Woodbridge (1983: Doomsday)

Woodbridge is a nation located in the county of Suffolk in eastern England that grew out of the airbases at Bentwaters and Woodbridge. In the aftermath of Doomsday the garrisons of those bases assumed a leadership role in their locale.

In the aftermath of Doomsday refugees fleeing from the lawlessness in the city of Ipswich made their way north as amateur radio enthusiasts had got notice of signals from Bentwaters and Woodbridge

During the years of military rule the nation was known as Woodbridge/Bentwaters but after the return to civilian control the name was altered to just Woodbridge.

Over the years Woodbridge has expanded so that its territory now consists of something like two-thirds of the old county Suffolk. It also claims to have control of the city of Ipswich but in reality this "control" translates as regular scouting missions and raids against the gangs that have made Ipswich their home. It was during one of these missions to Ipswich that Woodbridge made first contact with the people of Essex.

People who live in Woodbridge have come to be known as Woodbridgers.

Pre-Doomsday
Bentwaters and Woodbridge were once USAF bases in the region covered.

Doomsday and the immediate aftermath
Woodbridge/Bentwaters was the target of an attack on Doomsday but luckily for the residents of the base the bomb that was aimed at the bases overshot and fell into the sea somewhere off Aldeburgh. At the same time a large mushroom cloud and a massive light was seen to the north and it was assumed that this was the result of an successful attack on the nuclear power station at Sizewell, however luckily for them the twin bases had their own generators so they were able to maintain power.

In the days following the attacks Brigadier-General Dale C. Tabor, commander of the bases decided to dispatch survey team to discover the situation in the immediate vicinity. It was one of these teams who were travelling north along the A12 who came into contact with a large group of civilians from whom they found out that Sizewell had indeed been attacked as had Norwich, the major city of East Anglia. Sizewell had been attacked by conventional weapons whereas Norwich had fallen victim to a nuclear attack. Another team travelled south to Martlesham where the Suffolk police had their headquarters. It was felt that given the situation the troops at the bases and any civilian police still available would probably have to combine to maintain any semblance of law and order. Looting became more and more of a problem, so much so that in the first week of October Tabor declared that martial law was in effect in Woodbridge and the surrounding villages and that anyone caught looting would be subject to summary execution. There was however considerable unrest among the civilian population. Some people jealously guarded their goods and property and didn't like the idea of being under the control of the troops from Woodbridge and this lead to a large number of deaths due to what became known as "trigger-happy Yanks". There were also some who ignored Tabor's declaration of martial law and continued to loot and rob their neighbours. Some of these criminals managed to survive and over time they formed the basis of what is now organised crime in Woodbridge.

In 1986 Brigadier-General Tabor announced that the area under his control now constituted the Woodbridge/Bentwaters Military Government and it would be run by the Military Command Council which would consist of the senior officers of the two bases. This announcement led to a series of demonstrations which were put down by members of the 81st Security Police Squadron which had controlled security and law enforcement on the two bases. Some of the leaders of the demonstrations were killed (accidentally according to the the troops involved) but most were arrested and sentence to imprisonment.

In 1995 Tabor, was removed from power by a group of junior officers who felt that he was becoming too much of a dictator. Tabor and the other members of the Military Command Council were sent into a kind of internal exile and stripped of all military rank. Captain Charles Johnson, the new leader of the Council. while wanting to maintain military realised that there was still a demand for a return to civilian rule so he came to a compromise. He announced the creation of the Advisory Civilian Council which consisted of nominated (not elected) members of the public and acted as an advisory group to the MCC. However it had little real power and didn't block the growing demands for democratic reform.

Woodbridge first became aware of other organised states in late 1999/2000 when they came into contact with forces from the Celtic Alliance and Essex respectively. As knowledge of these nations and their democratic systems of government became more widespread the calls for a return to civilian rule got louder and louder. This pressure came to a head in late 2000 when a general strike by the civilian population and external pressure led Captain Johnson to agree to a constitutional convention.

