Main sities
BIRMINGHAM
It is well known that Birmingham is the biggest provincial town in Great Britain. It is situated in the centre of the upland area in the valleys of three small rivers — the Tame, the Cole and the Rea. These rivers flow into the Trent, a big navigable river. Birmingham is considered a country borough of Warwickshire, and a market centre of the Black County. Birmingham is younger than the major part of British cities. People do not know the exact date of birth of their town but it is known for sure that it did not exist before Anglo-Saxon times. In the 13th century the Midland coal fields influenced its development and growth. In the 19th century the Black County was called Birmingham, it was all due to the intensive activity of the heavy industry. Today, its coal is almost worked out, iron ore is no longer melted and on the old quarries grow green grass and wild flowers.
Birmingham is an industrial city, but it is rich in numerous pleasant residential suburbs and open spaces. The cultural life is centred there. There are departments of science, arts, medicine, commerce and law at the University of Birmingham. And of course it is an important research centre.
There are many modern factories, but its industrial pattern is mostly based on small firms. Birmingham produces brassware, silverware and motor vehicles, electrical equipment, machine tools, metal goods, jewellery small arms and plastics.
MANCHESTER
Manchester is a large city and it is situated in the Northwest of England. It stands on the River Irwell, which is a tributary of the Mersey River and they link by Manchester Ship Canal. That makes Manchester one of the major ports in England. Later it was famous for its wool and cotton industries but now it is the financial and business centre. When Britain was an Empire, Manchester was called a «Cottonpolis» for its cotton mills in the city and in the small towns around it.
The northwest of the city still makes cotton textiles and it is considered as an important industrial area. Manchester can also be proud of its Business school, which is the best in Britain. Music industry also developes in Manchester, many pop and rock bands play in nightclubs. Everybody knows Manchester's two football teams — Manchester United и Manchester City.
In general Manchester forms the opinion of a beautiful city; but unfortunately many of its old buildings were destroyed by the Irish Republican Army bomb in 1996. It was an illegal military organization which wanted Northern Ireland to leave the UK and become part of the Irish Republic, it was known for violent and terrorist methods of achieving its aims.
GLASGOW
Glasgow is the largest city of Scotland, almost 1 million of people live there. It is situated 50 miles from Edinburgh near the western coast of Scotland.
The city was founded in the 6th century, for a long time it was not more than a cluster of cottages built on the river Clyde. Then the city began to develop, there was built the second university in Scotland, and it made Glasgow an important educational centre. When America was discovered it led to the increasing import of tobacco, sugar, cotton, and a shipbuilding industry also began to grow. Soon Glasgow was one of the richest and most successful cities in Britain.
However, in the 20th century, things went wrong with the city. The city's heavy industry was destroyed under depression of the 1930's and many people lost their job.
Glasgow and its closest industrial towns stand on the Lancashire coal field. It dominates the whole region and every day many people go there to work. A great number of manufacturing industries is centred there. In the 18th century Glasgow was already a great port of manufacturing centre. Shipbuilding, iron, steel, machinery, chemicals, textile, clothing, marine and aero engines, road vehicles and machine tools are the leading industries in Glasgow.
Glasgow is also a cultural centre. There are many interesting museums, art galleries. The People's Palace tells about the history of Glasgow, the Museum of Comparative Religion — explores the world's different faiths through art; Glasgow Cathedral is a wonderful example of Gothic architecture. People of Glasgow are very friendly and sociable. The immigrants of previous centuries from Ireland and Highland have added their charm and wit to the city.
EDINBURGH
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It lies in seven hills and goes down those hills to the sea. The highest hill is three hundred metres above the sea. From the street in the centre of the city you can see ships coming to Edinburgh from different countries of the world.
In the « old town » the streets are narrow. The tall houses with narrow windows go up the hills to Edinburgh castle, which is one thousand years old. The modern town lies at the foot of the hills. The streets are straight and well planned, so it is easy to walk in the city when you go sightseeing in Edinburgh. Many great men have lived and worked in Edinburgh. Robert Burns, the great Scottish poet, published his first book of poems in Edinburgh. There is a monument to him in the city. Edinburgh is also proud of Walter Scott, the father of the historical novel in world literature, and Robert Louis Stevenson, a famous English writer.
