Southminshire

Southminshire is a ceremonial county in the Nation of Ourcity, bordering Greater Ourcity to the South East. The population as of 2022 is 951,000. The county is home to a large number of commuters that work in Greater Ourcity and travel into the city using the railway network. Situated within Southminshire is the North Downs hill-range. Southminshire is home to the south-eastern coastline of the Nation of Ourcity, popular with tourists from across the country.

Southminshire was established in the 1700s and stretched much further than it does today, spreading all the way up to Harwich, a town halfway between Southminster and Northwich, and covered the entire south-eastern section of the nation. The county town was previously Southminster, north of the Whitworth Estuary, and was where the county got its name, although in 1901 Southminshire was split in two, with the southerly portion below the estuary keeping the name Southminshire, With the northerly portion above the estuary changing its name to Earlshire, despite containing Southminster. This lead to the anomaly of the counties name today, being named Southminshire yet not containing Southminster, with the town being 38 miles from the county border at the estuary.

## Towns & Settlements

Southminshire is home to many large commuter towns and coastal resorts alike, with the administrative county town being Swanley, situated 5 miles outside Greater Ourcity. The largest settlement by population is the coastal City of Eastbourne, having 270,000 residents.

The top 10 settlements ranked upon population from highest to lowest are;

1. Eastbourne
2. Swanley
3. Milton Hargate
4. Seaford
5. Marway
6. Lakefield
7. Grinstead
8. Shoreham
9. Tonbridge
10. Borough Green (Swanley)

## Relation to Greater Ourcity

Southminshire has a close relation to Greater Ourcity, both in the fact that its currently a large part of the commuter belt, and in the fact that the land now occupied by the whole Eastern half of Greater Ourcity used to be part of the county previous to the city spreading. By the 1900s, The city had spread the majority of the way out into Southminshire, with eastern suburbs and orbital towns of The City of Ourcity still technically situated within it. In 1901, the county was split in two at the Whitworth estuary, with the easterly section of the city north of the river being absorbed into the new county of Earlshire, and the easterly section of the city south of the river continuing to be a part of Southminshire. However, with this change, the suburbs and orbital towns of the city were granted unitary authority, which meant whilst still being a part of the counties, their main governance was by the city assembly. Nine years later in 1901, The formation of Greater Ourcity was passed, absorbing all of the city suburbs and orbital towns into the new metropolitan county, and therefore shrinking the home counties. The city continued to grow outside of this boundary however, and the final border that remains today was formed in 1949.

Areas such as Arlesley and Keston, which are within the county of Southminshire yet fully border and act as orbital housing areas of Greater Ourcity still maintain that they should be within the city rather than Southminshire, and have now become popular housing areas for people that want to live within the Greater Ourcity area and use the city's public transport system without actually being in the city itself, therefore having lower house prices. Due to an emerging housing crisis, the town governances continue to campaign to both the Greater Ourcity Assembley and the Nation of Ourcity Government that both Arlesley and Keston should be absorbed into the metropolitan county and leave Southminshire in an effort to slow down the housing crisis. As of 2022, they still remain part of Southminshire.

## Transportation

Due to its proximity to the capital, Northern Southminshire benefits greatly from the extensive public transport system provided by the Transport for Ourcity, with the rail travelcard zone 8 extending as far as Arlesley, Keston and Swanley, and several TfOC subsidised bus routes entering the county, such as the **411** (Beckenham to Swanley), **451** (Walls End to Keston), **202** (Thamesmead to Milton Hargate), **515** (Deptford to Swanley Borough Green) and the night bus **N20** (Charing Circus to Swanley) between 00:00 and 04:30.

The majority of bus routes within Southminshire are regulated and subsidised by Southminshire County Council, and do not form as part of the TfOC network. Bus routes within Eastbourne are regulated by Eastbourne City Council. The main operators in Southminshire are **Bradbus South East** (depots in Swanley, Seaford and Tonbridge, as well as having a depot in and being the main operator within the City of Eastbourne), **TM Country** (depot in Milton Hargate and Grinstead) and **SWTransit Southminshire** (with a depot in Marway and Lakefield). **CityConnect by Bradbus** and **TM Travel Ourcity** operate the TfOC contract routes that pass into Southminshire, and **Stagecoach in Ourcity** operate various school contracts from their depot in Westferry, and certain commercial bus routes from their depot in Horley.

The rail network within Southminshire is expansive and includes several main and principal lines connecting the county to Greater Ourcity and the rest of the south coast. The Downs Mainline runs between Greater Ourcity, Eastbourne and Milton Hargate, running through the North and South Downs Hill range, carrying millions of commuters and tourists alike every year. Most services depart out of Charing Circus or Victoria mainline termini in central ourcity, with certain services such as those on the Wrotham Downs line departing from New Street station, and the Hayes line departing from Borough station. The main rail operator within the county is Bradrail Southeastern.

The A4 trunk road runs through Southminshire between Keston (Originating from Greater Ourcity) to Eastbourne, with the CA4 splitting at Tonbridge and continuing to Lakefield.

International Ferries towards Great Britain (Bristol, South Wales, Cornwall) and France depart from Marway Port, as well as some cruise and cross-atlantic routes departing from Eastbourne Seagate.

## Sport

Southminshire is home to three League Ourcity football teams, those being **Eastbourne United**, **Swanley Cray** and **Milton Hargate Rovers**. These three teams have been competing in the League Ourcity cup consistently since 2000, with varying levels of success. Eastbourne United was considered one of the Top 5 teams between 2005 and 2014, although due to a management transfer, their performance hasn't been as consistant since.

The county sport within Southminshire is Cricket, with the National Cricket Ground being located 2 miles west of Swanley. The county teams of Southminshire and Earlshire have a long-standing rivalry due to the nature of the two counties split in the early 1900s, and the individual teams of Southminster Cricket Club (Earlshire) and Swanley Buzzards (Southminshire) have a rivalry within the national cricket league, as they are the biggest cricket teams within the two counties.