St. George's Day, April 23, is England's national day. Our visit today is to England's Midlands. The majority of immigrants to Britain settle in London. But after a while many, sometimes the second generation, discover the more relaxed pace and more reasonable prices of the Midlands, while still being close enough to visit friends or family in London.
The major city of the Midlands is Birmingham. It is not a very old city. As a town, Birmingham was on the Puritan side in England's Civil War. What is so important about Birmingham is that it was where the steam engine was invented, and this is the invention that started the Industrial Revolution. Birmingham was the home of Alexander Parkes, who created the first plastic.London had too many important buildings, and didn't want it's sky smudged with the smoke from the factories. So the Industrial Revolution began further north. Britain is not really rich in resources but it had the coal and iron ore that it took for the first phase of the Industrial Revolution.
While radar was being developed at Birmingham, a wonderful discovery was made. The electromagnetic waves that were being generated could also be used to cook food. A microwave oven works by putting a metal plate with an electric charge on each side of the food. As the wave is passed through the charge on each of the plates switches back and forth, from negative to positive, according to the frequency of the wave. Since water molecules are polar, one side being more positively-charged while the other is more neagatively-charged, they too switch back and forth every time the charges on the two plates switches, since opposite charges attract and like charges repel. This incessant motion of the water molecules produces heat which cooks the food from within.
It is probably no accident that a microwave oven resembles a radar console.
The predecessor of the Manhattan Project was actually the Tube Alloys Program, at Birmingham. It was later agreed to move the project to the U.S. so that it would be out of range of enemy aircraft. It was actually two physicists at Birmingham who had left the Nazis who first thought that nuclear fission could be turned into a weapon.
On thing that does not often get written about England is how many canals there is. There is a diagonal line across Britain, from southwest to northeast, dividing what we could call "highland" Britain from "lowland" Britain. The lowlands are to the south and east of the line and include the Midlands. Wales and Scotland and northern England are "highland" Britain. The best-known canal is the Grand Union but canals are found across much of lowland Britain.
One concern about the economics of England is how London overshadows the rest of the country. The economic output of Birmingham, Liverpool and, Manchester combined is probably not 25 percent that of London. But that doesn't apply to quality of life.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4798272,-1.9028475,3a,75y,126.69h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swivEyYpepmDF1FKnFopO4w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DwivEyYpepmDF1FKnFopO4w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D140.74167%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Coventry is the center of England's auto industry. It is much older, as a major city, than Birmingham. Coventry is known for cars but Frank Whittle, the inventor of the jet engine, was a native of the city. Birmingham is today the largest city of the Midlands, and it grew around the Industrial Revolution. The older cities adapted to industrialization, although they had already been there.
This is inside the old Coventry Cathedral that has been left as a war memorial. There are those black and white half-timbered buildings in this area. Just a reminder about words. "To Let" means "to rent or to lease" and "crisps" are potato chips.
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The name of Wolverhampton is a clue to it's traditional role, which is the processing of wool. This is an old city that today is known for it's Sikh community.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5837283,-2.1284383,3a,75y,85.52h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNkYJGvy0XMQaj_NX1FySeg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNkYJGvy0XMQaj_NX1FySeg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D82.65782%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
If the name of Rugby sounds familiar that is because the sport originated there and was named for it. Supposedly, a ball game was going on at Rugby School when a student picked up the ball and ran with it. Although that was not part of the game, his opponents responded by trying to tackle him. The result was the birth of a new sport.
