The Counties of Arransia

Bucklow stretches along the western bank of the Esk on both sides of Danby and reaches up to the outliers of the Western Wolds. It includes a lot of commuter settlements for Danby and in general has a comfortable and prosperous atmosphere, making it Arransia's version of the Home Counties. It is Arransia's wealthiest county in terms of per capita income.

The administrative seat is the cathedral city of Ellerdine, at the extreme south-east of the country, which is a major centre of the brewing industry. Like most of Arransia's medium-sized cities it has some attractive old buildings but has also suffered from uninspired, piecemeal development. The Bain valley running south-east to the market town of Bainbridge has much the same bucolic character as Marchwood. Between the Bain and the Esk are the picturesque Peckover Hills, rising to about 900 feet, in whose shadow is the very pretty town of Clulow. East of here is the highly-developed, industrial Lower Esk Valley, with Carseby and Gedney – which is the largest town in Bucklow – having a similar character to Headlam on the western bank. Sandscale, on the coast between Carseby and Bainbridge, is a slightly faded seaside resort which, following railway electrification, has found favour with Danby commuters.

Further north is a mixture of pleasant agricultural land, with a growing proportion of arable farming, interspersed with market towns that have in many cases expanded to accommodate Danby commuters and some modern light industry. Alford, Thoralby and Ashburn retain some rural character, but Thornley and Belthorpe are now little more than extensions of the capital. Danby's international airport is by the banks of the Esk at Belthorpe. To the west the country becomes more hilly and wooded in the outliers of the Western Wolds.

Byrness is a county of contrasts, stretching from the leafy suburbs of Danby and the industrial banks of the Esk to some surprisingly wild countryside near the east coast. The administrative seat of is the cathedral city of Kirkby Thore, which houses some commuters but functions mostly as a market centre for the county and feels surprisingly remote from Danby. The city of Beadnell* at the tip of the Byrness peninsula has a superb natural harbour and is regarded as the home of the Arransian Navy. With numerous naval facilities, it has a military atmosphere unusual in Arransia. Beadnell is also the terminus for the busy car ferry service to Mayenne, reached via the notorious A2 road which apart from the Brackenhill and Kirkby Thore bypasses is almost entirely three-lane.

With the development of oil imports, Headlam at the mouth of the Esk has become Arransia's biggest port by tonnage if not by value. Surrounded by seemingly endless refineries, chemical works and container depots sprawling over the flat countryside, it is one of the least appealing places in the country. The centre has a very rough nautical atmosphere and much housing in the town consists of barrack-like blocks erected in the 1950s and 60s after extensive bomb damage during the Great War.

Kelthorpe is now largely a dormitory town for Danby and has lost what historic character it once had. Portrouth on the eastern coast has an electrified rail link to Danby taking under an hour in the rush hour and, with its jumble of old houses surrounding the busy fishing and yachting harbour, has become possibly the prime commuter location for the city, with property prices to match. It is also the location of Arransia's most famous golf course.

The Martock Hills in the east of the county rise to about 1200 feet above sea level and include some of the bleakest landscapes within easy reach of Danby. South of Portrouth they tumble down to the sea in a rugged coastline where the cliffs sometimes reach a height of 300 feet.

Byrness also includes the low-lying offshore islands of Inchmay and Inchmurrin, with a total population of about 15,000. They are reached by ferry from Beadnell, but in terms of climate have more in common with Marchwood. In the past, these islands were popular for traditional bucket and spade holidays, but in recent years have become more of a retirement location, although the development of several golf courses has begun to attract older middle-class tourists from both Arransia and the Tri-Cities area of Brunswick.

