British housing
A house in its most general sense is a human-built dwelling with enclosing walls and a roof. It provides shelter against precipitation, wind, heat, cold and intruding humans and animals. There are three basic house types in Great Britain:
houses standing on their own (detached house houses)
houses attached to one other house (semi-detached houses)
houses attached to two other houses, possibly in a row (terraced houses).
In Britain terraced or semi-detached houses are the most common type of accommodation, with 27% of all British people living in a terraced house and 32% in semi-detached houses (2002). An interesting example of a modern genre of housing is the so called "Cheese House" designed by leading UK architects Marshman Warren Taylor; this was developed for the mass-middle-class market of the 1970's housing boom.
Cheese House, Horton, Northamptonshire
Semi-detached housing (usually abbreviated to semi, as in "three-bedroom semi") consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin.
This type of housing can be thought of as being a half-way state between terraced or row housing and individual (detached) houses. Terraced housing is constituted by continuous row houses with open spaces at the front and back, semi-detached houses have front, rear and any one side open spaces and individual detached houses have open spaces on all sides.
In the British housing boom of the 1920s and 1930s semi-detached houses sprang up in suburbs throughout the country, and were popular with middle class home owners who preferred them to terrace houses. The design of many of these house, highly characteristic of the era, was heavily influenced by the Art Deco movement. Other typical suburban developments were designed in mock Tudor, and chalet styles.
In the immediate post-war years many council houses also followed the 'semi' format, giving many people a first experience of private garden space.
During the house price boom in the years to 2004 many property developers found they could create value by demolishing semi-detached houses and building two detached houses on the same site, often with a very narrow gap between the new units.
In architecture and city planning, a terrace, rowhouse is a style of housing since the late 18th century where identical individual houses are cojoined into rows. A terrace is also the term used to refer to paved, unroofed areas that open out from a building, usually in residences at upper floor levels.
A street of British terraced housing
The term terrace was borrowed from garden terraces by English architects of the late Georgian period to describe streets of houses whose uniform fronts and uniform height created an ensemble that was more stylish than a "row". The "row", as in the 16th-century Yarmouth Rows in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was a designation for a narrow street where the building fronts uniformly ran right to the property line.
Early terraces were built by the Wood family in Bath and by John Nash in Regent's Park, London, and the name was picked up by speculative builders like Thomas Cubitt and soon became commonplace.
Terraced Houses in Stanford in the Vale, Oxfordshire.
By the early Victorian period, a terrace had degenerated into any style of housing where individual houses repeating one design are conjoined into rows, which can be long or short. The style was used for workers' housing during the great industrial boom following the industrial revolution, particularly in the textile industry. The Terrace style spread widely in the UK, and was the usual form of high density residential housing up to World War II.
Houses consist of many specific designated rooms. Mostly each house comprise of bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and, living room. It is essential to properly design these rooms according to people live in it. The designing of inside house is called interior design and it is a quite popular subject in universities. In Chinese, Feng shui is a method to design house interior so it could give harmonious effect to the people living inside the house.
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SOСIАL CLASS SYS IN BRITAIN (WEALTH DISТRIВUТIОN)
Multiculturalism and a changing economy are gradually eroding the British class system, although features of the system remain. What is Class? sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled labourers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money. The British society is often considered to be divided into three main groups of classes - the Upper Class, the Middle Class, and the Lower or Working Class. This is known as the Class system.
The Diffеrепt Class Systems
The latest classifications define class through a person’s work situation (their work tasks and the degree of control they have over their working timetables) as well as their market situation (income, skills, promotion prospects etc), looking therefore at their occupation. You can tell which class people belong to by the way they speak (accent), their clothes, their interests, the way that they educate their children, or even the type of food they eat.
The Upper Classes tends to consist of people with inherited wealth, and includes some of the oldest families, with many of them being titled aristocrates. The upper classes are defined by their title, but also by their education, and their pastimes which includes the traditional sporting life involving hunting, shooting and fishing, as well as a great deal of horse riding for both leisure and as a competitive pursuit. (The super rich and smallest section of society)
Upper Uppers (Aristocracy)
Ascription by birth. Owns 40% of land. Possess enormous wealth (usually inherited). Privileged elite with high social status — many with titles, e.g. Lord, Duke. Their children are privately educated with others of similar background, often completing their education at prestige colleges (Eton and Harrow) and then onto Oxbridge universities.