The story has a lot in common with that of Sir Isaac Newton being awakened to the existence of gravity while sitting under an apple tree and an apple fell on his head, in that we cannot be sure how much of a legend it is. But anyway, the following scenes begin at Rugby School.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.3698712,-1.2617019,3a,75y,4.74h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sMzvTzgliNh_ZbHj8sT9skw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DMzvTzgliNh_ZbHj8sT9skw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D2.9001305%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Rugby is not only known for it's namesake sport, it is also where the jet engine was invented. Although it's inventor was from Coventry. Sir Isaac Newton worked at Cambridge, which isn't part of the Midlands, but the jet engine was an ideal application of his principle that "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Rugby is an old town but this is a newer residential area.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.3937557,-1.2417896,3a,75y,271.39h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sJFPpOeZueJSy4vil2p1Wlg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DJFPpOeZueJSy4vil2p1Wlg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D272.279%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Nottingham is the home of the legend of Robin Hood. It was later to adapt to the Industrial Revolution by establishing itself as the center of textile manufacture. I had always thought that the very definition of a city in England is that it has a cathedral, which must be an Anglican cathedral. Gloucester is a city but nearby Cheltenham, although with a similar population, is a town, rather than a city, because it doesn't have a cathedral. But somehow Nottingham has gotten itself registered as a city, even though it doesn't have a cathedral.
Has anyone ever thought about how ironic it is that the new, and far more complex, economics of industrialized society would begin to be worked out in the land of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor?
This is Old Market Square in Nottingham.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9533289,-1.1493891,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWyAf8N1LNSHiEVifDZ1fRA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWyAf8N1LNSHiEVifDZ1fRA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D52.12619%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
We have already seen "Gloucestershire And Herefordshire" in the posting on this blog by that name. I am a native of Gloucestershire, more specifically of the place in the posting on this blog, "Placid Britain". Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire together are known as the "Three Counties". The Severn River that flows through the city of Worcester is the same one that flows downstream to Gloucester.
Worcestershire is, of course, where the name of the sauce comes from. Counties in Britain are called "shires" because that was the original name. "County", which is used in Ireland, is a Norman word that came later.
The cities of Gloucester and Worcester both played important roles in England's Civil War of the Seventeenth Century. Early in the war, the tide turned in favor of the Parliamentarians ( Puritans or Roundheads ), who generally controlled the cities, when the Royalists ( Anglicans or Cavaliers ) who generally controlled the countryside tried, and failed, to capture the city of Gloucester.
The final battle of the war was at Worcester. The defeated Charles II, who would later come back as king, escaped capture by hiding in an oak tree.
In England, the name of a city indicates it's origin, although this may not be a strict rule.
Names ending in -caster -cester or, -chester indicate an origin in Roman times.
Names ending in -by indicate Danish origin.
Names ending in -ham or -ton indicate Anglo-Saxon origin.
This is Worcester Cathedral.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.1887087,-2.2209204,3a,75y,114.6h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMmH9HUESo5MbPt7WPlbRVIoqZGca8FDVznjM0L!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMmH9HUESo5MbPt7WPlbRVIoqZGca8FDVznjM0L%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.8771622-ya306.7588-ro-1.3459893-fo100!7i5376!8i2688
Derby is an ancient city that, unlike Birmingham, was there long before the Industrial Revolution. When it industrialized it became known for one thing, and that was the production of silk.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9224494,-1.4770081,3a,75y,109.55h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sgCO3QkveUqI5VINE9gNJhA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DgCO3QkveUqI5VINE9gNJhA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D120.50255%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Northampton is another ancient city, there is a Norman castle there, that joined the Industrial Revolution by becoming the center of shoe production.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2370634,-0.8943874,3a,75y,93.65h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1suoZ9TfPKlaGbulrbKEWHwQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DuoZ9TfPKlaGbulrbKEWHwQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D95.94249%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Leicester is yet another ancient city, as you can tell by it's name indicating an origin in Roman times, that joined the Industrial Revolution as a major producer of clothing and shoes. The Jewry Wall is Roman ruins, but the name isn't associated with Judaism or a Jewish community.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6344639,-1.1340244,3a,75y,85.89h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1saccI9enG3Yr_Snd1gkHRaQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DaccI9enG3Yr_Snd1gkHRaQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D83.24846%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
The Midlands is not all cities. Here is a semi-rural area.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4528963,-1.3603936,3a,75y,336.37h,90.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1syqJB_H7Sl7Z9wL94u55CWQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
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