Alternative History
Westmorland and Furness Territories
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday

OTL equivalent: Cumbria, England
Location of Westmorland and Furness Territories
WFT in Dark Green
Capital no official capital
Largest city Kendal
Other cities Appleby, Ulverston, Windermere Town.
Language
  official
 
English (official)
  others Cumbric
Procurator John Morrison
Area 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi) km²
Population 21,000 (Approx.)
Independence 2011
Currency Lancastrian Pound

The Westmorland and Furness Alliance (WFA) was set up from the southern townships of the Rheged Co-Operative in 2011, since mid 2011 the WFA has been a protectorate of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Townships in the WFA are: Keswick, Penrith, Appleby, Whitehaven, Ambleside, Kendal, Windermere, Ulverston, Kirkby Stephen, Egremont and Coniston

On the 22nd August 2011 the WFA changed its name to the Wesmorland and Furness Territories, due to their closer links to the Duchy of Lancaster.

Post Doomsday and the Rheged Co-Operative[]

On doomsday in the south of the county of Cumbria, the port of Barrow in Furness is hit by a 10 kilotonne tactical nuclear device and the Sellafield Nuclear Facility was either hit by a bomb of an undetermined size or more likely the reactor went critical and suffered a major meltdown. Apart from those two irradiated areas the majority of the county survived practically unscathed.

In the days and weeks after DD Chaos reigned in Cumbria as law and order collapsed. Police officers abandoned their posts to protect their families from roving bands of bandits and former military units, which became known as reavers.

In order to protect themselves from these reavers many people retreat to the main towns of the area and erect makeshift walls around the towns to protect themselves. Bands of survivors made runs out into the wilds to gather food and other supplies. Protected farms were set up by survivors by the late 1980's in order to make the food supplies more reliable.

By the mid 1990's many of the attacks from reavers had diminished and the walled towns began to open up to the surrounding land, surprisingly even after over 10 years many of the herds of sheep that had been on the fells were still there, a little wilder but they had actually increased in numbers since the abandonment of the upland farms.

In the late 1990's the walled townships began trading with each other and in 1998 the Cumbria Co-operative was set up from the townships of Workington, Keswick, Maryport and Cockermouth so that trading would be far easier. In 2000 the townships of Carlisle, Windermere Town, Kendal and Whitehaven join the Co-operative and in 2001 the name was changed to the Rheged Co-Operative (Rheged being the old name for Cumbria) in order to distance themselves from the old United Kingdom. In 2002 a new flag was introduced using the old Westmorland coat of arms, it can be flown over trading stations to show they are official Rheged Co-Operative businesses.

In 2003 contact is made with the Kingdom of Cleveland from the east side of the Pennine hills, the Cleveland soldiers chased off reavers that had been harassing the township of Carlisle. In 2008 the Kingdom of Cleveland provided Keswick, Workington, Maryport and Kendal with electric wind generators.

End of the Rheged Co-Operative[]

14th January 2011

News has reached the Procurators new office in Carlisle that the Deputy Procurator, John Morrison, has begun to hold representatives meetings at Appleby's old Town Hall. As the Procurator had decreed that the meetings should start not earlier than the 7th of February, the Deputy Procurator has been ordered to report to the new office in Carlisle to give a reason for these meetings. He is expect to arrive at the Procurators office on Monday 17th of January.

17th January 2011 - the end of the unified Rheged Co-Operative

Deputy Procurator John Morrison arrives at the Procurators office building in central Carlisle, however he refuses to go inside, insisting that he meets with the Procurator Mary Johnstone in the open at Carlisle Castle so that the Representatives that have come with him from the south of Rheged can put their point across. But also so that members of the general public can hear what she has to say about the claims that Rheged is effectivly becoming a puppet state to the Kingdoms of Cleveland and Northumbria.

At Carlisle Castle the Representatives of Kendal, Ulverston, Windermere, Coniston, Ambleside, Appleby, Kirby Stephen and Egremont as well as the Deputy Procurator meet with the Procurator Mary Johnstone.

The meeting at the Castle starts good natured however is quickly deteriorates, this is mainly due to the fact that the Procurator had brought the Ambassadors of both Cleveland and Northumbria. At one point the Representative of Kendal has to be restratined from attacking the Cleveland ambassardor by his fellow representatives.

The meeting lasts over five hours and at the end of it the Procurator is asked to devolve powers to for southern Rheged to the Representatives of Southern Rheged. This she agrees to (mainly as Rheged is not a country per se, but a collection of independant townships) as such the Townships of Kendal, Ulverston, Windermere, Coniston, Ambleside, Appleby, Kirby Stephen and Egremont and their surrounding Parishes cede from the Rheged Co-Opertive as South Rheged with the Deputy Procurator John Morrison becoming the new Procurator of South Rheged.

