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SOUTHERN ENGLAND

The area surrounding the outer suburbs of London has the reputation of being ‘commuter land’. This is the most densely populated area in the UK. Millions of its inhabitants travel into London to work every day.

Employment in the south-east of England has always been mainly in trade, the provision of services and light manufacturing. There was never much heavy industry. It therefore did not suffer the slow economic decline that many other parts of England experienced during the twentieth century.

THE MIDLANDS OF ENGLAND

During the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham (Britain’s second largest city) and the area to its north and west developed into the country’s major engineering centre. Despite the decline of heavy industry in the twentieth century, factories there still convert iron and steel into a vast variety of goods.

Although the Midlands do not have many positive associations in the minds of British people, tourism has flourished in ‘Shakespeare country’ (centred on Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace), and Nottingham has successful capitalized on the legend of Robin Hood.

NORTHERN ENGLAND

The Pennine mountains run up the middle of northern England like a spine. On either side, the large deposits of coal (used to provide power) and iron ore (used to make machinery) enabled these areas to lead the Industrial Revolution. On the western side, the Manchester area (connected to the port of Liverpool by canal) became, in the nineteenth century, the world’s leading producer of cotton goods; on the eastern side, towns such as Bradford and Leeds became the world’s leading producers of woolen good. Further south, Sheffield became a centre for the production of steel good. Further north, around Newcastle, shipbuilding was the major industry.

Further away from the main industrial areas, the north of England is sparsely populated. In the north-western corner of the country is the Lake District. The Romantic poets Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey (the ‘Lake Poets’) lived here and wrote about its beauty. It is the favourite destination of people who enjoy walking holidays and the whole are is classified as a National Park (the largest in England).

 

QUESTIONS

 

  1. What can be said about Britain’s landscape?
  2. What is the stereotypical image of British weather? What accounts for that?
  3. How is the climate changing? How will the global climate changes affect Britain?
  4. How big is human influence on the environment?
  5. What was the cause of ‘smog’ in London? How has the situation changed?
  6. What kind of danger can Britain face?
  7. What is London vulnerable to?
  8. What is the attitude of the British to nature?
  9. What are the main characteristic features of Southern England, the Midlands of England and Northern England?

UNIT THREE

 


Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1117


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THE LOVE OF NATURE | LONDON AND OTHER CITIES OF BRITAIN
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