SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE

During the Second World War and after a series of victories, Germany began preparing the plan to invade Britain. The invasion could only be contemplated after getting full air superiority – The Luftwaffe Air Fleet over the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Battle of Britain was about to begin (July-October 1940). It was the first big battle fought over the British Channel, where the Supermarine Spitfire played a major role. It was a British single-seat fighter aircraft, which was used by the Royal Air Force and by many other Allied countries in the Second World War. The Spitfire´s thin cross-section elliptical wing allowed it a higher top speed than other contemporary fighters. Its original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and a Rolls-Royce Griffon, producing 400 kph.

It was perceived by the public as the RAF fighter and 20,351 Sptifires were produced.

When it was retired (1961-Irish Air Corps) and the production was ceased, the remaining examples were preserved and restored. Even today, some of them can be seen on several air exhibitions.

El 26 de junio de 2012, y como iniciativa promovida por el diputado conservador Tobías Ellwood, se anunció que el Big Ben, en realidad la torre, pasaría a llamarse oficialmente Elizabeth Tower en honor a la Reina Isabel II.

THE BIG BEN

The Neo-gothic Clock Tower, one of the most tourist attractions of London, was raised at the north end of the Palace of Westminster.

The Great Bell, the largest bell in the Tower-there are four little ones (the quarter bells) – is part of the Great Clock of Westminster, better known by ‘Big Ben’. It is the third highest free-standing clock tower in the world. It holds the largest four faced chiming clock as well.

The Tower was finished in 1858 and began to chime on 7 September 1859. The Great Clock is 96 metres high including the Tower and the pendulum, which weighs 300kg and beats every two seconds.

The clock dials are set in an iron frame supporting 312 pieces of opal glass-the hour hand is 2,7 metres long and the minute one is 4,3 metres long-.

On 26 June 2012 the House of Commons confirmed the change of the name from Clock Tower to ‘Elizabeth Tower’ -promoted by a Tory called Tobias Ellwood- in tribute to the Queen Elizabeth II in her Diamond Jubilee year.

On 12 September 2012 the change was announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron. It cannot be forgotten that the movement of the clock is famous for its reliability and accuracy.

Desde 1931 y hasta la reanudación del torneo después de la segunda guerra mundial en 1947, Francia fue excluida al ser acusada de profesionalismo.

Desde 1996, la nación vencedora es considerada oficialmente campeona de Europa de rugby, y dentro del torneo hay otros trofeos como la Copa Calcuta, que se otorga al vencedor de los enfrentamientos entre Inglaterra y Escocia y la Triple Corona, que consigue el equipo de las islas británicas que se imponga a los otros tres. Además, el Grand Slam, quizás el más deseado, lo obtiene el equipo que gana todos los partidos. Por el contrario, y aunque de manera virtual, la “cuchara de madera” se le otorga al equipo que pierde todos los partidos.

THE SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

The Six Nations is the successor to the Five Nations Championship – France officially joined in 1910 – which in turn succeeded the Home Nations Championship. This was the first rugby union tournament played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The competitions were suspended during the first World War – before France was ejected form the tournament in 1931 – and during the second World War. The tournaments were resumed in 1947 as the Five Nations with France (back 16 years later).

Since 1996 the nation which gets the victory is considered the European Champion and gets a trophy. But there are different trophies such as the Calcutta Cup which is the oldest and is contested annually between England an Scotland – and the TRIPLE CROWN only awarded to England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales and only one nation wins all the three of their matches against the other three. If a team wins all its games they are said to have won a ‘GRAND SLAM’ – perhaps the most important trophy.

On the other hand, the team which finishes at the bottom of the league table is said to have won a purely figurative WOODEN SPOON. The Six Nations started in 2000 and since then this Championship has been followed by a lot of rugby fans and supporters not only in the United Kingdom but also worldwide.

En los años sesenta del pasado siglo, se acometió una limpieza masiva del río, pues había llegado a un nivel de contaminación que se llegó a considerar irreversible, y en la actualidad es uno de los ríos más limpios que fluyen por una gran ciudad, y se dice que se han recuperado un gran número de especies que antes lo habitaban, entre ellas el salmón.

Uno de los recorridos turísticos por Londres más recomendable es un crucero por el río, desde donde se pueden contemplar un buen número de los edificios más emblemáticos de la ciudad.

THE THAMES

One of the most famous landmarks of London is the river Thames, whose area covers 346 kilometres from west to east. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea at the wide Thames Estuary via London, where it is navigable to ships. The river flows other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Windsor…

We dare say that the Thames has contributed to the development of London since it was founded by the Romans.

In 1957, the pollution levels became so bad that the River Thames was declared biologically dead. Nowadays it has become a very different river. Its transformation – in the 1960s the clean up of the river began – has won an international prize given to rivers that have undergone outstanding restoration.

