Liddington Hill is an English national monument located in Swindon. It is considered a national heritage site alongside the Liddington Castle, and was first listed a such in 1925. It was designated with this importance because of its archaeological potential to increase “understanding the transition between the Bronze Age and Iron Age.” Specifically, Liddington Hill and Liddington Castle have the potential to provide “archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, the economy of its inhabitants and the landscape in which they lived” (Historic England). Physically, the hill is, “sub-trapezoidal in plan and consists of a bank, ditch and counterscarp bank following the natural contours of the hill and enclosing an internal area of approximately 3 hectares” (Heritage Gateway). While a creditable citation could not be found to back this up, multiple sources claim Liddington Hill is the highest point in Swindon, England.

In The Eyre Affair,...

In the novel The Eyre Affair, as the protagonist, Thursday, and her assistant, Bowden, start the journey of finding the enemy of the novel, Hades, they end up in Wales where they believe Hades to be hiding in an abandoned hotel. This journey leads them into the city of Abertawe. In this alternative universe, Thursday describes this city as being an “open city,” meaning “tax was low and trade tariffs almost nonexistent,” (Fforde 304). Abertawe is also described as having “glassy towers and global banking institutions” that Thursday believes to show that there does exist a free trade ideology which makes money, but isn’t widely supported by the more traditional Welsh people. She later...

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde vividly reimagines world history and the intellectual hierarchies that hold power over our society. In Fforde's world, which contains more advanced technology and a shared understanding and passion for literature, alternative regimes have carved out new political power structures unseen by the world today. The primary political difference lies in the continued existence of the Crimean War — which, starting in 1854, saw the alliance of Britain, France, Turkey, and Sardinia against Russia ("Crimean War"). While this portion of the timeline acts as one of the central points of tension within Fforde's worldbuilding, the political state of Wales in the United Kingdom is a smaller, but vital digression from our current world as well. The political state of Wales, or in the case of The Eyre Affair: The People's Republic of Wales, furthers the ongoing tension to the story by functioning as both a reprieve and enabler to the political...