LONDON: GENERAL INFORMATION

LONDON is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. It is the largest city in Europe and one of the largest cities in the world (together with Tokyo and New York). Historical and geographical circumstances have made London one of the world's most important commercial and cultural centres, while its range of historical connections and its buildings attract millions of tourists from overseas each year.

London dominates Britain. It is home for the headquarters of all government departments, Parliament, the major legal institutions and the monarch. It is the country's business and banking centre and the centre of its transport network. It contains the headquarters of the national television networks and of all the national newspapers.

The city is at least two thousand years old and was settled long before the first Roman invasion. The original walled city of London was quite small. (Today it is known colloquially as «the square mile»). It did not contain Parliament or the royal court, since this would have interfered with the autonomy of the merchants and traders who lived and worked there. It was in Westminster, another «city» outside London's walls, that these national institutions met. Today both «cities» are just two areas of central London. The square mile is home to the country's main financial organizations, the territory of the stereotypical English «city gent» (*infml or humour: a gentleman).

Two other well-known areas of London are the West End and the East End. The former is known for its many theatres, cinemas and expensive shops. The latter is known as the poorest residential area of central London. It is the home of the Cockney and in this century large number of immigrants have settled there.

There are many other parts of central London, which have their own distinctive characters, and central London itself makes up only a very small part of Greater London(*a local government area including the whole of London and parts of other areas surrounding London, whose length and breadth extends over an area of 700 square miles).

THE CITY is the oldest part of London, its commercial and business centre and the major banking centre of the world. Numerous banks, offices, firms and trusts are concentrated there, including the Bank of England, the Stock Exchangeand Lloyds, the most famous insurance company in the world. Though few people (around 5,000) live in the City, over a million come to work there. Two masterpieces are situated within the City: St. Paul's Cathedraland the Tower of London. St. Paul's Cathedral was built in the 17^th century by Christopher Wren. The Tower of London was built in the 11^th century. Now it's a museum, but previously it was used as a fortress, a palace and even a prison.

The City is also famous for Fleet Street, which has been the meeting place for newspaper men since the 18^th century, when writer met to talk in its coffee-houses. Up to now Fleet Street is the Street of news, for now it's the centre of Britain's national newspapers. The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Express have their offices there, as well as The Times, The Guardian and many others. Publishing houses of many big foreign newspapers are also there.

WESTMINSTER is another central and important part of London. It is synonymous with government. Its major buildings house the main departments of state: the Treasury, the Ministry of Defense, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It also contains Buckingham Palace, the crowning place of kings and queens, and the Houses of Parliament, stretching for nearly 100 feet along the north bank of the Thames and famous for its clock tower, known as «Big Ben». Buckingham Palace is now the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II.

The name Westminster was first used in the 8^th century, when it referred to the Minster (*a large or important church, esp. one that formed a part of an abbey) that stood to the west of the City of London. Today this site is occupied by Westminster Abbey. It is the place where coronation of nearly all kings and queens has taken place. Many of them are buried there, as well as some other famous people of the country. The south sanctuary of Westminster Abbey leads back to the south transept, which is called «Poets' Corner». Since the 16^th century it has been the place where great poets and writers are honored with memorials (though not all of them are buried there).

Another famous institution situated in Westminster is Scotland Yard. To most people this name immediately brings to mind the picture of a cool and efficient detective, ready to track down any criminal and bring him to justice. Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London. It was founded in 1829 when the wave of crime overwhelmed the British capital. It is situated on the Thames close to the Houses of Parliament. An interesting branch of Scotland Yard is the branch of Police Dogs, first used as an experiment in 1938. Now it's an important part of the Force.

THE WEST ENDis the richest and most beautiful part of London. It's a symbol of wealth and luxury. The best hotels, restaurants, clubs, parks, shops and houses are situated there. Perhaps the most famous shopping street of all is Oxford Street. Shops of every description line either side of this busy thoroughfare and many of the country's chain stores have their largest shops there. One of the most famous chain stores here is Marks & Spencer, whose flagship at the Marble Arch end stocks items you may not find in any other branch: new lines are introduced here first and, if they prove popular, are then sold nationwide.

Another attraction of the West End is Trafalgar Square, which is the geographical centre of London. It was named to commemorate the historical naval victory won by the British Fleet under the command of Admiral Nelson over the combined French-Spanish fleet at the battle of Trafalgar on the 21^st of October 1805. Nelson's Column, with the statue of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson on top, rises in the centre of Trafalgar Square. Opposite the Nelson Monument is the National Galleryand the National Portrait Gallery, which contain the finest art collection in the world. Not far from the National Gallery is the British Museum, famous for its rich library (about 7 million books) and collections.