* Four places in Arransia which are not the seats of bishops are legally entitled to call themselves Cities - Beadnell, Hebburn, Holborough and Petersburgh

The county of Danby covers 68 densely-populated square miles on either side of the Esk. Its boundaries date back to mediaeval times and in the twentieth century the city has expanded beyond them, particularly to the north. Apart from parks and commons there is now no open countryside within the county, although in the 19th century there was a certain amount of dairying and market gardening. On either side of the Esk the land rises to about 150-200 feet, making the site a naturally defensible gap. The Esk is a big river here, still 500 feet wide at the north end of the city. It is tidal through the city centre, but there is a weir and lock at Woodburn, just to the north. Danby is unique in being the only fully unitary local authority in Arransia, although it has consultative local Parish Councils.

The city of Danby itself has many impressive buildings, including the Castle on its rock overlooking the Esk, which doubles as the Royal Palace, the Cathedral of St Mary, with its 537-foot spire which is still the highest building in Arransia, and many elegant houses, especially those lining the banks of the Esk. While the dockland areas were heavily bombed during the Great War, the city centre survived surprisingly intact. Danby is not a major industrial centre, most of its industries being associated with the port. Perhaps it is best known for being the home of Arransia's cigarette factories. It is the centre of government and has the headquarters of banks and insurance companies, which makes it a magnet for commuters. Danby has strict planning regulations against new buildings more than ten storeys high, to protect the vistas of the castle and St Mary's spire.

Although it has central rail tunnels linking the radial lines from east to west and north to south, and cross-city tram routes in tunnel, Danby suffers the worst traffic congestion in Arransia. The Coronation Parkway elevated urban expressway is widely regarded as an eyesore, and while successive Directors of Transport have recommended extending it to become a ring road, the County Council have consistently rejected this. Ultimately it is likely that the A25 will become a full Expressway loop around the city outside its boundaries, which should alleviate the situation.

Edirn, in the north-east of the country, is Arransia’s largest county and also overall its poorest. It is sometimes said to stand in relation to Arransia as Arransia does to the rest of Sabrantia. It has a cool, windy climate and the landscape in many places is distinctly bleak.

The administrative seat is the cathedral city of Barcaldine in the north of the county at the mouth of the Rye. Barcaldine has an impressive castle overlooking the river and an almost complete set of town walls. It also has one of Arransia’s finest mediaeval cathedrals. Edirn is unique amongst Arransian counties in having two ecclesiastical dioceses, as Aldminster to the south is also the seat of a bishop. Aldminster is home to one of Arransia’s four ancient universities, with about 5,000 students organised in 17 colleges. Its dignified grey stone buildings give it a serious, academic air. Aldminster is considered Arransia’s premier university, but in recent years many students have been choosing to attend the universities in the big cities rather than Aldminster, Ormsby or Pentrich as the night-life is felt to be better.

Along the coast are a number of fishing ports such as Lemingore, Marske and Bouth. Marske is the main centre for distant water fishing, with the others concentrating more on home waters. Lemingore is also Edirn’s biggest commercial port and the base for the Navy’s fishery protection squadron. Golsingby at the extreme north is home to Arransia’s controversial whaling fleet and its shipowning families also run the country’s deep-water salvage tugs, in what is often felt to be a somewhat piratical manner. Golsingby has a not entirely undeserved reputation as a rough and lawless place and is best avoided by tourists. Although the fishing industry has declined somewhat in the past thirty years, it still provides a lot of employment and Arransia exports fresh, canned and frozen fish to all parts of Sabrantia. Historically Edirn has provided many of the enlisted men for the Navy, although the officers tend to come more from Teviot and Marchwood. In pre-war days, shipowners from Edirn owned many tramp steamers which operated all over the world, but losses during the war and the growth of flags of convenience has greatly reduced this.

From the 1990s onwards there has been a limited amount of oil drilling off the coast of Edirn, which so far has found some small reserves but not enough for serious commercial production. This is a tantalising prospect for Arransia, as the discovery of significant oil reserves would clearly give a large boost to the country’s economy.

