Elmwycke

Elmwycke
Flag
Motto: "Ad solem prospicimus"
Location	Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Capital	Waterside Park
Official languages	English
Demonym(s)	Brughian
Government	Semi-constitutional monarchy
• Speaker of the Royal College	Larry Martin
• Leader of the Majority	Jerry Qian
Legislature	Royal College
Establishment	6 June 2015
Population
• Census	11
Currency	Pound Sterling
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
Website http://elmwycke.com

Elmwycke, formerly Waterside Park, unofficially known as Brughia and KWP, is a micronation located in Surrey, South East England. It was founded initially in 2015, but remained dormant until 2021, when it merged with the Baffin Republic to create Waterside Park. In May 2022, the nation was renamed to Elmwycke.

Its citizens are entirely local to South East England, and whilst in-person meetings are regular, online communications are seldom used.

The nation has land claims in south east England, and also claims Grassholm, an island off the coast of south west Wales.

Etymology

The name "Elmwycke" comes from "Elm", a type of tree, and "wycke", an alternative spelling of "wick" or "wyke", meaning place or settlement in Old English. Unlike other local areas, "Elm" does not refer to the River Mole.

History

In 2015, the Kingdom was founded by Larry Martin on his ninth birthday. His dog was immediately given a royal role. Over four years later, in 2019, the Baffin Republic was founded, once again by Martin, but with others involved too. By this point, Waterside Park had been somewhat neglected.

In September 2020, Afrasiyab Jamshaid was found guilty of trying to gain an unfair advantage in the October Elections in the Baffin Republic. There was a lot of internal conflict, with two others choosing to leave, forming the Baffin RAJ. By this point, Martin had considered reviving the Kingdom, however this did not happen at that time.

In February 2021, Martin proposed a poll to the citizens of the Baffin Republic asking if they would be OK with a merge into the Kingdom. No citizens objected, and so the merge went through. On 23 February 2021, the Baffin Republic merged with the Kingdom of Waterside Park.

In May 2022, Waterside Park was renamed to Elmwycke.

Geography

Elmwycke was originally a house nation, claiming solely Larry Martin's household. However, after the merge, the Kingdom claimed the Lagoan Isles in Baffins Pond, Portsmouth, along with the Welsh island of Grassholm. All other claims were dropped during the merge. In July 2021, the Lagoan Isles and Grassholm regions were dropped, howeverElmwycke Field was also claimed.

Climate

Climate data for Waterside Park
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	8 (46)	8 (46)	11 (52)	14 (57)	18 (64)	21 (70)	23 (73)	23 (73)	20 (68)	16 (61)	11 (52)	9 (48)	23 (73)
Average low °C (°F)	2 (36)	2 (36)	3 (37)	5 (41)	8 (46)	11 (52)	13 (55)	13 (55)	10 (50)	7 (45)	4 (39)	3 (37)	2 (36)
Average Precipitation mm (inches)	51 (2.01)	37.8 (1.488)	41.4 (1.63)	38.6 (1.52)	45.4 (1.787)	40.1 (1.579)	37.8 (1.488)	45 (1.77)	40.6 (1.598)	52.9 (2.083)	55.4 (2.181)	52.7 (2.075)	538.7 (21.209)
Source: NOAA

Districts

Elmwycke Field

Elmwycke Field
Incorporated place of Elmwycke
Image of Elmwycke Field with District St. (red) and Boundary Walk (blue) highlighted.
Incorporated	30 March 2021
Founded by	Larry Martin
College Seat	Elmwycke Field North & Elmwycke Field South
Area
• Total	1.09 km2 (0.42 sq mi)
• Land	1.09 km2 (0.42 sq mi)
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)

Elmwycke Field is an incorporated place of Elmwycke. It was incorporated on 30 March 2021, originally named Waterside Park Park. It was renamed in May 2022 to Elmwycke Field as part of the national name change. Elmwycke Field is a small park, divided into two parts by Boundary Walk, an asphalt pathway. There is a rectuangular area in the northern half, surrounded by a metal fence. This area used to contain a playground.

Elmwycke Field is considered to be the nation's principal area, being the largest contiguous accessible land claim in Elmwycke. Elmwycke Field is also where the nation's name originates.

The area is uninhabited, but is often used as a public thoroughfare, and suffers from issues with literring. Elmwycke's government has plans for a small public garden area to be installed in the former playground.

Postal system

Waterside Park postal code system
C E B Y
Map of Waterside Park postal codes.
Established	6 June 2015

Elmwycke has used postcodes since its founding in 2015. Postcodes are designated by the Royal Postal Company. Originally, the only postcode was C, for Capital. When the nation merged with the Baffin Republic in 2021, it gained two new postcode areas, B, for Baffin Isles, and Y, for Ynys Gwales.

Designations

There are currently 4 postcode areas.

Code	Area
B	Baffin Isles
C	Waterside Park (Capital territory)
E	Elmwycke Field
Y	Ynys Gwales

The Elmwycke Field postcode area was the newest to be added, in May 2022.

B postcode area

The B postcode area was introduced to the Baffin Republic on 9 November 2019, a week after the Baffin Republic's foundation. The area covers all 3 of the Baffin Isles.

C postcode area

The C postcode area was introduced on 6 June 2015, the day of Elmwycke's founding. The letter C stands for "capital".

