Island of Sodor

### Leader(s)

Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Topham Hatt I (formerly), Sir Bertram Topham Hatt II, Sir Robert Norramby

### Affiliation(s)

United Kingdom

The Island of Sodor, or simply Sodor, is an island in the United Kingdom. It is located in the Irish Sea, between England's Lake District and the Isle of Man.

## Economy

About half of the island is agriculturally based. Oats, barley, and turnips are major crops. Fishing is important too; the Tidmouth kipper is a prized dish at breakfasts far and wide. Lead, zinc and silver are mined, and the island stone has excellent weather-resistant properties. The native language, Sudric, is dying out, but the rugged and beautiful scenery and the fishing, particularly in the mountain lakes, attract holidaymakers from all parts. Iron and other metals are smelted at Peel Godred. Tidmouth now contributes to the country's revenues by being an excellent port, owned by the North Western Railway.

## History

The Romans did not bother with Sodor. They saw it from their camp at Lancaster and made a landing at what is now Ballahoo, but were driven off. The inhabitants gave no trouble after that and were left alone.

An Irish missionary named Luoc proved to be more successful. He and some companions set out for the Isle of Man in coracles, but Luoc fell asleep, was blown off course, and ended up on the shore in Suddery bay. The locals treated him well and he built a "keeill". He preached to the locals, and a church, nowadays known as Suddery Cathedral, was built on the site. He is remembered in the city’s motto and coat of arms, the latter of which shows him as a bishop, standing in a coracle holding a crosier. Suddery later became the ancient capital of Sodor.

The island was Christianised by men of the "Iona School", who arrived on Sodor at different times during the sixth century and settled in the south. One of them, St. Machan, settled in a cave near Culdee Fell, in the north. People came from far around to be baptised in the nearby lake, named Loey Machan, or "Machan's Lake" in his honour. St. Machan has since been named the patron saint of Sodor.

Godred MacHarold (known in legend as King Godred), the younger son of Harold, the Danish king of Limerick, was King of Sodor and Man from 979 to 989. Seizing his chance after the defeat of the Norse at the hands of the Irish, he harried Wales, then landed on Man. There, he pointed to the stars reflected in the water and said to the locals "There is the path running from my country to this place. That is my road to fame and fortune." Godred gave Sodor and Man ten years of peace, and his reign is remembered as a golden age. In Sodor, he is remembered affectionately as King Orry.

Godred often fought off attempts by Earl Sigurd of Orkney to reclaim Man in 982 and Sodor in 984 at a ford near what is now Peel Godred (named after him), which has now been replaced by a bridge known as King Orry's Bridge. Sigurd was not captured during either of the battles and returned five years later. Godred and his two elder sons were killed in battle in Man, but his wife, daughter Gudrun and youngest son Harold escaped to Islay.

Sigurd fell at the battle of Clontarf in Ireland in 1014. His heir, Thorfinn, was an infant at the time, and so Harold took his chance and claimed Sodor and Man, ruling for twenty years before Thorfinn drove him out. Harold's son was killed in battle, but Harold escaped to Iceland, where he married again in 1044. A son, Godred Crovan, was born in 1045. Harold died in an affray in 1047.

Ogmund, born in Iceland in 1045, was the son of Sigurd of Cronk Abbey and his wife Helga. They returned from Iceland with young Godred Crovan and his mother Gerda. The two boys were brought up together, and later as stepbrothers - after Helga's death, Sigurd married Gerda. Sigurd was the leading man in Sodor when he died in 1063, and Ogmund succeeded him.

By the time Thorfinn's grip on power was loosening, Godred had set about regaining his father’s former kingdom, leaving Ogmund in Sodor. Ogmund meanwhile welcomed Thorkell of Norwich to Sodor and settled his men around the island, squeezing the last of Fingall's soldiers from the island. With Sodor secure, Godred completed his goal of conquering the Isles, Dublin and finally Man at the battle of Sky Hill in 1079. Ogmund fell in the battle.

After two - unprovoked - invasions, the Sudrians began to regard the Normans as archenemies. After Godred Crovan's death, the regency of Dublin decided to send Olaf, Godred's heir, to be brought up in the court of King Henry I. Sudrians took a poor view of this, however, and decided to break away. The move was approved by Magnus Barford, King of Norway, whose fleet, deployed in the area, was enough to prevent any reprisals from Dublin.