Expansion and Wars
To begin with Woodbridge only controlled the immediate environs of the bases at Woodbridge and Bentwaters but gradually it took control of the east and south of the county. This expansion can be divided into three major phases.
 * 1) By the end of 1986 Woodbridge controlled all of the old local government district of Suffolk Coastal
 * 2) In 1989 Woodbridge moved into Waveney which was situated immediately to the north of Suffolk Coastal. This move was deemed necessary as the Military Command Council felt that Woodbridge needed a port and somewhere to start work on a navy, perhaps by converting fishing boats. and Lowestoft, the largest town in Waveney fitted the bill.
 * 3) In subsequent years Woodbridge gradually expanded into Mid Suffolk and by 1997 Woodbridge controlled all of Mid Suffolk.

In recent years communities in the west of Mid Suffolk have regularly fallen victim to raids by a comparatively well-armed and organised group seemingly based in the districts of St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath. In the course of a meeting between the defence secretaries of Woodbridge and Essex early in 2010 it became clear that Essex had also suffered raids from what would appear to be the same group. The tactics of the group carrying out these raids led Essex to believe that the force in question was, at least in part made up of the remnants of the True British Army whom had been defeated by Essex in the War of 2008. Woodbridge had been planning on expanding into the area in question but existence of the raiders made it slightly more difficult. It was decided therefore that Woodbridge and Essex would stage a joint "invasion" of the area in question later in the year.

See: Invasion of West Suffolk

After the invasion of West Suffolk had been completed it was decided between Essex, Woodbridge and Newolland to advance further in order to completely destroy the TBA as a credible threat

See: Invasion of Norfolk

After the wars had ended, it was felt necessary to show the safety of the new territories and thus between July 3rd and July 10th Lee Evans, Prime Minister John Robson, and King William of Newolland along with a large retinue and only token guards walked on foot from Spalding to Southend via Ely, Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket, Sudbury, Chelmsford, and Billericay. It was intended to demonstrate that people could walk with confidence from one nation to the next, and it worked, drawing large crowds and media attention. Prime Minister Robson also took the opportunity to visit the graves of the Woodbridge soldiers found by Newollandish troops after the Battle of Ely

Condominium of West Suffolk
It was decided that the areas of West Suffolk taken from the TBA would be jointly governed by Essex and Woodbridge and both governments gave financial bonuses to whichever of their citizens would move into the territory.



Condominium of West Norfolk
It was decided that the territories in West Norfolk taken from the TBA by Newolland and Woodbridge would be governed in a similar way. With the utter collapse of the TBA in the area the Condominium's authority, though nominally limited to a small area east of the River Great Ouse, extends across the entire western third of the county.



Maps of Woodbridge
This is a series of maps showing the gradual territorial expansion of Woodbridge

Future Expansion
In an agreement with Newolland on 1st January 2011 Woodbridge will take sole control of a southern section of the Condominium of West Norfolk and part of East Cambridgeshire

Current Events
29th April

A HH-53 helicopter from Woodbridge's air force was shot down Ipswich while undertaking a regular patrol

See: The Ipswich Incident

30th April A report in the Woodbridge Examiner stated that they had gained possession of information which led them to believe that senior members of the Army and government had connections with organised crime and it was these connections that had allowed some the Army's weaponry to end up in the possession of some of the armed gangs in Ipswich

31st April The Woodbridge Examiner printed another report going into more detail and evidence was revealed that among the people involved the corruption allegations were the Defence Secretary, Stephen Bracey and the officer commanding the 8th Battalion of the Woodbridge Army.

5th May

The citizens of Woodbridge voted in the third General Election since the nation was returned to civilian control. It is thought that the events in Ipswich and the associated corruption allegations had a large effect on the results which led to the Conservative majority being reduced to a single seat.

6th May

During a debate in parliament over the allegations in the Woodbridge Examiner, Labour party leader Chris Mole demands that the government sets up an independent enquiry to the allegations,

15th May

Prime Minister Bee finally bows to pressure and announces a full-scale independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption within the government. At the same time Brigadier Gordon Lethbridge, the commanding officer of the Woodbridge army announces a parallel inquiry into the allegations concerning military corruption.

27th May

The twin enquiries begin in Parliament House and there is a demonstration outside organised by the families of the soldiers who died in the Ipswich Incident.



