Dearlcastle

The Little Totterington and Dearlcastle region

Plan of Dearlcastle

The Old Warehouse region of Dearlcastle by night

Population: 2 million

Road connections:  The M7 motorway passes close to Dearlcastle, providing a motorway connection to the rest of the country.  Dearlcastle is 30 mins from Little Totterington, once on the motorway, in light traffic, but over an hour in heavy traffic.  Many people commute to work in the city, so there is a rush-hour which starts early and ends late (maybe 7am - 10am; 4pm - 7pm). 

There is an outer ringroad (A72) that goes all around the city. 

Major industries: Older industries were car-manufacture, textiles and ceramics. The last car factory was owned by Ford and made body-panels, and closed 6 years ago as part of the multinational's overseas re-organisation. Apart from a few manufacturers of specialist high-tech fibres, traditional tweeds and exclusive couture clothes, all the textile production has closed. There is still substantial production of ceramics, both cheap tableware, luxury porcelain and ceramic materials for the construction industry.

New industries are major distribution centres for two of the leading supermarket chains (Asda, now owned by Walmart, and Tescoways),  telephone call-centres and what is locally known, slightly disparagingly, as Silicon Allotment – a small high-tech business park. 

Entertainment: Two 10-screen multiplex cinema, restaurant and nightclub complexes in the outskirts draw thousands of visitors in the evening, especially at weekends. One is attached to the new Comberton Centre, a massive shopping mall with parking for 2000 cars. The other, on the opposite side of the city, is among the many warehouses and retail-outlets of the Suisby Business Park.

In the city centre, nightlife thrives in two areas.  For sophisticated dining and exclusive clubs, the cultural quarter surrounding the new Tate-in-the-Midlands, SciArtInd Centre and Rostropovitch concert hall, cannot be beaten.  This is next to the residential areas of Beoles and Warebridge, both of which are growing rapidly with more executive and luxury housing being built in all available space. For a more lively night out, especially popular with young people, the streets of the Old Warehouse area near the centre of Dearlcastle are the place to be. Despite bordering Fernside, the nightclubs and bars are excellent value for a good night out. Clubs such as The Parkington, Yoghurt, and the Department of Noise have a national reputation for their cutting edge sounds and radical DJs. 

Crime: Like all big cities, Dearlcastle is not crime-free. Inner-city areas such as Fernside and Haverington (which came to national attention with riots in the early 1980s) have a high crime rate, despite special programmes by the police to target key problems such as youth, street and drugs-related crime.

Hospitals: The East Westchester Medical Facility has an international reputation for heart surgery and transplantation and also for paediatrics, specialising in the care of newborns. The major accident and emergency hospital is St Winifreds. 

Sport: Dearlcastle United were relegated from the Premiership to the First Division last season.  All their many fans hope that the new signings, and a new manager, will take them back to their place among the Premier teams.  So far, a scoreless draw, two home wins and loss of their away match against Manchester, mean that they will have a hard fight. But it is still early in the season. 

There is a cricket ground where the county side plays occasionally.

Education: The Bluecoat Foundation School (boys) and the Queen Mary I School (girls) are two of the leading public (ie private, fee-paying)) schools in Britain.  The city also has a good reputation in the majority of its comprehensive schools, although two of its schools in deprived inner-city areas are in Special Measures. The University of Dearlcastle (previously Dearlcastle Polytechnic) is among the more prestigious of the post-1992 universities.