The quality of agricultural land in Edirn is low, and this is the main factor contributing to the county’s relative poverty. Barley is grown in the south, but to the north oats and root crops such as turnips tend to predominate. It is the only part of Arransia where there are significant areas of uncultivated lowland heath and scrub. The north-east coast between Thurness and Marske is particularly infertile, and here there is a very sparse population and extensive areas of sand dunes which in places, given the low rainfall, merge together to produce patches of semi-desert. The Harkness peninsula which contains Bouth and Golsingby has more sheltered land and also contains a number of Arransia’s best-regarded whisky distilleries.

In the south-west of the county are the windswept Edirn Moors, which rise to about 1700 feet and comprise a bleak tableland broken by steep wooded valleys. Most of the moorland is given over to sheep grazing, but the quality of the meat is generally not as good as that from Hanwold, and small farmers here struggle to make a living.The eastern extremity of the Arransian coalfield extends about as far as Ulpha and there are a number of small collieries, although the seams tend to be harder to work than further west. The prosperous town of Balfron on the Derwent, which has more in common with Pentmark, is internationally known for the manufacture of paper-making machinery.

The Edirn Moors were also in the past a centre of the textile industry, with the fast-flowing rivers providing power for the mills. However, this industry has been largely wiped out by foreign competition and has left towns such as Golcar very depressed. Since these towns have very well-built stone houses, they have become home to sizeable colonies of hippyish settlers from Brunswick, attracted by the low property prices and the blind eye turned to cannabis use. The A6 road between Stainton and Aldminster, well-known for its precipitous hills when crossing the valleys, is currently being progressively upgraded to Expressway status as a regeneration project, which has not gone down too well with the hippies. In 2002 the hippies succeeded in electing Independent MPs for Golcar and Ulpha (with support from local farmers) who have proved a thorn in the side of the government and provide a hitherto unusual left-wing voice in Arransian politics. Another area of conflict is low-level training flights by RNAS aircraft. The Edirn County Council tends to be controlled by particularly conservative-minded Liberals and there is quite a lot of ill-feeling.

Off the north-east coast of Edirn is the mountainous island of Craig Holm, whose peak, unimaginatively called The Craig, is actually the highest point in Edirn at almost 2,000 feet above sea level. The island has a population of about 2,500, and is best known for its two small malt whisky distilleries. There is a narrow-gauge steam railway between the two main settlements, Portruan and Grenaby, which now operates only in the summer months. Craig Holm is somewhat notorious for the fact that, as it is only 13 miles from end to end, the government have given it a dispensation not to operate road tax or vehicle condition tests, with the result that its roads are populated by battered, rusty wrecks.

Hanwold is a mainly upland county with a long western border with Brunswick. These extensive uplands are confusingly called the Western Wolds in Arransia and the Eastern Moors in Brunswick. The landscape is mostly a high tableland split by steep, wooded valleys, although it does become more rugged towards the south of the county, where Bleak Fell at 2512 feet above sea level is the highest point on the Arransian side of the border. The large reservoirs of Semerwater and Monksmere created by hydro-electric dams provide some contrast in the scenery. The moorland is mainly used for sheep grazing. The underlying rock is predominantly limestone and there are a number of often unsightly quarries. Almost half the land area of the county forms the Western Wolds National Park.

Hanwold is Arransia’s most sparsely populated county, with no large towns. The administrative seat is Sabden in the north, which only has about 26,000 people. Like many Hanwold towns, Sabden has a wealth of attractive limestone buildings. To the east is the spa town of Ainsby Wells, which contains some elegant planned developments from the 19th century. In the post-war era it became very run-down, but is currently being restored. Further south are a number of pleasant and rather isolated market towns such as Shelve and Rushbury, connected by scenic and challenging moorland roads which on summer weekends are popular with motorcyclists. The steeply-graded railway line between Rushbury and Sabden links a number of quarries and sees a surprisingly heavy freight traffic, all now (unlike in the north-west of Arransia) diesel-hauled.