11th June

While being questioned by the military inquiry, an officer from military intelligence reveals that during the clean-up operations after the Ipswich Incident a large amount of weaponry was found in the possession of some of the city's gangs that had been found come from the armoury of the 8th Battalion

12th June

A high-ranking member of one the Ipswich gangs found in possession of weapons from Woodbridge testifies under oath that they had bought the weapons from criminals in Woodbridge with whom they regularly traded.

22nd June

The Chief Constable of the Woodbridge police force admits that even before the Ipswich Incident they had information from informants within organised crime which had led them to believe that gangs had contact with corrupt members of the military. When asked why the police had not acted upon this information the Chief Constable said that investigation were ongoing at the time of the Incident.

5th July

A member of a leading Woodbridge criminal who was arrested in the aftermath of the Incident and decided to give evidence against his former associates in exchange for a reduced sentence goes into great detail about the connections between organised crime and corrupt officers within the 8th Battalion.

10th July

A junior officer in the 8th Battalion, giving evidence in secrecy, details several meetings that took place between his commanding officer and criminals. He also says that officials from the MoD were present at several of these meetings.

15th July

Following up the information given by the officer, several MoD officials are called to appear before the civilian inquiry.

30th August

Both enquiries take a final day's worth of evidence and announce that they will present a full and detailed report into their findings early next year. They also announce that for the sake of fairness the two reports will be released on the same day.

22nd March

In a joint press conference the heads of the two enquiries set up in the aftermath of the Ipswich Incident announce that they believe that Defence Secretary Bracey and Colonel Rhodes both have a legal case to answer concerning the charges of corruption and arms dealing. As soon as the press conference is over both Bailey and Rhodes are arrested upon various charges related to the enquiries.

31st May

The juries in the corruption trial of Bracey and Rhodes have found them guilty of all charges. The judge presiding over the trial will pass sentence within a month or so.

3rd July

The judge at the trial of Bracey and Rhodes announced this morning that both men would serve a sentence of 15 years hard labour.

7th August

The result of the bye-election that took place as a result of Defence Secretary Stephen Bracey having to quit parliament due to his being found guilty of corruption and arms dealing was announced this morning. Labour won an overwhelming victory and the Conservatives were pushed into third place by the Veteran's Party. This result means that Woodbridge now has a hung parliament and the Conservatives don't have a parliamentary majority for the first time since the country was returned to civilian rule in 2001

10th October

In today's edition of the Woodbridge Examiner it was reported that a Conservative MP was about to leave the party. If this turned out to be the case it would mean that the Conservatives would be running a minority government. Furthermore it would increase the chances of the opposition parties successfully holding a vote of no confidence in the government. If the vote was successful then by law a new election would be held

Lowestoft
Lowestoft is the second largest town in the whole of Woodbridge with a population of 4,500. It serves as the base of the 4th Battalion of the Army of Woodbridge and as the HQ of the Navy of Woodbridge. Some local politicians feel that the town is all too often ignored in discussion in Parliament and they are pushing for the restoration of the old district councils of Suffolk. The old district of Waveney is the stronghold of the Labour party and most of the party's MPs come from the district

Politics

 * See also: 

Woodbridge was, for a number of years run by the Military Command Council which consisted of the senior officers of the military bases that give the state its name. In early 2000 after a number of large protests by the civilian population the Military Command Council agreed to hand over power to an elected civilian government. It was agreed by all parties that the new political system would be more or less identical to that which governed Britain


 * Parliament would be a single-chamber body.


 * Government would have a fixed term of five years.


 * The leader of the largest party in parliament forms the administration and has the title of Prime Minister.


 * The Prime Minister also serves as Foreign Secretary.


 * Serving members of the armed forces are not allowed to run for parliament although they are allowed to vote. (This also applies to former members of the Military Command Council)


 * Elections in Woodbridge are run under the first past the post system, ie whichever candidate gets the largest percentage of the vote is elected whether or not that percentage consists of a majority of the votes cast.
 * In order to maintain the public's trust in their political representatives any MP found guilty of any criminal offence, however minor would automatically lose their seat and a bye-election would take place within a month

.

