wellpresseddaisy | (no subject)

I’ve been reading a few different books that got me thinking about the HP Ton/The Season universe. I’m up to the draining of the Fens in A Time Traveler’s Guide to Restoration England and…would the magical world have drained the fenlands? Would they have finished enclosing farmlands?

I don’t think they would have drained the Fens, or at least not to the level they’ve been drained. For one, I don’t see the population booming to the point that would require draining for farmland and for another, the magical world doesn’t need to extract every ounce of value from their land.

I also like the idea of a semi-aquatic group of people who live in the Fens. They were real people before the draining project. Why wouldn’t there be water-based magicals?

On the enclosure project…I can see those areas that historically had enclosed fields staying that way. Perhaps the other counties would take a halfsies approach? Some land is enclosed and some isn’t. Grazing rights, tenancy, etc. would remain as they were (for the most part) before enclosure.

The other book, A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England, got me thinking about canal travel. I’d forgotten all about the canal system. I can see older people, especially, being fond of canal travel. It’s possibly slower (port tunnels exist that act a bit like portkeys for vehicles, but it’s still a boat), but it’s smoother than rail travel and you also don’t have to train a horse to go through a port tunnel on the turnpike.