Sigmund was elected first king of an independent Sodor. He was crowned at Peel Godred, but chose to make Cronk Abbey his capital. He reigned until 1116, and was succeeded by his son Gunnar. Sigmund's descendants reigned for around 160 years until King Andreas and Prince Peter were killed in battle in 1263. Peter left no heir, so the Scots claimed Sodor and invaded. The Sudrians fought them off, but the Scots were one of Sodor's predatory neighbours who had designs on the island. The next 140 years are known as the Regency or Resistance. With the possibility of Scottish attack, a successor with ability rather than royal descent was needed. This came in the form of Sir Harold Marown. His claim to the throne was weak, though, and was only worth a regency.

Later in 1263, Alexander III claimed Sodor and in 1267 bought Man from its last king. With the power struggle between England and Scotland that started in 1290, the land changed hands many times, depending on who had the upper hand at the time. Eventually, Edward III annexed them in 1333 and gave them to the Monatacutes, who, fifty years later, sold them to William le Scrope. Henry IV had Scrope beheaded in 1399 and gave the islands to the Percy family. Sodor's annexation did not imply possession of occupation, but that many a time the new owners had a large rebellion on their hands, with locals retreating to the hills and often attacking the area between Brendam, Cronk Abbey and Rolf's Castle, which was usually occupied.

After a rebellion in 1404, Henry IV gave Man to the Stanley family. Sudrians had never acknowledged the Percys, and took great delight in sacking them under the leadership of their regent, Sir Arnold de Normanby. Sir Peter de Rigby was Henry IV's commander, and during the campaign he and de Normanby developed a considerable liking and respect for one another.

Upon de Normanby's surrender of Sodor and his regency, Henry showed wisdom and returned its government to de Normanby and the Abbot of Cronk Abbey. Some Sudrians were a bit reluctant to accept the new order, but Henry created de Normanby Earl of Sodor, showing Sudrians that he respected their former regent whilst bringing the resistance to an end and attaching Sodor to the English Crown.

Michael Colden, Abbot of Cronk Abbey, and Sir Geoffrey Regaby had thought about the possibility of the reformation and both thought it wrong for people to be harassed or persecuted. They were also aware of King Henry's wishes and of Cromwell's thievish plans, and were determined to ensure that the Abbey revenues were kept for the Church and Sodor, not wasted. To this period, 1540 onwards, many churches and schools were built on the island where they were most needed, and in many of these the former brethren of the Abbey found employment. Their policy of "no pressure" ensured that during the reign of Edward VI relations between Roman Catholics and the Church of England were good, and the Roman Catholic reaction, which swept swiftly through England during Queen Mary's reign, hardly touched Sodor. Colden died in 1565, but his policy was continued by Timothy Smeale, allowing Roman Catholics to worship at their churches. It was in 1570, when Pope Pius Bull excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, that some reluctantly felt that they must be recusants, and worship separately. They made it understood that, while on the subject of religion they could not accept Queen Elizabeth as Head of the Church, this did not make their loyalty to her waver. By 1600, most of the people of that generation had died and as children leaned towards the Church of England there remained no ill feeling.

The Earldom was destroyed by Attainder in 1715; but in 1873, Queen Victoria responded to popular petition and restored John Arnold Norramby to the Earldom of Sodor and estates of Ulfstead Castle. The earls of Sodor are active on the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster, but as there is no Duke of Lancaster distinct from the King or Queen of England, the Earl is referred to as a Duke by Sudrians.

The next major chapter in Sodor's history was the coming of the railways. In the 19th century, a horse worked plateway was built from the harbour of Balladwail near Crovan's Gate to a copper mine in Ward Fell, which opened in 1806. This was called "The Railroad". Slate would be discovered in the hills that would also be mined. For almost 50 years, this was the only rail powered network on Sodor. The government passes the act to build a standard gauge line called the Sodor and Mainland Railway from Ballahoo to Rolf's Castle with intentions to extend north to the Mainland. Three engines were ordered and came to help build the railway. Eventually, the line was extended south towards the harbour of Kirk Ronan to export slate and ore from The Railroad and other materials.