Hanwold does not have its own bishopric and is split between the dioceses of Ormsby, Ellerdine and Laithby.

Apart from Danby, Holburn is Arransia’s smallest mainland county in terms of land area, although it is relatively densely populated. It was, of course, for many years only half a county, as South Holburn, which has a slightly greater area, was ceded to Brunswick in 1949 under the Treaty of Ynysforgan, and only returned to Arransia in 2006. While the administrative seat, Holborough, remained in Arransia, the cathedral city of Scaggleby was for many years in Brunswick.

Holburn stretches from the northern edge of the Laithby Marishes up to some of the highest peaks in the Black Mountains. There is some magnificent mountain scenery in the extreme north-west, including part of the Black Mountains National Park but apart from that the scene is unrelentingly industrial, with numerous collieries, three giant power stations, smokeless fuel plants, steelworks, foundries, slagheaps, clay pits and stagnant ponds dotting the landscape.

Holborough is a large and busy city with a university and some fine civic buildings. Although heavily industrialised, it is dramatically situated between steep wooded hills which somewhat relieve the outlook. The large towns of Kilburn and Kersall further south on the fringes of the Laithby Marishes lack this redeeming feature and indeed Kersall was recently chosen in a poll as “Most unpleasant place in Sabrantia” – although the locals were quick to point out that a majority of those voting were Brunswickians, and Brunswick is not itself entirely devoid of industrial grot*. They also make the point that much of Holburn’s industry is thriving, and there are plenty of new cars, satellite dishes and loft conversions to be seen on the streets. In fact many residents of Kersall regard such an award as a badge of honour. The area around Kilburn and Kersall also has extensive clay deposits and is a centre of pottery manufacture.

The north-eastern part of South Holburn around Northcotes and Warcop is fairly similar to the rest of the county, with coal-mining and metal industries, but also some fine scenery on the northern border. The remainder of the area is more low-lying, wooded and pastoral. In the last twenty years of Brunswickian rule, some of the rural areas became depopulated and scrub and woodland began to reclaim former farmland. Scaggleby, despite its name, is an attractive small cathedral city, with a number of old half-timbered buildings, and a university college founded in the 1780s. The return of South Holburn to Arransia is likely to open up the tourist industry in the area.

* two of the Top Ten Most Pleasant places – Ormsby and Portrouth – were in fact in Arransia

Laithe is a somewhat disjointed county lying in the centre of Arransia. It is divided between the area to the east around Dunsmere and the Upper Esk, and the area further west sloping down from the Western Wolds to the Laithby Marishes, with the Roker Hills and the Pelforth Gap marking the transition between the two.

The administrative seat is Laithby, Arransia’s least appealing cathedral city, which has been extensively redeveloped and has more the character of a workaday industrial town. It is a centre of glass and dyestuffs manufacture and is noted for the odd colours that emanate from some of its factory chimneys. South of here is hilly country similar to the northern part of Hanwold, but which has become more industrialised with, in the past, a lot of textile mills. This area seems to have made the transition to modern industry more successfully than western Edirn, and many of the mills have been converted to carpet manufacture which is less susceptible than garments to imports.

North of Laithby are the notorious Laithby Marishes, which are divided between Laithe, Holburn and Stainland, but mostly fall within Laithe. This flat, swampy area, the “dead heart of Arransia”, has over the years been reduced in size by land reclamation, but still covers over 90 square miles, supporting a population of around 5,000 living in scattered hamlets on various small patches of solid ground. There are no metalled roads running all the way through the Marishes, and the area is still regarded as mysterious and impenetrable. Most of it is covered by reeds over 10 feet tall, so it is impossible to see for any distance. The basic water level in the Marishes is 287 feet above sea level. As some fairly substantial rivers flow into the Marishes, in particular the Leven from Regina and the Hodder from Holborough, it is believed that some water is lost to underground aquifers, rather than simply evaporating, but this has never been conclusively established. The insular local community of the Marishmen were once said to exist mainly on the eels which abound in the brackish waters, but many now commute to work in the surrounding towns. However, they still have a reputation for avoiding taxes, general lawlessness and being unwelcoming to strangers, and a surprising amount of Arransian horror literature has them interbreeding with mythical swamp creatures.

