british culture and civilization 1

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1. THE LANDSCAPE AND THE PEOPLE

1.1 Brief Geographical Outline

In Shakespeare’s chronicle play Richard II, there are some famous livesuttered by John of Gaunt, in which the beauty and uniqueness of thecountry is nowhere better extolled; the text is a wonderful portrayal of what “this blessed plot ”of land shows and means to its people.

“ This royal throne of kings, this sceptere’d isle This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise; This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war; This happy breed of men, this little world;

This precious stone set in the silver sea … This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this”England, (Act II, Scene I)

The excerpt portrays “the island myth”, a nature fortress against threatscoming from outside, the “plot of land” peopled with “a happy breed of men” recognizing their fortune in belonging to the island community.But, the country consists of a multitude of islands representinggeographical and regional distinction, and the idea of a single island has

been “one of the most misleading British myths”; however, the myth hasbeen a useful one by creating the image of a single island people stayingtogether against the rest of the world, the English, Scots, Welsh and Irishconstituting a “cohesive unit” [50, p. 500].

“For an Englishman”, as Monica Redlich says [38; p. 13], “no matterthe place where he happens to live, whatever the background, that placeis the best of all in the world, is the most special one; for one; it may beDevon, for another the Welsh border, for another London, for another



East Anglia; but each of them knows that his particular corner of England is the best possible one. Even the drawbacks are better – whichis to say worse – than those of any other district; its frost areunsurpassable, its mud in winter time scarcely to be believed. We must

return to this matter for one cannot understand England or the Englishif one does not remember it”.

The Englishman loves his place and his home, and, not accidentally, theysay that “for an Englishman his home is his castle”.

The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland; the names United Kingdom, Great Britain and

England are often confused, even by the United Kingdom inhabitants[53; p. 1]. Sometimes, the name “Britain” is used with reference to TheUnited Kingdom. The country is located off the north-western coast of Europe, its total land area covering 94,231 square miles (244,110 sq. km)with 300 miles across at its widest, and about 600 miles from the top of the northern point to its southern coast.

The United Kingdom consists of four geographic and historical parts:England, Wales and Scotland which constitute together Great Britain,

the larger of the two main islands, and Northern Ireland, part of thesecond large island which also includes the Republic of Ireland, (Irelandor Eire) politically independent and not part of the United Kingdom.

There are also numerous isles spread along the coast, large enough orquite tiny: the Isle of Wight to the south of England, and the Isles of Scilly to its southwest; the island of Anglesey lies off north-westernWales, while theIsle of Man is above it, in the Irish Sea, facing the LakeDistrict; the Hebrides lie to the west of Scotland, while the Orkney and

Shetland islands lie to its north.

The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands off the French west coast arenot part of the United Kingdom, being self-governing CrownDependencies; they have their own independent legal system, legislaturesand administrative bodies, with the British government responsible fortheir defence and foreign relations, and being entitled to interfere in caseof unproper administration.



England is the largest (129,634 sq. km/50,052 sq. miles) and mostdensely populated part of the United Kingdom, being the mostindustrialized one as well.

Wales (20,637 sq. km/7,968 sq. miles) lies west of the English lowland,being composed almost entirely of rocky outcrops dissected by deepvalleys, but with a well-known industrial south. Wales and England wereunified administratively, legally, and politically by the Acts of Union(1536, 1542).

Scotland (77,179 sq. km/29,799 sq. miles) is the most northern andmountainous part of Great Britain but the less densely populated one, as a

result of its position and high ground. In 1707, Scotland joined England andWales by forming a single Parliament and the country became Great Britain.

The area of Northern Ireland (13,438 sq. km/5,206 sq. miles) consistingof 6 counties, which became part of the United Kingdom in 1922, isrelatively small but varied, with a growing industry, particularly in andaround its capital, Belfast. It has a common frontier with the IrishRepublic (200 miles long) which represents, in fact, the only land borderof the United Kingdom. With a territory consisting of smaller or larger

islands, the United Kingdom is a country surrounded by sea.

The English Channel lies to the south of England (between the UnitedKingdom and France) while theNorth Sea lies to the east, both of them,together with the Strait of Dover separating England from Europe. Theseas are not deep, but they are frequently rough and difficult to navigateduring storms, which made crossing from England to France far frompleasant. Nowadays, a tunnel constructed under the English Channelconnects, the two countries. To the west, the Irish Sea surrounds the

land, while the north-western coast of Ireland and western Scotland facetheAtlantic Ocean.

The seas around Britain are generally shallow and provide exceptionallygood fishing grounds. The distance from the south coast of England tothe most northerly part of Scotland is 960 km (600 miles), while thedistance between England’s and Wales’ coasts are 480 km (300 miles),making that no place in the United Kingdom be more than 80 miles from

the sea. However, there used to be people in Britain who had never seen



the sea, a fact which is no longer the case in our days. The distancesbeing relatively small, the development of political union, thestandardization of social, economic and institutional norms, as well asproper communications have been possible.

The fact that Britain is an island has determined and explains many of theconsequences of its special development; it has mainly made of its

inhabitants a seafaring nation, sailors and merchants, travelling across the



seas and oceans of the world, but, permanently, longing for and comingback to their “precious” homeland. It also meant “invasion or securityfrom invasion, shipyards, a gentle climate, Brighton piers, and sandcastles, and much else besides [38; p. 15]. Thus, the sea is quite familiar

to the Englishman and he, instinctively, turns to it as to his friend.

Another important geographic feature of the main island of Great Britainis its deeply indented coastline; it has created, as a consequence, thesheltered bays and caves, a lot of perfect natural harbours, easilyaccessible to deep-water shipping, a decisive factor both for the country’seconomic development and for its imperial expansion. Besides, the hightides provide safe anchorages along a large number of rivers and

estuaries of the country.

