Ok , I think I have done as much as I can. I am reasonably pleased with what I tried to achieve, but I feel that I failed to make it an interesting map.
In the end it was a blend of Gimp and Ps . It is great that Gimp can save and read PSD files. This enabled me to make and use Hose brushes in Gimp utilise Ps.'s use of layer groups and other stuff.

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