Way of Life

City Life. About 95 percent of the English people live in urban areas. The city centers are business and entertainment districts with modern buildings. They are crowded with shoppers, office workers, and people going to restaurants, theaters, and other places of relaxation and entertainment. On the edges of the cities lie suburban areas of well-kept brick houses with neat gardens. Gardening is a favorite hobby of the English. Most of the houses are detached (separate) or semidetached (two houses sharing a common wall).

Areas of substandard housing lie between the central business districts and the outer suburbs of many English cities, especially in northern England. Some of these areas consist of factories surrounded by blocks of terraced houses (identical houses in a row), which were built cheaply in the late 1800's. Many of the factories are abandoned or only partially used, and many of the houses are in poor condition. Some of the areas have apartment buildings called council flats that were built in the 1960's and 1970's by local authorities as public housing. Many of these buildings were built inexpensively, using poor construction methods, and have become run-down. Lack of housing and an increase in the number of homeless people are issues of concern in many cities in England. Other concerns in large urban areas include unemployment and problems resulting from the heavy use of automobiles, such as traffic congestion and air pollution.

Rural Life. Only about 5 percent of the English people live in rural areas. The rural areas of England, where farming is an important activity, include much of Devon and Cornwall in southwestern England; a broad strip of land in eastern England around a bay of the North Sea called The Wash; and the northern Pennines mountains. The people live in isolated rural dwellings or in country villages or towns.

Much of southeastern England and the areas surrounding England's northern and central cities appear rural. But the economies of these areas are actually extensions of cities. Most of the workers who live in these areas commute to jobs in the nearby cities. Area residents often visit the cities for shopping, dining, and entertainment.

Food and Drink. Traditional English cooking is simple. The English like roasted and grilled meats and use fewer spices and sauces than do other Europeans.

On Sunday, the midday meal, which is called dinner, traditionally consists of a joint (roast) of beef, pork, or lamb; roasted or boiled potatoes; a vegetable; and a sweet (dessert)--often fruit pie topped with hot custard sauce. Yorkshire pudding, a batter cake baked in meat fat, is often served with beef. Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, peas, and carrots are common vegetables because they are easily grown in England's climate.

Other popular English dishes include roast chicken, steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash. Steak and kidney pie is a stew made of beef and kidneys and topped by a pastry crust. Shepherd's pie is a casserole of ground meat and mashed potatoes. Bangers and mash are thick sausages served with mashed potatoes.

The English also like fish, especially cod, Dover sole, haddock, herring, and plaice. Fish and chips is a favorite dish for lunch, the late afternoon meal called tea, or supper. It consists of fried fish and French fried potatoes and is sold at specialty shops throughout England.

The favorite alcoholic drink in England is beer, which includes lager, ale, bitter, and stout. Many English people also like Scotch whisky. A popular nonalcoholic drink in England is squash, which is made by adding water to a concentrate of crushed oranges or lemons.

Recreation. Many English people, like people elsewhere, spend the evening watching television. Others visit their neighborhood pub (public house). The pub, or the local, as many people call it, is an important part of social life in England. At a pub, people may drink beer or other beverages, talk with friends, or play a game of darts or dominoes.

Many English people enjoy sports and outdoor activities, and they have many opportunities to participate in and watch organized sports. Others enjoy simply taking long hikes through the woods or countryside or working in their gardens.

England's most popular organized sport is football, the game Americans call soccer. During the football season, which lasts from August to May, about 20 million spectators watch the games. Millions of English people bet on the results of each week's football games by filling out pools coupons. The chances of winning are small, but winners have collected large amounts of money. At the end of the season, nearly 80,000 people jam Wembley Stadium in London to watch two teams battle for the Football Association Cup. International matches are held in England throughout the season.

Cricket has been popular in England for hundreds of years. It is played by two 11-member teams using a bat and ball. The English probably began playing cricket as early as the 1300's. Today, almost all towns and villages have cricket teams. Highlights of the cricket season are the international competitions called test matches between a team representing England and a team from Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or the West Indies.

Rugby football, which resembles American football, is played throughout England from late summer to late spring. People of all ages, but especially older people, enjoy bowls, a sport similar to bowling. There are thousands of bowls clubs in England. Other favorite sports include golf, horse racing, rowing, sailing, swimming, and tennis.