The coast is of a great diversity and beauty and it is said that it offers“something for everybody in every mood”; maybe, its most beautifulparts are to be found in the south-west of England and in the west of Scotland. There is much indentation along the coast of Devon andCornwall with the hills running close to the sea and becoming cliffs. Asregards the southern and eastern coast, it is composed of chalk cliffswhich vary in size, the coast being sometimes flat, and of a less

dramatic effect.

On the other hand, the north-western coast offers images of a wildbeauty: here, many river valleys (fyords), widened by the sea-drownedglaciers, penetrate deeply into the mountains which are stately risingfrom the sea, either forming elongated peninsulas or emerging inhundreds of small off shore islands.

There are also big seaside resort towns which have grown up on the

coastline: Brighton, Bournemouth or Southend in the south, andBlackpool in the north-west, among others. They are well-known for thegreat number of visitors they receive, either for a fortnight stay or just fora couple of hours spent on the beach.

The coastline which can be admired today, is the result of the naturalforces whose actions are still in a permanent process; over time, the seamoved backwards and forwards, with the coastline sinking under or

rising above it, the sea’s retreat creating either the chalk and limestone



uplands or the beaches along the coasts; but, in some places, the processof erosion is still on, the sea consuming the land slowly and relentlessly.

Besides the sea, the second important presence in the scenery of Britain

are the hills, as this country is a land without spectacular high mountains.With some exceptions, a few districts in eastern England where the landis smooth and flat and West Wales and North Scotland which have somereal mountains, the prevailing landscape of the country is the hilly one,but of a wide variety with both large and small hills. The “hill” plays animportant part in the life of the people and in their way of thinking aswell. An average Englishman asked “to imagine a typically Englishscene will almost certain include in it some familiar hill top or a row of

blue-shadowed hills in the background”. The hills are part and parcel of the English culture, being part of the people’s life as “they separate onetown or village from another, they act as shelter from the prevailingwind, they change colour continually with the changes of sunlight andcloud, they give point and purpose to a country walk; they make the oldrhyme about” over the hills and far away ”a symbol of adventure and theunknown” [38; p. 11].

1.2 The Relief and Economic Development

The archipelago that forms the United Kingdom, irregular in shape andbeautiful in the diversity of its scenery, is, largely, the result of itsunderlying structure, of its nature and disposition: the archipelagorepresents the westward extension of European mainland, connected,thousands of years ago, by land links which disappeared under the

shallow waters of the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. The Strait of Dover represents, now, the shortest stretch of water separating the twoland masses (29 miles/32 km).

It was the consequence of the glaciers melting in the last Ice Age,causing the sea level to rise, and the separation of the island from thecontinent. In its turn, Northern Ireland is the westward extension of Scotland’s rocks.



The great variety of Britain’s geography is the result of a long geologicalhistory: its oldest parts were formed by the mountain chains rising fromthe sea-bed, due to the earth movements.

Between the earth movements, there were important climatic changeswhen warm, sub-tropical periods alternated with sub/arctic ones; thus,during the warm periods there were large swamp forests which coveredthe lowland areas, (their fossil remains buried by sand soil and mudformed the coal deposits of the island) while in the cold ones, the glaciersmoved southwards leaving their mark over the most of the area, shapingthe details of the valleys and plains, and deciding the sitting of thefuture rivers.

Other weather agents (wind, ice, water) had also an important part toplay, gradually wearing away the raised land, rounding off the mountainpeaks and moving waste materials to lower areas, where they wereturned into new rocks; in this way, the scenery became softer andless folded.

From the point of view of physical relief, Great Britain is traditionallydivided into two major regions, Highland and Lowland, in fact, a

separation between the older rocks of the north and west created by theearth movements from the younger ones in south and east.

Highland Britain includes Scotland, the Lake District (in north/westEngland) the Pennines (central upland), a large part of Wales, as well asDevon and Cornwall (southwest of England); the rest of the country isknown as Lowland, a sort of imaginary line running diagonally on themap of the island from the mouth of the river Exe (southwest) to that of the river Tees (northeast), being considered to follow the geological

edges which mark the wrinkles of the landscape.

Generally speaking, because of the type of rocks it is made from,Highland is not so much suited for agriculture, being largely good foranimal grazing, while Lowland, with its fertile soils, offers goodagricultural conditions; there are also important urban settlements here,and highly developed industrial areas.



The Highland. In comparison with the continental mountainous regions,its altitudes are low; the highest peak is Ben Nevis, which is only 4,406feet (1,343 meters) above sea level, the second high being Snowdon (3,560 feet) in North Wales; the scenery offered is not at all specifically

alpine; even Ben Nevis is rounded in shape and “benevolent”, coveredwith grass and heather and only, sometimes, patched with snow. InWales, Snowdon dominates the landscape which is largely mountainous,with deep wooded valleys.

Scotland lies in this area, consisting of three main topographic regions:Northern Highlands and Southern Uplands with Central Lowlands separating them.

The Highlands cover the northern part of the country, the region beingcharacterized by high grounds (nearly 300 peaks) of granite outcrops,deeply trenched with valleys and lochs.

There are large areas of unspoilt and wild landscape here.

The highest part of the Highlands is represented by the GrampianMountains (1,000-3,500 feet above sea level), reaching their highest

altitude with the Cairngorms, exceeding 4,000 feet (Ben Nevis, thehighest mountain of Great Britain stands a bit farther to south west).Numerous mountains torrents and brooks descend from the highlandmasses which are furrowed by wide valleys.

However, the Highlands of Scotland are not entirely of great altitude;there are occasional areas of lowland, sharply contrasting with themountain scenery around; long lines of sand dunes fringe them, addingvariety to the landscape.

