Author Topic: Atlas of a Fictional Britain  (Read 4752 times)

citoyen

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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #25 on: 08 January, 2018, 05:06:24 pm »
Basically, there's a fair bit of artistic licence and creative geography involved, and it's a composite of various characteristics of different places (none of them in West Kent) rather than being based on one specific place.
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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #26 on: 08 January, 2018, 08:22:10 pm »
In the 10th century, Wessex was effectively all of England south of the Humber. But I guess that's not quite what you're thinking of!

Curiously, where Æthelstan fought the Northern Kings in 937 is unknown, which to my mind is more interesting than the location of Dad's Army.

There's a link to fiction, as the Battle of Brunanburh is alluded to in those Dark Age TV series, which I believe are popular with the younger set.

Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #27 on: 09 January, 2018, 06:17:46 am »
There are a variety of Apps which will show you what was filmed where, they very in quality, depth and search ability

IT also depends on the eh author's interests with regard to what they include

Web based British Film Locations demonstrates a typical site with its pros and cons.

For instance, locally to us they have Tommy, but haven't listed a plethora of others

rogerzilla

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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #28 on: 15 January, 2018, 02:47:58 pm »
Hardy's Wessex went as far east as Reading and as far west as Boscastle (at least).  Even prosaic Basingstoke creeps into Jude the Obscure.  He wisely avoided Swindon.

Most Jasper Fforde novels are, however, set in a fantasy version of Swindon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/entertainment/arts/jasper_fforde.shtml
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Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #29 on: 15 January, 2018, 02:57:48 pm »
Interesting idea.

Hardy’s Casterbridge is based on Dorchester. He used a lot of real places with fictional names.

I used to think Borchester must be Birmingham but Brum exists independently in the Archerverse. Borchester could be Warwick or Coventry, perhaps.

Barchester is somewhere else, I think. Not sure where though. Winchester? Salisbury?

I think of Middlemarch as probably being somewhere in Leicestershire, or maybe Notts.

Arnold Bennett’s Five Towns is a thinly disguised Stoke on Trent, which was formed as an amalgamation of six towns. One of the towns, Burslem, is used as a setting in The Old Wives Tale, but reappears as the fictionalised Bursley in Clayhanger.

Borchester is usually deemed to be Worcester, not being far from Inkeberrow that is reputed to be Ambridge (even with The Bull pub - actually there are two, The Bull's Head and The Old Bull - the latter being stuffed with Archer-ish stuff)

Someone with a sense of humour named the medical centre in Inkberrow "Grey Gable Surgery"

AND still on the Archers - I stood behind Tony Archer at the checkout in the Stratford Waitrose last Sunday.

Rob
And that area has the River Arrow and the Bow Brook, hence the Archers. (I'm not at all an Archers fan but I noticed this while planning a route which includes four fords of those rivers).
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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #30 on: 20 January, 2018, 10:37:12 pm »
Lakey Hill in The Archers is said to be based on Bredon Hill in Worcestershire. Ambridge is an a mixture of Bredon and other villages.

Torslanda

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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #31 on: 20 January, 2018, 11:14:56 pm »
From a dim and distant memory, Z-Cars was set in 'Newtown' which was modelled from Kirkby, then in Lancashire, now Merseyside.
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Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #32 on: 23 January, 2018, 11:39:07 am »
Iain Banks novels should provide some stuff (although Stromeferry No Ferry is real enough  :))

Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #33 on: 23 January, 2018, 12:36:20 pm »
Warmington-on-Sea (I thought 'Walmington' myself) is definitely described as a town on the South Coast.

Just looked it up on Wiki - you're right about the spelling:

"Walmington-on-Sea is on the south coast of England which, following the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk during the Second World War, found itself on the front line against Hitler. It is in Sussex and the nearest large town is Eastbourne."

Pevensey?

I always thought Bexhill
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Re: Atlas of a Fictional Britain
« Reply #34 on: 26 January, 2018, 08:21:22 pm »
Reservoir 13 by John McGregor seems to be somewhere between Hathersage and Saddleworth

The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall is in a fictional part of Cumbria where a vast estate can fence out visitors but it's a bit like Ennerdale

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