Further west is the town of Whitcastle, whose impressive castle on its rocky outcrop commands the traditional route from the Brunswickian heartland to Stainton. Whitcastle is also a major railway junction. A little further west again is Regina, the only town on the Brunswick-Arransia border that is actually divided between the two countries. It was originally a planned town created in honour of Queen Margaret, but since 1716 has mainly belonged to Brunswick, with the Arransian part being essentially a 19th century suburb, and Arransia does not come off too well from the comparison. The border just runs down the middle of several streets and therefore cannot be effectively controlled here. Due to the disparity in prices, there are no petrol stations on the Arransian side of the border, and no off-licences and very few pubs on the Brunswickian side.

The dividing line along the centre of Laithe is marked by the Roker Hills, on which stands the surprising fortified town of Rocastle at a height of 560 feet above sea level. This is a very small place now, but in its history withstood two lengthy sieges and is a major tourist attraction. The eastern part of the county is dominated by the large, deep lake of Dunsmere which covers about 65 square miles and is by far Arransian’s largest inland body of water. The surface of Dunsmere is 54 feet above sea level, and the lake in places is over 300 feet deep. There is a legend of a monster living in the depths, but nothing bigger than giant carp and pike has ever been found. The lake was bypassed by a canal in the 1770s, as horse-drawn boats could not navigate it, but is used by modern motor barges, and is also a centre of power boating and water-skiing. In winter it can become surprisingly rough for a body of inland water. It has not frozen solid since the notorious winter of 1821.

Just north of Dunsmere is Laithe’s largest town, and Arransia’s fourth largest, the city of Petersburgh, a modern industrial centre which is the home of Arransian National Railways’ principal carriage works. It also houses the assembly plant of the Arransian Motor Corporation, employing over 15,000 people, which is the largest single industrial plant in the country. Although originally a small historic market town, Petersburgh is one of the few towns and cities in Arransia to have been developed in a planned manner by the local council, and is characterised by spacious boulevards and leafy estates. The design has also been optimised for tram services, while the city also boasts the only fully grade-separated inner ring road in Arransia.

Lunan is the only mainland county in Arransia (apart from Danby) with no land more than 500 feet above sea level. It is a stretch of rolling agricultural land between the Esk and the east coast, mainly given over to wheat and barley growing, the latter becoming more dominant further to the north.

The administrative seat is the city of Wrangle at the northern extremity of the county Although some way up the River Till, Wrangle is a significant port and is also a major centre of agriculture-related industries such as flour milling, malting, food processing and animal feed manufacture. The towns of Fishtoft and Thorganby have more historic character, however. On the east coast is the holiday resort of Skegg, with its long, curving promenade and 19th century pier, which in past years was a favourite destination for Danbeians, but is now looking rather down-at-heel.

In contrast, the towns along the Esk Valley, such as Kirtlebridge and Dunsford, are very prosperous, being popular with Danby commuters and also, with their good road and rail connections and proximity to Danby International Airport, having become centres of the electronics and computer industries. It is often felt along the Esk that the mainly Labour-controlled County Council in Wrangle is too concerned with agricultural interests and does not show enough interest in new industries.

Marchwood is Arransia's southernmost county, rising gently from the sea to the southern outliers of the Western Wolds. It enjoys a mild, balmy climate untypical of the rest of the country. The River Barrow, with its long, deep-water estuary, runs through the middle of the county.