There are many long and narrow fresh water lochs, some of themexceptionally deep, which enhance the wild beauty of the lonelylandscape. Loch Lomond deserves a special mention for its wonderfulscenery, while Lock Ness is a famous place for the largely debatedmonster which is supposed to live there.



The Western coast isintersected by long, narrowsea lochs or fyords which cutdeep into the land, making

the coast rugged andirregular. The cliffs vary incharacter according to thenature of the rock.

The population is not densein the Highlands, the largestparts of mainland and the

heather-covered moorland being uninhabitable; however, many remoteplaces along the west coast have recently developed as summerresidences, famous for their wild beauty.

The most important towns of the Highlands are Aberdeen, (universitytown, manufacturing centre, port and place of oil support facilities),Inverness, Peterhead, Elgin, etc.

The Highlands of Scotland also include numerous islands, the most

important being the Hebrides, the Orkneys and the Shetland.

The Hebrides (consisting of Outer Hebrides and Inner Hebrides) can beconsidered a broken archipelago, formed of eighty inhabited islands.

Many of these remote islands are small and rocky, with only light housesand few inhabitants. Their landscape is very attractive, rugged andpicturesque, especially in summer time when they are visited by pleasurecruisers, as tourism to these islands has recently become of growing

importance. The richest and most productive of all islands is Islay,situated in the extreme south of the Inner Hebrides; it is known for goodtrout and salmon fishing due to its many fresh water lochs and rivers withwhich it is provided.

Stock raising and dairy farming are of great importance, the island’smain crops being oats, potatoes and some other vegetables.

DARTMOUTH, DEVON (LACKE)



The Orkneys are growing in importance with the development of oil-fields in the North Sea; they are also known for sheep raising, largelykept on common grazing land; some farm land can be found in someparts of the island, and fishing of herring shoals, appearing off the

Orkneys, is possible in summer time.

The Shetland Islands lie in the far north, making a compact archipelagoof about one hundred islands and islets, out of which only no more thantwenty/twenty five are inhabited, because of their position and severeclimate conditions.

The Shetlands are famous for sheep raising, appreciated for the fine wool

produced by a native breed able to live out in all weathers; the harshconditions are said to be beneficial for the wool quality.

There is a well-known hand-knitting industry here using traditionalpatterns, which has greatly contributed to the islands’ prosperity.

In many ways, the Shetland Islands are unique; the beauty of the sceneryis also remarkable, with rugged ridges, many fresh water lochs and seainlets. There are long summer twilights, a reminder of the northerly

latitude.

The Central Lowlands lie between the Highlands, the boundary being,here, of a wall-like feature, and the Southern Uplands. It constitutes abroad depression, but this trench is, by no means, a continuous plain;there are many separate groups of hills here, and isolated crags formed of sturdy, resistant masses of volcanic rock. (The Castle of Edinburgh isbuilt on a hill of this type of rock).

There are three chief valleys in the Central Lowlands: the valley of the Tay and of the Forth descending from the Highlands, and the valley of the Clyde descending from the Southern Uplands; the last two form thedeeply penetrating estuaries of the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth.

There are not many lochs in this part of the country, but there are shallowlakes of various sizes.



The population of this region is comparatively dense, as a consequenceof the important industrial position of the region.

The main important towns are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leith, Dundee,

Paisley, Perth, etc. each of them specialised in some specific production.

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, famous for its fine setting,architecture and historical interest.; administration is the main activity of this city, but it is also a banking and insurance centre; Edinburgh is auniversity town, its university being founded in 1582. In the town thereare industries of quite considerable importance as rubber production,baking and milling industries.

Glasgow is known for a great variety of manufacturing industries, asheavy industry, including shipbuilding, being an important textile centreas well. Glasgow is also known for its book-producing and publishingfirms. It is one of the country’s chief ports and a leading distributioncentre.

Close to the manufacturing districts lie rich agricultural lands, situatedespecially in the east of the region; the main crops are barley, oats and

potatoes, with a farming notable for its high yields.

The Southern Uplands lie to the south of Central Lowlands, from theNorth Channel (south-west) to St. Abb’s Head (north-east); much of thispart of Scotland consists of high ground; however, in comparison withthe Northern Highlands, the relief is more subdued here, and its highestpoint is only 2,800 feet above the sea.

The main hill masses are theCheviots, culminating with Broad Law and

Merrick, which is the highest summit in the region (above2,700 feet), both of them being mainly based on volcanic rocks andgranite; they, together with the rugged imprint of former glaciers, give amountainous quality to the landscape. Otherwise, the general aspect of the region is of broad plateau surfaces separated by numerous dalescovered with woods.

There are many rivers flowing in the west of the region and following the

slope of the plateau towards the Solway Firth. In the east, the Valley



of the Tweedand its numerous tributaries form a broad lowland expanse.One of the most picturesque and best-known locks is the wild and lonelyLoch Skene. The eastern part of the upland carries a great deal of moor.

The density of the population in the Southern Uplands is not very high;the urban population is concentrated in a number of small market andtextile towns, but, for the most part, the region is rural, with itspopulation either grouped in small villages or scattered in hill andlowland farming units; sheep raising has been practised for a long time;dairy farming is developed, as well as fishing, side by side with thewoollen industry.

The largest and most important town of south-west Scotland isDumfries well known for its textile industry embracing a variety of knittedgarments for home and foreign markets.

Stranraer is another town, small but important as a dealing centre withdairy products.

This region is also known as the Border country, and it is important aswell because of Sir Walter Scottwhose special province it was.

As regards the economic development of the three regions formingScotland, the traditional industries (coal, steel and ship building) haverecently declined, but less dramatically than it happened in other partsof the UK.

