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The facts are:
Great Britain = England, Scotland and Wales, the 3 contiguous nations of the main island. Legislative union between Scotland and England & Wales was in 1707.
King James I (King James VI of Scotland) had styled himself "King of Great Britain" when he acceded to the throne of England and Wales in 1603.
Edward I had completed the conquest of "Wales" and Wales was united to England under Henry VIII, by two Acts of Parliament in 1536 and again in 1543
The British Isles is a geographical term to describe the main island of Great Britain together with Ireland and associated islands, and has no legal significance.
United Kingdom = England, Scotland and Wales, together with the province of Northern Ireland. These 4 form the country officially known as "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" or simply the United Kingdom.
The United Kingdom came into being in 1801 following the Irish Union, although the greater part of Ireland gained independence in 1921 to form the Irish Republic (or Eire). Northern Ireland remained, and was the subject to many years confrontation and bloodshed.
The present UK Government has devolved some powers to a new Scottish Parliament, and a Welsh Assembly. The Northern Ireland Assembly started but then power had to be returned to the UK Government, the present, temporary (?) situation.
English is the common and dominant language but Wales is bi-lingual (Welsh-English), and minorities speak gaelic in Scotland, (a few speak old Manx in the Isle of Man and Cornish in SW England - remnants of older Celtic languages
Referring to the Nations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as "England" is incorrect and likely to upset many locals. Avoid calling the peoples of these other nations "English".
Though England is the more powerful and dominant of the constituent Nations, and the UK Government is located in London (Westminster), it is but one part of the United Kingdom.
Following the recent Assemblies and Parliament for Wales, N. Ireland and Scotland, Northern England is next likely to get additional status and devolved government. It is pointed out that England does not have its own political assembly / parliament, this being subsumed within the UK Government, which it dominates. Northern England, being poorer and provincial feels it is sidelined by London's and "The South's" dominance.
There is no adjective for the "United Kingdom" - the term "British" is generally used (and helps confuse you!), although it should be used carefully in Northern Ireland, where identities are strongly divided (in broad generalities) between "Irish & Catholic" or "British & Protestant". Northern Ireland has suffered a long time under this conflict, so tread carefully, and speak sensitively.
The "United Kingdom" does not include the "Isle of Man" (which lies between Great Britain and Ireland, in the "Irish Sea") and the "Channel Islands" (which lie off the North coast of France). These are direct dependencies of the British Crown, maintaining their own legislative, monetary and taxation systems, (often seen as more favourable to the wealthy). Each have their own parliaments and a Governor, appointed by the Crown.
The "Channel Islands", are the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark.
The United Kingdom (including the Channel Islands, but without the Isle of Man) is a member of the European Union. The Isle of Man is not an EU member but maintains free-trade agreements. Leave a Comment
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You want to try Fish and Chips whilst in the UK but, where to try???
Save the tasting until you get to a Quality Assured Fish and Chip Shop, where the fish is caught / fresh and the potatoes locally grown - and busy with healthy looking locals!!!
This shop is in Perth.
It is just one of the many good quality Fish & Chip Shops in Britain - follow my web link for the best in Britain.
http://www.seafish.org/land/standards.asp?p=ff213
DO try Fish and Chips from a takeaway shop, wrapped in paper (not a restaurant or hotel imitation). Whilst there - have a go at pickled eggs or similar wierd things in vinegar :-)
Try a Fish & Chip Shop that serves a wider range of fish. Cod is common but over fished - so ethics tell me to stop eating it! In Scotland the most common fish is Haddock.
Old fashioned fish used to include Rock Salmon / Huss - and this is really tasty. Eat the soft centre bone too. Delicious! Traditionally the cooking fat was lard, imparting quite a different flavour than the modern, healthier vegetable oils. (check out bio-diesel cars running of the waste of Chip Shops - smells way better than mineral diesels!!!).
Be careful of breaded fish (breadcrumbs instead of batter) like Plaice. This is usually frozen. Very occassionally, shops will also offer salmon, mackeral (lovely) and other fish.
Put loads of salt and vinegar on the chips, and leave for a few minutes before eating. Sauces are common and rubbish. Mushy peas is another tradition with the F&C, or smothered in gravy (can be curry sauce).
After 11pm, and lots of beer, the food of choice is kebab!!! in there with the Chinese and Indian catering is this turkish wonder. The jury is out on how bad it is for you - but it takes a brave man to order it sober.