Hunting, horseback riding, fishing, and shooting are popular in the English countryside. Fox hunting is a traditional English sport in which hunters on horses follow a pack of hounds chasing a wild fox. Some wealthy people shoot game birds such as grouse, partridge, pheasant, snipe, and woodcock. Most game birds are found on private land.

The Arts. The English enjoy motion pictures, plays, and concerts. London is the center of English music and drama. But Birmingham and other major cities also have a growing number of music and theater companies.

England has a history of producing outstanding artists. It has been the birthplace of many noted architects, painters, and composers. But its greatest artists have probably been writers. Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and many other English authors wrote masterpieces of literature.

English architects have developed many different styles over the years. The Norman style began after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Buildings designed in the Norman style have heavy columns and semicircular arches. The Tudor style became popular for houses in the late 1500's, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Tudor was the family name of the queen. Characteristics of the Tudor style include flat arches; many windows, gables, and chimneys; and timber frames filled in with brick and plaster.

During the 1600's, two of England's greatest architects were Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren. Jones designed the Queen's House in Greenwich and remodeled St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Wren rebuilt St. Paul's and many other churches after they were destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Georgian architecture, which began during the 1700's, uses much brick and stone and has a simple, balanced design.

For hundreds of years, English painters followed the styles of other European artists. But during the 1700's, such painters as Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth, and Sir Joshua Reynolds began to develop their own individual styles. During the 1800's, John Constable and Joseph Turner produced beautiful landscapes. Important English painters of the 1900's include Duncan Grant, David Hockney, Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson, John Piper, and Graham Sutherland.

The English have always loved music, and many of their old folk songs are still sung throughout the English-speaking world. During the 1500's and early 1600's, such composers as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd wrote excellent church music. Henry Purcell, who lived in the late 1600's, is considered one of England's greatest classical composers. In the 1870's and 1880's, Sir William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan wrote many popular satirical operettas. Leading English composers of the 1900's include Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Sir Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Sir William Walton. Two English groups, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, had enormous influence on the development of rock music.

English furniture makers were the best in Europe during the 1700's. Furniture collectors today prize the beautifully designed works of Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite, and Thomas Sheraton. Also during the 1700's, Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode produced lovely chinaware. Wedgwood and Spode pottery is still one of the United Kingdom's important exports.

WALES

WALES is one of the four major political divisions that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are the other divisions of the United Kingdom, which is often called simply Great Britain or Britain. Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales.

Wales lies on the west coast of the island of Great Britain. It takes up about a tenth of the island. Wales has a wealth of scenic beauty. Its landscape includes low, broad mountains and deep, green valleys. Wales is bordered by extensions of the Atlantic Ocean on the north, west, and south, and by England on the east. Most of the Welsh people live in towns, cities, and industrial areas of southern Wales. The rest of Wales is mainly rural.

The Welsh take great pride in their heritage. Although Wales has been united with England for more than 400 years, the Welsh have kept alive their own language, literature, and traditions. The Welsh name for Wales is Cymru (pronounced KUM ree).

People

Population. Wales has a population of nearly 3 million people. Most live in the industrialized and formerly industrialized areas of southern Wales. The growth of population in these areas took place in the 1600's and during the Industrial Revolution, a period of rapid industrialization that began in the 1700's. At that time, people came to the region from rural Wales and from England. Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea grew as ports to serve the coal and iron industries.

Ancestry. Some Welsh are descended from prehistoric peoples from continental Europe who colonized Wales thousands of years ago. Many others trace their ancestry to such later settlers as the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, and English.

Language. Wales has two official languages, Welsh and English. Either language may be used in the courts or for government business. Some newspapers are published partly or only in Welsh, and many radio and television programs are broadcast in both languages.

Welsh is still the daily language in many sections of western and northern Wales. In some parts of these areas, more than three-fourths of the people speak Welsh. Overall, however, the number of Welsh-speaking people has declined since 1901, when half the population spoke Welsh, to less than one-fifth today.

Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe. It is derived from ancient Celtic and has been influenced by each group of settlers. The letters j, k, q, v, x, and z are not used in modern Welsh. The letter y is always a vowel, and the letter w is usually used as one.

Certain letter combinations are considered part of the Welsh alphabet. They include the double letters dd, ff, and ll. The combination dd is pronounced like the th in they. The letter f sounds like the English v, and ff sounds like f. The ll sound is made by placing the tongue in the position for l and then trying to pronounce an h.