There has been an important growth in new industries, such as chemicals,electronic engineering and some forms of mechanical and instrumentengineering. Thus, “Scotland accounts for more than half of Britain’s

output of integrated circuits and for more than 10 p.c. of Europeanoutput” [54; 19]. A serious impact on its economic development was dueto the discovery of oil and gas under the North Sea, a large number of jobs being estimated to have arisen as direct or indirect result of NorthSea activities.

As regards the traditional industries there are some textiles (high qualitytweeds, food and drink products) which are still important. There aremore than 100 whisky distilleries, especially in north-east Scotland,

whisky exports valuing over £ 2 million.



Services have also expanded: there are four Scottish based clearing bankshaving limited rights to issue their own banknotes, and there is also alarge number of insurance companies.

As regards agriculture, 80 p.c. of Scotland’s land area is devoted to thisactivity, much of the land representing grazing for cattle and sheep.

The productivity of the arable land is high, and its principal crop isbarley, used in producing whisky and beer.

Nearly half of Britain’s forest area lies in Scotland, and the timberproduction is also notable.

Fishing is an activity well represented, especially in the north-east areaand in the islands; more than 60 p.c. of the total value of Britain’s fishlanding comes from Scotland.

In general, and with few exceptions, Scotland can be characterized byharsh physical conditions, a cold climate and isolation because of itsremoteness; as a consequence, settlement there, agriculture, generaldevelopment, but also its conquest, have been difficult over time.

Northern Ireland (at its nearest point only 13 miles/12 km fromScotland) could be considered an extension of the Scottish Highlands,presenting the same type of mountain scenery, with peat-coveredsummits, (Sperrin Mountains, 2,241 feet above the sea) while theuplands here, are a continuation of the Southern Uplands of Scotland;however, the land is flatter (500 feet) with the exception of the MourneMountain – a cluster of granite summits rising sharply in the south-east(the highest peak Slieve Donard is 2,796 feet (853 m). The difference inthe geological structure is represented by an outpouring of basaltic lavaswhich formed a huge plateau, its largest part being covered by LoughNeagh (147 sq. miles/381 sq. km), a shallow fresh water lake, the largestin Britain.

Economically, Northern Ireland has for long been a traditionalmanufacturer of textiles, especially linen; nowadays, its industry(situated mostly in the eastern part) is diversified, showing excellency inthe production of vehicle components, oil-drilling equipment, electronicinstruments, synthetic rubber.



Most of the province population, generally sparse and scattered, isconcentrated in Belfast and in the neighbouring counties. Belfast, thecapital, stands at the head of the wide Belfast Lough, where the riverLagan reaches the shore; its location made it a port of great importance

for Northern Ireland; it has developed a large shipyard, where aconsiderable number of passenger liners and aircraft carriers were built.

There are some other towns situated in valleys, such as Londonderry,especially known for its clothing industry, Ballymena, Newryetc.

As regards, agriculture, it includes livestock products, while the maincereal crop are oats; there is a big production of potatoes, as well; many

farmers grow flax and fruits in the suitable districts.

The Highland region of Great Britain continues to the south with theHighland of England and of Wales. Here, it consists of four uplandmasses descending from north to south: The Pennines, the CumbrianMountains, theCambrian MountainsandSouth West peninsula.

The Cambrian Mountains (known as theWelsh Massif ) form the core of Wales; their slopes go down into the sea, excepting the eastern side

where they border the English plain.

The general scenery they offer is that of a hilly region dissected by long,deep wooded valleys; their ancient summits were worn down by cyclesof erosion and glacial processes, the activity of former volcanism beingvisible as well. However, there are still fine peaks, especially in NorthWales, in Snowdonia and in its southward extensions, Cader Idris andthe Berwyn mass, were mountain areas above 2,000 feet are to be seen(Snowdon massif is the highest part of Wales, 3,561 feet high/1,085 m;

but Carnedd Dafydd – 3,427 feet, and Carnedd Llewelyn – 3,485 feet,are also worth mentioning). With some exceptions, Wales central areadoes not include similar high surfaces, most of the region representing aplateau with much grass-covered moor land.

The scenery is smooth and rounded with a remarkable even skyline. Onlyin the south, the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons can be seenstanding out, again, in their wonderful solitary splendour above the

upland.



To the north west of the Welsh massif lies theIsle of Anglesey, a remnantof a very ancient land mass.

There are several valleys that radiate from the highland core to the

coastal regions which have a milder climate, being sheltered from thehigh winds.

Besides this higher area, there are other two zones in the region,presenting a bit different nature: the south eastern part, which can beconsidered, physically and structurally, an extension of the English plain,and Welsh borderland, hilly, but lower than the Welsh Massif.

The southern area is the most densely populated, due to its industrialdevelopment. This part of Wales is well known for the ferrous metalsmanufacturing and cool mining.

A high quality coal started to be extracted here as early as the 13th century; the sea proximity made the coal transportation easy, the regionbecoming one of the biggest coal-mining centres in the world. In time,because of the difficulty of coal extraction, and the decrease in demandfor the Welsh coal, the mining industry ceased to be of utmost

importance. However, the traditional industry of steel making remainsimportant, side by side with the development of a more diverse range of manufacturing industries, many of them at the forefront of technology;(electronics, information technology, automotive components, chemicals,etc.); they have started to develop not only in the south, but also in northeast (especially light industry).

As regards agriculture, it occupies nearly 80 p.c. of Wales’ land area. The most extensive crops are wheat, barley, oats and mixed corn.

Other main activities are sheep and cattle rearing in the hilly regions, anddairy farming in the lowlands.

About 12 p.c. of Wales territory is covered by woods.

The most important towns of the region areCardiff , the capital of Walesand an ancient city, SwanseaandNewport in the south, andColwyn, Bay,

Pembrokeand others in the northwestern area.