LowerUppers . Rich’ who depend on earnings rather than inheritance and are popularly known as ~ cats’. Also includes the ~jet set’ who are very visible and famous e.g. The Beckhams. Entrepreneurial rich, people like Richard Branson and Anita Roddick. All of these groups are sometimes referred to as the ~ riche’ (new rich). Very often live in the biggest homes but find themselves excluded from the clubs and associations of the upper uppers.
The Middle Classes are the majority of the population of Britain today. They include industrialists, professionals, businesspeople and shopowners. (between rich and poor and the biggest section of society)
Upper Middles Earn above-average incomes especially if both spouses work. Wealth is tied up in property i.e. their home. Own several cars. Some investments .Maj ority of their children receive a University education. Prestige occupations such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, business executives. Often play important role in local political affairs. Service Class .
includes those who provide services that are highly valued e.g. health, welfare, business consultants. Also those in the media, fashion and teaching professions. Usually have a degree of autonomy in their work and can delegate. Tend to own their own property (house) and vehicles (though less expensive models) Relatively high levels of education but are more than likely to have received state education and attended red brick universities.
LowerMiddle. Less prestigious white-collar occupations such as bank clerks, middle managers and highly skilled blue-collar jobs. Conmionly earn incomes around the national average. Accumulate some wealth over the course of their lives — e.g. house. Generally complete some post secondary school qualifications though not necessarily university degrees
Working class people are mostly agricultural, mine and factory workers.Used to be linked to old traditional industries such as mining, shipbuilding, steel, docks and fishing but these have declined since 1960s. New working class has emerged. They will own their own homes- live in suburbs. Fairly affluent- own cars and consumer durables. Subjectively, they probably do not consider themselves to be working class. Incomes are generally less than the national average. Occupations are vulnerable to economic cycles. Routine jobs that require continuous supervision— little autonomy and power. Jobs provide fewer benefits.
The underclass includes those who are economically, politically and socially marginalized and excluded. Live between unemployment and labour market of casual and/or temporary work. Usually depend on state benefits or charitable aid. includes pensioners, single parents (mostly female), and the long term unemployed, the sick and disabled, inimigrants, students, the homeless, and the low paid. Many are forced to live in inferior housing— slums.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF GREAT BRITAIN The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been the official title of the British state ever since 1922. The UK is constitutional monarchy. This means that the official head of state is the monarch, but his or her powers are limited by the constitution. The British constitution is not written in any single document. Only some of these rules are written down in the form of ordinary laws passed by Parliament at various times. Parliament is the supreme law-making body in the country. It consists of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. British parliamentary system is one of the oldest in the world, it developed slowly during the 13th century after King John's signature of Magna Charta in 1215. The Commons has 650, elected and paid Members of Parliament. The Lords is made up of hereditary and life peers, two archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England. The House of Lords is also the final court of appeal for civil cases in the United Kingdom and for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Only the Lords of Appeal (Law Lords) - of whom there are 12 employed full-time - take part in judicial proceedings. The major part of Parliament's work is revising the Government's work. From Monday to Thursday all ministers must answer MP´s questions for one hour, the Prime Minister must answer their questions two days a week. Another important parliamentary task is law-making. A bill (a proposal of a new law) must pass through the Houses and then is sent to the Queen for Royal Assent. General elections to choose MP´s are held every five years. Voting is not compulsory and is from the age of 18. In 1997 won the Labour Party headed by Tony Blair. The Government is formed by the party which has the majority in the Parliament and the Queen appoints its leader as the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister appoints a team of main ministers as the Cabinet (about 20 people). The second largest party form the official opposition with its own leader and "shadow cabinet". At present it is the Conservative Party headed by John Major. The third party represented in the Parliament are the Liberals. British national flag is called "Union Jack". It symbolises the Union of England, Scotland and Ireland and dates back from 1801. The flag is made up of the crosses of the patron saints of England (St George's red cross on a white field), Ireland (St Patrick's red diagonals on a white field) and Scotland (St Andrew's white diagonals on a blue field). Wales is not represented because when the flag first appeared it was already united with England. The design and colours (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as British overseas territories. National anthem is "God Save The Queen". Each part of the UK has its own symbol:
BRITISH ECONOMY
Britain’s economy is based on private enterprise, which accounts for 75% of output and nearly 70 % of employment. Among the main trends of Britain’s economy have been:
At the same time almost 1/10 of the British workforce has been out of work. Britain has the largest energy resources in Europe and is a major world producer of oil, natural gas and coal. By successfully exporting oil and gas from the North Sea Britain has become self-sufficient in energy. About 80% of offshore production of oil and gas is brought ashore by submarine pipeline. To the most perspective energy technologies belong wind, tidal and solar power. British agriculture is known for its high efficiency and productivity. It employs less than 3% of the working population, yet the industry produces nearly 2/3 of Britain’s food. More than half of farms devoted to cattle and sheep are found on the hills and moorland of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and western England. Farms devoted to arable farming are found mainly in eastern, central and southern England. Britain is one of Europe’s most important fishing nations. The fishing industry provides about 65% of British fish supplies. The manufacturing industries once employed the greatest number of people. There are still a number of large companies in the electronic, aerospace and chemical industries. But the average company is rather small with 80% employing fewer than 20 people. The electronic industry produces an extensive range of computer hardware systems, associated equipment and software. The aerospace industry, the third largest in the world, exports over 70% of its production. It produces both civil and military aircraft, satellites; space systems guided weapons and components. The chemical industry which is the third largest in Western Europe, exports nearly 50% of its production. The most rapid growth has been in pharmaceutical, pesticides and cosmetics. The service industries account for 66% of Britain’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 71% of employment. Services have experienced the fastest grows in recent years. The banking services are responsible for about 20% of international bank lending and insurance. The business services promoting distribution networks of retailers and wholesalers contribute about 1% of national income. The computing services include such areas of software development as data and word processing telecommunication, defence and consumer electronics. The tourism services employ nearly 1,5 million people. More than 20 million overseas visitors came to Britain in 1995 and spend about £ 7,00 million. British residents made about £ 35 million trips abroad and spent more than £ 10,500 million. Trade has been a key part of British economy for centuries. Britain has only 1% of the world population but it’s the 5th largest trading nation. It It exports oil and manufacturing goods such as electrical and electronic equipment, aerospace equipment, machinery and chemicals. Britain’s export earnings from services such as banking, computer services and tourism exceed those from exports of goods. To make the Britain’s economy more efficient the British government tries to:
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION |
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United Kingdom is situated in northwestern Europe, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the largest island in the cluster of islands, or archipelago, known as the British Isles. England is the largest and most populous division of the island of Great Britain, making up the south and east. Wales is on the west and Scotland is to the north. Northern Ireland is located in the northeast corner of Ireland, the second largest island in the British Isles. The capital of the United Kingdom is the city of London, situated near the southeastern tip of England.
People often confuse the names for this country, and frequently make mistakes in using them. United Kingdom, UK, and Britain are all proper terms for the entire nation, although the term Britain is also often used when talking about the island of Great Britain. The use of the term Great Britain to refer to the entire nation is now outdated; the term Great Britain, properly used, refers only to the island of Great Britain, which does not include Northern Ireland. The term England should never be used to describe Britain, because England is only one part of the island. It is always correct to call people from England, Scotland, or Wales British, although people from England may also properly be called English, people from Scotland Scottish, and people from Wales Welsh.
The United Kingdom is bordered on the south by the English Channel, which separates it from the continent of Europe. It is bordered on the east by the North Sea, and on the west by the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom’s only land border with another nation is between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
England is the largest, most populous, and wealthiest division of the United Kingdom. It makes up 130,410 sq km (50,352 sq mi) of the United Kingdom’s total 244,110 sq km (94,251 sq mi). The area of Scotland is 78,790 sq km (30,420 sq mi), the area of Wales is 20,760 sq km (8,020 sq mi), and the area of Northern Ireland is 14,160 sq km (5,470 sq mi). This means that England makes up 53.4 percent of the area of the United Kingdom, Scotland 32.3 percent, Wales 8.5 percent, and Northern Ireland 5.8 percent.