The administrative seat is the historic cathedral city of Ormsby, at the lowest bridging point of the Barrow, which is the site of one of Arransia's four ancient universities. The centre of Ormsby is mostly timber-built and it is probably the most picturesque of the country's larger towns and cities. With a student population of about 3,000 in term time, it is also more lively than many similar places. Further down the Barrow estuary is the major port of Ince, which handles a lot of fruit and grain imports and also a growing volume of trade heading for Brunswick using the railway line to Ynysforgan which was electrified in the early 1990s. Ince is a workaday place but, as it does not handle coal and only deals with oil to a limited extent, it is markedly more salubrious than Headlam, Howick and the Tean ports. Ince also has the only major shipyard in the southern half of the country, Goodson Brothers, which concentrates on building specialist cargo ships.The other major town is Briggswath further up the Barrow, which has the largest livestock market in Arransia and a number of abbatoirs and meat processing plants, although the town itself is very attractive, in many ways like a smaller and slightly more down-to-earth version of Ormsby.

Most of Marchwood is very rural, with rich, fertile farmland mainly devoted to cattle raising and fruit growing, and the area is often referred to as the "Garden of Arransia". The county is famous for its beef, cheese, hops, apples and cider. It is dotted with pretty small market towns and villages, generally featuring many old half-timbered buildings. In recent years weekend retreats in Marchwood have become popular with well-to-do Brunswickians from the Tri-Cities, which has caused some resentment amongst locals because of rising property prices. The coast has the fishing harbours of Greenore and Stackpole, and the rather genteel seaside resorts of Gowansby and Southerby. Southerby is just about commutable from the Tri-Cities by road or rail and has become a very prosperous place with a distinctly Brunswickian atmosphere.

There are numerous old castles and manor houses and the county is a favourite destination for the more educated kind of tourists from throughout Sabrantia. Part of the Western Wolds around Gautby has been designated a National Park. There is a major hydro-electric scheme at Eltermere above Marchwiel, which has produced a large, sheltered lake that is very popular for watersports.

Pentmark is Arransia’s most populous county, and occupies the central part of the north coast between Teviot and Edirn. It offers a distinct contrast between the industrial areas to the south, and some surprisingly wild country to the north.

The administrative seat, unusually for Arransia, is far from the largest place in the county, the city of Pentrich only having about 38,000 people. It is the seat of Arransia’s second archbishop and has a small but ancient university, mainly devoted to theology and philosophy, which dates back to the 14th century. The cathedral of St John is one of the largest and most architecturally distinguished in the country, and together with the archbishops’ palace and the university buildings forms an impressive grouping with a mediaeval, cloistered air.

At the centre of Pentmark is the wide, deep estuary of the Tean, which has provided a sheltered anchorage for hundreds of years, and on whose banks a number of ports have grown up, now unified under the Tean Conservancy. It is Arransia’s biggest port by value and second biggest by tonnage, after Headlam. The largest port town, and Arransia’s third largest city, is Hebburn, whose original core is on the ridge of high ground between the Rivers Tean and Irk, but which has now sprawled across the Irk to the east and several miles to the south. Across the Tean, linked by three noteworthy bridges, is Hebburn’s sister town of Gosforth. Hebburn retains a few ancient buildings, including its formidable castle, but the cityscape is mainly a 19th century creation. Hebburn is home to the McLaughlin & Reed shipyard, the largest in Arransia and the second largest in Sabrantia. Hebburn has no proper ring road and suffers from chronic congestion, with three expressways basically emptying their traffic directly into the city.

The Tean also has the James Caird shipyard at Elswick at the mouth of the estuary which specialises in larger vessels and has built bulk carriers and tankers up to 200,000 tons. Elswick also has an oil refinery and chemical works. The mouth of the Tean is spanned by the distinctive cantilever Tean Bridge carrying a road and railway.