The rest of the Highlands regions represents England. The Pennines,considered to start in the north, along the river Tyne gap, and runningstraight down the centre of the country, are also called “the backbone of England”. ( The Cheviots are the northerly extension of the Pennines and

the surface of this arch is remarkably smooth, with bare, roundedheights). The Pennines have few sharp peaks, and chiefly consist of plateaux situated at different levels. The valleys, although deep, coversmall areas, so that the moor land between them look almost featureless. The plateaux in the north are of a less hospitable character, because of low temperatures, heavy snowfalls and rain falling. The Central Penninesare lower and densely populated (Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham,Derby and Leicester being the most important towns in the area).

The southern part of the Pennines is a more grassy upland, characterizedby dry valleys and steep-sided gorges. “At lower levels the larger dalesare more richly wooded, the trees standing out against a background of rugged cliffs of white grey rocks” [53, p.3].

To the north-west of the Pennine system lie theCumbrian Mountains,constituting a compact and isolated mountain group. They include thefamousLake Districtor Lake Countryor Lakeland.

The region is well known for its great natural beauty−

it is consideredthe most beautiful part of England, − the lakes occupying many ice-deepened valleys and showing a wonderful variety. The largest lakes areWindermere, Coniston Water, Derwent Water and Ullswater. There arenumerous swift and clear streams, and small water falls, and, in spite of the fact that the altitude is not high, two individual masses tower over thesurrounding area (the highest, Scafell Pike, is only 3,210 feet, andHelvelyn, 3,116 feet above the sea).

The northern part of the Cumbrians is formed of tough slate rocks cutinto deep gorges, separated by narrow ridges and sharp peaks. To thesouth, there are greater expenses of level upland formed from the lavaand the ash thrown out by ancient volcanoes. There are clear glacialactions which created the “hanging valleys”, and left signs of theirpassage. This mountainous district is also widely known for itsassociation with the history of English literature, and, especially, with thename of William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and other “Lake poets”, who

celebrated the special beauty of this area in their poetry.



It seems that before the Romantic Movement in the late 18th century,which was represented by Wordsworth and the other poets who drewtheir inspiration from the perfection of the natural scenery, of waters,trees and heathen-covered slopes of the area, people were less impressed

by/or concerned with nature’s beauty. The most so, it is these poets’merit to have drawn the people’s attention on what is now accounted forthe most beautiful part of England.

The largest town of the Lake District is Carlisle, on the river Eden.

Besides different industrial developments, the region is mainly a touristattraction.

The South-West of England includes the largest peninsula of thecountry.

There are six uplands here: Exmoor (Dunkey Beacon is 1,704 feet)Dartmoor (High Willhays is 2,038 feet), mysterious stretches of grassand heather, with strange granite, coming out torsi, here and there;Bodmin Moor; St. Austell; Carn Brea; the spectacular extremity of Land’s End, a dreadful sector of English coast; a bit farther, granite can

be seen again on theIsle of Scilly.

The landscape of the region has a certain uniformity of summit heights,with some differentiation between the groups of areas; there is a networkof deep and narrow valleys which alternate with flat-topped zones of rising inland.

The fine and diversified coastline attracts many tourists who enjoyvisiting the resort towns, fairly small, but full of magic. (The only

exception in size is Torquay, located on the south coast of the peninsula,which receives a large number of tourist).

The main towns in the south west England are Plymouth (the largesttown of the peninsula and a naval base), Exeter (a university centre),Falmouth (reputed for its shipyards), Dartmouth (with a deep andlarge harbour).



The Lowland zone. The boundary of the lowland runs from the mouthof the Tyne in north east of England, including a strip of low-lyingground around theSolway Firth in the northwest, to the mouth of the Exe in the southwest, descending against the Welsh Massif and the lower

river Severn in the west; it opens to the Midland Plainwith the scarp faceof the Cotswold Hills, covering the area from the Dorset coast insouthern England, and continuing in the Cleveland Hills to the coast of North Yorkshire. This part of England consists of alternating rocks, lyingin long sweeps of scarp and vales, stretching from Dorset in thesouthwest to the moors of Cleveland. The first major scarp featureconsists of Jurassic rocks and stretches from Dorset to the north Riding.(It is known as the Cotswolds, Northampton uplands and North

Yorkshire moors). Behind this scarp lies a wide vale of soft, clayey rocksincluding the vales of Oxford, White Horse, Lincoln and Pickering. Theflat, even reclaimed landscape of the Fens is underlined by these clays. The western edge of the chalk layer is also part of the English lowlands,stretching fromFlamborough Head in Yorkshireto the westernDowns of Dorset, a line of hills gently sloping to the east and south. (North andSouth Downs are uplands, so called because of their aspect: open,rolling, treeless grassland). “ The chalk outcrop is a more conspicuousand continuous feature than its sandstone and limestone predecessors”

[53; p. 6]. To the east of the Fens, the outcrop is very low (150 feet), butit rises gradually in the attractive, graceful Chilterns.

The Downs cover a wide area of England, from the Salisbury Plain andthe Marlborough Downs to the North Downs, reaching the sea at Dover,and the South Downs ending at Beachy Head. “ The wide, undulatingdown land, with its fresh, green springy turf, provides a spacious kind of landscape which is very typically English. From one great wave of greengrass one can see far away over the crests of other waves, and in the

valleys are tiny villages with an ancient church in the centre”. [38; p.13].

In the southeast, the scenery contrasts strongly with the adjoining zones;most of the area is taken up by the zone of the weald region of Kent andEast Sussex (the central hilly part of the area has different names: theHigh Weald, the Forest Ridges, Ashdown Forest). Surrounding the ForestRidges is a belt of vale country called the Low Weald.