E postcode area

The E postcode area was introduced on 2 May 2022. It covers all of Elmwycke Field, both north and south areas.

Y postcode area

The Y postcode area covers all of Grassholm, with the Y standing for "Ynys". Ynys is the Welsh word for island, and is not a specific word for Grassholm.

Breakdown

Where X is a letter and Y is a number, each postcode follows the format:

X-YY

The letter at the start refers to the postcode area. The 2 numbers at the end are randomly generated, and unique to each property.

The Royal Office's Postal Code is C-42.

Government

Elmwycke is a parliamentary republic, with an elected legislature, the Royal College. The legislature elects a Speaker, who acts as the head of state and de jure head of government. However, governments are formed by the majority party, and so the de facto head of government is the leader of the majority, currently Jerry Qian of the Competent Fools' Party.

The College Act 2023 replaced the constitution, and abolished the monarchy, whilst giving more powers to the legislature.

Elmwycke uses the Single Transferable Vote system for its main elections, and Supplementary Vote for by-elections.

Departments

There are 4 departments in Elmwycke.

• 
• 
• 
• 

The Department for Agriculture and Environment is headed by Calvin Harrington, the MC for Elmwycke Field South #1. The department is in charge of surveying the nation's geography, and keeping its environment stable.

The Department for Economic Affairs is headed by Joe Seth, the MC for Waterside Park #2. The department is in charge of the national treasury and economy. It also regulates business and taxing on businesses in the nation.

The department for Media and Cultural Affairs is headed by Nayan Serpant, the MC for Elmwycke Field South #2. The department is in charge of promotion of national culture, tourism, and some aspects of media within the nation.

The department for Technology and Education is headed by Liam Piper, the MC for Elmwycke Field North #1. The department is in charge of the building of a digital economy, and also some aspects of digital media. The department is also in charge of archiving.

Non-departmental offices

• 
• 

The Royal Office is the office run and owned by the reigning monarch, currently Larry Martin. The Royal Office is the highest office in the nation, with jurisdiction over the whole government. The office is also in charge of foreign relations.

The Supreme Court is the office run by the Supreme Judge, and is in charge of the justice system in the nation. Led by Caleb Sundstrom, the Supreme Court governs all court cases within the nation.

Citizenship

All citizenship applications are processed by the Royal Office. In order to ensure a local presence, citizens must reside in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Essex, Greater London, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, or West Sussex.

Non-local citizens are occasionally admitted, at the Monarch's discretion.

Government-owned corporations

Royal Postal Company

Logo of the Royal Postal Company

The Royal Postal Company is a company owned by the Department for Technology. It designates postcodes and handles postage, internet, and telecommunications. It was founded on 6 June 2015, making it one of the oldest institutions in Elmwycke. It also operates the discord server for Elmwycke.

NCWP

Logo of the News Corporation of Waterside Park

The News Corporation of Waterside Park was a government-owned website which published news on behalf of the government, including press releases. It was founded on 16 March 2021, and published its first article on 20 March 2021, a press release regarding the government's view on the tratment of Uighurs in Xinjiang. The NCWP was made defunct later that year, and the website has since gone dead.

The successor to the NCWP is currently under development by the Royal Office in conjunction with the Department for Technology, and is planned to be released in summer 2022.

Political parties

Although Elmwycke is not a one-party state by law, only one party currently exists.

Competent Fools' Party

Competent Fools Party
Leader	Jerry Qian
Deputy Leader	Joe Seth
Founded	23 February 2021 (2021-02-23)
Ideology	Centrism

The Competent Fools Party is the leading, and only, political party of Elmwycke. It currently holds all 6 elected seats.

History

The party was originally founded before the December 2020 Tinakulan elections. After Larry Martin was kicked out of the nation illegally, the CFP dissolved. It was restarted in February 2021 with the revival of Waterside Park, with Joe Seth joining as deputy leader.

Policies

The Competent Fools' slogan is "Maintaining the status quo." As a centrist party, they have no radical or noteworthy policies.

Foreign relations

The Kingdom of Waterside Park has unilateral recognition of:

• All UN member states
• Kosovo
• Taiwan
• Vatican City
• All Cupertino Alliance member states
• Austenasia

The Kingdom of Waterside Park has bilateral recognition with:

• New Athens
• State of Vishwamitra
• Aenopia
• All LIN member states who have signed the Libertas Convention

Culture

Cuisine

The cuisine of Elmwycke is nearly identical to that of the United Kingdom, with western dishes such as fish and chips, sausage rolls (the national food) and sandwiches, but also with foods from south Asian cultures, however, like in the UK, these are inauthentic, and made with the spices of the original dishes, but mixed for an entirely different palate.

Media and free speech

Citizens enjoy freedom of press and speech to certain extents. Speech with the intent of causing harm, whether physical, mental, or financial, is a crime, in line with the UK's laws on the matter.

No form of media is blocked in Elmwycke, and citizens may freely criticise the government without repercussion.

Sport

The national sport of Elmwycke is football.

Demographics

The demographics of Elmwycke are fairly diverse, with the majority of the population coming from ethnically diverse or mixed backgrounds. Religious diversity, however, is not currently known in the nation. A census is due to be taken in January 2023.