PUZZLES IN GEOGRAPHY
People may wonder why different words are used to describe these four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can clarify this question if you study British history.
First there was England. Wales was linked to it in the thirteenth century. Now when people refer to England you find Wales included as well. Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and the name was changed to "Great Britain". Happily this was accomplished without conflict when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales as well. Finally the English government tried in the early twentieth century to form the United Kingdom by getting Ireland connected in the same peaceful way. However, the southern part of Ireland was unwilling and broke away to form its own government. So only Northern Ireland joined with England, Wales and Scotland to become the United Kingdom and this was shown to the world in a new flag called the Union Jack.
To their credit the four countries do work together in some areas (eg, the currency and international relations), but they still have very different institutions. For example, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland have different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
England is the largest of the four countries, and for convenience it is divided roughly into three zones. The zone nearest France is called the South of England, the middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known as the North. You find most of the population settled in the south, but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England. Although, nationwide, these cities are not as large as those in China, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two! It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans. There you will find out more about British history and culture.
The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It is the centre of national government and its administration. It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD, the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 1060s and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066. There have been four sets of invaders of England. The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Anglo-Saxons, left their language and their government. The third, the Vikings, influenced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England, and the fourth, the Normans, left castles and introduced new words for food.
If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile.
SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON
Worried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman invaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This solid stone, square tower had remained standing for one thousand years. Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined. To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queen's jewels guarded by special royal soldiers who, on special occasions, still wore the four-hundred-year-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
There followed St Paul's Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666. It looked splendid when first built! Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting. It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour. She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queen's house in London. Oh, she had so much to tell her friends!
The second day the girl visited Greenwich and saw its old ships and famous clock that sets the world time. What interested her most was the longitude line. It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on either side of the line.
The last day she visited Karl Marx's statue in Highgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London. Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Library of the British Museum. Sadly the library had moved from its original place into another building and the old reading room was gone. But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum. When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, she felt very proud of her country.
The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. "Perhaps I will see the Queen?" she wondered as she fell asleep.
Why not visit our local castle?
Only five minutes from the main road!
This great stone castle was constructed five hundred years ago when King Henry VIII was king. He loved his food and you can tell that by visiting his extremely large and well-designed kitchens. See where he fed six hundred people at one time. Admire the beautifully decorated rooms where he met kings from other countries. Examine the care with which he organized toilets to be built for all his followers. Walk through his wonderful gardens. ...