Britain
Chapter 3: Geography
It has been claimed that the British love of compromise is the result of the
country´s physical geography. True or not, the land and the climate in
Britain have a notable lack of extremes.
Britain has mountains, but not very high; it also has flat land and you can
find hills; it has no really very big rivers, it doesn´t usually get very cold in
the winter or very hot in the summer; it has no active volcanoes.
 Climate
The climate of Britain is more or less the same as that of the northwestern
part of the European mainland. The popular belief that rains all the time in
Britain is not true. The image of a wet land was created by the invading
Romans and has perpetuated.
The amount of rain that falls on a town in Britain depends on where it is.
The further west you go, the more rain you get.
Snow is a regular feature of the higher areas only. Occasionally, a whole
winter goes by in lower-lying parts without any snow at all. The winters
are in general a bit colder that they are in the west, while in the south the
summer is warmer and sunnier than the north.
In Britain it may not rain very much, but you can never be sure of a dry
day. There can be cool or even cold days in July and some quite warms
days in January.
The lack of extremes is the reason why when it gets genuinely hot or
freezing, the country seems to be totally unprepared for it. A bit of snow
and a few days of frost and the trains stop working and the roads are
blocked. These things happen so rarely that it is not worth organizing life
to be ready for them.
 Land and settlement
Britain has neither towering mountains ranges nor impressively large
rivers, plains or forests. But this not means that its landscape is boring. It
has variety. The scenery changes noticeably over quite short distances.
The south and the east of the country are comparatively low-lying,
consisting of either flat plains or rolling hills. Mountainous areas are found
only in the north and west, and they also have flat areas.
The forests have disappeared because of human influence. Britain has a
great proportion of grassland.
It is common in England the enclosure of fields with hedgerows. This
increases the impression of variety. They support a great variety of birdlife.
Much of the land is used for human habitation. In Britain, they don´t like
living in blocks of flats in city centres. As a result, cities in Britain have
been built outwards rather than upwards. However, because most people
live in towns or cities rather than in villages or in the countryside, this
habit of building outwards does not mean you see buildings wherever you
go. There are areas of completely countryside everywhere and some of
the mountainous areas remain virtually untouched.
The environment and pollution
It was in Britain that the word `smog’ was first used. As the world´s first
industrialized country, its cities were the first to suffer this atmospheric
condition. Water pollution was also a problem.
Laws forbade the heating of homes with open coal fires in city areas and
which stopped much of the pollution from factories.
However, the great increase in the use of the motor car has caused an
increase in a new kind of air pollution. This has caused poor air quality and
it is bad enough for asthma suffers to do exercises outdoors.
 London
London is the largest city in Europe and it dominates Britain. It is home for
most of the government departments, it is the country business and
banking centre, it is the centre of its transport networks and of all national
newspapers.
The original city of London was quite small. It did not contain Parliament
or the Royal Court.
Two areas well-known 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 poorer residential area of central London. Large
numbers of immigrants have settled here.
There are many other parts of central London which have their own
distinctive characters. The population in the central area has decreased.
Most of the people live in London´s suburbs and they travel to the centre
to work.
London is a cosmopolitan city, because of its variety in culture and race.
There are like 137 different languages spoken in the homes of just one
district.
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 it looks rather
dirty and neglected. Nevertheless, its popularity as a tourist destination is
still growing. It is also the favourite city to do business.
Ω Southern England
The area surrounding the outer suburbs of London has the reputation of
being `commuter land’. It is the most densely populated area in the UK.
We can find the county of Kent which is known as the garden of England,
because of the many kinds of fruits and vegetables grown there.
The Downs, a series of hills are used for sheep farming. The southern side
of the Downs reaches the sea. Many retired people live along this coast.
The region known as the `west country´ has an attractive image of rural
beauty. There is some industry and one large city, but farming is more
widespread than it is in most other regions.
Some parts of the West Country are well-known for their dairy produce.
The south-west peninsula with its rocky coast, numerous small bays and
wild moorlands is the most popular holiday area in Britain.
East Anglia, to the north-east of London, is also rural. There are large
expanses of uniformly flat land. This with the dry climate has made it the
main area for the growing of wheat and other arable crops.
An area known as the Fens has been reclaimed form the sea. The Norfolk
Broads is a popular area for boating holidays as it has no towns.
 The north-south divide
There are many aspects of life in Britain which illustrate the so called
north-south divide. Basically, the south has almost always been more
prosperous than the north with lower rates of unemployment and more
expensive houses.
 Northern England
The Pennine Mountains run up the middle of northern England like a
spine. On either side, the large deposits of coal and iron ore enabled these
areas to lead the industrial revolution.
On the western side, the Manchester area became the world´s leading
producer of cotton goods; on the eastern side, towns such Bradford and
Leeds became producers of woolen goods.
Many other towns sprang up on both sides of the Pennines at this time as
a result of the growth of auxiliary industries and of coal mining.
In the minds of British people, the prototype of the noisy, dirty factory
that symbolizes the industrial revolution is found in the industrial north.
The achievements of these new industrial towns have induced a feeling of
civic pride in their inhabitants.
The decline of heavy industry in Europe has hit the industrial north of
England hard. The towns on either side of the Pennines are unsuitable for
agricultural purposes.
The north of England is sparsely populated. The Lake District is where the
romantic poets lived and wrote about its beauty. It is the favourite
destination of people who enjoy walking holidays. It is classified as a
National Park.
 Scotland
Scotland has three regions. There are the Southern uplands, an area of
small towns, quite far apart from each other, whose economy depends to
a large extent on sheep farming.
There is the plain and finally there are the highlands consisting of
mountains and deep valleys and including numerous small islands off the
west coast.
This area of spectacular beauty occupies the same land area as the
southern England but not many people live there. Tourism is important in
the local economy, and so is the production of whisky. Most of the
Scottish people live in the central plain and the east coast.
Scotland´s two major cities have very different reputations.
Glasgow is the third largest city in Britain. It is associated with heavy
industry and some of the worst housing conditions in Britain. It also has a
strong artistic heritage. It is considered the European city of culture. It is
also reflected in it the divisions in the community, the Catholics and the
protestants.
Edinburgh has a middle-class image. It is the capital of Scotland and is
associated with scholarship, the law and administration. This reputation
together with its many fine historic buildings and also perhaps its
topography has led top its being called `the Athens of the north’.
 Wales
Most people in Wales live in one small part of it. It is the south-east of the
country very populated.
It is in south Wales where it is located the coal mine industry.
Despite of its industry, no large cities have grown up in this area. It is the
only part of Britain with a high proportion of industrial villages. Coal
mining in south Wales has ceased and the transition to other forms of
employment has been slow and painful.
Most of the rest of Wales in mountainous. Communication between south
and north is very difficult because of this.
 Northern Island
The region is like the rest of Ireland, largely agricultural. It has several
areas of spectacular natural beauty.