KG Kozinova

Over the map of Great Britain 

      The British Isles are situated in the northwest Europe and contain England, Scottland with its capital Edinburgh and Wales with its capital Cardiff . The United Kingdom contains also Northern Ireland also called Ulster where the city of Belfast is the capital.

It is interesting to know that the term is controversial in relation to Ireland where its use is objected to by many people and its use is also avoided in relations between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Irish term for the isles is Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór meaning Ireland and Great Britain. In Scottish Gaelic it is Eileanan Breattannach and the Welsh term is  Ynysoedd Prydain.

      The islands which are more than 6000 reach the area of 224 110 square kilometres and with population about 60 millions people are one of the most crowded countries in the world. For comparation: the population density in Great Britain is 230 per sqare kilometer, whilst in the Czech republic it is 130 and  in Iceland it reaches hardly 2 inhabitants per square kilometer.

      The weather is quite mild there but very wet and unpredictable. Winters with 4°C and cold summer with 15°C on average is caused by oceanic location of the archipelago and by the warm Gulf stream which bathe the west coast.

Because of the usual rain, the rivers are comparatively strong and deep although the are not too long- they end in a sea very soon. The longest river is Severn with 354 kilometres however the river Thames is usually recognized to be the longest although it has not more than 340 km.

      We will start our journey in London, the capital of the United Kingdom which is an agglomeration rather than a city with nearly 7 millions of inhabitants. The most famous places are definitely the Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral or the Houses of Parliament and if you want to see it all during 30 minutes go to the London Eye, the most famous attraction there. London is not a city that dazzles on first viewing, but it has its own charm created by the two thousands years of history.

      On the west from London is situated Oxford, an old university city founded in the 12th century. With second big university, Camebridge, Oxford holds a dominant position among the British education institutions so we can often hear the term „Oxbridge“ being used for the cities.

      Far to the west lies very known remain of the prehistoric culture: Stonehenge was built about 3200 years before Christ and was propably used for astronomical purposes. It is some kind of mysterious thing because nobody knows how such heavy boulders could be put up...

      The peninsula of Cornwall is the region where medieval English is spoken and we can find two national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor there.

      Near the estuary of Severn, the river effluent from Cambrian Mountains, there is the town of Bath which has been a spa town for two millenniums, founded by Romans on the place where the hot springs rise from the ground, gaining particular prominence in the 18th century as a health resort for British high society.

      Most of  the western coast is occupied by Wales, a region special with its Celtic language which sounds very funny to me. The village with the longest name on the World is situated there also. The name is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch and it can be read in this way: sanfvarpfvsvinkisšchkogerchvirenrogossantisiliugogogoch. Out of this fabulous village the hikers love the national park of Snowdonia with the highest peak of England, Snowdon.

      In the very heart of England is situated the city of Birmingham, second- largest city and the birthplace of of the Industrial revolution. It was here that James Watt first used his steam engine and here took place the meeting of famous 18th- century sciencists like Joseph Priestly or Charles Darwin. Today this large city bears some of the scars of indusrial excess and the devastation of the Nazi Luftwaffe bombing during World War II.

      When move to north, we can find Manchester, the city of  a great football club, but the city is unfortunately known as an industrial wasteland, dirty and dusty, although there are many Victorian houses and Manchester’s roots are dated from 79 A.D., when the Romans settled here.

It remained under Roman occupation until A.D. 410 when the empire began its storied fall.

      It is undoubtadly important to mention the birthplace of the legendary British music group, The Beatles, Liverpool, which is a great shipping port and an industrial center. Before obtaining King Johns charter in 13th century it was  only a tiny fishing village, but it quickly became a port for shippingmen and materials to Ireland.In the 18th century Liverpool was an important commercial seaport mainly because of  tobacco, spice and sugar trade.

      Up to the north there are one of many Englands moors, the Yorkshire moors which are from where the ancestries of  the gorgeous and famous dog race of Yorksire terrier comes.

Another area of natural beauty is situated on the north of Pennines mountains, near Hadrian’s Wall- the national park of Lake District. We can also find there the highest point of this region-  Scafell (978 metres). The largest lake is called Lake Windermere.

      On the other side of Hadrians Wall is Newcastle upon Tyne, known for its bridges over Rriver Tyne and for popular British actor, Rowan Atkinson comes from there.

      Through the hills of Southern Uplands we are heading to Scottland with its capital Edinburgh and the important airport of Glasgow. Scotland is known mainly for the beautiful nature of Grampian mountians, courageous inhabitants, hard climate and haggis, by most foreigners avoided traditional peppery dish, made from minced sheep’s heart, lungs and liver and usually served with mashed turnips and potatoes...

      Scottland is a country of lakes too, the most fabulous is Loch Ness, which is believed to be occupied by a mysterious monster. The highest peak of Great Britain is in western Grampians, Ben Nevis which measures 1343 metres.