On the coast, the waters of the English Channel have eaten parts of the

chalk wall, producing a succession of chalk cliffs which face the



European mainland and glitter in the light of the sunny days; their whitecolour made the Romans call the territory they were eager to conquer,“the Albion”.

Many regions and towns in England are associated with importantEnglish writers and artists. Thus, besides, William Wordsworth, alreadymention for his association with the Lake District, William Shakespeareis connected with Stratford-upon-Avon, Arnold Bennett with Stoke-on- Trent, the Brontë sisters with Yorkshire, Thomas Hardy with Dorset and John Constable with the beauty of Essex and Suffolk landscape.

The region of Lowlands has considerable changed economically duringthe 20th century; manufacturing is still important in some fields; it is most

significant in West Midlands and in north of England. High technologyindustries have recently developed in East Anglia.

As regards agriculture, dairy is common in the western part, while sheepand cattle are reared in the hilly and moor land areas of the north, and inthe southwest.

The east and south area concentrate most of the arable land, pig andpoultry farming.

Horticulture is well developed here, as well as in the west Midland.

As regards population, it is concentrated in the largest towns and cities,in London and south coast England, around Birmingham (westMidlands), in Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield (Yorkshire); aroundLiverpool and Manchester (north-western industrial area); in Newcastleand Sunderland (north-eastern part of the country).

1.3 Britain’s Rivers and the Landscape Beauty

As a consequence of so many hills, Britain is rich in waterways. A lot of towns and villages stand on a river, a fact obvious from their names;some of the places are quite famous, others are less known: Stratford-upon-Avon, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Weston-by-Welland andmany others.



Looking at Britain’s map the important rivers can be easily discovered:in Scotland, from north to south, the Spey, the Dee, the Tay, the Forth and the Tweedare all flowing east, whilethe Clyde is flowing west, intothe Atlantic Ocean. The rivers draining east are longer and faster,

running along impermeable rocks, and increasing rapidly after rains.

In northern England, the significant westward-flowing rivers are theEden and the Mersey, and in Wales, the Dee, the Teifi and the Tywi,flowing over relatively short distance. Between England and Wales, isthe Severn, flowing south west into the Bristol Channel after its meetingwith the Avon. Coming from the northern Pennines are the Tyne, theWear and the Tees; they flow independently into the North Sea, while

other rivers as the Ouse, the Aire and the Trent, drain into the Humber. To the south, after draining a large, flat area of the Fen county, anothergroup of rivers flow into the Wash: the most significant is the GreatOuse. South eastern England is dominated by the large drainage systemof the Thames; it rises from the Cotswolds, and after crossing the OxfordClay and being joined by many tributaries, it forms the Thames estuary before flowing into the English Channel.

Other important rivers flowing into the English Channel are the Tamar,

the Exe, the Fowey, the Test, the Arun, the Ouse.

In Northern Ireland the major rivers arethe Erne, the Foyleandthe Bann.

Once again, as it happens with the hills or the seacoast, the landscapewhich this multitude of rivers offer, is diverse and picturesque: the swiftand short rivers in the Highlands with their tumbling brown watersfringed by heather; the shallow, clear waters flowing over bright pebblessomewhere in Hampshire; the slow Midland streams winding through

rich pasture lands, or small streams flowing along tree-dark valleys in thenorth. Once again “everybody knows his own favourite minor river orunimportant stream”; and “wherever you are in the British Isles, if youreckon on taking your evening stroll to “the river”, or to “the stream”,or “to the bridge”, and inquire the best way to get there, you willscarcely even be disappointed, and you will spend many pleasant half-hours leaning over ancient stone bridges or strolling in quiet meadows,and will see far more of the real England than you ever could from the

main highway” [38; p. 16].



1.4 British Weather, a Conversational Topic

As well-known, the British weather is the source of innumerable jokes,being, at the same time, an inexhaustible topic of conversation. The factis not accidental; the climate offers so many exceptions to so many rules,that speaking about it has become a habit, and not only. Besides, climatehas a bad reputation partly justified; it is considered to be permanentlyrainy, foggy and windy, with few sunny days.

The climate in Britain is determined, to a large extent, by the country’sposition related to the form and distribution of land and sea.

Lying in middle latitudes, Britain has a mild, temperate climate. But itsclimate is also influenced by the Gulf Stream, the warm North AtlanticCurrent that heats the sea and the air of the regions it crosses; thus, GreatBritain’s climate is more temperate than it would be, considering itsnortherly position.

As regards the classification of climate, it generally falls into the cool

temperate humid type with some obvious regional diversity.

In theory, there are four definite seasons, but because of its position,between the European landmass and the relatively warm Atlantic waters,there are permanent modifications of the main thermal and moisturecharacteristics of the air masses circulation over the country’s area. Asthe weather changes with the wind, and Britain is crossed by windscoming from different source regions, ranging from Arctic polar totropical ones, each of them being, in their turn, either maritime orcontinental, it is natural that the characteristic feature of Britain’sweather should be variability. In their paths, these atmospheric systemsfluctuate rapidly, varying both in frequency and intensity throughout theseasons and from year to year.

But, although by definition, the weather is changeable, the extremes arenot severe: in winter, the polar maritime masses of air reaching thecountry determine a line of equal temperature from north to south of

about 40

0

F (4

0

C), rarely falling below zero; in summer, there are some



regional differences, with temperature increasing from north to south, butnever exceeding 900F (320C); however, this happens on some rareoccasions, when southerly or south-easterly airstreams bring some wavesof heat to the south of England.