Improvements to The Railroad began, and the plateway is pulled up and replaced by rails for steam engines along a new route that ran near the lake at Skarloey. The new railway was named the Skarloey Railway. The new railway ordered two engines which were both built in Whitehaven. The first engine named Skarloey arrived on a ship in 1865 at Kirk Ronan. A few months passed by until the railway's second engine called Rheneas arrived. Skarloey was sent back to Whitehaven two years later for a complete rebuild with an added pony truck and an enclosed cab, Rheneas would later serve the same treatment.

Over the course of the next decades, other standard gauge railways across the island started to emerge. The Wellsworth and Brendam Railway was constructed in 1870 which ran from Wellsworth to the wharf at Brendam. It employed a fleet of two 0-6-0 saddle tank engines named James (96) and Kitson (Whiff).

A second narrow gauge railway is constructed on the west of Sodor from the port of Arlesburgh to the mines west of Peel Godred. The railway was called the Mid-Sodor which opened in 1880 and its fleet contained several engines including its first one called No. 1 The Duke. More engines would arrive later.

A third standard gauge railway called the Elsbridge and Knapford Railway is constructed to serve the lead mines near Toryreck. The line used a fleet of vertical boiler engines called the coffeepots. Glynn was the first of the kind to enter service.

In 1899, a rack railway was constructed to climb to the top of Culdee Fell which just so happens to be Sodor's highest mountain range. The railway purchased five special angled boiler engines from Switzerland to run the line. These five engines were Godred, Ernest, Wilfred, Culdee and Shane Dooiney. The railway, aptly called the Culdee Fell Railway, would open for service the following year. The railway ran Culdee for a test run in March 1900 and the line passed the inspection and was opened to the public in May. The railway's first engine Godred suffered a terrible accident when he derailed and tumbled down the mountainside. His parts were spared for the other engines and the railway officially lost it's No. 1 engine.

Elsewhere, several developments occurred on the standard gauge railways. The Mid-Sodor on the other hand obtains three new engines which were Falcon, Stuart and Freddie. During Falcon's first day in service, he double headed a train with Duke. Whilst on the Mountain Road, he derails and almost falls off. Duke heroically kept him from falling and he managed to pull Falcon back.

The harbour at Knapford required high maintenance costs and it soon became unaffordable to upkeep. It was eventually abandoned and work along a new line built along the headlands begins later to the much bigger harbour north at Arlesburgh. A storm destroyed the tracks on the headlands, and it was therefore decided to build a new track avoiding the coast. By 1910, the line was reopened for use and it was extended towards Tidmouth via a tunnel and it was renamed to the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway. The Wellsworth and Brendam Railway merged with the TK&ELR to formulate the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Brendam Railway which erected a middle station at Crosby. The tracks to Elsbridge became a loop line and a junction station was constructed at Elsbridge.

The lines you know today became one big railway called the North Western Railway that spans the entire island. In 1914, the tracks of the Wellsworth and Brendam Railway became the Brendam Branch Line, and the Sodor and Mainland Railway became the Kirk Ronan Branch Line.

## Railways

### Current

* North Western Railway
* Skarloey Railway
* Arlesdale Railway
* Culdee Fell Railway
* Ulfstead Estate Railway
* Sodor Tramways

### Former

* The Railroad
* Sodor and Mainland Railway
* Wellsworth and Brendam Railway
* Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway
* Mid-Sodor Railway

## Trivia

* The name "Sodor" came from the name of Sudria, a hero of the Dark Ages who drove out the Normans; in real life, the name came from the Diocese of Sodor and Man, which encompassed Man and formerly also the southern isles (Norse: Sudreyjar) of Scotland.
* Sodor is approximately 62 miles east to west and 51 miles north to south.
* The patron saint of Sodor is St. Machan.
* Suddery is the capital city of Sodor.
* Sodor itself is its own country. It could be that Sodor could be one of the many countries that make up the UK (similar to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
* Sodor has its own flag, which consists of a white centre, two thin horizontal orange stripes on top of the centre, and two horizontal blue stripes on top of the orange stripes.
* The population of Sodor is roughly sixty-thousand people.