Hyde Park

  Hyde Park is the largest and definately the most famous of all Royal Parks. It covers around 138 ha and what's also interesting it's very often called "London's Largest Lung". But what's the story behind it?

  At the beginning that area was occupied my the monks from Westminister Abbey but later in 1536 King Henry VIII seized that area and from the major part of it he made a hunting place.100 years later, when Charles I became the King, Hyde Park was turned into a public place and which Londoners truly loved. Bigger changes happened during William and Mary 's reign. They created there the first road in England that was lit by night. In 18th century Queen Caroline made a large lake called the Serpentine. After almost 100 years King George IV created the famous Hyde Park Corner which is now one of the most famous monumentals in London. The most recent change was building the memorial fontain to Diana, Princess of Wales. 

  Hyde Park definately can't be forgotten while visiting London :)

Sources:

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde-park/about-hyde-park/landscape-history

"I never knew that about London" by Christopher Winn

Trafalgar Square

   Now, that I presented a general history of my favourite city, I would like to concentrate more on the most important places/people that appeared in London's history. 
 Trafalgar Square, one of the most popular places in London might be as well called "The heart of modern London". It has got its name after Britain's greatest naval victory - the Battle of Trafalgar which took part in 1805. 
  Trafalgar square is dominated by Nelson's Column. It was erected in 1843 and represents Admiral Horiato Nelson who died during the Battle of Trafalgar. 

After a successful invasion of Britain Hitler wanted to move the column to Berlin so it would represent German victory upon Brits. But fortunately eventually it didn't happen. 

  Trafalgar Square was always meant to be a ceremonial place and it sure is, even after so many years. Trafalgar Square is a place where a lot of public celebrations take part, such as: New Year's Eve party, sporting celebrations or... the last "Harry Potter" premiere :)

Source:

"I never knew that about London" by Christopher Winn

TED vocabulary p.7

-take something for granted
Sometimes people get used to each other that they take their presence for granted.

-intangible
There are some intangible values which are very hard to define.

-kickback
Some people believe that a kickback is able to solve all of their problems.

A letter to Minister of Justice

    Dear Sir or Madam,
  I am writing to you in order to convince you about granting Mrs Mary Maloney parole. Last month she was accused for murdering her husband. I must admit that I am suprised that so many people actually believe that such a delicate woman could have done something as cruel as that. Not to mention the fact that Mrs Maloney was 5 months pregnant at that time, so she definately would not have been able to kill a man so much stronger that her. I am entirely sure that Mrs Mary Maloney loved her husband Patrick very much. She repeated very often that Patrick was the most important person in her life. I cannot think of any possible explanation why she would have wanted him to be dead.
  I ask you to give Mary Maloney one more chance to explain herself. I hope that if you would hear the real version of what happened you will not hesitate to grant her parole. I also want to ask you to consider the fact that she will soon have a baby so prison would be the worst place for her and her newborn child.
  I look forward to your quick response.

Your faithfully,
Julia Bzura

The rebuilding of London after WW2

  The Blitz was definately the most traumatic experience of all Londoners that lived during World War II. And even when the bombing ended the problem didn't disappear, because great part of London was totally destroyed and many, many people were left without their homes. But as a lot of people know that "every cloud has a silver lining" that became an opportunity of changing something in London's architecture.
  The most popular planner of that period was Patrick Abercrombie. His main idea was to reconstruct the capital to create a balance between housing, industrial development and open spaces. He also wanted to encircle London with some "green spaces" such as parks, recreation grounds, farmland etc. The whole idea was called "County of London plan".

*the first public building to be constructed after the War was The Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank

                           Patrick Abercrombie

Source: 

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/ww2-rebuilding-london

TED vovabulary p.6

-eat up
A lot of people eat up all of the hollywood love stories and believe that it is exactly what happens in the real life.

-distorting
Sometimes I don't realise how many informations I received  in the past are distorted now.

-stuck in
Very often when I have something difficult to do I'm stuck in a very pesimistic way of thinking. 

