The first books printed in england

For hundreds of years after King Alfred’s time very few people were taught how to read. The people who could read, like the priests, told them sometimes stories from history; but they had no books, and could not read for themselves. Even the people who could read had very few books, and these were not books written in by men. These books took a long time to make; but a clever man found out how to print books with machines; and while the Wars of the Roses were still going on a man called William Caxton brought a printing-press to London, and he printed very beautiful books, which rich people could buy and read. Later on, people found out how to print books much more quickly, and then they could sell them for less money. Now even poor people are able to buy nice books for themselves.

Tower bridge

This year London has a special birthday to celebrate; in fact Tower Bridge was 100 years old on 30 June 1994! During the reign of Queen Victoria from 1838 to 1901 engineers and scientists competed with each other to make the greatest progress. They had a tremendous confidence that science and engineering could solve all the world's problems. Tower Bridge is probably the most important product of this optimism and confidence demonstrating the best of the engineering skills of the Victorian architects. It didn't have an easy existence as it was threatened over the years by heavy bombings in the first and later in the Second World War. Nevertheless, it managed to survive and is still in use. Since the inauguration of the Bridge in 1894 till 1955, the Bridge was opened 325358 times. Over the years, since then, the number of "lifts" has dropped because of the closure of wharf’s in Inner London, which means that large ships don't need to go under the Bridge. Nevertheless, the average number of "lifts" is 14 a day over a hundred years. The architectural style of the Tower Bridge is the Victorian gothic, very typical of the nineteenth century England. Indeed, the architects succeeded in designing a unique bridge, the only one of its kind in the world.

The features that give it a distinctive elaboration, which remind us of gothic character are pointed conical pinnacles and decorative cathedrals and castles. Of the twin towers, the north tower (the one nearest to the Tower of London) is the entrance to the recently opened, glass-covered Tower Bridge Walkways which are accessible by a lift or stairs and afford a superb view of the Thames river and the London skyline. The walkways over the bridge itself are 140 feet above the river and JO feet wide. Special displays in the walkway show the skycap as it was 100 years ago, and during the Blitz in World War Two. The south tower is enlivened by an exhibition of the history of the Bridge. "The Celebration Story", as the exhibition is called is, a multimedia presentation, which transports the visitors back to the 1890s. In tells how and why the Bridge was built and then goes through various stages of the Bridge's history. In 1993 a new exhibition was inaugurated. On display are the original Victorian steam engines in their engine House. Those engines worked the mechanisms that lifted the roadway so that ships could pass beneath. In short, Tower Bridge, with its amazing and admirable characteristics, and the symbol of the glory and splendor of England, needs to be seen.