The southern part of Pentmark is an industrial area similar to Stainland, with a number of coal mines and engineering works. Further east, the county becomes more agricultural, growing barley and root crops and also around Barmere seeing a lot of dairy cattle. The large town and port of Tetney stands at the extreme East of Pentmark at the head of the Embo Firth. The sheltered waters of this multi-branched inlet have for a long time made it a favoured location for laying up ships when out of service, and this gives it an interest to the maritime enthusiast even if perhaps a blot on the landscape. Arransia’s largest shipbreakers are situated on the Embo Firth north-west of Tetney. North of the Embo Firth the scenery becomes more hilly towards Ugglesby Head. This area includes the picturesque stone-built town of Spynie with its old royal hunting lodge.

In the north-west of Pentmark the scenery changes to that of the rugged Broxa Peninsula which eventually falls into the sea at the towering cliffs of Broxa Head. This area contains some of Arransia’s starkest scenery, and is home to substantial populations of bears, wolves and red deer. It is also the location of some of Arransia’s most highly regarded whisky distilleries including Burnfoot and Broxa itself. The Skelwick Firth on the east side of the peninsula is the base for Arransia’s coastal reconnaissance force of R-16 flying boats. The rail passenger service from Hebburn to Skelwick via the resort and fishing port of Croy is mostly steam-worked, and is very popular with tourists.

Stainland is the only county in Arransia which has neither a sea coast nor a stretch of border with Brunswick. It is centred on the city of Stainton which, with a population of almost 900,000, is Arransia’s second largest city, and can be said to stand at the crossroads of the country. It is a major railway and canal junction and is the only city in Arransia to have a complete Expressway ring. There is now only one coal mine within the city boundaries, and it is a centre of engineering, brewing and chemical and pharmaceutical manufacture. The principal locomotive works of Arransian National Railways are situated in Stainton, and it has Arransia’s largest commercial vehicle builder.

In the 1930s and early 1940s the city developed a number of spacious residential estates around its edge, served by distinctive wide dual-carriageway boulevards with tram tracks running along the central reservation. There also are several large peripheral trading estates. Despite its industrial character, Stainton is also a historic cathedral city, and has a well-preserved Old Town quarter which, unlike many other Arransian cities, has not been spoilt by modern commerce, as the new business and shopping centre developed to the east. The city has some wealthy suburbs on the high ground to the north-west which include many impressive stone-built houses. More than anywhere else in Arransia the city council have attempted to improve transport within the boundaries by building new roads, and while the network is somewhat disjointed it flows markedly better than Danby, especially after the southern A6 Expressway bypass was opened in 1996. The famous “Stainton Throughpass” is an innovative piece of 1920s road design which is still heavily used today.

The remainder of Stainland is predominantly industrial, dominated by coal mining and engineering. However, the prospect is not so unrelentingly grim as Holburn, and the mines and factories are interspersed with agricultural land, mainly growing barley and root crops. The principal towns are Coalbrook, which is much as it sounds from the name, and Torrisholme, historically a centre of silk manufacture, which has now become a desirable commuter town. The south-western border of Stainland adjoins the Laithby Marishes.

Teviot lies in the north-west of Arransia and, apart from Verne, is the only county with a predominantly west-facing coast. The landscape slopes down from the Black Mountains to the sea and is broken by a number of steep-sided river valleys. The climate, warmed by the Serenity Current, is fairly mild near the coast but becomes cooler further inland. There is a distinctive agricultural economy of smallish mixed farms and the rural population is about the densest in Arransia. In many places, the countryside has a network of narrow sunken lanes, resulting in an appearance very different to other parts of the country. The area south-west of Howick around Barkwith near the Brunswick border is especially sleepy and rustic.

The north-western fringes of the Black Mountains are where the Arransian coalfield comes to the surface and this was the first area in the country where coal reserves were exploited. Coal was being shipped out of Howick and Lucker all along the north coast of Brunswick as early as the 15th century. The coal reserves stop abruptly along a line just inland from Howick to Lucker. Most of the reserves near the surface have long since been exhausted, but there are still a number of deep mines in the hinterland.