The island of Great Britain can be divided into two major natural regions—the highland zone and the lowland zone. The highland zone is an area of high hills and mountains in the north and west. The lowland zone in the south and east consists mostly of rolling plains. The zones are divided by an imaginary line running through England from the River Exe on the southwest coast to the mouth of the River Tees on the northeast coast. The lowland zone has a milder climate and better soils for farming. Historically, most people in Britain have lived in the lowland zone rather than in the harsher highland zone.
The highland zone contains what is often called rough country, consisting to a large extent of rugged hills, mountains, and eroded areas frequently broken by valleys and plains. The highest elevations in the British Isles are in the highland zone; the highest point is Ben Nevis at 1,343 m (4,406 ft), located in the Highlands of Scotland. The highland zone is cooler than the lowland zone, and receives more rainfall and less sunlight. In many places farming is impossible. Even where it is feasible, the soil is often thin and stony, with a hard rock formation below. Rainwater often cannot escape readily, so many areas tend to be waterlogged.
Wales, Scotland, and parts of England are located in the highland zone. The parts of England in the highland zone include the Pennine Chain of mountains, extending down into northern England and into the southwestern peninsula. The Pennine Chain is sometimes called the backbone of England. It is a massive upland area extending 260 km (160 mi) north to south, starting at the Cheviot Hills on England’s border with Scotland and ending in the Midlands of central England. It is made up of several broad, rolling, windswept moorlands separated by deep river valleys.
In general the lowland zone is a great plain with a gentle, undulating surface and extensive areas of almost-level ground. It receives less rain and more sunshine than the highland zone and much of the soil in the zone is fertile. Most of the lowland region is less than 150 m (500 ft) above sea level, and the hills rarely reach more than 300 m (1,000 ft) above sea level. It has been extensively inhabited, farmed, and grazed for thousands of years. Most of Britain’s population lives densely packed into the lowland zone, which covers most of England. The metropolis of London and most of Britain’s large cities are located in the lowland zone.
Since Britain has a moist climate with much rainfall, rivers and lakes are numerous. The Thames and the Severn are the longest rivers in Britain and are almost equal in length. The Severn flows south out of the mountains of central Wales to the Bristol Channel at Bristol. It is 290 km (180 mi) long. The Thames, 338 km (210 mi) long, flows eastward out of the Cotswold Hills and weaves through the metropolis of London. The Thames provides water to the city of London and is used to carry commercial freight. Other important rivers in England are the Mersey, which enters the Irish Sea at Liverpool; the River Humber on the east coast, into which the Trent River and several other rivers flow; and the Tyne River in northern England, which flows past Newcastle upon Tyne to the North Sea.
In Scotland the important rivers are the Clyde and the Forth, which are joined by a canal. Rivers in Northern Ireland are the Lagan, the Bann, and the Foyle.
Most of the large lakes in the United Kingdom are located in the upland areas of Scotland and northern England, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest lake in the United Kingdom. Loch Lomond, on the southwestern edge of the Highlands of Scotland, is the largest on the island of Great Britain, measuring 37 km (23 mi) long and from 1.6 to 8 km (1 to 5 mi) wide. Lake Windermere is the largest of the 15 major lakes in the famous Lake District of northwestern England. It is about 1.6 km (1 mi) wide and more than 16 km (10 mi) long.
Great Britain’s coastline is highly irregular, with many bays and inlets that provide harbors and shelters for ships and boats. Coastal trade involving ships sailing along the coast has been carried on since ancient times. The coastline is about 8,000 km (about 5,000 mi) long and affords some of the best scenery in Britain. The western coast is characterized by cliffs and rocky headlands, especially where the Highlands meet the sea in northwestern Scotland. On the more gentle southern and eastern coasts there are many sand or pebble beaches as well as tall limestone or chalk cliffs, the most famous of which are the White Cliffs of Dover in the southeast.
