The English Channel

The English Channel which separates Great Britain from France stretches 350 miles from the Atlantic ocean to the North Sea. It is 120 miles at its widest point and only 21 miles (36 km) at its narrowest. One can see the white cliffs of Dover from the French coast on a clear day. This may explain the origin of the old romantic name given to Britain — Albion.

The British Channel is one of the busiest and most dangerous shipping routes in the world. Half of all the world's ship collisions take place between the Western end of the Channel and the Baltic. There is a strong tide running up the Channel from the south, and another coming down from the north. These two tidal movements meet near the mouth of the Thames, creating very strong currents.

Also there is a huge sand mountain called the Goodwin Sands in the Channel. It is 30 km long and 13 km wide. The mountain of sand constantly moves and sucks ships into it. For centuries the Channel has been Britain's defence against invaders. And it has also been the way to the Continent, a highway crowded with ships.

Several armies of swimmers have crossed the Channel by balloon, canoe, rowing-boat, parachute water-skis and swimming. It presents a challenge even to the strongest swimmer as the tides and currents make it difficult for a swimmer to stay on course and swim in a straight line. The manoeuvres to avoid the currents more than double the distance. The first person to swim the Channel in 1875 was captain Matthew Webb. He landed in France 21 hours and 45 minutes after entering the water at Dover. Since then almost 4000 people have tried, but less than 400 have succeeded. The water in the Channel is usually cold, there is oil on the surface and there are lots of jelly-fish under the water. The swimmers cover their bodies with grease to protect their bodies. They are fed by men who accompany them in small boats. The Channel swimmer loses about 7 kg of his weight during the swimming. But swimming enthusiasts are not stopped by the difficulties. Their purpose is not only to cross the Channel, but to set a new record. An Englishman called Michael Read swam the Channel 31 times. The fastest time was 7 hours 40 minutes. The youngest person to swim was an 11-year-old boy. It took him almost 12 hours to swim across in September 1988.

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

The idea of a tunnel under the sea between Britain and France has been put forward a number of times over the last 200 years. Even Napoleon had a plan to dig a tunnel and conquer England. On several occasions constructions were actually started.

One of the first people who tried to dig a tunnel under the Channel was a French mining engineer, Albert Matnieu by name. His tunnel collapsed. In 1881 Colonel Beamont and Captain English from Britain also tried to dig a tunnel. Their tunnel went 6 km out into the Channel. Queen Victoria stopped them saying it was dangerous to have a link with France. It was a very good tunnel and it still survives today.

The latest abandoned project was that of 1975. In 1987 a new Anglo-French group called Eurotunnel was chosen to construct a system which was to link the road and railworks of Britain and France. The Channel, as it is commonly known, was opened on May 6, 1994. It took 10 years to build it. There are two rail tunnels and a service and security tunnel, each nearly 50 km long. Lorry and car drivers take their vehicles onto special trains and stay inside their lorries and cars for the 20 minutes journey through the tunnel. Foot passengers sit in a normal train compartment. Direct trains already run from London to Paris and Brussels. Trains, which carry moto vehicles as well as passengers can travel through the tunnel at speeds as high as 160 km per hour (100 m/h). There is also a possibility that a separate road tunnel for cars and lorries will be built in the future. The tunnel is the largest undersea tunnel in the world.

RIVERS

The rivers of Britain are very short. Their direction and character are determined by the position of the mountains. Most of the rivers flow in the eastward direction since the west coast is mountainous.

Due to the humid climate the water-level is always high. The rivers seldom freeze in winter, most of them remain ice-free but they are not navigable for ocean ships.

The most important rivers are the Severn (354 km), the Thames (346 km), the Trent, the Aire, the Ouse, the Clyde, the Tweed, the Tees, the Tyne, the Tay, the Eden.

The Tay is the longest river in Scotland (118 miles). Part of the border between Scotland and England is along the lower reaches of the Tweed, near which the woolen fabric bearing the same name is produced. The Severn flows along the border between England and Wales. The longest river of Britain makes only 1/20 of the Amazon — the longest river in the world (3600 miles). One of its tributaries is the Avon with its Stratford, glorified by Shakespeare. The swiftest flowing river in the British Isles is the Spey flowing across the southern Highlands of Scotland.

LAKES

British lakes are rather small and remote with no outlets, so they afford limited economical possibilities in the system of navigable water-ways. The largest of them are Lough Neagh in north-east Ireland, Lough Lomond near Glasgow and Lough Ness near Inverness in Scotland.

Lakeland, or the Lake District, is in the Pennine system in the north-west of England. The 16 major long and narrow lakes lie snugly among the steep slopes of Highlands near Scotland. This remarkable place is known through the world for its beautiful deep lakes, its plunging waterfalls and emerald meadows. It is outstanding for walking, climbing, sailing and boating.

This district is also known for its association with the history' of English literature and in the first place with the name of William Wordsworth (1770-1859), the founder of the Lake School of poets. His home and Lakeland scenes still inspire great poetry.

Дата добавления: 2015-09-03