The administrative seat is the large city of Howick, where the River Burn cuts a gorge 150 feet deep through the landscape. Howick has one of the most jumbled and complex plans of any Arransian city and is an intriguing mix of history and industry. The river is dominated by the part-ruined castle, and is crossed by the 15th century Earl’s Bridge, where the central stone spans were replaced by a 19th century iron swing span. This rather jarring juxtaposition of ancient and (at one time) modern is often seen as rather representative of Arransia as a whole. Howick is a major general cargo port and also handles a large volume of coal exports, and iron ore imports for the steelworks at Ferndale and Holborough. It is only in the past few years that a turning basin was excavated on the southern bank of the river – before that, any ships over about 550 feet long, which included many bulk carriers using the port, had to be towed backwards down the Burn estuary to the open sea. The port of Howick, with the wharves lining the steep banks of the river, and a pall of coal dust hanging over the whole scene, is a memorable if far from pretty sight. Howick also has one of Arransia’s four major shipyards, Strachan’s, which has built ships of up to 50,000 tons despite its awkward site.

Ferndale, inland from Howick, is a major centre of steelmaking and coalmining, and presents a scene of industrial activity overlooked by steep wooded hills similar to Holborough. Skerne, on the coast north-east of Howick at the mouth of the Don, is Arransia’s second largest naval base and home of the submarine service. It was also the port of departure for transoceanic passenger liners to Acadia, although this service petered out in the early 1970s. Other major towns are the busy port and market centre of Lucker, and Cleave, which is a surprisingly elegant seaside resort that is more refined than Fleetby in Verne and certainly much less down-at-heel than Skegg in Lunan. Sorbie is an 18th century planned town with a geometric grid plan very unusual in Arransia.

In the extreme south-west of Teviot along the Brunswickian border is the dramatic Rawfell Range, whose peaks have a particularly mountainous appearance as they rise in a fairly short distance from low ground. The highest point in Arransia is Rawfell Pike, whose summit is 3007 feet above sea level. The nearby Brunswickian mountain of Dungeon Fell reaches 3125 feet, however. Rawfell Pike has a steam-worked rack railway running to the top, and the pub on the summit, the Prospect Inn, offers superb views in all directions, especially to the north towards the sea and Verne Island.

The main railway line through Teviot from the Brunswickian border to Pentrich is electrified, as are the links from Lucker to Skerne and Holborough. However, much of the rest of Teviot remains a stronghold of steam operation, in particular the steeply-graded route from Ferndale to Holborough, which is the stamping ground of the mighty Class X3 Garratts. This makes Teviot the part of Arransia most visited by tourists from Brunswick. Many of these visitors expect Arransia to be full of quirks and oddities, and it must be said that some businesses in Teviot rather play up to this image. The three large counties at the corners of Arransia – Teviot, Edirn and Marchwood – are probably the ones where a distinctive “county” identity is felt most strongly. John Brodie, Arransia’s most famous admiral (who later became Earl of Luce), was a Howick man, and the city’s airport is called John Brodie International Airport.

Verne covers Verne Island and is Arransia's smallest county by population and second smallest by area. The island is generally flat and nowhere rises above 100 feet. The north-west coast is mainly sand dunes and on the indented south-eastern coast there are extensive salt marshes. The climate is very mild, warmed by the Serenity Current, and there is some market gardening in the interior, although in general it is not very productive agriculturally. The administrative seat is the small cathedral city of Kirkbride which retains a complete set of mediaeval walls and moat and has been made a World Heritage Site. The diocese of Kirkbride also includes the northern part of Teviot around Skerne and Lucker. On the north-west coast are a string of popular holiday resorts, including the somewhat brash Fleetby, famous for its antique tram system, and the more sedate Drumness.

The island is linked to the mainland by the famous mile-long combined road and rail bridge. Near the bridge is the small port of Hauxley, the only harbour on the island where cargo ships can berth. Dominated by the island's 1930s-built coal-fired power station, it is a surprisingly unprepossessing place compared with the rest of the island.

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