New member in Southport

[Dashwood]

Hello everyone,

I've been educating myself for societal breakdown for over 30 years, and have built up a great library over that time along with much practical experience. When I lived in Wales I knew many people of a similar mindset, but after almost 10 years in Southport I still have found no-one else in this area.

I found your Forum by chance recently, read many posts and really liked the rules. Moderators are good, as there will always be an element that will try to take advantage - sadly. So decided to register.

I'm not taken seriously when I do try to discuss these matters with those I've met here, and am looking for others in the northwest region to meet up with. It would be refereshing to say the least to be in the company of other preppers. Anyone in or near Southport would be great to get to know, but am up for travelling to meetings and get-togethers. I don't drive but can get most places on trains & buses.

I always used to kill my own "festive bird" each midwinter when in North Wales. I was in Bangor (at Uni etc....) and had easy access to Anglesey where I had a farmer friend I went shooting with. But here in Southport I just dont' get to meet similar-minded people.

It will likely take me a while to learn how this site works, and read the topics that are of immediate interest to me. After that I hope to make a useful and positive contribution to this invaluable debate.

Best wishes to all,

Dashwood

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

[Deeps]

Great intro mate, welcome and I hope you find what you're looking for here.

[Arzosah]

Welcome Dashwood! Sadly, I'd be really surprised if there were many preppers in Southport - I grew up near there, though I live way down south now.

Do you ever go seashore foraging? Not many rock pools, of course, with all that sand, but storms throw up lots of lovely seaweed to nourish the garden

[tigs]

Welcome to the forum

[whenfires]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

[Dashwood]

Many thanks for all those who posted Welcome messages - pseudonym, Deeps, Arzosah; Tigs and whenfires. I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately my modem has been playing up and I've only had sporadic access since joining, but all seems to be OK at the moment. I don't use wi-fi, just cabled link from the modem, so sometimes cables get loose etc...... but it's always a good reminder of what could be if th whole system were to suddenly go down. As we're all prepping for.

I will look around again later and see if there are any threads I can make a comtribution to. If my queries/comments have already been covered then please bear with me as I identify those that don't.

In the meantime, are there ANY prepers in the northwest of England on this forum? And, importantly, do you have any meetings or get-togethers that I could attend to get to know others in this area?

Maybe this comment should be on a separete thread, but I'll post it anyway and if I've screwed up please let me know. It's worth keeping an eye on the fortunes or otherwise of Deutsche Bank right now. It's heading for where Lehman Bros. were just before it crashed, and this time predictions are for major collapse of most or all fiat currencies. Anyone else monitoring this development?

D.

[Dashwood]

Welcome Dashwood! Sadly, I'd be really surprised if there were many preppers in Southport - I grew up near there, though I live way down south now.

Do you ever go seashore foraging? Not many rock pools, of course, with all that sand, but storms throw up lots of lovely seaweed to nourish the garden

Thank you for that advice Arzosah. I've been trying to move from Southport for the past three years but can't find suitable rented accomodation in the areas I'd like to live in - ideally rural SW Wales by the coast. Not being able to drive makes looking extremely difficult as trains/buses are increasingly expensive.

Following a spinal injury in N. Wales in late 2004 my mobility deteriorated quickly, and I was told I would likely lose my mobility altogether if I stayed in the foothills of Snowdonia. I found Southport was flat as a pancake, so I moved to Southport because it also has a *centre of excellence* spinal injuries unit to which I'd been referred. After several MRI scans I was told it would be *too risky* to operate as it could leave me paralyzed from the neck down. So I just got lots of opiods and other drugs thrown at me.

Not at all happy with that situation (I told them I didn't have time for that crap) I leaned on the Physio Dept. to arrange for me to have a bicycle made or adapted to keep my spine in a position that had minimal or no pain. They did that and I've been riding around the area on the adapted bike for the past 8-9 years. I obviously could only do it slowly at first, but over those years I've managed to rebuild my leg muscles to the extent I've regained my mobility on foot, and had some interesting rides over The Moss, where I often go to forage away from farmland that may use spraying of pesticdes and/or herbicides.

I found an old poacher character in The Plough, Crossens, quite quickly in 2007, and he supplied me regularly with pheasants, rabbits and assorted seafood. He warned me NOT to forage the Samphire that grows in the large bay, nor to eat the seaweed. He said despite these EU Blue Flag beaches in the area there are still *large pools of contaminated seawater* in the bay. I bowed to his superior local knowledge.

Sadly he passed away about 18 months ago, and his extensive knowledge of the natural resources in the area, and his lifetime of experience of using approriate tools and techniques died with him. I learned a lot of useful local knowledge from him, and admired his resilient attitude to survival. He appparently lived without electricity, preferring his old range for heat and cooking. He told me he kept in on all year round - just in case of emergencies - a true lifelong prepper...

I don't have the use of the large garden here to make use of any seaweed, though do some basic pruning of hedges, clearing away debris etc to help me regain my flexibility. The landlords like the nice massive lawn (165 feet x 45 feet). Hmmmm!!!!

As I became more able to walk the 1.5 miles to ASDA or Morrissons it also became easier for me to travel on foot anywhere, and I went camping with a friend for a week last July (2015) in SW Wales with no problems. We managed a 95% success in hunting, fishing (poaching) and foraging for greens, though did get a bit fed up with having nettles too often for the first few days. I was passing on my experience built up over the years to a younger man who was a complete newbie to camping let alone trying to *live off the land* for the week - and like all other preppers I'm continually learning myself. Something I emphasised to him.

I was really happy and somehwat surprised that I had little problem bending down to light fires, skinning the rabbit or cleaning the trout or salmon. Cooking them was also fairly easy, and the trip gave me alot more confidence in being able to survive the first couple of months or so of any disaster after my stores run out given my physical condition 10-12 years ago. But in Southport that would be almost impossible despite knowing the easiest local (two mile radius) places for harvesting wild plants. My poacher friend kept the locations of his hunting very secret for obvious reasons.

As you get older it takes longer to recover from accidents, assaults etc, but the essential thing is to be totally bloody-minded about achieving your goals, and never, ever, give in. The mental strength is as essential in recovery as it is in survival. Being mentally prepared for disaster is 90% or more of your chances of getting through it OK.

Luckily I am well resourced having collected a wide variety of essentials over many years. If I needed to bug out of Southport I have a route planned where I can travel silently using the bike after dark, and put sufficient short-term supplies (food & water) in the panniers along with tools and tent etc. I've not yet found a place I could hide out for a few weeks that has the natural resources we had in SW Wales, but am still loooking whenever I get a chance.

I'd be really interested in corresponding with any other *disabled* preppers as I feel we could learn alot from each others' experiences of recovery and *adapted* survival techniques. I can't be the only one in this position.

Wow! Didn't expect to write all this much but felt it better to state my position than engage in discussions about matters I'm not physically able to do at present. Hope this doesn't break any of the rules.

D.

[NOMAD]

Hello and welcome


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