The Bombing of London

   We left London when it was hugely destroyed by the Great Fire. For nearly 300 years Londoners lived peacefully but everything changed when the World War II begun. 
  On 7 September 1940 the German aircraft started bombing the capital of Great Britain. It was the largest collection of aircraft ever seen. The country was put on the highest alert. Nazis was hoping that the bombing would destroy London and weaken the spitit of its inhabitants but to their suprise Londoners became even stronger and weren't planning to give up so easily. At that hard time existed a popular sentence, the catchphrase of the Blitz : "We can take it".
  The horrible bombing continued for  the next 76 nights! People living not only in London but also in the near areas lived in constant fear. They had to be always prepared for the worst. Anytime they could be dead and everything around could be destroyed..

Winston Churchill inspecting bomb damage in South Londnon (10 September 1940)

sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/germany_bombs_london

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/ww2-the-blitz-hits-london

The great fire of London

If there's a one thing about the history of London that the majority of the people knows, it is the Great fire of London, the fire that destroyed over a quarter of the capital city.
  The fire begun on 2 September 1666 at 1 am in a bakery on Pudding Lane in the City of London. Thomas Farriner - the baker, his daughter and servants were all sleeping upstairs when the fire woke them up. Everyone managed to jump out the window and escaped,exept one maid that was too frightened to jump. She was the first of many sufferers of the Great fire. Experts say that Pudding Lane was probably one of the worst places to start the fire because of the amount of easily burning things.
 A "funny" thing is that The Lord Mayor went out to look at the fire but he didn't consider it as a very serious problem so he went back to sleep.
 The fire spread really quickly and the wooden buildings cathed it easily.The major problem of the Fire was an inadequate equipment to firefight that barely did help.The Great fire continued until September 5th. The effects of it were dramatic: around 13.000 buildings had been destroyed and between 65.000 to 80.000 people had lost their houses. London was covered in ash...

sources:

http://www.fireoflondon.org.uk/story/the-fire/

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/the-great-fire-of-london

The 1665 plague

 The worst fear of medevial people was the plague. There were a lot of them throughout the centuries but the one that will always remain in London's memory will definately be the plague from 1665.
  That epidemic was so tragic mostly because of two factors. The first was the amount of the dead during that plague: It was over 100.000 people, which at that time was 1/3 of the total population. The second was the wrong assumption that the Great Fire (1666) had cleansed the city of the disease.
 Some people believe that the epidemic was caused by black rats living in London, but there's also a theory that it was the water that carried the disease. But no matter what caused the plague, the river definately didn't get rid of it. 
 Only wealthy people could afford running away from London at that time (it was almost 20 % of London population). Thanks to one person that stayed in London during the 1665 plague we know how it all looked like. It was Samuel Pepys who wrote about the epidemic in his journal. This is a fragment from "The journal of the plague, year 1665" :

"Lord! how empty the streets are and melancholy, so many poor sick people in the streets full of sores; and so many sad stories overheard as I walk, everybody talking of this dead, and that man sick, and so many in this place, and so many in that."

source:
http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/samuel-pepys-and-the-1665-plague

TED vocabulary p.5

-reciprocity
A good relationship should be based on reciprocity.
-welfare
Not only humans care about welfare.
-consolation
When I'm sad I can always count on my friends for consolation.

"Tootsie" review

   "Tootsie" is a comedy directed by Sydney Pollack, released in 1982. The main protagonist is played by amazing Dustin Hoffman.The action takes place in New York. I watched the film a few days ago, during my english class. 

    The film tells the story of unemployed actor, Michael Dorsey who can never get the job because of his explosive and difficult temper. Finally he makes a desperate decison to change his indendity to Dorothy Michales and get a part in a new soap opera. Throughout the film the viewer might observe the development of the main character and also consequences of that radical decision.

   The aspect of the film that impressed me the most was the acting. The movie is so good mostly because of the great job that Dustin Hoffman did. I can't imagine how difficult that role could have been.

   What makes that film even more convincing is the characterisation. It's obviously one of the most important factor when it comes to men playing women and vice versa. Apparently the make-up artist must  have been really good.

