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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Guest Post: Is this the way to…….., By Northern Raider

The StandImage via Wikipedia

http://preppersuk.freeforums.org
© 2011Northern Raider

I was just watching Stephen Kings survivalist classic “The Stand” again this afternoon and it set me pondering our longer term survival a bit.
Let us assume for a moment we survive reasonably intact whatever form the collapse turns out to be, We are secure in our retreats and rural piles or still getting by in our city apartments with their rooftop gardens. We made it past the end of the world as we know it.

So what next?

I suggest that in time we inevitably will start to run short of certain items such as tyres, batteries, eye glasses, oil, canned goods etc. Eventually we will need to consider getting “things rolling again”

I am already discounting the agrarian back to basics lifestyle of the Amish etc I want more and better for my family. I LIKE many of the trappings and conveniences of modern society. I do enjoy the prospect of growing much of my own food but equally I do enjoy the benefits if electricity, running water, fresh canned produce, machine made clothes and automotives

I did not put all this effort into getting my family through a collapse for them ending up living like pre 1900 Highland crofters. I think most of us at heart want to pick some of the better facets of modern society and blend them into a more traditional lifestyle.

Can we for the sake of argument say we all roughly agree in principle agree some sort of hybridised society is likely to form, but what will our priorities be?

I believe that during the collapse and in the IMMEDIATE aftermath only we will seek to contact other reliable and known to each other preppers. We will want to meet, talk, barter, learn and trade with each other as the old society and sheeple fade away. In this I assumed in previous articles that we would probably gather twice or more a year to trade etc.; Perhaps on the two solstices (is there more?) maybe down south at say Glastonbury Tower and in the north at say the Angel of the North.
Iconic locations known to millions and easy to find from a distance that would act as focal points for us, IE At the summer solstice we know that other preppers will gather to barter trade and talk at Glastonbury.

BUT after all that renewing and bonding we will need to consider the longer term implications, and to be honest I don’t think that we could even come close to restoring power, gas, water, sewage etc to even a fraction of the UK. But we could on a LOCAL basis providing we know to gather at a suitable location and bring with us enough skills to get some sort of rebuilding process up and running.

I note that both Stephen King (The Stand) and Terry Nation (Survivors) both chose in their novels to get the survivors to migrate to a (fictional) location that had an electrical power station and a heritage railway line in the area. Their objectives were to get the power back on to provide light, heat and to pump water and sewage. The railway which conveniently passed near a river was to become the hub of a transport network using river craft and steam engines to provide a link between the coast and the farms where the survivors were settling. This would allow them to bring in coal, timber and materials to feed the power station and railway communities, which in turn can provide power for mills, pumps, factories, farms, pumped water, even hot water locally, transport, trade and a sense of community.

What I am trying to say is I think we should NOW, at this time be trying to locate and map locations within the UK that can provide us with something as similar as possible on the understanding that in time, after the collapse we can start to explore and perhaps team up with other preppers at a place we have already identified.

I openly admit I do not know what or where we should be looking or even in what order we should be looking at things. Off the top of my head I would say Heritage railways have the most to offer in the short term and are most likely to still be be viable after a collapse. Many power stations become permanently crippled if they are just allowed to stop and go without preventative maintenance except perhaps PV, Wind and Hydro systems.

So folks when the dust settles and your mind starts to venture further than just surviving where should we be focusing our attention?
NR

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