The Cabinet of the Woodbridge consists of 7 ministerial posts: The constitution of Woodbridge has a number of quirks:
 * Prime Minister/Foreign Secretary
 * Chancellor of the Exchequer (responsible for the financial policies of Woodbridge)
 * Home Secretary (responsible for overseeing the legal system)
 * Defence Secretary
 * Trade and Industry Secretary
 * Health Secretary
 * Education and Culture Secretary (including responsibility for the media and sport)
 * The Defence Secretary has to have served in a branch of the armed forces for a minimum of 3 years.
 * The Home Secretary has to have qualified as a lawyer
 * The Health Secretary has to have qualified as a doctor
 * Parliament still has a presiding officer known as the Speaker but unlike in pre-Doomsday times Woodbridge's Speaker is one of two candidates selected by a specifically appointed committee and then voted on by Parliament

Parliament sits in the old headquarters of Suffolk Coastal District Council which has been renamed Parliament House.

It has 80 members all of whom belong to one of four parties: The first three are continuations of the pre-Doomsday parties whereas the Veterans Party as it's name suggests is a party founded by former members of the Woodbridge military, both American and British that campaigns for veterans' rights and a strong military. Albert Maxwell, leader of the Veteran's Party is a former Chief Master Sergeant in the USAF. At the moment Woodbridge has ambassadors in all the member states of the Organisation as well as the Celtic Alliance. It is hoped that the recent trade deal with Sweden and Norway will lead to an exchange of ambassadors with those nations as well.
 * Conservatives (led by Mark Bee)
 * Labour (led by Christopher Mole)
 * Liberals (led by Marian Andrews)
 * Veterans Party (led by Albert Maxwell)

New Year's Message
On January 1st 2011 WBC1 broadcast a message from Prime Minister Bee in which he went over the events of the past year and announced some of his plans for this year. He announced that Woodbridge would be applying to join both the Atlantic Defence Community and the League. Bee said that he felt it was time for Woodbridge to take its place on the wider world stage. In an interview he gave to WBC1 later that day, Christopher Mole, leader of the opposition Labour party said that while he was, in principal in favour of the moves he felt that the timing was a bit suspicious given the General Election that was due later in the year.

General Election
On the 6th of April Prime Minister Bee officially announced in Parliament that the General Election would take place on 5th May 2011. Given that the Woodbridge constitution provides for fixed term parliaments of five years the Election would always have taken place that day but the PM had to make the announcement in Parliament as a matter of procedure.

The election campaign will last for one month and during that time each party that has representation in parliament is entitled to have 4 Party Political Broadcasts on WBC1. There are seperate rules for any other parties There is also a limit upon how much any party is allowed to spend on any sort of party political printing such as newpaper advertisements and party leaflets.
 * A party that has no MPs but has candidates in less than 50% of the constituencies is entitled to one PPB
 * A party that has no MPs but has candidates in 50% or more of the constituencies is entitled to two PPBs

Week 1
In his first PPB of the Election Prime Minister Bee made the point that Woodbridge had in the past few begun to strengthen it's economic and political connections with other nations in the former United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Most notable in this respect was the foundation of the Organisation of British Nations which also served as a counterweight to the influence of the Celtic Alliance. He also hoped that in the next few years Woodbridge's observer status within the Atlantic Defence Community and the League Of Nations would be upgraded to full membership.

For the Labour Party Chris Mole stated that should his party gain power he would attempt to introduce a form of devolution within Woodbridge. The Labour Party felt that too much power was concentrated within Woodbridge itself which meant that the more remote parts of the nation didn't get a fair crack of the whip as far as government spending. He would propose that 3 district councils would be introduced based upon the pre-Doomsday districts of Waveney, Suffolk Coastal and Mid-Suffolk.

Marian Andrews of the Liberal Party said that should her party form the government they would increase spending on health and education which would not just help individual Woodbridgers but the nation as a whole. They would also attempt to come to some arrangement with the governments of Essex and Newolland so Woodbridge citizens who lived in the Condominiums of West Suffolk and West Norfolk could vote in future Woodbridge elections.

Albert Maxwell of the Veterans Party called for increased spending on military spending and more assistance for members of the armed forces who had to leave the military either through injury or retirement.