   I can honestly recommend watching "Tootsie", bacause not only it is a very funny and amusing story but it also concerns really important topics, such as the position of a woman in the world (not only in that times) or how lies might complicate people's lives. I  think, that film is worth seeing for everyone who likes good but not stupid comedies.

   

  

The Guilds and Livery Companies

  Since London's bigger advantage is a good location for the trade, the majority of the London's citizens were craftspeople and merchants. Since Saxon times they have started to organise themselves into groups called "Guilds". Soon they became a very influential part of the London society.
  What I've found really intresting is that people from the same Guild usually worked and lived very closely to eachother. As a result a lot of streets of London were named after Guilds that stationed there. For example Bread St - where bakers lived or Friday St - where fishmongers were making quite a good buisness selling fish on Friday when Catholics couldn't eat meat.
  As the time passed these naturally-made groups oficially became "Livery Companies".
The main role of these Guilds were to protect the quality and reputation of a trade and the whole company.
  Suprisingly for me The Livery Companies were very strict about how members of the Guild should behave. Some historicians even reckon that anyone who was found on laziness or spending too much time on worthless activities would be excluded from the company.
  Very often Livery Companies' members were very well positioned in the London community.
  Such an influential and important group needed a common meeting place. So in 1440 the construction of Guildhall was finished. It is one of very few buildings that are still stnading in the City after the Great Fire.
Suprise! Livery Companies still exist in The City of London :)

Source:

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/the-guilds-and-livery-companies

TED vocabulary p.4

-Wrap up

When someone shouts at me I wrap myself up.

-To govern

My dad governs our family budget.

-Tweak

Little tweaks can lead us to big changes.

London Bridge

   London has a lot of very popular monuments that are recognizable all over the world. One of them and probably the oldest is definately London Bridge.

   Until Medieval times it was very hard to cross the river Thames. It was only possible by using a ferry or a rickety wooden bridge. Fortunately it all changed in 1176. Due to the fact that all of the wooden bridges were destroyed by the fire, Henry II bade to build a pernament stone crossing. It took 33 years to built the bridge, but with all repairs and remodellings it was nearly 600 years! 

   The finished bridge was very impressive. It was 275 m long and was supported on 20 arches. But the most suprising is that the London Bridge featured a drawbridge,  a chapel, houses, shops, gates and even a waterwheel and a mill. It seems unbelievable that all of that was situated in the bridge. What is quite ironic, I think is that building the London Bridge didn't make crossing the Thames much quicker, because the buildings inside took a lot of space, making the actual rode very narrow. Crossing could take almost an hour!

   However the London Bridge wasn't uncredited during tragic fires, when people had to jump from the bridge straight into the water. Some parts of the Bridge also collapsed on several occassions. One of them will be always remebered in a popular rhyme : "London Bridge is falling down".

   The London Bridge we can cross now was opened by Queen Elisabeth II in 1973.

   Although the majority of the people mixes London Bridge up with Tower Bridge  I think it is a very interesting place to visit and know its history better while being in London.

TED vocabulary p.3

-Allegedly 

The man allegedly killed 3 people but there's no evidence for that.

-Cognitive

That child's cognitive skills are developing really fast.

-Fringe group

The local fringe group representants visited houses in our neighbourhood to invite people to their meetings.

Anglo-Saxon London

   We left London in ruins, during its so-called Dark Ages. But the city's location on Thames was too good for that decline to last any longer. And eventually in 7th century London grew once more, stronger and greater than it was before. It didn't mean the end of London's problems of course.
  After Dark Ages Saxons moved in to London. They built a new settlement which they called "Lundewic"   (in Old English it was a name of a trading town). For archeologists' suprise traces of that early Saxon period were found not where the Roman Londinium was located, but much further on the west. 
  London developed and was becoming wealthier and much more attractive for foreign tribes. In 9th century Danish Vikings sailed to the river Thames and from 830 they attacked London regulary.

  The one who kicked off the Danes from British lands ,was Alfred the Great in 886. He made London a part of his kingdom called Wessex but after his death London was again in hands of Danish vikings. During Danish occupation London was attacked by Anglo-Saxons and Norwegian vikings. These attacks stopped when the Dunish king Knut managed to unite Anglo Saxons with Danes. After his death Edward the Confessor came into power of London.