A lot of species of vertebrates and invertebrates were recovered. Seals, dolphins and salmon are regularly spotted between the river banks.

In London there are a lot of sightseeing tours in tourist boats, from which you can see Hoses of Parliament, the Tower of London including the high rise flats in Central London, typical houses on the banks, islands and houseboats upstream.

Es imposible asegurar la finalidad que tuvo la construcción de este monumento, formado por grandes bloques de piedra arenisca distribuidos en cuatro circunferencias concéntricas, pero se cree que formaba parte de un complejo más grande y que se construyó como templo religioso, o bien monumento funerario o tal vez como observatorio astronómico que servía para predecir las estaciones.

STONEHENGE

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in the county of Wiltshire, England, 14 km north of Salisbury. It is the most famous henge (circular monument, often containing a circle of standing stones, dating from the Neolithic) in the United Kingdom and one of the best-known sites in the world.

It is supposed to have been built 2500 B.C. Every year at the summer solstices a great amount of visitors gather in the circular landmark of large standing stones to look closely the colours of the bluestones with different hues, and how rap of sunlight go exactly through the axis. This extraordinary event makes the archaeologists believe that those who built this impressive monument had some knowledge of astronomy.
It is difficult to be certain about the precise function of Stonehenge – a monument built with massive stones, spaced across the landscape in three separate stages (over 30 million hours of work) forming far circles.

It is said that they belong to a much bigger henge, which could have been a burial ground, a place of religious significance for worship or a solar calendar which predicted the sunrise, sunset and even the seasons. The mystery goes on.

Fue nombrado Sir por la Reina de Inglaterra en la década de los 90 y, aunque no sigue en activo, es uno de los productores más respetados de la historia de la música popular.

THE FIFTH BEATLE

Everybody knows the form members of the well-known group of Liverpool: John Lennon, the founder of the and together with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. However, when they began performing in 1960 they were five – the three first mentioned, Stuart Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums. Ringo Starr joined the group later, when Sutcliffe and Best quit.

Whenever we refer to the Fifth Beatle we talk about Sir George Martin, a musician, conductor and producer, who was involved on each of the Beatles’ albums, except on the last one.

The Queen Elisabeth II awarded Martin as Knight Bachelor in 1996, in recognition of his services to the music industry. He is considered one of the most reputable producers of pop Music in the world and goes on contributing to a wide range of charitable causes.

La Mancomunidad no tiene una constitución,
pero sí una Declaración de Principios de la Mancomunidad, mediante la que sus miembros reconocen la importancia de la democracia y el buen gobierno, el respeto a los derechos humanos, la igualdad entre el hombre y la mujer, el respeto a las leyes y el desarrollo socioeconómico sostenible. Por la no observancia de estos “Principios”, a lo largo de la historia ha habido diversos países que dejaron de pertenecer a la organización, habitualmente por violaciones a los derechos humanos.

Como distintivo anecdótico, y a excepción de Canadá y Belice, en todos los países miembros, al igual que en el Reino Unido, el sentido de circulación de vehículos es por la izquierda.

+ info: http://thecommonwealth.org

The Commonwealth

The translation should be ‘Union of Nations’; previously it was Britain Union of Nations (Commonwealth of Nations). We are speaking about an association of 54 sovereign countries, which belonged to former British colonies; most of which are or at some time were ruled by Britain. They are and some were once united by historical bonds and common interest. The head of the association is the Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ‘symbol of free association of its members’.

The Commonwealth is present in our five continents and with almost two billion people, which covers a fifth of the world population.

The Commonwealth does not form a Constitution but a ‘Declaration of Principles of the Commonwealth’, whose members recognize how important the democracy is as well as good government, respect for human rights and laws, equal rights between men and women and sustainable socioeconomic development. For the non-observance of these ‘Principles’ there have been several countries, which no longer belong to the association due to violations of human rights.

As an anecdote, the traffic take left way in all these countries following the example of the United Kingdom, except in Canada and Belize.

+ info: http://thecommonwealth.org

Tiene su sede en Caterbury y hoy en día mantiene los mismos principios de su fundación, a pesar de que se considera a sí misma parte plena de la Iglesia Cristiana, pues se declara Católica y Reformada. El Deán Henry Forrester la definió como “Católica, aunque no romana y Evangélica, aunque no protestante”.

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

The Anglican Church has its origin in the break which occurred with the Roman Catholic Church in 1534, when the Pope Clement VII refused to declare the annulment of the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon, as the king was determined to marry Anne Boleyn. Since then the king proclaimed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

The Holy See only recognized the Anglican Church when Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elisabeth I was crooned queen. She reigned from 1558 until her death in 1603.

It is based in Canterbury and nowadays it maintains the same liturgical principles of its foundation, although it is considered full part of the Christian Church as it declares to be Catholic and Reformed. The Dean Henry Forrester defined it as “Catholic but not Roman and Evangelical but not Protestant”.