Piccadilly Circusis the centre of night life in the West End. This is one of the most popular meeting points in London, probably second only to Trafalgar Square. It is a dynamic and picturesque place with a happy and lively cosmopolitan atmosphere. These days it is a rather over-commercialized place, famous for its enormous, illuminated advertising signs and for Alfred Gilbert's tiny figure of a winged archer, popularly known as Eros, the God of Love, but actually designed as the Angel of Christian Charity. This was erected in 1893 as a memorial to the philanthropic Earl of Shaftesbury, who did much to improve the lot of factory workers (esp. children) in the mid-19^th century. Today's children, however, are more likely to flock to the Tower Records megastore or to the popular American-style Planet Hollywood restaurant next door.

One of the special joys of London is the amount of space devoted to parks, gardens and open areas, providing peaceful oases in the midst of all the buildings and traffic. Hyde Park is one of the most popular and most frequented points in London. It has had a varied history, having been used for horse-racing, dueling, as the site for the 1851 Great Exhibition and a defensive camp during the Second World War. Today it is a peaceful park, with a Serpentine forming a wonderful habitat for wild creatures and for sailing, boating and swimming. In the north-east corner of the park is Speakers' Corner, where anyone can stand up and talk on any subject they please.

Other famous parks are Regent's Park, St. James's Park, Green Park, Hampton Court, Bushy Park and Richmond Park, etc.

THE EAST END is the industrial district of London, which grew to the east of the city with the spread of industries and the growth of the port of London. The East End is especially famous throughout the world as the centre of clothing industry in London.

The region is densely populated by working class families and people from abroad who have come to find work. Traditionally someone born in the east End is known as a «cockney», which means «true Londoner». However, this name is now given to anyone who speaks like a Londoner.

Cockneys have a special accent and language. One of the most peculiar variants is rhyming slang. Originally rhyming slang had been means by which East End neighbours could talk to one another without making sense to the law or to the outsiders.

East End is the poorest part of London. Its worst quarter is St. Giles, which is the heart of London slums.

The museum that justifies the trip out to a rather desolate area of the East End is Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood. This museum of childhood and social history holds the largest collection of toys in the world.

Like many other cities, London is in some ways untypical of the rest of the country in that it is so cosmopolitan. Although all of Britain's cities have some degree of cultural and racial variety, the variety is by far the greatest in London.

New Homes. The need for housing in the south of England has produced new developments in both rural and urban areas. One example of new large-scale building is in the East End of London where fifty years ago London's docklands were the heart of a busy international port. Today most of the ships have gone but the developers, planners, architects and builders have moved in. A New London is being built at high speed. New roads, an airport and a docklands railway have all been built there; houses, flats and offices are being created from the old docks.

While London's skyline changes there are a number of arguments about the direction in which housing should develop. Much of the new Docklands development was designed for people to have easy access to jobs in financial institutions in the City of London, although some local residents have also benefited from the new housing and transport improvements. The speed of the building has meant that environmental planning has not always been possible. Although some of the new buildings have won architectural award: there has also been criticism of the new architectural styles.

The demand for new homes puts pressure on both city areas and the countryside. The 'Green Belt' of protected land, which used to surround London is now being used for housing, particularly in areas which have become more affluent.

Several projects in London show what the city may look like in the near future. The massive Broadgate development, alongside Liverpool Street Station, is a typical example, using steel frames hung with cladding. Critics call it facadism, but the intimacy of this design, with its courtyards and covered walkways, greenery and sculpture, is a huge improvement on the bleak architecture of the 1960s and 1970s. The featureless buildings will be replaced with much friendlier buildings in the Italianate style, currently all the rage among classicists in the architectural profession. There are those who would dearly turn London into a new Venice, with paved squares, colonnades and soaring belltowers. An example of this is Richmond Riverside.

In recent years it has been claimed that London is in decline. It is losing its place as one of the world's biggest financial centres and, in comparison with many other western European cities, it looks rather dirty and neglected. Nevertheless, its popularity as a tourist destination is still growing. And it is not only tourists who like to visit London. For plenty of businessmen it is a favourite city in the world in which to do business. This popularity is probably the result of its combination of apparently infinite cultural variety and a long history, which has left many visible signs of its richness and drama.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 2470