Week 2
Prime Minister Bee attacked the Labour Party's PPB of last week saying that their proposal to introduce another level of government within Woodbridge was both politically unnecessary and economically unviable. He said "Mr Mole wants to introduce more politicians. I would ask him where the money would come from to pay them."

In the Labour PPB Chris Mole talked about improving transport links throughout Woodbridge saying that the improvements would be paid for through the profits from the increased trade with the other member states of the OBN and indeed with other states in mainland Europe. Also, in an interview with WBC1 he said, reply to the PM's comments that a fully costed financial breakdown of any of Labour's plan would be put before parliament for approval.

The Liberal Party and the Veteran's Party both concentrated on law and order matters in their PPBs. For the Liberals Marian Andrews stated that people guilty of minor criminal offences should no longer be forced to partake in public works and should instead pay heavy fines. Albert Maxwell of the VP partially agreed with the Liberals but said that instead of paying fines the criminals should instead be forced to serve time in the armed forces depending on the severity of their crimes

Two minor parties also made PPBs this week. The Christian Democrats took the opportunity to put forward their belief that the political, legal and economic systems of Woodbridge should be run along purely Christian lines whereas the Woodbridge Nationalist stated that only people who had been born within the borders of the old county of Suffolk should be allowed to take any part in the public life of Woodbridge.

Week 3
The war between Ur Alba and the Celtic Alliance meant that foreign affairs dominated the third week of the campaign

Prime Minister Bee said that the existence of rogue states like Ur Alba meant that it necessary for the democracies of the former United Kingdom to work more closely together on the world stage and that Woodbridge's membership of international groupings like the OBN, ADC and LoN was necessary to protect for aggressive nations.

Chris Mole stated that although international co-operation was a good idea in principle he was concerned that Woodbridge's increased presence on the geo-political stage meant that it would become involved in more wars that had nothing to do with the nation.

The Liberals voiced the hope that Woodbridge's proposed membership of the LoN enable the nation to solve it's problems in a non-violent way.

The Veterans hoped that membership of multi-national groups would allowe Woodbridge to have access to more advanced weaponry for it's armed forces.

Week 4
The fourth week of the campaign was to some degree overshadowed by events taking place in Ipswich but what campaigning there was largely consisted of the parties restating the points they had made in the first three weeks.

General Election Results
Since Woodbridge was returned to civilian control there have been 3 General Elections

In 2001 the Conservatives won 66 seats, the Liberals 10 and Labour 4

In 2006 the Conservatives won 58 seats, Labour 9, the Liberals 9 and the Veterans Party 4

In 2011 the Conservatives won 41 seats, Labour 16, the Liberals 15 and the Veterans Party 8

New Territories
The "New Territories" is a general term for regions under Woodbridge control that are not yet part of Woodbridge proper. These are: As yet Woodbridge citizens in these areas do not elect MPs to the Parliament of Woodbridge. However in the next General Election they will be able to vote for Delegates who will act as non-voting representatives to Parliament
 * The Condominium of West Suffolk
 * South-West Norfolk
 * Eastern Cambridgeshire

Military
See: Military of Woodbridge

Law and Order
The police force of Woodbridge follows the pattern of its pre-Doomsday predecessor in that it is divided into two branch, a uniformed branch and a plain clothes division. In the discussions during the handover of power to a civilian government it was agreed that by and large the police would remain unarmed although there is a small section of the force that undergoes weapons training.

Most crimes comitted in Woodbridge carry a sentence of varying degrees of non-paid hard labour which can mean working on farms, building projects or creating roads etc.

