England

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is composed of the four countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The largest, England, is the seat of government, a constitutional monarchy; a country of 50, 000 plus square

The Tower Bridge is the last of London’s bridges before the Thames River flows into the sea some 50 miles away. The massive, Gothic towers rise over 200 feet in the air, and are connected by a glass-enclosed span that rewards visitors with a marvelous view of the city. The corridor is 148 feet above the river. Completed in 1895, the bridge allows vehicular traffic to cross on two heavy hydraulically-operated drawbridges, raised several times a day to allow large vessels to pass through

miles and more than 50 million people.

At its zenith in the late 19th and 20th centuries it ruled one of the largest empires ever known, spreading to all seven continents. Today, the British Commonwealth has replaced the former far-flung empire with a voluntary association of friendly countries- 49 and more than one billion people- with a common language, background and heritage. The strength of the Commonwealth resides in its diversity- all countries equal with fairness to all.

Occupied as long ago as 60, 000 B.C. by Western and Northern invaders, and much later (3, 000 B.C.) by Celts, England’s history is so involved and complex only an overview is possible. The Romans occupied it for almost five centuries, then Angles, Saxons, Jutes and later Danes for another 500 years until the Norman King William I made the last successful invasion of England. Before William there had already been 15 Anglo Saxon and Danish kings. He continued the reign of kings: four Norman, eight of the House of Anjou-Plantagenet, three of

One of two fortifications built by the Romans against the “barbarians” of the north was Hadrian’s Wall, stretching 73 1/3 miles east to west across England. Ordered by Emperor Hadrian in 120 A.D., it required 12 years to build. The continuous stone wall was ten feet thick, 20 feet high in places and protected by broad ditches on either side. Along its length was a series of forts (17-19 in number) accommodating from 500 to 1,000 men. Total garrison of wall: about 10, 000 men

the House of Lancaster, with all three Henrys, IV, V and VI, three of the House of York, including Richard III, five of the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, two of the House of Stuart, Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell of the Commonwealth, four of the restored House of Stuart, seven of House of Hanover, including Victoria, and four of the House of Windsor, including present Elizabeth II, since 1952.

It represents an amazing engineering fest, and for centuries observers have wondered “why” and “how” about the huge oval of lintels and megalithic pillars. The widely-held view of the 18th and 19th century romantic was that Stonehenge was the work of the Celtic Druid cult, but later study indicated the builders predated the arrival in Britain of that group. The latest thinking dates on the Stonehenge from 1850 and 1300 B.C. The monument stands out starkly on the plain of Salisbury, about nine miles north of the city.

A Harvard astronomer put Stonehenge through a computer and concluded: solar and

What are the chances of nature producing three brilliant sisters, two of them internationally know, in a tiny hamlet on the moors of Northern England? It would certainly be unbelievanle, if it hadn’t happened Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte moved with three other siblings and their father and mother to Haworth, where the Reverend Bronte answered the church’s call. In the cramped rooms of the parsonage, Emily wrote Wuthering Heights, Charlotte, Jane Eyre and Anne, the lesser-known Tenant of Wildfell Hall

lunar alignments marked a calendar which men used as a guide in planting and harvesting. The outer ring of 56 holes, some yards outside the outer ring of stone, enabled priests to predict eclipses. They could assemble the people at this awesome shrine for a terrifying spectacle, and they by ritual bring back the life-giving sun!

Today, because of vandalism, the tourist is restrained by a fence from walking inside the remaining circles of stones.

Most first-time travelers from the United States approach Europe through London and England. After a nine-hour plane ride, tourists want to hear English spoken, though they may have trouble with the accent, food they

Stonehenge- Britain’s most important prehistoric monument; in fact, there is no monument of the same period anywhere in Europe which can compare with it

understand and a culture they recognize. There is so much to see and do in London, many never get beyond that grand city before hiking off to European capitals. The absolutely best feature of travel is that you make all your own rules, for each of us searches for different rewards.