TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION. CONVERSATIONAL TOPICS

King’s staircase. Sound guides will further enhance your experience, should you wish to wander freely around. The Georgian Court was shaken by tales of scandal and you can hear every juicy detail.

With such a rich tapestry of history, encompassed in such stately surround­ings. Including sixty acres of Tudor, Baroque and Victorian gardens and the newly restored Privy Garden, Hampton Court Palace truly is Britain’s most beautiful time capsule.

The cutty sark

The Queen of the Clippers

With her main mast towering 152 feet above the deck, the historic Cutty Sark is a truly majestic sight. The most famous tea clipper ever built and the only one to survive, she was launched in 1869 at Dumbarton on the Clyde. The Cutty Sark with her sleek lines and huge sail area, was designed for speed’ in the race for the lucrative China tea trade. Her greatest days however were as a wool clipper bringing the new season’s clip from Sydney to London. She left all her rivals in her wake, breaking speed records year after year. Today the Cutty Sark is being restored to her former glory. She is proudly’ rigged as she used to be when she was in arbor after one other epic voyages.

When you go on board you step back into a time when this magnificent sailing ship ruled the waves. You can wander the decks and imagine the seas crashing over her bow as she rounded Cape Horn, hold the wheel that actually steered her across the world’s mighty oceans. On deck several cabins have been restored and an exhibition gives you an insight as to how her crew lived during the voyage and an audiovisual presentation brings to life her exciting and fascinating story.

In the lower hold is the ‘Long John Silver’ collection of merchant ships’ figureheads, the most impressive and important collection in this country. From the dry dock you can admire the beautifully contoured lines of the Cutty Sark — the Queen of the Clippers.

Windsor castle

Windsor Castle is probably the largest fortress of its kind in the world, and has belonged continuously to the sovereigns of England for over 900 years. It is still the setting for great ceremonies of state, and houses many of the price­less treasures in the Royal Collection.

The Castle began as a simple timber stockade on a mound, one of a ring of strongholds built around London by William the Conqueror soon af­ter 1066 to keep the hostile population at bay. It took its name from a small hunting-lodge nearby. In the Saxon settlement of Windlesora.

Over the years Windsor became more and more important as a royal residence. Edward Ill’s reign saw the foundation of the Order of the Garter, the most prestigious Order of the realm, with a colourful ceremony which annually brings pomp and pageantry to the town. Edward IV began the splendid Gothic chapel of St George, and Charles II and George IV were both to leave their regal stamp on Windsor. But the ultimate accolade came in 1917 when George V declared that henceforth his family and descendants would take the surname Windsor. Windsor and the Royal Family were thus indissolubly linked, and rightly so, for though it is much else besides, Wind­sor is indeed the royal home of kings.

The Castle Precincts are divided into three main areas — the Lower, Mid­dle and Upper Wards. The Middle Ward is dominated by the Round Tower. This dates from the XI century and was the Castle’s main stronghold. Its stra­tegic importance lying in the views stretching for miles across the Thames Valley. Within the Upper Ward are the State Apartments, a magnificent suite of ceremonial rooms used by The Queen to entertain visit­ing Heads of State, and Her Majesty’s Private Apartments. The Royal Stan­dard is flown when The Queen is in residence. Although some of the State rooms were badly damaged by fire in 1992, work is now well under way to restore them to their former glory.

7 Where do you live and can you describe it?

What is it? a city, the capital, a medium-sized town, a village Where is it? on or near the coast, in the middle of the country, in the north, the south, the east, the west If a city, which area? in the centre, in the suburbs, just outside, on the outskirts

If a village, which is the nearest town/city? and how far away is it?

How would you describe it? Is it quiet and sleepy? busy and noisy? old and picturesque? modern and lively?

What is it famous for? wine? clothes? its museums? its cathedral? what else?

What sort of area is it? rural, industrial, agricultural Surrounding countryside? flat, hilly, mountainous Where is it situated? in a valley, on a plain, on the side of a hill What are the main industries?

Most popular jobs: in tourism, in factories, on farms, what else?

Has it changed recently? Yes, No Do you like it? Yes; No; Why?/ Why not?