Newspapers in Great Britain (I)

The population of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is now over 50 million. About 30 million newspapers are sold every day. The British people, therefore, are great readers of newspapers. There are few homes to which one newspaper is not delivered every morning. Many families have two or even three newspapers every day. One newspaper may be delivered at the house, a member of the family may buy one at the station bookstall to read in the train as he goes to town, and someone else in the family may buy an evening newspaper later in the day.

Daily papers are those that are published daily from Monday to Saturday. There are the morning papers and the evening papers. The morning papers are on sale in the morning. The evening papers begin to appear during the morning, and new editions appear every two or three hours until the final edition comes out in the evening.

 As in other countries, newspapers in Great Britain vary greatly in their ways of presenting the news. There are serious papers for those who want to know about important events everywhere, both domestic news and foreign news. There are popular newspapers for those who prefer entertainment to information. There are newspapers whose pages are largely filled with news of sport - football, boxing and racing - and with stories of film stars, or accounts of crime and of law-count trials.

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Newspapers in Great Britain (II)

The London newspaper that is best known outside Great Britain is probably "The Times". It began in 1785, and has a high reputation for reliable news and serious comment on the news. It is an independent paper, not giving its support to a particular political party, its leading articles give the opinions of its editorial staff, not the opinions of its owners of the paper.

The correspondence columns of "The Times" are always interesting and often amusing. Most of the letters are on serious subjects, but from time to time there will be a long correspondence on a subject that is not serious, perhaps on a new fashion of dress, or the bad manners of the younger generation compared with the manners of thirty years ago.

"The Times", of course, does not publish the strip cartoons that are so common in the cheaper and popular papers. However, it publishes a crossword puzzle every day, with clues that are both clever and amusing. Many readers of "The Times" try to solve the puzzle every morning as they travel to town by train from their homes in the suburbs.

The London evening papers, "The Star", "The Evening News" and "The Evening Standard", are sold not only at the ordinary newsagent’s shops and station book-stalls, but also at street corners.

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Your Visit to England

One of these days you may find it possible to visit England. From the moment you go on board the ship that will take you to an English port or the airliner that will fly you to London, you will see signs and notices that will give you useful information and warnings.

Here are some examples and explanations that will help you.

If you come by air, you will see when you take your seat in the plane, a notice that says: NO SMOKING; FASTEN SEAT BELTS. Smoking is forbidden while the plane is on the ground, while it is taking off, and until it has risen to a good height. There are two leather belts or straps fastened to the sides of your seat. The ends of them must be fastened together so that the belt is across your lap. When the plane is well up in the air, the light behind this notice is switched off. Then you are allowed to smoke and may unfasten your seat belt. The notice will appear again when the plane is landing.

If you come by steamer, you will see numerous notices. Perhaps there will be arrows to show you which parts of the ship are for first-class passengers and which parts are for tourist-class passengers. Large rooms in a ship are called SALOONS, so when you see DINING-SALOON you know where to go when it is time for lunch.

You may see a notice TO THE BOAT DECK. This is the deck where you will find the boats' that can be lowered to the water if there is any danger of the ship sinking.

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London (I)

When we think of Paris, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Athens and other European capitals we think of them as "cities". When we think of the whole of modern London, that great area covering several hundred s quare miles, we do not think of it as "a city", not even as a city and its suburbs. Modern London is not one city that has steadily expanded through the centuries; it is a number of cities, towns and villages that have grown together, during the past centuries, to make one vast urban area.

London today stretches for nearly thirty miles from north to south and for nearly thirty miles from east to west. This is the area known as "Greater London", with a population of nine millions. The "City" of London is a very small part of the whole; it is only one square mile in area, and the number of people who live and sleep in "the City" is only about ten thousand.

If you fly over London in a helicopter, for example, you will see below you the winding Thames, flowing from west to east and dividing London into the two parts known as the north bank and the south bank.

If from the air, we can pick out a few landmarks, we shall find it easier to understand how London has grown. Two landmarks stand out clearly: St. Paul's Cathedral in the City, and, about two miles westwards, the group of buildings near Westminster Bridge, the Palace of Westminster (with the Houses of Parliament) and Westminster Abbey.

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London (II)

London is one of the world's three largest cities (the other two are New York and Tokyo). It is one of the world’s most i mportant ports and the capital of Great Britain.

The Romans founded a s ettlement on the River Thames 2000 years ago. They called it Londinium. London became a prosperous trading centre during the Middle Ages. Since that time, it has continued to grow in size and prosperity. There are more than 10 thousand streets in London. About 7 million people live there.

There are four main parts in London: the City, Westminster, the West End and the East End.

The very centre of London is Trafalgar Square. There is Nelson's column with the statue of Admiral Nelson on the top. In the north of Trafalgar Square, there is the National Gallery. It exhibits all schools of European painting from the 13th to the 19th century and includes works by Van Dyck, Rubens, Goya, Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt.

Not far from Trafalgar Square there is a little street with very ordinary houses. This is Downing Street, and for the last 200 years at house №10, the Prime Minister of England has resided.

Downing Street leads to Whitehall. Whitehall was a palace where from the 12th to the 16th century the kings and queens of England were living. Now it is just a street of government offices.

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London (III)

The Court is at Buckingham Palace from the nineteenth century. It is in the City of Westminster. Here, and farther west, are the finest theatres, cinemas and conceit halls, the large museums, the most luxurious hotels, the largest department stores and the most famous shops. The name "West End" began to be associated with wealth, luxury and goods of high quality.

Visitors with much money who come chiefly for enjoyment pass most of their time in the West End. Those who come to learn about London's history will find much interesting in the City. Here most of the streets are narrow, and the traffic is often very slow. Many of these narrow streets run down to the Thames, and at the end of them warehouses can be seen. The City is concerned with finance, but it is also a market for goods of almost every land, from all parts of the world.

The Port of London is to the east of the City. Here, today, are miles and miles of docks, and the great industrial areas that depend on shipping. This is the East End of London, unattractive in appearance, but very important to the country's commerce. On the river, there are ocean-going ships, and lines of barges pulled along by tugs. Ships up to 6.000 tons can come up to London Bridge, below which is the part of the river called the Pool. They can pass under Tower Bridge. It takes only five minutes to raise the two halves of the roadway to allow a ship to pass.

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