There are situations when varieties of airstreams can bring winter cold inspring, and spring days in winter, autumn days in summer, and splendidsummer days at the end of October. Here, we cannot help mentioning thewonderful season and magic atmosphere described by John Galsworthyin the interlude “The Indian Summer of a Forsyte” in his trilogy“The Forsyte Saga”. Thus, on the British Isles the weather is a long seriesof exceptions to its traditional rules which say that spring lasts from

March to May, being gentle and sunny with blooming flowers andsinging birds, summer from June to August, being even sunnier with longhot days when everybody can get sunburned, autumn, from September toNovember, being the time when leaves and fog is prevailing, while inwinter (December-February) people expect snow and bright sparkingfrosty days. All these traditions are only pure theory, because, in practice,nobody can guess from one day to another which season will meet himnext morning; that is why, the foreign tourists are advised to take somewinter clothes for their summer holidays in Britain, and never forget their

umbrellas when leaving the hotel in the morning while the sun is brightlyshining in the sky. The discrepancies between weather forecasts and thereal weather is something usual, this climatic changeable characteristicwith its unpredictability being virtually “a national institution and forsome a conditioning factor in the national character” [38; p. 23].

As regards, rainfall pattern, a concept very popular with the foreignersassociate Britain with perpetual rainfall. In fact, it seems that rain isdistributed well enough throughout the year; June, May and April are

considered the driest months, each of them at different times in differentregions, while the wettest months are from October to January. However,again, it can never be taken as a rule, as, in some particular years, anymonth might be equally wet or the wettest, even in the south. (Anunforgettable example is the summer of the year 1992, when for threeweeks, in July, there was hardly a sunny day in Plymouth.) Anyway, therainfall distribution also depends – and even to a great extent – to theexposure to the Atlantic Ocean and the place topography: in the

mountainous areas there is more rain than in the plains of the south and



east. Besides, increasing with altitude, and from southwest to northeastsome precipitations turn into snow in wintertime. Sometimes, there areheavy snowfalls, locally immobilizing traffic, with glazed frost and icyroads causing great inconvenience, and occasional little whirlwind can

uproof the houses. (The average number of snow falling days can varyfrom 30 in north-eastern Scotland to five in southwester England). But,of course, the worst weather circumstance is caused by the famousBritish fog or “mist”, causing collisions and other unhappy events onroads, railways and along the coast.

Anyway, most of the time the sky is overcast in the British isles and,according to official records, the average daily hours of sunshine vary

from less than three in northeast to about four and a half along the south-eastern coast.

As said before, to have “weather” as a topic of conversation is somethingusual in Britain; however, we are warned that, in some cases, this mightnot be a mere reference to weather.

Thus, a sentence as “lovely weather for the time of year!” could meanthat the person really enjoys the sunshine, or it could be nothing else but

small talk, in order to make the time pass; but, it could also expresssomeone’s desire to get acquainted to someone else, or even to declare,in a special way, some feeling of affection. Here is an amusing exampleof what communicating across cultures means!

1.5 Plant and Animal Life, a Preoccupation of the British

In remote times, much of Britain was forest, but, nowadays, woodlandcovers less than 10 p.c. of the country. Since its creation in 1919, theForestry Commission was active in afforestations, having importantplantations, but, the woods are still fairly small and scattered outside theenclosed cultivated fields; they are quiet and interesting areas, wheredifferent kinds of trees growing together in friendly proximity can beseen: oak, larch and crabb-apple side by side with scrubs and floweringbushes. However, large areas of woodland can be found in north-eastern

Scotland; there are Kielder and other forests in Northumberland.



Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, Gwynedd in Wales, and Breckland inNorfolk are also worth mentioning.

There are some famous places, as for example Sherwood Forest in

Midland where Robin Hood and his merry men used to live stealing fromthe rich lords to give to the poor people, or “Epping Forest” to the northeast of London; “New Forest” in Hampshire is also a place to bementioned, being laid out by William the Conqueror for his own royalpleasure as a hunting-ground. The purpose for which it was cultivatedwas the protection of deer, by offering them everything they needed fortheir survival. The forest covers an area of 145 sq. miles of woodlands,moors and marshes. People have lived on that area since prehistorictimes, but because of its soil, a large population could not live there. The

area is nowadays open to holiday makers.

As regards the species of trees, except for northern Scotland where thepine is the most characteristic, the tree dominating the forest is “the oak”;but some other trees, as the elm, the ash, the beech and the thorn, alsobelong to the British landscape; no less the willow, mirroring itself in thewaters of a lake or river, the poplar, supplying a vertical line to thesloping country scenery, or the acacia and the silver birch with theiroutstanding grace. In south Devon there are palm-trees growing along

the coast.

Anyway, the general image the trees offer is not that of a forest as wemight expect to see, but that of groups or individuals, magnificent andimpressive in their unusual attitudes, watching the ground for centuries.

All over the British Isles there are apple and pear trees, and almost everyfarm or country house has its orchard, where one can also find plums

damsons, greengages and cherries. In Worcestershire and Somerset, tothe west of England, for example, there are famous orchards, and, inspringtime, the sight of the trees in blossom is not to be forgotten. Typically British are also the luxuriant hedgerows, a natural transitionfrom trees to hedges and a way, both impressive and practical, of separating one field from another, and the field from the country lane; thehedges are full of flowering bushes, honey-suckle and dog roses,blackberry and elder, crab-apple and hawthorn, and what not. It is saidthat there is a certain, present day tendency towards destroying the

hedgerows, because they are, sometimes, considered harmful to crops,



although they are a natural habitat for birds and insects. But, on the otherhand, others say that a short term effect of hedgerows destruction wouldbe a gradual reduction of scenic quality and of the landscape variety.About a forth of the total area of the British Isles is represented by

moorlands and heathlands. But vegetation can be even more specific,in its diversity.

