Where to site a vibrant PA community after TSHTF

[NorthernRaider]

Where to site a vibrant PA community after TSHTF
© NR 2013

Let us see how constructive we can be on this subject. Without being too contentious 

Can we for simplicity assume that a societal collapse has occurred for whatever reason you like, the power systems, telecoms systems and normal commerce systems are pretty much knackered and support from central government is not forthcoming.

We shall also assume (forgive me) that the violence has subsided and people are now coming around to the prospect of reaching out to others for trade, commerce, barter, gossip, travel, etc.

So you now want to bring your people back to a world of gregarious community driven people with a sense of normality. You want to see your kids get some education, taught some skills perhaps find an apprenticeship. Your finite and limited resources are getting close to being depleted. You need new shoes, new winter clothes, new or repaired tools, you need salt, you need rough alcohol, you need charged batteries, you need 35 new slates to repair your roof, You need someone to take a look at why your CB no longer works. You crave something other than mutton / lamb and rabbit and you would sell your daughter for a kilo of decent spuds.

You need to trade, barter, earn, meet, share with other folks and you want a regular logistics train to supply it.

So where do you think you and your people should try and build your new society?

Well in my mind I suggest the ideal (using my logic) locations are going to have two fundamental pieces of infrastructure
1 A navigable water way linking your community to the coast (perhaps a coastal town)
2 A preserved heritage steam railway with full facilities.

If you have one or both you have a highway system than can be developed for trade and settlement.

Just as the railways radiated out in the 1820s onwards crisscrossing the nation a decent river or railway can be used to link communities to each other.

In Eire during its steam era some locomotives used to be remote track side properties only supply of hot water. The local stopping train would often be tapped for hot water every couple of days to ensure Mrs Mcguillgan could keep her home clean. In later years when electric lighting was the norm in many carriages the track side residents would give the train crew a battery to charge as they went up the line, and collected the charged battery when it came back down the line.

A static steam locos boiler can be used to operate machinery or to turn a generator.

A rail line even single track from inland can bring cattle, wood, dairy products, coal etc to the coast and take back salt, fish etc, A river can do something similar and it can also allow trade vessels from other parts of the country to navigate a good way upstream to deliver goods, services, passengers etc.

Basically a reliable navigable river and or heritage rail line are essentials to help communities rebuild and reconnect with the rest of the world.

So I think that after a full blown catastrophe when it comes to rebuilding the place to be is something like being between

Nortonfitzwarren and Minehead (WSR)

Whitby to Pickering or Whitby to Nunthorpe (NYMR)

Romney to Hythe (RH&DCR)

Eskdale to Ravenglass RW (The Ratty)

And not forgetting the Welsh Narrow gauge system.

Even if the rail line only runs part of the way to the sea and a river does the other half it opens up great promise for a thriving future.

And of course you could just use the riverine system on its own along traditional rivers and canals with a history or trading.

Imagine over a period of years developing commerce links via rail or sail, using those transit systems to bring in salvage PV arrays and small wind turbines from abandoned settlements.

Living in isolation may provide security, much needed security at that as well, but in time many of us will want to start communicating, trading, dating, import / exporting etc again at some point in time.

With a bit of planning and wisdom you do not need to look for a place to live that has everything you need to survive AND thrive, you just need a modestly self-reliant spot that could access a transport system.

[Highlander]

I think that you cover most needed things, water ways have for centuries held the key to trade and commerce,..and for that reason I am going to say that one of the best places would be where I am now

For Centuries the MacDonalds held the isles around this location for trading and protection, linking all the islands with ease,.....if we come forward from that, the `Jacobit` steam train that runs the line today from Fort William to the port of Mallaig is just the latest of the rail transport to link the isles to more inner lands,..and onto central Scotland .... the sea itself,..as well as making life easy to travel up and down the coastline,.. it becomes very easy to access far inland via sea lochs, for instance, a boat can come from the sea by Acharacle up Loch Shiel all the way to Glenfinnan, and meet up with the rail line and onto Fort Willaim.