(1st picture - Edward the Confessor, 2nd picture - William the Conqueror)

  After death of Edward the Confessor the new king was crowned in the abbey in Westminister - it was William the Conqueror.

London was now the most prosperous and largest citity in the British island, however it wasn't the capital...

...yet. Although everybody knew that it wasn't just a normal city. It was meant to be something greater.

Sources:

http://www.britainexpress.com/London/anglo-saxon-london.htm

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/from-anglo-saxons-to-a-norman-invasion

  

TED vocabulary p.2

-worse off/better off
-material affluence
-to put off

TED vocabulary p.1

- DUST OFF 
- DRIP OFF
- TO YEARN

Dark Ages of London

When London was abandoned..

  Every place, every city has its worse times that people usually don't like to recall or even remember. The capital of United     Kingdom is not an exception this time.

  Historians assume that the last Roman soldier could left Britain in 407 AD, but what happenned next? 

It isn't a very often said fact but at that time London was probably abandoned and we could say that it didn't really exist as a city. The majority of the city was in ruins but archeologists found some evidence that there were people living in London at these hard times. There were mostly inhabitants living by farming or fishing but it's not impossible that there also lived merchants. Unfortunately, due to the troubled and tough nature of times , the merchandise were slaves.

   The city have been known by the celtic name : "Caer-Lundein".

  As I said before : every place has its own "dark times", when life is really tough and hard. But I think we shouldn't forget about it or try to hide it somehow, because history, the truth cannot be long hidden. Sooner or later people will know that their city also has the times it is ashamed of, although I think it shouldn't be. The harder it was it the past the greater progress may be noticed and appreciated, I guess.  

But London was too precious and too well situated to be abandoned forever.

My sources:

http://www.localhistories.org/london.html

http://www.britannia.com/history/londonhistory/darlon.html

Londinium

                  

When the capital of United Kingdom was called Londinium...

  London is one of the greatest city that exists and probably I'm not the only person that claims that this place is special, almost magical. 

  When I first visited London I was overwhelmed by its beauty and mysterious character, but I didn't really know a lot about history of London, actually I knew nothing at all. But is it really possible to feel the city without even knowing its secrets and history, without knowing what happened to it before?  I believe every place has its own story to tell and this is the beginning of London's.

   It all started with Thames. As Christopher Winn says in his book about London: "The river makes London breathe and feel the breeze. It gave life to London and may one day take it away."

  Before 47 AD there wasn't such place as London. It was only dicovered by Romans who found it really suitable for the Empire's nessesities. The river there was narrow enough to locate a wooden bridge, that became the first ever London's bridge. It was supposed to enable the army continue its push northwards. Whatsmore due to the fact that the  river was tidal it was also deep enough to allow ships to come and go from the coast. These few things were main reasons why Romans thought it was an ideal place for a trading post. Over couple of years that settlement, that was soon called Londinium, grew and developted. Soon foreign merchants, traders and displaced natives begun travelling to Londinium in search of new opportunities. Cetral part of  the new commercial city was located more or less in the same place where The City of London is now situated. It's funny though, that that area is still occupied by financial buisness and institutions. 

  The first crisis came in 60 AD when Londinium was razed by Boudica, queen of Iceni tribe of Norfolk. Boudica and her tribe devastated the whole 40 acres of city ground at the same time killing thousands of people and traders that had settled there. Unfortunately that attack left a litlle  layer of red ash on the ground. That was the first Great Fire of London. Suprisingly Romans didn't left the city but quickly rebuilt it. It must had been too important place for them to abandon. After the Great fire it became a planned and walled Roman city, stronger than before. In the following years commercy in Londinium developted and it soon turned into a place where a lot of diffrent cultures met. Traders from many diffrent countries exchanged their goods and that resembles to me a lot like a London we know today. Where the world has its centre..

//Julie

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/roman-london 

Christopher Winn "I never knew that about London"