Any found guilty of a crime of a violent or sexual nature is incarcerated in Woodbridge's only prison, which is situated at Framlingham Castle where they are guarded by two companies of soldiers

International Relations
In 1999 a long-range helicopter scouting party from Woodbridge was forced to make an emergency landing outside of London. Soon after the landing the commander of the scouting party was extremely surprised when they met up with some well-armed soldiers. After a rather tense stand-off talks between the two units began and the Woodbridge commander learnt that the other unit was from a nation styling itself the Celtic Alliance which was based around the old Irish Republic. This was the first time news had reached Woodbridge of any other survivor nations in the whole of Britain. In the subsequent years there was more and more contact between Woodbridge and the Alliance and one of the first acts of the democratically elected civilian government in 2005 was to propose an exchange of ambassadors. Unbeknownst to the commander of the scouting party, on it's way down to London the helicopter had been noticed by people from the nation of Essex. This led to an unfortunate incident in early 2000, during Woodbridge's next scouting mission to Ipswich when forces from Woodbridge accidentally fired on some unknown military units. These units happened to be from Essex and they had travelled north after concerned had been raised in Essex after they saw the Woodbridge helicopter flying south. After this unfortunate first contact relations between Woodbridge and it's neighbour to the south have improved immeasurably.

Woodbridge also has close links with the survivor community of Newolland in Lincolnshire. The two entities became aware of each other in 2006 when a trawler from Woodbridge entered a harbour in Lincolnshire. It had got lost after a storm and saw the harbour and thought it may be a safe haven. The skipper of the trawler made himself known to the local authorities and promised to return at a later date. When the trawler returned to Woodbridge the skipper told the government what had happened. After some discussion the Woodbridge authorities decided to make official contact with the other nation and a diplomatic mission was sent consisting a member of the cabinet and a few soldiers not to mention the trawler skipper. There is an agreement in place that as Woodbridge improves its military capabilities a lot of the older weaponry is sold to Newolland at a reasonable price as before contact with Woodbridge that nation's military was largely armed with extremely old fashioned weaponry with only a few shotguns. Woodbridge also trains the Newollandish military in the use of the new weaponry.

Woodbridge does have occasional problems with raiding parties from small survivor communities from Norfolk although the way the Kingdom of Cleveland dealt with the "pirates" of Burnham Deepdale points the way to a solution to that problem. It was in the aftermath of the Cleveland expedition to deal with the Burnham pirates that Woodbridge first became aware of the existence of the Kingdom of Cleveland as the commander of that expedition, Sir James Martin left radios in order to allow Woodbridge to maintain contact with Cleveland.

Woodbridge, along with Essex and East Britain was a founding member of the Organisation of British Nations which was originally formed in order to facilitate trade relations between the three nations. Since the OBN's inception in 2008 it has moved beyond just being a simple trading organisation to become something that allows the member nations to co-operate on such matters as development and expansion beyond the eastern fringe of Britain. The OBN also give its members a louder voice on the world stage which can be useful given the power that the Celtic Alliance has

Prime Minister Bee announced that Woodbridge would be applying for membership of the Atlantic Defence Community and the League of Nations at some point in 2011

Royal Visit
In September of 2010 King Andrew of New Britain embarked upon a tour of the member states of the Organisation of British Nations. This was the first time he had visited the "old country" since he left for South Africa in 1985. During the time when he was in Woodbridge King Andrew did a number of things
 * He addressed the parliament of Woodbridge
 * He watched a football match between Woodbridge FC and a team from the New British visiting party
 * He visited Lowestoft and whilst there helped to launch WS St Edmund, the first of the freighters from Sweden and Norway that had been converted

Economy and Trade
As the economy collapsed in the aftermath of Doomsday the old currency became increasingly irrelevant and a barter system came into existence. In 1990 the Military Command Council felt that society and the economy had stabilised to such a extent that a proper financial system was necessary. A national bank was established and over the next few years a currency, the New Pound was introduced. Recently Woodbridge's neighbouring state Essex has also been considering moving from a barter system to a currency-based one. Over the past few months discussions had been ongoing over the possibility of Essex adopting the New Pound as it's currency. On the afternoon of April 26th Prime Minister Robson and High Minister Lee Evans of Essex made a joint statement that Essex would take up the usage of a currency, the New Pound, by June 1st. The design of the currencies would be different to each nation but would be legal tender in both, holding the same value, to "Promote economic closeness and wipe away the barrier to free trade both within and between our countries that bartering imposed."

