The Legend of Loxley Bottom Epilogue

A new diary entry on hellsborough.com is coming soon:

Also known as "The Gabbleratchets of Sophie Hinchcliffe", this has been a work in progress based on research that I have undertaken into the recent modern age of the history of Hellsborough under the rule of the nascenti. A local girl and simple shop worker, Sophie Hinchcliffe, who -- inexplicably -- becomes the first CEO of the DPDC -- that is the first Chief Executive Officer (the original boss, if you will) of the Dark Peak District Council, the local government that administers Hellsborough and The Dark Peak for the nascenti overlords.

Sophie is a major character in the forthcoming sequel to "Dark Peak -- Hellsborough Chronicles book one", so it is only right that I do the research to uncover her backstory, most of which I have gleaned from the local library in Hellsborough -- an awesome resource for research, because, as you would expect, those nascenti overlords want the populace here and hereabouts to understand the importance of local characters that have helped to define their rule.

It has been serialised here, as well on on Twitter/X in short form.

Read Chapter one, Chapter two, Chapter three, Chapter four, Chapter five, Chapter six, Chapter seven, Chapter eight, Chapter nine and Chapter ten.

Epilogue

The Legend of Loxley Bottom -- The gabbleratchets of Sophie Hinchcliffe -- is based on extensive research that I have conducted over many hours spent in the Hellsborough archive at the Hellsborough library, which is also home to The Dark Peak District Council offices -- indeed, it is still home to Sophie's own office, although I have not met her, nor have I been permitted to visit those hallowed floors. As an academic, I have felt compelled to point out and describe any inaccuracies that I have come across in the archive's records, and based on my own travels in the locale -- hence this epilogue to the story.

If you fancy following in Sophie (and Naval's) footsteps, then you can -- but, as I always say, watch out for hidden dangers -- you may not meet gabbleratchets (D'divi help you if you do), you may not spot the Gosava tree, you'll unlikely see the nascenti -- few do, or ever have done (in many visits to the Damflask and beyond, I have never seen them), and you'll hopefully avoid the loathsome smeln (if you do spot them, shiv them first, they have no purpose in life other than unpleasantness, and as Lomas said, are nothing more than scum, bottom-dwelling scum at that).

Sophie's journey started at the tram stop across the road from Farantees supermarket, when she was waiting for the trolley-bus after she had left Farantees for the night and the rain was siling down. It was from here that her journey began when she was abducted by the gabbleratchets.

Sophie's destination, had she caught the tram, was the Middlewood road terminus, which is just a stones throw from her home at Winn gardens -- which is where Naval's journey began. Where Sophie would have been heading home, Naval was heading out, on foot. He stopped at several pubs and bars on his way, and he ordered and received a shipment of vape fluid close to Hellsborough park.

Once abducted by the gabbleratchets, Sophie was carried through the murk to the Loxley pond. There are at least four major ponds on the Loxley river, and which particular Loxley pond Sophie was dumped at isn't specified, but my favourite theory is the first, due to the proximity to Hellsborough -- The gabbleratchets are powerful creatures, but their struggling, kicking and screaming victim would not have made for an easy payload, and so I think they would have brought her down at their first opportunity. What is certain, is one of these pools was where Sophie met her painful demise -- or at least where she was blinded and defiled; where the innocence of a young woman was taken from her, never to be returned. 

After the Loxley pond, Sophie stumbled in a state of half-life for many paces until she reached the Damflask, finally succumbing to her injuries and there, her body sank into the depths.

The nascenti located her dead body and regrew her again from her DNA. Their lair is believed to be deep beneath the surface, but you are unlikely to see any evidence of such, they are a secretive species not known for their visibility.

The location of the Gosava tree in the wisewood -- avoided by Sophie, presumably the tree didn't see her as a potential meal, or maybe she took a different route -- where Naval would meet his demise, is described as being "Up above the pumping station, on that dirty and discarded track", which is not as accurate as I believe it should be. The pumping station is a red herring, or at least it could be. I may be wrong, but the Gosava tree that I have seen, whilst being up and above the Loxley river (and possibly above an older pumping station, or at least some sort of works -- but there are many in the area), is not near to the pumping station that you would think of, the one close to the first Loxley pond. Maybe the Gosava tree has moved, the wisewood is always moving. That could definitely explain that inaccuracy that I found in the archive.

Later on her return, Sophie meets Lomas and Jason, and then the smeln by the abandoned factories, close the the bunker, which depicts various native images of the xin and other forest spirits. The facts and inaccuracies of the history books and my research indicate that this artwork is more recent, but I believe the setting to be more or less accurate.

After leaving the wisewood reborn, Sophie emerged at watersmeet and the Malin bridge, but again, that is an inaccuracy, since the watersmeet is around the corner from the path that leads to the first Loxley pond, although it is not far off, but watersmeet is the confluence of the Loxley and the Rivelin. Again, paths and roads change, so this could just be that the map of the place has changed in the years since the original events happened.

Sophie then headed down Holme lane, turning left at Hellsborough corner, and back up the Middlewood road towards Hellsborough park. Farantees supermarket would be on the right, with the tram stop, where she was originally abducted, on the left. Then she went into Hellsborough park proper, The Dark Peak District Council offices being located on a grassy knoll overlooking the rest of the suburb.

A final point, which I didn't mention in the previous dramatisation, is that after Sophie had taken on her role of Chief Executive of The Dark Peak District Council, her first decree on gaining power, was the total and abject annihilation of the gabblerachets. I believe she succeeded -- what is certain, is that they have not been seen about around Hellsborough for many a year past.

In other news, Hellsborough Chronicles book one “Dark Peak” is now available on Kindle and paperback.

I am also tweeting on a daily basis, and you can follow me here.

If you can leave a review of Dark Peak on Amazon, I'd be more than grateful.

Cheers, until next time,

Pip :)