Come to Scotland for real delicacies of deep fried cuisine. Anything goes in the fat: Pies, pizza, haggis, mars bars ...
www.seafish.org/
http://www.seafish.org/
www.seafish.co.uk Leave a Comment
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This pretty, brick house, with red tiled roof, was once a farmhouse supporting two families.
As with most of rural UK, the farms have been bought up and amalgamated into super large farms - highly profitable.
The land around is farmed but the houses either are abandoned (see my homepage) or if lucky get converted into cute little residences for retired or commuting workers.
The farming is highly mechanised and advanced - so has little charm or need for workers. The countryside is changed, largely populated by new arrivals to the area - but in remoter areas (like the Highlands of Scotland) few new people arrive and the land is empty, semi wild and desolate.
A recent change in the taxation (council tax on second / holiday homes) may start to encourage holders of empty houses to sell or rent - so other houses may get a new lease of life like this one. However, the UK government still taxes (at 17.5%) restoration of old houses, whilst not taxing new buildings. This is crazy - since tourists come to see lovely old buildings and English / Scottish / Welsh / Irish Heritage, not new buildings (see Scottish Parliament google search).
Oh well.
I can remember, when I was a child, this farmhouse in its old state ... no facilities ... miles from anywhere.
The old farmer used to get water from a pump down the garden and lighting was by candles / oil lamps. All food was cooked on a wood fire in the Iron range. Life was simple. Beautiful in fact. Leave a Comment
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My Tip - Read this book if you want a great insight into Britain, who 'we' are and all the daft idiosyncracies of life in a different yet familiar place.
"Notes From A Small Island" - by Bill Bryson.
Of course it is funniest when you know something of what he refers to, so best read here, after you have experienced something of life in this small island. Funny and sadly true.
Queues
Rain
Fish & Chips
"Sorry"
"Mustn't Grumble"
Servitude
Aristocracy & Class
'One Day' Summers
The Accent
Old Buildings
The Mini
Fields & Hedges
Driving On The Wrong Side
Tea
Merchant Ivory Films
Silly Swear Words
Ridiculous Pride
Industrial Revolution - Unfinished
An Empire - Not Forgotten
Sunburn
Electric Milk Floats
Real Ale
Red Socks & Rucsacs
Maps
Thatched Cottages & Roses
Roads Winding "For No Reason"
Dry Stone Walls
Naivity
Wooly Jumpers
Comedy
:-)
And on and on ..... Leave a Comment
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The Witches of Windsor
On the 26th of February, 1580, four Berkshire women were tried at Abingdon for witchcraft. The accused were Elizabeth Stile, of Windsor, Mother Dutten, of Clewer, Mother Devell, of Windsor, and Mother Margaret, who lived at the Windsor Almshouse.
They were said to have had meetings at the rear of Master Dodge's house in The Pittes. At these meetings they were joined by two other witches - Father Rosimond, a widower from Farnham, and his daughter. The leader of the group was supposed to have been Mother Seidre, another resident of the Windsor Almshouse, but she had died some time before the trial. Margaret Murray, an influential writer on witchcraft considered this shape-shifting as pointing to Rosimond being the chief of the witches. If this was so, it is surprising that he was not arraigned with the others.
.... continued.... Also at the trial an ostler gave evidence that after a disagreement with Elizabeth Stile he had suffered aches in his limbs. He consulted a wise man who advised scratching her and drawing blood, which he did and immediately recovered. The name of this wise man was given as Father Rosimond.
According to Elizabeth Stile's confession, the withces had been responsible for the deaths of the Mayor of Windsor.
Each of the witches was accused of having an evil spirit of familiar - like a black cat or rat. Mother Dutten's was described as being like a toad, which she kept in a border of green herbs in her garden and fed on blood from her flank. Mother Devell's spirit appeared as a black cat called Gille, which she fed with milk mingled with her own blood. Mother Margaret fed her spirit, Ginnie, with crumbs of bread mixed with blood, while Elizabeth Stile kept a rat called Philip, described as "in very deede a wicked spirite", which she fed with blood from her right wrist. It would seem that some people were not above using the witches for their own ends. George Whittyng, a servant of Mathew Glover of Eton, was said to have asked the witches to harm a man called Foster. This they did by making an image and also by Mother Devell sending her familiar to "plague him and spare him not". Apparently Foster sickened but when he was close to death Mother Dutten restored him, although one of his cows was killed.
