Hareton

From PatchworkWiki

"Welcome to the Market Town of Hareton" says a wooden signboard by each main road into the town. There are four of these, roughly at each compass point, and they wind through a rural patchwork of fields, woods, streams and thatched cottages before reaching Hareton itself. The terrain is somewhat hilly, but Hareton sits snugly in a gentle valley, sun-warmed and somnolent.

Hareton is a small, sleepy market town, with attractive old-fashioned shops, cobbled streets, a beautiful church with a spire, a market square, small Town Hall, and so on. The square hosts a Wednesday general market which usually attracts visitors from the surrounding villages. One of these, Berrinsford, is within the patch borders, on the eastern edge. It is a small hamlet with only a general store to serve the needs of its tiny population.

Most modern conveniences are available in Hareton - telephones, laundrettes, and the like - but none have interfered with the general air of quiet timelessness possessing the place. No glaring supermarkets; no plate glass windows, neon signs, multi-story car parks.

The people are mostly about 4.5 feet tall. They tend towards roundness and joviality, and dress in simple, practical clothes. Traditional occupations flourish. The butcher, the baker and the candle-stick maker are all doing well for themselves in Hareton.

In the south-east quarter of the town, which curiously seems to be at the centre of the patch, you will find a costume shop named 'Whimsical Wardrobe'.