The economy of Woodbridge is based largely on agriculture
 * Winter wheat
 * Winter barley
 * Sugar beet
 * Sugar
 * Oilseed rape
 * Rapeseed animal meal (for cattle, pigs and chickens)
 * Biodiesel
 * Linseed
 * Linseed Oil
 * Flax
 * Cows
 * Beef
 * Milk
 * Leather
 * Sheep
 * Food
 * Wool
 * Sheepskin
 * Lanolin

A lot of the biodiesel produced in Woodbridge is used in the nation's own agricultural vehicles. Any oil that Woodbridge buys is used exclusively in its military vehicles.

Agriculture is also part of the criminal justice system of Woodbridge. People who commit minor crimes punishable by a sentence of under two years serve their time by working on one of the government-run farms

Adoption of the New Pound by Essex
On the 1st of June a ceremony took place to mark the adoption of the New Pound as the official currency of Essex. On the stroke of 1pm Woodbridge's ambassador to Essex walked into a shop in Chelmsford and bought a collection of goods to the value of N£10 with a banknote printed in Woodbridge while at exactly the same time Essex's ambassador to Woodbridge did exactly the same with in Woodbridge with a N£10 note printed in Essex. Speeches were then given by both men stating that this would be the beginning of a new economic era between the two nations. However the speech of the Woodbridge ambassador was interrupted by some hecklers who voiced the opinion that Essex's adoption of the new currency was the first step in an attempt by Woodbridge to gain control of Essex. The protesters were arrested but it did show that not everyone in Essex was completely happy about the move. The ceremonies were the main new story on the radio stations of Woodbridge and Essex that evening and the event was also reported on radio stations in the Celtic Alliance.

Notes and Coins
Just like the pre-Doomsday currency the New Pound is divided into 100 pence

Each coin has a design of a wild bird on one side and the face of the Prime Minister on the other. Each note has a natual scene on one side and a picture of a famous person from Suffolk on the other
 * 1p = Sparrow
 * 2p = Chaffinch
 * 5p = Housemartin
 * 10p = Duck
 * 20p = Bittern
 * 50p = Starling
 * £1 = Cardinal Wolsey
 * £5 = Edmund Fitzgerald
 * £10 = Millicent Fawcett
 * £20 = George Borrow
 * £50 = Benjamin Britten

East Coast Trade Link
As as result of the successful wars against the TBA in June 2010 there was a continuous land route from East Britain to Essex. This would be great benefit to trade and on July 28th engineers were proud to announce that they had completed the first rail line all the way from Haverhill to Ely, meaning that for the first time goods could be transported directly from Anchor Harbour in East Britain to households in Essex and Woodbridge.

Transport
Ever since Doomsday there has been an ongoing public works programme were people guilty of minor criminal offences undertake non-paid heavy labour.. Given that the main industry of the nation is agriculture and the production of agricultural by-products it was seen as necessary for the road and rail network to be kept fully up to scratch.

There is a public transport system consisting of a regular bus service running between the major population centres of Woodbridge. Due to the lack of petrol these buses and all private vehicles are power by a bio-fuel developed from agricultural products.

The Woodbridge rail network has also developed engines that run on a variant of the same type of bio-fuel

Woodbridge is currently building a connecting line from Newmarket to Branon in the Condominium of West Suffolk so that the nation can be connected to the new East Coast Mainline

Education
Compulsory education in Woodbridge pretty much follows the system pre Doomsday. There is a tertiary system of primary, middle and high schools. Attendence is compulsory until the age of 16 after which pupils can choose to stay on for a further two years.

There are three higher educational establishments in Woodbridge
 * Woodbridge University
 * Otley College
 * Lowestoft College

Woodbridge University concentrates on the arts and sciences, Otley College is an agricultural college and Lowestoft College concentrates on engineering in general and shipbuilding in particular. There is obviously a degree of crossover between the three institutions, for example chemistry and biology would be useful in agriculture as would engineering

Culture and media
There are currently five radio stations The first four stations are run by the WBC or Woodbridge Broadcasting Corporation which was founded in 2001 when Woodbridge again became a democracy. A lot of the people who work for the WBC formerly worked for BBC local radio pre-Doomsday. Black Shuck Radio is a music station for younger people who perceive WBC2 as being a bit "stuffy". It was founded by former college students who combined their record collections of my "out there" music. One of the most popular dramas on WBC is Benton, about an ex-soldier who has set himself up as a private detective. The main character, John Benton is played by Lowestoft actor, Karl Theobald
 * WBC1 is dedicated to news and politics and the discussion thereof
 * WBC2 is a music station and plays all types of music
 * WBC3 broadcasts drama and comedy shows
 * WBC Sport as is dedicated to sports reporting and regularly has commentary from live games
 * Black Shuck Radio

For several years the WBC has been working on trying to restore a television service to Woodbridge and hopes to broadcast it first test programmes later this year.