A few islands lie just off of Britain’s coast. The Hebrides, an archipelago of about 500 islands, cover a considerable area along the coast of western Scotland; the isle of Anglesey lies just off the coast of northwestern Wales; and the Isle of Wight is off England’s southern coast. Northern Ireland has a beautiful and rugged coastline and is the location of the famous and unique Giant’s Causeway, an expansive and curious formation of rocks shaped like giant cylinders.
Britain’s soil quality varies greatly. In northern areas the soils are thin, lying right above rock formations, while the south possesses areas of rich loam and heavy clay soils. When handled carefully the soils of eastern and south central England are very productive. While 77 percent of the land in Britain is used for agriculture, only 26 percent of this land is used to grow crops. Almost all of the rest is used as grazing land.
Trees grow well and quickly in the heavy soils of England, and for a long time prehistoric settlers did not have tools strong enough to cut down the heavy oak forests. Over the centuries the expanding human population cut back the forests, so that today only 10.7 percent of the United Kingdom is forested, roughly 3 million hectares (6 million acres). In contrast, 25 percent of Europe is forested. Only 8 percent of England is covered by forest, 15 percent of Scotland, 12 percent of Wales, and 6 percent of Northern Ireland. Britain’s forests produce about 15 percent of the total wood the country consumes, and Britain imports substantial amounts of wood and wood products. Efforts have been made in Britain to grow more trees and expand the managed forest areas.
Britain’s mineral resources were historically important, but today most of these resources are either exhausted or produced in small quantities. Britain currently relies upon imports from larger, cheaper foreign supplies. Before and during the Roman occupation, about 2,000 years ago, Britain was noted for its tin mines, which were concentrated in Cornwall. The tin was mixed with copper to produce bronze, an important material in ancient times used for weapons and jewelry. Today nearly every tin mine in Britain has been exhausted and shut down.
Britain’s small deposits of iron ore were critically important to the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly because iron ore deposits were located close to rich deposits of coal. Today Britain imports iron, along with most other minerals used for industrial production, although small amounts of iron, zinc, and copper are still produced.
Raw materials for construction, particularly aggregates (minerals mechanically separated from ores), are still important, and many quarries continue to operate profitably. Limestone, sand, gravel, rock, sandstone, clay, chalk, salt, silica sands, gypsum, potash, and fluorspar are all quarried.
Britain has the richest energy sources in the European Union (EU), and its abundant resources of oil and natural gas are of vital importance to the British economy. Today Britain is the world’s eighth largest producer of crude oil and natural gas liquids, with more than 60 offshore fields. Refined oil products are one of Britain’s major exports today, most of which are sold to European nations.
For many years coal was mined extensively, providing the primary source of energy in Britain. It was also exported. Coal production reached its peak in 1913, when more than 300 million tons were mined. Today production is less than a sixth of that figure and coal is far less important to the British economy. Britain imports much more coal than it exports.
Britain also has a number of nuclear energy facilities. Britain meets 28 percent of its energy needs through nuclear energy. Recently much research has been devoted to developing biofuels—energy from wastes, landfill gas, and crops—as well as to developing solar energy, wind power, and waterpower.
The mild climate, ample rain, and long growing season in Britain support a great variety of plants, which grow exceptionally well. The impact of centuries of dense human population has massively altered the flora of Britain, and only tiny remnants of these forests remain today. Although 10.7 percent of Britain is still forested, most of this area consists of commercially planted, fast-growing coniferous forests in Wales and northeastern Scotland. (Coniferous trees are evergreen trees that have cones.)
Before they were affected by centuries of clearing and human use, the great oak forests spread over the best soils in Britain. Forests were unable to establish themselves in the poorer soils of the mountains, wetlands, heath, and moorlands. The plants common to these wilder areas are heather, gorse, peat moss, rowan, and bilberry. These regions have been altered by heavy grazing of livestock and by controlled burning. Controlled burning creates environments suitable for game birds, which feed on the shoots of the new plants that spring up after the older plants are burned away. Some wetland areas have been subjected to massive draining efforts for hundreds of years and are now covered by towns and farmland. The marginal wetlands that remain continue to be threatened by reclamation for farms and homes, and some wetland plant species now grow only in conservation areas.
