The Biddescombe Monument
the Biddescombe Monument
Pegton [84, 54]
Basic Info:
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The Biddescombe Monument
Description
Standing in the heart of Pegton, the majestic Biddescombe Monument commemorates the selfless acts of Duncan Biddescombe, whose selflessness and bravery helped reunite the two halves of Pegton into a coherent community in the Reunification of '91.
History
For centuries, Pegton was "two communities divided by a common language", according to local humorist and raconteur, Alastair McWhitty. Despite the shared heritage of their impenetrable accent and their descent from the noble family, the Peggs of Pegg Hall, the sou'westerners regarded the nor'easterners as uncouth and unwashed, while the nor'easterners in turn regarded the sou'westerners as snobbish and aloof. This mutual suspicion between the haves and have-nots erupted into open violence on several occasions, most devastatingly at what was once Pegg Square. This conflict resulted in a wall being built across the suburb by the reactionary council in 1961, physically dividing the capitalist class from the proletariat.
The physical barriers between the two sides were torn down in 1989, however, when the growing population of eastern Pegton found it impossible to endure their economic deprivation any longer. Armed with nothing more than pickaxes, hand-drills and a suitcase of courage, they overwhelmed the walls, barbed wire fences and security guards who stood in their way. Rushing to the consumerist delights of the west, they were for the most part welcomed as long-lost family by unexpectedly hospitable west Pegtonians.
Separatists on Pegton's council were angered by the fraternising, and plotted a series of terror attacks which they intended to pin on the nor'easterners. Whistle-blower Biddescombe, a humble cleaner at the council offices, caught wind of the plot when he overheard it being discussed in the gentleman's toilets. Risking his life, he alerted the central Pegton police, who rounded up the conspirators within hours and hanged them with meathooks.
By foiling the 'Carver Street Conspiracy', Biddescombe paved the way for peaceful reunification. The People's United Suburb of Pegton (PUS-Pegton) was finally ratified by both halves of the suburb's Federal Council in 1991, despite objections from Dentonside and Edgecombe that it would make Pegton far too powerful in eastern Malton, disturbing the precarious balance of suburb power.
Biddescombe retired a happy man in 2004, ten years after the monument which bears his name was completed. He was just about to settle down to enjoy his twilight years peacefully working in his garden when the suburb he worked his whole life for was overrun by brain-eating zombies.