Newspapers and other periodicals
Three newpapers are published within Woodbridge, all on a weekly basis
 * The Times
 * The Examiner
 * Lowestoft Journal

The Times and the Examiner report national and international news whereas the Lowestoft Journal concentrates on news in the district of Waveney. Black Shuck Comics publishes a number of titles, some original and some based on pre-Doomsday titles

Books
Books written in Woodbridge generally fall into one of three categories Needless to say there is some crossover between the three genres ie romance or crime novels in a post-apocalyptic setting.
 * Post-apocalyptic fiction
 * Crime
 * Romantic fiction

National Anthem
After some discussion at the Constitutional Convention it was agreed that the new national anthem would be the old RAF March Past. It was felt that the music would pay tribute to the old Britain and the military men who had founded the new nation of Woodbridge. However as the RAF itself no longer existed it was decided that official name of the national anthem would be the Woodbridge March Past

Language
The official language of Woodbridge is English although it is slightly different to the language spoken pre-Doomsday. The seventeen years of rule by the Military Command Council mean that a lot of American terms have made it into common parlance within Woodbridge.

The dialects of Suffolk and Norfolk went through somewhat of a resurgance post-Doomsday. To outsiders the two dialects sound very similar and only native speakers can tell them apart. The farther north you go in Suffolk the closer the accent gets to the Norfolk one

Examples of Suffolk and Norfolk words and phrases

I int sin er since yester-di  (I haven't seen her since yesterday)

Hev yew gotta loight bor?? (Do you have a light old chap)

Yet hint I (Neither have I)

Dew yew keep a troshin (carry on with the threshing - goodbye/take care of yourself)

Religion
In common with a lot of other countries post-Doomsday, there has been an increase in the number of people professing no religious belief. The latest figures suggest the overall breakdown of religious belief in Woodbridge is as follows

Christianity 60%

Atheism 35%

Other Faiths 5%

Of the Christians some 70% claim to be members of the Church of England, 15% are Catholics and the other 15% belong to various other denominations such as Methodists and Baptists.

The 5% that profess non-Christian religious belief are divided more or less equally between Islam and Hinduism

Sports
Cricket and Football are the prefered sport of the civilian population and each village within Woodbridge has teams for both sports that compete in leagues and cup competitions.

Football in Woodbridge is run the Woodbridge Football Association (WFA). The current football League champions are Woodbridge Town and Leiston FC won last year's WFA Cup (an annual knock-out competition). Pre-Doomsday both these clubs played in the amateur Eastern Counties Football League. The chairman of the WFA is Terry Butcher who before Doomsday was a player for the professional team Ipswich Town

Cricket in Woodbridge is run by the Woodbridge Cricket Association (WCA). The current League champions are Saxmundham

Football and cricket teams from Woodbridge have, in the past few years started to play "friendly" games with teams from other survivor nations in the British Isles such as Essex, East Britain, Cleveland, Northumbria and the Celtic Alliance. There is now some talk of these friendlies becoming a competitive competions along the lines of old European Cup in football.

The WFA and WCA plan to apply for membership of the world governing bodies of their sports, FIFA and the ICC respectively at some point in the next year or so.

Woodbridge American Sports Association (WASA) is an organisation that runs leagues for American football, baseball and basketball which are still played by the citizens of Woodbridge who are of American origin. Originally these sports were only played by American Woodbridgers but over the years there has been increasing interest from the post-Doomsday generation of Brits

Woodbridge is sending a team of sportsmen and women to the inaugural Europa Games that are taking place in Berlin in October. It is hoped that due to the work of the WASA the basketball team will do well