The road that covers this now was only built in the late 1960s,... this was how things happened right up to then,..it was how the mail was delivered, it was how Victorian tourists traveled to what they called `far flung corners of the Highlands` .... many of the old folk around here remembered a time when the main form of travel was via the lochs

[MaryN]

Mmm, interesting post. From my own perspective, I would consider somewhere in the South of the country. Better climate for growing stuff, keeping livestock and hopefully avoiding bad weather. Also the possibility of finding ways to get across the Channel. Good fishing in the Channel.

[Mortblanc]

You will find that your new towns will rise up on the ashes of the old towns. Good building sites offer layers of habitation to archaeology.

Each city or village exists for a reason and that reason will often involve the control of territory, control of a transportation center or access to shipping.

Your railroad theory is just that, a theory, Most of the major cities in the UK developed long before steam power was available. If a railroad is present it will draw development but so will other systems of transport.

You could just as well site the existence of the extensive canal system as a focus of growth since canal boats will be much easier to operate using draft animals than a rail system with mechanical rolling stock that would need constant repair.

The speed and type of recovery will determine which cities grow the fastest.

[bigpaul]

by then, i'll be living on my self sufficient farm I wish you all the best of luck !

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sorry not "farm"...smallholding!

[Tartar Horde]

The Esk Valley & Whitby would be a fine choice for us North of the Humber. You would have access to a good river leading to excellent inshore fishing and tidal resources. The NYMR connects to the heart of the North Yorkshire Moors and from there down to the Wolds. There are ample trees for felling, and an abundance of pasture to raise Cattle or pigs. A lot of the North Yorks Villages are pretty well hidden from the major roads, and there are ample drove ways criss crossing the moors that enable you to travel without having to use many roads. Winters are hard on the Moors, but in the Valleys you get a lot more protection from the nasty NE gales, but that doesn't bother us hardy Northern folk lol.

[bigpaul]

your asking them to ALL move up there post shtf HL! you notice i'm saying nothing about the charms of north devon

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(15 June 2013, 11:19)bigpaul Wrote: your asking them to ALL move up there post shtf HL! you notice i'm saying nothing about the charms of north devon

sorry I meant TH.

[Tartar Horde]

(15 June 2013, 11:19)bigpaul Wrote: your asking them to ALL move up there post shtf HL! you notice i'm saying nothing about the charms of north devon

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(15 June 2013, 11:19)bigpaul Wrote: your asking them to ALL move up there post shtf HL! you notice i'm saying nothing about the charms of north devon

sorry I meant TH.

Hell no mate I'm just saying for those of us oop North the Esk Valley is a good place. Bodmin area has the same sort of resources as well, near enough to the Sea with a good range of inland opportunities. Can you imagine someone from the SE living on the North Yorks Moors BP the poor darlings would suffer terribly, and besides that you need to be able to grow a beard you could lose a Badger in

[bigpaul]

(15 June 2013, 11:31)Tartar Horde Wrote: Hell no mate I'm just saying for those of us oop North the Esk Valley is a good place. Bodmin area has the same sort of resources as well, near enough to the Sea with a good range of inland opportunities. Can you imagine someone from the SE living on the North Yorks Moors BP the poor darlings would suffer terribly, and besides that you need to be able to grow a beard you could lose a Badger in

BODMIN? hells teeth, bodmin is a dump....but let all those poor home county types run off to bodmin, they wont last a month in cornwall, the weather comes off BOTH coasts and is atrocious!

[Tartar Horde]

Atrocious weather in Cornwall!!! it's positively tropical compared to the North Yorks Moors BP, you can grow Palm trees down there. Southerners eh

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anyway getting back on topic, the only down side to the Whitby area is the lack of canals that you get further South into Yorkshire. The Canal network is vast and can be accessed from most West and South Yorkshire towns and cities. I'm not sure how long the Canal network would continue to function after any serious breakdown as they are very reliant on servicing the Lock gates and mechanism's.