Thus, some mountain summits in Scotland are covered by arctic-alpinevegetation, while in the highland zone, peat moss, heather bilberry andgrass moors are most extensively found; a similar vegetation covers thehigh grounds in eastern Northern Ireland and the Mourns. In the lowlandarea, where the soil is lightly sandy, the common heather is dominant,sometimes mixed with bilberry or bell heather; in autumn, the scenery is

quite special, because of the deep purple colour of the vegetation whichadd “a splash of colour” to the landscape.

The image of the British wild nature would not be complete withoutshortly mentioning the gardens of Inverewee, a small peninsula just northof Gaitloch, in the northwest of Scotland; the variety of the scenery isextraordinary there, a combination of mountain and moor, loch and sea,forming a never-to-be-forgotten panorama. The place is a fascinatingspot, where palms and eucalyptus trees, huge pines and firs, as well as

the great blaze of colour coming from the delicate and beautiful flowersfrom Africa, South America or New Zeeland can be seen together. Thesurprise and secret of all these plants growing there, at that northernlatitude, is that Inverewee is washed by the Gulf Stream.

Now, the gardens are the property of the National Trust for Scotland, butit was the work of a Highland laird, Osgood Mackenzie, who started it inthe mid 60s of the 19th century; at that time, the small peninsula, thename of which is Ane Ploe Ard (in the Gaelic language) was a bare,

bleak spot, being mainly covered with black acidy peat and outcrops of rock.

Mackenzie started by running a fence over the neck of the peninsula inorder to keep out sheep and deer, and, only later on, created a barrieragainst the cold winds and storms of the place by planting a thick belt of Scots firs, Corsican pine and massive hedges of rhododendrons. Afterabout twenty years, all of them made “good shelter”, and, nowadays,these giant beautiful trees are part of the gardens, constituting one of the

main features of the landscape.



The beauty of the British landscape owes a lot to the wild flowers, whichpattern the scenery from early spring, in February, till late in autumn. The first to appear are the aconite and snowdrop followed by otherscoming upon with a rush: carpets of blue bells and banks of primroses,

fields of cowslips and weaves of daffodils, (famous along the shores of Lake Windermere), so beautiful and gentle that they inspired theromantic poet when he saw them: “Besides the lake, beneath the trees,/Fluttering and dancing in the breeze” (William Wordsworth); and othermore and more flowers scattered in the summer fields, like the bluespeedwell, the scarlet pimpernel, the graceful pansy, the poppycornflower and chicory, and the common flowers like clover and daisyand buttercup with their delicate beauty, ready to welcome those who

take the trouble to stop for a minute for admiring them.Flowers are really loved in Britain, and they represent part of thepeople’s life. You can see them everywhere, attentively looked after, inthe tiny gardens in front of the houses, in the windows flower stands or inpots hanging from iron fences or just on the walls of the houses inLondon or in any other towns or villages. Not only once, you are temptedto stop in front of them to admire, and, if possible, to touch their delicateand coloured petals, as a sign of respect for those who so tenderly care

for them. There are flower contests festivals in Britain, and the peopleare really proud with their achievements in this activity, which is morethan a hobby, it is a cultural characteristic.

The wild animals populating the British Isles are similar to those of Europe, but most of the formerly abundant larger mammals, as boars,reindeer, bears and wolves, have become extinct.

Some species of deer do still survive, as the red deer in the ScottishHighlands and in Exmoor Forest, and the roe deer in wooded Scotland

and southern England. In addition, there are badgers, otters, foxes, stoatsand weasels living in rural areas; there are some species of rodents, suchas rats, squirrels and mice, and of insectivores such as hedgehogs, molesand shrews. There are still plenty of rabbits and two species of hare. Onsome parts of the coast there are seals. As regards reptiles, there are threespecies of snakes, of which only one is venomous, and three species of lizard. The amphibians are represented by five species of frogs and toadsand three species of newt. From his earliest childhood, the average

British is familiar to all these little beings; he either could have had the



luck to see them as a child while strolling in the woods or along a river orwhen crossing some lane, or he knows them from the stories of KennethGraham’s “ The Wind in the Willow’s” or of Beatrix Potter’s, whoseimmortal animals have become his personal friends.

The birds are, equally, an important and varied part of the Britishlandscape; there are more than two hundred species in the British Isles,more than one-half of them being migratory. Among the best known andusually seen are the town-dwelling birds, such as the sparrow, theblackbird, the thrush and the pigeon, or even the swallow, the robin andthe house-martin as well, all of them living in the suburban gardens andhaving a density here, maybe, higher than in the woodland.

However, a special attention should be paid to some birds often met inthe fields, as, for examples, the lark, “the cloud of fire” as Shelley calledit, whose song could make the pleasure of a country walk, the nightingalemaking the delight of a summer evening, or the cuckoo, whose comingaround the 15th of April is considered a real event in Britain, while,during the night, the owl’s scream is sad and impressive. In some lonelyplaces, but very often in the parks as well, one may see the magnificentwild swans sailing majestically on the water’s face, side by side with the

small and agile ducks, and, everywhere, the seagulls: above the Thamesbridges in the heart of London, on the coast where they come around anysitting person begging for some crumbles, or even far inland, wheelingabove the country cottages.

There are many ornithological organizations which encourage a moresympathetic attitude to birds, and promote their conservation by assistingthe creation of refuges, sanctuaries and reserves; such effort contributesto the elimination of the negative effects of environmental changes

on bird life.

Surrounded by water, crossed by many rivers, Britain is renowned for itsmany species of fish: trout, salmon, perch, pike and others which couldbe found in the fresh waters, and cod, haddock, mackerel, herring andplaice in the offshore one. Fresh water fishing is, nowadays, merelyconsidered some sport or recreation because of the water pollution, butthere are still rich fishing grounds in the North Sea, Irish Sea or off thewestern coast of Scotland.

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