An estimated 30,000 animal species live in Britain, although many have limited distribution and are on the endangered list. Britain has many smaller mammals, and the larger ones tend to be gentle. The only surviving large mammals are red deer, which live in the Scottish Highlands and in Exmoor in southwestern England, and roe deer, found in the woodlands of Scotland and southern England. Semiwild ponies also inhabit Exmoor and the Shetland Islands. At one time wild boars and wolves roamed Britain, but they were hunted to extinction.
Many smaller mammals inhabit Britain, including badgers, foxes, otters, red squirrels, and wildcats. Wildcats are found only in parts of Scotland. Otters are found mainly in southwestern England and in the Shetland and Orkney islands. The red squirrel, driven out of most of its range by the imported gray squirrel, is now limited mainly to the Isle of Wight and Scotland. Other species introduced from elsewhere include rabbits, black rats, muntjac deer, wallabies, and mink. Britain has five species of frogs and toads and three species of snakes, of which only the adder is venomous. Northern Ireland has no snakes.
Birdwatching is a popular national pastime. Britain is home to a large variety of birds, due in large measure to its position as a focal point of a migratory network. About 200 species are regularly seen in Britain. The most common are birds that remain year-round, such as blackbirds, chaffinches, sparrows, and starlings. Other well-known resident birds include crows, kingfishers, robins, wrens, woodpeckers, and various tits. Cuckoos, swallows, and swifts are the best-known summer visitors, and in the winter many species of duck, geese, and other waterbirds reside in British estuaries and wetlands. Human population pressures have adversely affected the habitats of many species. One of the worst dangers for birds is the popularity of ordinary housecats, which prey upon many bird species.
Saltwater fish are important to Britain’s economy. Cod, haddock, whiting, herring, plaice, sole, and mackerel are all caught off the coasts of Britain, although there are grave concerns about the depletion of stocks, particularly by the fishing efforts of nearby European nations. Lobster, crab, and other shellfish are caught along inshore waters. Freshwater fish in Britain include game fish, salmon, and trout, while so-called coarse fish include perch, pike, and roach. Freshwater fishing is almost entirely recreational, rather than commercial, except for fish farms, which concentrate on Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Shellfish farming specializes in mollusks such as clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops.
The Atlantic Ocean has a significant effect on Britain’s climate. Although the British Isles are as far north in latitude as Labrador in Canada, they have a mild climate throughout the year. This is due to the Gulf Stream, a current of warm water that flows up from the Caribbean past Britain. Prevailing southwesterly winds moving across this warmer water bring moisture and moderating temperatures to the British Isles. The surrounding waters moderate temperatures year-round, making the UK warmer in winter and cooler in summer than other areas at the same latitude. Great Britain’s western coast tends to be warmer than the eastern coast, and the southern regions tend to be warmer than the northern regions. The mean annual temperature in the far north of Scotland is 6°C (43°F), and in warmer southwestern England it is 11°C (52°F). In general, temperatures are ordinarily around 15°C (60°F) in the summer and around 5°C (40°F) in the winter. Temperatures rarely ever exceed 32°C (90°F) or drop below -10°C (14°F) anywhere in the British Isles. In general, frosts, when the temperature dips below 0°C (32°F), are rare.
Winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean bring clouds and large amounts of moisture to the British Isles. Average annual precipitation is more than 1,000 mm (40 in), varying from the extremes of 5,000 mm (196 in) in the western Highlands of Scotland to less than 500 mm (20 in) in the driest parts of East Anglia in England. The western part of Britain receives much more moisture than the eastern areas. It rains year-round, and in the winter the rain may change to snow, particularly in the north. It snows infrequently in the south, and when it does it is likely to be wet, slushy, and short-lived. Southern Britain has experienced episodes of drought in recent years, although historically these are rare occurrences. Some regard these episodes as indicators of global climatic changes.