Birth of the Westmorland and Furness Alliance[]

At a meeting on the 24th Januray 2011 at Old Appleby town hall the newly created Co-Operative decided on a new name, in order to distance themselves from the former United Rheged Co-Operative they decide to name themselves the Westmorland and Furness Alliance or the WFA. At the first meeting several things were decided:

The new Alliance's first order is to investigate Barrow-in-Furness, it is expected that the area will be safe to re-inhabit due to the fact that it was only hit with a 10 KT tactical nuclear weapon. This is expected to occur in the next two weeks.

It's second second order was that, although it would continue to use the Cleveland pound for the near future the Westmorland and Furness Alliance will switch to using Lancastrian currency by late 2012.

They also decide to create trade links with the Duchy of Lancaster to the south as access to the ports of Whitehaven, Maryport and Workington are expected to be made difficult by the Rheged Procurator Mary Johnstone.


On the 1st of June 2011 the Westmorland and Furness Alliance offically became a Protectoate of the Duchy of Lancaster

News[]

26th January 2011

A team has investigated the bombed town of Barrow-in-Furness has discovered that the town was severely damaged in the Doomsday attacks, the port to the south was totally destroyed by the 10 KT blast. Radiation levels in the town and the surrounding countryside is found to be at safe levels and a small survivor community of 120 people are found on the Isle of Walney in the small village of Biggar.

2nd February 2011

With the news of the representatives of both Whitehaven and Penrith withdrawing from the Rheged Co-Operative, and with the possiblity of them joining the WFA, the leadership of the WFA have approached the Duchy of Lancaster for increased trade links.

4th February 2011

The representative of Keswick asks the WFA if the town can join on the 6th of February after it left the Rheged Co-Operative. It is accepted on the 5th of February bringing the number of townships represented by the WFA to 11, these being:

  • Keswick
  • Penrith
  • Appleby
  • Whitehaven
  • Ambleside
  • Kendal
  • Windermere
  • Ulverston
  • Kirby Stephen
  • Egremont
  • Coniston

14th March 2011

With the news that the Rheged Co-Operative has effectivly ceased to exist after its population voted to become part of the Kingdom of Northumbria the WFA has declared that it would like to become more fully linked the the Duchy of Lancaster by stopping using the Cleveish Pound by June 2011 and the WFA will begin to use the Lancasterian Pound from March 20th 2011.

27th March 2011

The Procutator John Morrison has announced that it is planned to ask the Lancaster for the WFA to become a protectorate of Lancaster within the next year and if that is accepted by the government of Lancaster that the WFA would hold a referendum on becoming a part of Lancaster in the same way that Rheged has become part of the Kingdom of Northumbria in early 2012.

27th May 2011

The government of WFA has officially approched the government of Lancaster and asked for the WFA to become a protectorate of Lancaster. The WFA will cease using the Cleveland Pound at the end of the month with the offical currency of the WFA becoming the Lancastrian pound only.

1st June 2011

The government of the WFA has received news from the Duchy of Lancaster that the request to become a protectorate of Lancaster has been accepted and as such the WFA is now officially a protectorate of the Duchy of Lancaster.

3rd to 6th June 2011

The WFA has held it's first Appleby horse fair since the collapse of the Rheged Co-Operative, with the help of Lancastrian traders it was one of the largest since Doomsday with over 600 horses being bought, sold and traded.

21st June 2011

On the longest day of the year, the WFA has ceased to use the Cleveish pound from today, Cleveish pounds can still be exchanged for Lancastrian pounds (at the rate of two Cleveish to one Lancastrian) at banks in all across the area for the next week, after which they cease to be legal tender in the WFA.

22nd August 2011

Due to increase relations with the Duchy of Lancaster the Westmorland and Furness Alliance has changed its name to the Westmorland and Furness Territories

Major trade links[]

The representatives of the Westmorland and Furness Alliance have approached the Duchy of Lancaster in relation of a more advanced trade alliance. This was agreed upon on the 22nd February 2011, the main exports of the WFA to Lancaster are roofing slate and wool, the main imports include alcohol in various states, coal tar soap, and fabric made from WFA wool.

Military[]

Due to its small size and relatively sparse population, the WFT doesn't have a standing military as such, although with Lancastrian assistance each town has a militia in case it ever needs to defend itself, although so far they've only been used to deal with sheep rustlers and bandits. For the most part however its status as a Lancastrian protectorate means that any situations requirring a military response would be handled by the Duchy, and while Lancastrian conscription doesn't apply to the WFT, people from the Territories are allowed to join the Duchy's military as volunteers, with most of the larger towns having recruiting stations.