this exercise - the location is moot for anyone further north than Derby IMHO.

Easier locations with similar conditions and resources can be found around the peak district , and to an extent the yorks dales.So the bigger urban areas like Manchester / Liverpool may well avoid the trek down to Wales ?

All points North of Manchester , and south of carlisle will be headed for the lake district as their safe area , would be extremely naive to think there are better areas further away to bide your time in.

All points North East , towards the pennines no doubt.

Most big urban areas will be no-go zones , larger towns will become boltholes for the displaced city folks , smaller towns will become ghost towns - once the anarchy begins. Villages will probably batten the hatches and try to weather the storm as organised small communities always do , but against large or even smaller aggressive scavenger groups , they may well fall.

Simply by using Google maps , its quite possible to get a general feel of an area , I've never been to Wales , but I think I got most of the salient points correct in my summary of the location and what an organised prepper group may find / need there.
Do your homework and work out which areas will probably be no-go , which may be possible as scavenge targets , and which may possibly be capable of carrying on due to factors such as geographical features etc.

Do not be surprised to find that as society dissolves around us - the armed forces take and hold their nearest ground and consolidate their strength. Garrison areas might be a good bet , then again - under orders - they may just fall back into the larger urban areas to pacify any unrest.

Either way - somewhere remote , with good resources , is your best bet to avoid confrontation and violence once TSHTF.

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@ Weyoun.

Those 7.5 tonners may well be looked on as someones potential transport to safety mate.
I have no ideas how you could actually achieve safety using those during a crisis...slow,cumbersome - hard to hide.

If I had cash - I would buy some very small plots of land in hilly areas - and build small reinforced bunker type buildings with good strong doors and cache some of your gear at various places - split it up on your likely axis of travel.

You get hijacked , you only lose some , not all.

Head to nearest cache and try to find new transport if possible , using some of those supplies to barter - as you say it will be as good as currency - might get you more transport.

Unless you get a good head start and are well ahead of a collapse then any road travel will be very hazardous.
You will no doubt come across civil authority roadblocks on the major routes which will be getting congested ,they will be trying to stem ,and get control of ,the exodus from the cities , vehicles will be searched, and anything useful - like ALL of the supplies on your 7.5 tonners , confiscated.

Minor routes will be easier to travel on , but will be more prone to hijackings / ambush.

Might I suggest - choose your safe area - one thats the easiest/quickest to get to, build a small garage/bunker and cache everything there , vehicles , the lot. Use deception - put signs around it as a 'telephone exchange' or something that nobody will be interested in...scatter some old rusty machinery around it and disguise the true purpose of the place , pay attention to detail, well oiled / new, hinges and padlocks are a dead giveaway that a place is in use or may store something valuable - despite what its outward appearance resembles.
When the time comes - get in your own transport and head for that area quickly, and mount up in the 7.5 tonners.
Time will be of the essence if you travel by main road to any proposed 'colony' area.So , have your route , alternate route , and an 'if all else fails' route prepared and constantly monitored for any works to be carried out on them , adjust accordingly.
Also - if the trip cannot be done in the one journey then have your stop off point identified and marked. Leave n o t h i n g to chance.

But as the motorway signs always say - EXPECT DELAYS.