59876623-Spotlight-on-Britain

If you go for a walk through the streets of Colchester, you will he able to see evidence of its long history (and indeed the history of England) almost everywhere you look. This town trail will take you past the most famous buildings and give you some information about their importance in the development of the town. As you read, follow the route on the map. There are piciures in show you the locations of the buildings which are described.

Colchestertown trail

1 The trail starts at Balkerne Gate, which used to be the West Gate of the town in Roman times, and is one of the bestpreserved Roman gateways in Britain. The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43, and Colchester became a town for retired Roman soldiers. The road beyond the gateway is a modem by-pass, but beside it you can see the original Roman walls.

2Walk towards the town centre along Balkerne Passage and you cannot miss 'Jumbo', the town's most famous landmark. It is a Victorian water-tower which took its name From a famous

elephant sold to a circus in 1882, the year

. of the tower's construction.

3Go up the hillinto the High Street, one of the main streets during Roman times, past the Town Hall, and turn left into West Stockwell Street. Walk down to Northgate Street and back up East Stockwell Street and you will see some fine mediaeval and Georgianhouses, most of which have been restored. This area is known as the Dutch Quarter becausc it is where Flemish weavers Lived when thev fled from the Netherlands in the 16th &nw. They helped to improve the Colchester cloth industry.

4Turn left along St Helen's Lane. Near St Helen's Chapel, on the comer, are the remains of one of the walls of a Roman Theatre.

5Next on the itinerary are the Castle and Museum, so our route takes us hack to the High Street and left a short way, to

the gates of Castle Park. The Castle, which dates From the 11th cennuy, was built on the site of a Roman temple. Now

Balkerne Gate.

TheDutch Quarter.

there is a museum inside, where you will find a wonderful collection of Roman antiquities and a lot of information about Roman Colchester.

6Leaving the Castle, turnleft down East Hill to look at the Siege House. During the Civil War, Colchester was defended by a Royalist Army and was besiegedfor eleven weeks before finally surrendering. Bullet-holes made during the siege can still be seen clearly in the walls.

Of course there are many other interesting places to visit in this historic town, but no doubt by now you will be ready to return to the Town Centre in search of tea and cakes!

D o you like oysters?

Colchester has been famous for its oysters from the River Colne since the time of the Romans. The season starts in October, and every year the Mayor of Colchester goes out in a boat with a party of guests to fish the first oysters. In the evening, the Oyster Feast is held in the Town Hall. Well-known people, usually television personalities, are invited as well as local people.

Colchester Castle

DO YOU KNOW?

1 If you were shopping in a British town. where would you go to buy:

apples a joint of beef carrots

a jar of jam a newspaper books7

2 What could you buy in these shops: an ironmonger's a delicatessen a tobacconist's?

It is said that oysters

The cloth industry used to be more important in Colchester. Of course, in an old town like this, a lot of things have changed. For example, buildings that used to be there have been replaced by others, orthey no longer exist.

Write sentences about Colchester with used to.

Here are some ideas:

Flemish weaversiThe Dutch Quarter Roman TheatreiSt Helen's Chapel Colchester CastleiRoman Temple Baikerne GatelWest Gate

agriculhue fanning

antiquities works of art remaining from old times

ball a formal dance besiege to attack

bow tie a tie made in the shape of a bow, usually worn with a dinner jacket

bullet something fired from a gun by-pass a road which goes round the edge

of a town, avoiding the town centre cater for to provide facilities (shops,

hotels, etc) for

celery a kind of vegetable

cereal grains such as corn, wheat, oats and barley

continental Europe Europe except the British Isles

dawn (11) sunrise

delicatessen a shop that sells 'special', usually non-British, food

dinner-jacket a man's black jacket worn on formal occasions

dominated by agriculture mainly fannland

drain (u) to reduce or get rid of water

flood (u) to cover with water floodlit lit with very strong lights grounds large gardens of a house

hedge a line of bushes, often forming a boundary between fields

inland waterway a system of rivers and lakes joined together and not connect(:d with the sea

itinerary a route

ironmonger a person who sells things made of metal

joint a particular cut of meat

landmark usually a building that is easily seen from a distance

location a position in the town marquee a very large tent

mechanizedfarming fanning which makes use of machines

oyster a kind of shellfish preserved in good condition prosperous rich, wealthy quarter an area (of a town)

rebel (n) a person who rejects authority, eg a government

recorded town a town described in old books

remains the parts of an old building which are left after it has fallen down or disappeared

reputation what people say restored repaired and modernized retired too old to work

rural of the country

season the time when the oysters are ready to eat

siege an attack

stilts long wooden poles with support for the feet, desiened so that vou can walk withou;you;feet touching the ground

sugar-beet a plant from which sugar is made

tent a construction made of canvas, used for sleeping in when camping

trail a path, a route that can be followed TVpersonalities people who are famous

because they appear on TV

water tower a reservoir or tank for the distribution of water in an area

weaver a person who makes cloth webbed feet feet with the toes joined, eg

ducks have webbed feet wildfowl wild duclis or geese

Birmingham is the most important city in the Midlands, one of England's most productive regions, with large industrial areas such as the Black Country in the West Midlands. However, there is also a lot of fanning country, for example in the

counties of Shopshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire. This region has some beautiful countryside in the Peak District National Park, the Cotswold W s and the Malvern Hills.