This city is a great educational centre, there are three universities. Such scientists as John Napier who invented logarithms, Adam Smith, the father of political economy, Alexander Bell, the inventor of the telephone also lived and worked in Edinburgh. The Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh is another official residence of the Queen besides Buckingham Palace. This Palace is a museum with a number of museums inside it. There are the Museum of Childhood with its unique collection of toys and games, the writer's Museum, the People's Story Museum, which tells the story of ordinary people.
It seems that past and present live in Edinburgh side by side, and it gives a special charm to the city. But in fact, Edinburgh is a busy town. People are employed in manufacturing industry: electrical and electronics engineering, paper printing and publishing, food and drink industry.
CARDIFF
It is a well-known fact that Cardiff is a capital of Wales. It lies near the mouth of the river Taff, which flows into the English Channel. Romans first occupied this place about 75 BC, they built a fort there. In the 3rd—4th centuries they built a massive wall around it, nowadays people can still observe its traces at various parts of the modern city. When Roman forces left Britain, all the people followed their example. Only 700 years later with the coming of Normans, they came back to live there again.
For some people today Cardiff seems too Victorian, too formal, too dignified. But in fact it is not really so, Cardiff is a relaxed city with a thriving cultural life. The New Theatre of Cardiff performs all kinds of music and entertainment.
You won't see dirty docklands and provincial mediocrity in Cardiff. The Castle is the first thing that catches visitor's eye. It is situated in the heart of the city and parkland and acres of surround it. The Castle with its Roman foundation, medieval core and rich Victorian mansion itself represents the best jewel in Cardiff's crown. Splendid neo-classical white-stoned architectural ensemble of the Civic Centre, the City hall, National Museum, Law Courts and University buildings are wonderful sights of the city.
National Museum of Cardiff contains a world-class collection of impressionist paintings, it is considered as one of the greatest collections outside Paris and St Petersburg.
Cardiff is quite an ancient town, but only in the 19th century it became a centre of export trade in coal. The First and the Second World Wars stopped the demand for the Welsh coal both at home and abroad, and the growth of the city almost went down.
Cardiff today is not like that it was earlier. There are many shopping malls, Victorian shopping arcades, cafes, and bistros many places where one can taste the locally brewed beer.
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool is one of britain's biggest cities. Its population is more than one and a quarter million. Such persons as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr made Liverpool famous. Now it has a magnificent Beatles museum. Hundreds of Beatles’ fans visit it every day. Liverpool is also known for its football teams, its football Club is one of the most successful European Teams of the late 70s and early 90s. For many times it was the Champion of Britain.
But however, just music and football do not limit Liverpool. In the 18th and 19th it was developing as britain's major Atlantic port. It became a centre of cotton trade and manufacturing industry, its ships even took part in the slave trade. The River Mersey is crossed by two tunnels: a railway and a road tunnels, which are known as the Mersey Tunnels. The river had no bridges at this point and for a long time ferries were the main way to cross the river.
Shipbuilding, engineering, food processing and sugar refining are the leading industries in Liverpool.
Liverpool is proud of its sights, especially of the 20th century two cathedrals. One cathedral is the property of the Church of England and startling modern paintings decorate its interior. The other one belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, its architecture is unique in its way, and the cathedral looks like a huge Indian wigwam. No one doubts that Liverpool is a cultural and educational centre, for it has two universities, a great number of famous schools and many fascinating museums and picture galleries.
Liverpool is a city of England but sometimes people call it the capital of Ireland and the capital of Wales because there are many people of Irish and Welsh descent in the city.
People are friendly, wit and humorous. The general opinion of a person from Liverpool is that he is of working class, socialist political beliefs, and he is good at jokes.
Not long ago the docklands of the Mersyside were converted into a leisure area of parks and museums so that many people could have a rest there.
CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge is one of the best known towns in the world and it can be found on most tourists’ lists of places to visit. Cambridge is famous for its university, which started during the 13th century and grew steadily, until today there are more than twenty colleges.
The oldest one is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284. And the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. But the most famous is Kings College, because of its magnificent chapel. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is well known all over the world. The Universities were only for men until 19th century when the first women's college was opened. Later the doors of colleges were opened to both men and women. Nowadays almost all the colleges are mixed.
To the north of Cambridge is the Cambridge Science Park, the modern face of the University. This park has developed in response to the need of universities to increase their contact with high technology industry. It is now home to more than sixty companies and research institutes. The whole area is in fact very attractively designed, with a lot of space between each building. The planners thought that it was important for people to have a pleasant, park like environment in which to work.
Every year thousands of students come to Cambridge from overseas to study English.