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roads, and a new vitality established itself across the city. The ugliness of the street furniture and the road signs gave way to beautiful tree lined boulevards. No more tarmac and no more yellow lines. Just more people, more social interaction, and a greater sense of community. The old charm of the city of Lancaster returned.
With no television nor internet, the libraries and the cafés became a fundamental part of life. The Cricket Club, the Pétanque Club, and the Archery Club all have thriving memberships and attract young and old alike. Book clubs, amateur dramatic societies, sewing bees, and table top games have become popular. Everything is good natured. Even the Scrabble Club!
People earnestly engage in all sorts of leisure pursuits, because that’s what helps them connect.
The giant corporations all disappeared, because their distribution networks had relied on fleets of trucks and regional depots. Now, a symbiotic relationship between small shops, local traders and farmers is at the core of the economy. There’s just enough commerce around them, with banks, stables, couriers and artisans all contributing to a widespread decent standard of living and complete peace of mind.
It’s the same in Preston and Ulverston, towns which have seen a complete restoration of maritime trade. Smaller inland towns, places like Ormskirk and Skelmersdale have also adjusted well, with thriving centres perfectly adapted to an economy built around moving goods and moving people by horse.
Great wealth and riches are no longer the objects of desire. A decent standard of living means having access to a horse when it’s needed. And complete peace of mind means having a stable family with a comfortable home, supplied by a local economy which has adequate food and adequate drinking water.
Hunger is a great leveller. History lessons at school teach everybody about The Decimation and The Great Famine, and how the greedy and the corrupt were starved into submission.
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