In April 1564a son was horn to John and Mary Shakespeare at Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. His mother was the daughter of Robert Arden, an important farmer in Warwickshire. His father was a rich citizen whose business was making and selling leather gloves.

The parents did not guess that their son, W i a m , was going to be such an important figure in English poetry and drama, and that his plays would still he acted four hundred years later -not only in England, hut all over the world!

While still a teenager of nineteen, William married Anne Hathaway, a farmer's daughter some years older than himself.

We don't know how he earned his living during these early years. He may have helped his father in the family business or he may have been a country schoolmaster for a time. During these years his three children were born: Susannah, the eldest, then nvins - a son, Harnnet (not Hamlet!), and another girl, Judith. In 1587 Shakespearewent to work in London, leaving Anne and the children at home. One story says this is because he killed some deer which belonged to a rich landowner nearby, and that he had to run away from the law.

Shakespearesoon began to act and to write plays. By 1592he was animportant memberof a well-known acGng company, and in 1599 the famous Globe Theatre was built on the south hank of the river Thames. It was in this theatre that most of his plays were performed and, like all Elizabethan theatres, it was a round building with the stage in the centre open to the sky. Ifit rained, the actors got wet! If the weather was too had, there was no performance.

By 1603, the year when Queen Elizabeth I died, Shakespearewas already the leading poet and dramatist of his time. He continued to write for the next ten years, but in 1613he h a U y stopped writing and went to live in Stratford where he died in 1616. He is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Ben Jonson, who lived from 1572 to 1637, and who was also a famous writer of plays, called Shakespeare'Sweet swan of Avon'.

Shakespearehas been known as the 'Swan of Avon' ever since.

Buying and selling has been an important oar1 of Life in Birminaham for more than iight hundred years.-1n fact men used to sell their wives there as recently as the 18th century! (In 1733 Samuel \~hi;ehousesold his wife to Thomas Griffiths in Lhe marker place for a little more than one poundl) Although neither husbands nor wives are for sale nowadays, Birmingham's markets offer a large choice of other goods.

Each Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, the colourful rag market can be found. People used to come to buy and sell old clothes (rags) hut now there is a wide selection of modem fashions for everybody.

Years ago farmers used to sell their animals

ar the Bull Rine. but now iris one of the

-,

biggest open-air markets and shopping centres in the United Kingdom. People enjoy shopping there because it has modern shops, together with the aunosphere of a traditional street market.

TALKING POINT

Describe any famous markets you have visited and the kinds of things you have bought.

In 1962 a magnificent new cathedral was consecrated in Covenuy, and bishops and archbishops from al l over the world attended. They came to see a cathedral of our time, built using the skills and ideas of our day.

During the Second World War, the old cathedral had been destroyed in a terrible night of bombs which killed many people in the city. Only the walls of the cathedral remained but people immediately made a new altar 'kith the fallen stones. The altar cross was made from burnt wood and nails from the ruins. Immediately after the war, a similar nail cross was taken to Kiel in Germany as a sign of fiiendship, and a stone from the ruins of Kiel Cathedral was given to Coventryin return. This is the Kiel Stone of Forgiveness, now in the Chapel of unity.

Also after the war a group of young

Germans helped to clear one corner of the ruined cathedral.

Today this area is the Centre for International Understanding where young people of all nationalities can meet.

The new cathedral looks very modern, but it is joined physically and spiritually with the old. Together they remind us of the madness of war.

TALKING POINTS

W h y do you think the ruins of the old cathedral were left standing?

T h e title calls this a cathedral of ourtime. Why? Can you think of more than one reason?

*The author of this text writes of 'the madness of war'. Do you agree? Is war ever justified?

Town and gown

There has been a town where Oxford now stands for many centuries -even before 912, the 6rst written record of its existence.

The University began to establish itselfin the middle of the 12th century, and by 1300 there were already 1,500 students. At this time, Oxford was a wealthy town, but by the middle of the 14th century, it was poorer, because of a decline in trade and because of the terrible plague, which killed many people in England. Relations between the students and the townspeople were very and there was fiehtine in the streets. On 10th Februarv 1555, rhe festival of St Scholastica, a b a k e began which lasted two days. Sixty-two students were killed. The townspeople were punished for this in two ways: they had to walk through the town to attend a special service on every St Scholastics's day until 1825. Worse &an this, the UniverGtywas given conttol of the town for nearly 600 years.

Nowadays, there are about 12,000 students in Oxford, and the University and the town live happily side by side!

TheRover Groupfactory in Cowley.

City of dreaming spires

The best-known description of Oxford is by

However, Ododordis not onlyfamous for its architecture. In the 20th cennw. it has developed quickly as an indus&& and commercial centre. The Rover Group factory at Cowley, for example, is an important part of Britain's motor industry.