Woodland Life.
HTTK: Robin John Morgan © 2007
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           Loxley, is the centre of the new woodland realm of 2038. Headquarters of the Fellowship of the Bowmen, its village hall built in the early 1300's is the centre piece around which the future of everything may one day revolve. Much of the this is attributed to one man, who had enough foresight to see the coming clouds of trouble.

             Jake Lox, ran the extensive Lox Farm Estate consisting of a row of 14 cottages and several small stone houses across his five mile plot. Surrounded by woodland his farm was lost to the world, so much so that in the days before the Red Death of 2012, Loxley was not even included on the road maps.

            Living on the farm of two large houses and a cottage with a barn, Jake ran a successful business with his three sons. His eldest Robert had married the daughter of a botanist teacher, and with the arrival of Jessie, came two large greenhouses and the expansion of the orchard. John worked part time on the farm as he trained as a blacksmith, as Robert worked part time learning his trade as a carpenter.

            In 2016 when Jake decided to build the high walls around his property, he had already brought several stranded families into the farm for protection, and soon his row of cottages began to feel like the start of a new street. Over the years some of the inhabitants converted their cottages to shops and Loxley Farm Estate began to take on the name of Loxley Village.

             As communities reached out to each other to trade for survival, it was John Lox who minted the first ever Loxley coins, soon the brass, silver, and gold "bits" became the currency that slowly crept outward from Loxley and the woodland realm began to organize. Loxley had its main street and a market ground, (the old turning square for the tractors) and as the Lord of the land returned to power, a large boarding house was built besides the Village Hall.

               Kirk's the bakers and Alf smith the butcher were the first business's to start up followed by Patterdales Cheese shop and Stein's cobblers. Several years later Hargreaves bookshop, and not long after Trinkets and Trousers opened. Loxley set a standard and others followed, as all the surrounding towns followed their example, the biggest difference was the lifestyle.

                Living off the land, and learning once again to give back to the land, was now a full time occupation. Survival was a daily way of life. The people who had survived the Red Death were lucky that deep within the country, there were many who still remembered the old ways, passed down by their parents and grandparents. These people lead the way in the education of the masses, and the old ways of the woodsman surfaced as life changed. Some of the technology of the modern times survived, as many used wind power and solar panels to power their old and worn electrical appliances.

           Hunting for food and using all of the resources that surrounded them, set the path of life of the future, as the communities used their newly learned skills and began to repair and rebuild everything around them. Old cars and lamp posts were salvaged as a raw precious metal and melted to build tools, nails, and weapons. Man in many ways slipped back hundreds of years in their development, although in their minds they moved forwards, feeling again the sense of accomplishment and commitment within the communities that they helped to build.

         With zoo escapes, and a lot of time in the new wild areas, much of the wildlife began to thrive, providing an abundance of food and a chance to learn weapons of the past. The long bow and the axe were the new power tools, and with the invasions of wild groups of bandits, it was not long before swords and daggers became the weapons of defense as man looked backwards in order to move forwards.

        One thing never changed, village gossip was as infectious as ever. Ann and Alice Kirk, with their adept skills, and Agatha Patterdale besides them, gave a clear signal to everyone of who was and wasn't pulling their weight in the new life. There was no longer a need for a local news paper, all you needed to do to keep up with current events, was visit the Cheese Shop, then the Baker's, and by the time you got home, you knew everything there was to know.
Learning the ways of the past to live in harmony
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