"This was once part of London, but it was badly damaged in the Fall. The brick buildings toppled, the wooden buildings burned. Hillchanger Tower lost its crenellations."[2]
Ealing Gardens is a community just outside London, which serves as the first station of the Great Hellbound Railway.
"Not everyone who lives here is a Rubbery Man or a market gardener. Other people – the very poor, the very eccentric, and the very unpopular – have found homes here as well."[3]
A Peppercap.
Once part of London on the Surface, Ealing Gardens suffered disastrous damage in the Fall as it landed some distance from the rest of the city.[4] It eventually redeveloped into a fledgling community;[5] some buildings were reconstructed, and some replaced with architecture in a Rubbery style.[6] Other ruins were demolished and converted into mushroom farms that now provide food for London's populace.[7]
A Rubbery Community
"Even here, they are subject to stares and unflattering comment. But they are more numerous in these parts than elsewhere."[8]
"People around here often mention Helicon House, a gathering place of Rubberies and Bohemians..."[9]
Rubbery Men make up a large portion of Ealing's population, and the arrival of commercial development in the area has created business and cultural hubs for the tentacled folk. Sadly, even here, they face discrimination from the town's human residents.[8]
The Tentacled Entrepreneur recently moved most of his business operations to Ealing;[10] his factories are staffed with Rubbery Men,[11] with the only humans present employed as security guards.[12] Strict hygiene is enforced,[13][14] and the Rubbery Men work on an assembly line[15] to manufacture various useful goods.[16] While the Entrepreneur may be lauded for providing his fellow Rubberies with safe employment, the products that come from these factories are not his primary source of income.[17]
Though it is also a relatively new establishment, Helicon House has already become an important one to the Rubbery population.[18] Within its walls, they are free to engage with and express their artistry and culture.[19][20] Helicon's very existence is kept secret to most humans, even within the counterculture of London,[21] and any human visitors are vetted thoroughly by its doorman before they may enter.[22]
Human Development
"The lack of ordinary shops does not mean a lack of trade entirely. There are still people who will sell clothes or food out here; there are still a few sources of Prisoner's Honey, for those who have reached the Upper River and cannot live without."[23]
Ealing's citizenry is an eccentric mix of Rubbery Men[24], London's poor and outcast,[25] and fungus farmers.[26] When the Great Hellbound Railway arrived, it brought new visitors and residents of various stripes:[27]Tracklayer's Union retirees[28] and their families,[29] bohemians seeking inspiration,[30] enterprising paleontologists,[31] even Monster-Hunters.[32] It also brought the Ministry of Upper River Development, which now oversees the growing community.[33]
Since Ealing exists outside the immediate range of the Echo Bazaar, commercial activity in the area was initially minimal. The area's few peddlers sold food, clothes, and Prisoner's Honey.[23] After the Railway arrived, commercial development increased, for better or for worse;[34]Mr Hearts has licensed a butcher's shop in Ealing,[35] though the butcher himself is not fond of his job,[36] and some have taken advantage of the open space to establish circuses without competition from Mrs Plenty's Carnival.[37]
During her tenure as Lord Mayor of London, Virginia opened a spa in Ladybones Road for the betterment of London's souls.[38][39] Unfortunately, results were middling, and the spa was considered a failure. With the help of the GHR, Virginia has opened another location in Ealing, far away from any oversight,[40] but her selection of treatments remains questionably effective.[41]
Aescwine Hill
"It's the Hillchanger Tower. The one that appears on Aescwine Hill and then travels other places. I've thought for some time that represented another power."[42]
Aescwine Hill is a summit near the outskirts of Ealing.[43] The view from the hill is a favorite subject of local landscape painters,[44] even though it is infested with enormous scorpions.[45] It is one of the resting points of Hillchanger Tower, which travels across the Hinterlands[46][47] but returns to Aescwine every midnight.[48]
↑Tour the Neighbourhood, Fallen London"This was once part of London, [...] it was badly damaged in the Fall. The brick buildings toppled, the wooden buildings burned."
↑Tour the Neighbourhood, Fallen London"The architecture is a Rubbery parody of London: old ruins propped up [...] new buildings built in [...] imitation of known styles."
↑ 8.08.1Rubbery Observances, Fallen London"Saving Flute Street, nowhere in London [is] [...] a home for Rubbery Men. Even here, they are subject to stares and unflattering comment. But they are more numerous in these parts than elsewhere. The Tentacled Entrepreneur built his first factory [...] down that block."
↑Tour the Neighbourhood, Fallen London"[...] the Tentacled Entrepreneur brought most his operations here, where the factories could expand and the workers live [...]"
↑Visit Helicon House with the Dean of Xenotheology, Fallen London"Several of the Rubbery people are gathered around a sculpture displayed at the centre of the room. "We shouldn't approach without permission," [...] "Their current posture is one associated with... sacred receptiveness. [...] This is a time of extraordinary change for them. A few years ago, Rubbery culture had nothing like this—""
↑Fill a stomach, Fallen London"You smuggle your donation to [...] Union workers – some of them living with their families, and with not really enough to go round."
↑Spa Services, Fallen London"[...] as Mayor, Virginia took over a [...] townhouse on Ladybones Road and converted it into a spa. [...] the results were not wholly satisfactory. [...] with your assistance, she has built a branch of that spa here in Ealing Gardens, where she can offer advanced treatments without the supervision of any Ministry."
↑Constellations, Fallen London"[...] it's easier to make out the silhouettes on the horizon: the outline of Aescwine Hill [...]"
↑Upper River Artistry, Fallen London"The more Nocturnalist Bohemians have taken a liking to Ealing Gardens. [...] some simply paint landscapes of the vista from Aescwine Hill.
↑Offer your defensive escort, Fallen London"[...] a little trouble, [...] a troupe of [...] scorpions the size of house-cats [...] Your party does not get even halfway up the hill before you are swarmed by [...] scorpions?"
↑Build the station at Moulin, Fallen London"[...] the Hillchanger Tower. The one that appears on Aescwine Hill and then travels other places," [...] It has taken up a place in Moulin now [...]"