The accusations may sound unbelievable to us today but as was usual in those times, the women were all found guilty and executed. Leave a Comment
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What struck me first when getting off the train at Windsor Royal Station was the lovely setting and quaint cobble stone and stalls. It's not so much of a train station then landing bang in the middle of a very attractive market & shopping area.... cobble stones and all. There is mostly a great perfume in the air as "Crabtree&Evelyn" Perfume store is right at the corner of the rail tracks...
and then you turn the corner swinging by Cafe'Rouge, Cafe Nero with a sweet scent of almond croissants and cappuccino... (yummi)... so it's a sensual experience actually :)!
Then you got the castle on the hill which you will see - throning above the river Thames as you take the last long turn with the train into Windsor... it's like out of a fairy tale... swans and geese (to the thousands!!!) in front of it and all images worthy of a postcard.
Windsor has a slower pace (even though so close to London) it reminds one more of a village - a posh one nevertheless. Year round tourists are crowding the streets and trying to spot the Queen or at least some of the royal guard.
My top tips when in Windsor:
Best coffee > Cafe Nero (Royal Train station)
Best music> Crosses Corner Pub (Monday nights)
Best shopping> Daniels on High Street
Best wine bar > Blondes (St. Leonards Str.)
Best book shop > Oxfam downstairs!!!
Best massages > "Essence World" over the Bridge in Eaton ahhhhhhhhh
Best place for spotting the Queen > in her chambers hihi
Best eating with a view>House on the Bridge £££ pricy but worth it
Best dancing > Liquid Club
Best coffe n' cake chat > Cafe Blu
Best hidden secret > Windsor Arts Centre Cinema
... and there is always the "long mile" to walk to the "Copper horse" at the Castle !
... my fondest memory...hmmm... Sunday morning walk on the 1st of January @ 8am and I had alllll the swans and geese and ducks ALLL to myself :)!!!
Spent a fortune that day on bread... ;) Leave a Comment
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Hey, I have just found this amazing website, by a film location company - it has a library of photographs of places in the UK - amazing stuff - it also lists sunrise and sunset times etc.
So, if you are a film maker or photographer, keen to shoot something special, atmospheric, unusual ... or a virtual tourist wanting to see the country from the comfort of your own home, look at:
http://www.locationworks.com/library/alpha.html
Now you can plan a different vacation / tour from the usual.
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Also, follow this link to my Scotland Film Locations Page - a great resource for those of you wishing to find the real locations for scenery you have seen on film:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/70ef2/f8/1/
Don't forget this tip!
My best wishes to Location Works. Leave a Comment
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London was founded by the Romans in about 33 A.D. when they established a small port and trading community on the banks of the River Thames. They called their town Londinium, which was a Latinized version of the old Celtic name for the area.
At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, London was the largest city in England. Because of its importance as a trading center and its strategic location on the River Thames, the Normans made London their capital.
Up until about 1666, London was confined to a relatively small area within walls. However, in that year, the Great Fire destroyed much of the walled city. As London was rebuilt, the walls were not rebuilt, and the city spread to the area that is now known as the City. By the eighteenth century, London enveloped surrounding settlements including Westminster, which was the political and religious center of England.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, commerce and industry made London the largest and richest city in the world. People from the English countryside poured into the city, and subjects from the far-flung British Empire immigrated to London as well.
During the Second World War, Nazi bombing wiped out many of the central areas of the city. As a result, London saw massive rebuilding projects during the second half of the twentieth century, so that central London is a curious mixture of traditional and modern architecture.
Nowadays, London is still one of the largest cities in the world, with about 13,070,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. It is also one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, due to immigration from former British colonies all over the world. Leave a Comment
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To see a traditional - one of the few remaining - fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall then Mevagissey is the place to go. Wander around its narrow streets and harbour with its colourful fishing boats and yes have more Fish'n'Chips!
See more of this qauint old pirate village on my Mevagissey page
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Bodnant Gardens in North Wales, situated above the River Conwy, with stunning views across Snowdonia, is one of the most spectacular gardens I've ever visited - including some beautful italian ones so thats saying something.
The gardens, begun in 1875, are the creation of four generations of Aberconways and features huge Italianate terraces and formal lawns on its upper level, with a wooded valley, stream and wild garden below.
My fondest memory from a recent trip is of the Labernum arch (in bloom from mid May to early June) the colourful magnolias and camellias and reflections of course in the ponds and lakes - especially the pin mill as shown in this pic :-))
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on September 3, 2004
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