The following stops around the south coast of England begin in the west and move eastward.
THERE ARE FOUR IMAGES WITH EACH STOP. ALL IMAGES ARE FROM GOOGLE EARTH OR STREET VIEW.
St. Michael's Mount, in Cornwall, has the same name as it's French counterpart, across the English Channel. This was originally a monastery from the Twelfth Century. Both are built on tidal islands.
Plymouth is in the county of Devon, near the boundary with Cornwall. What would be called a county in North America and Ireland is called a "shire" in Britain because this predates "county", which was introduced by the Normans. The Pilgrims, who landed in Massachusetts, left England from Plymouth. That is why their landing site of Plymouth Rock and the town of Plymouth are so-named. The first four images are of the old area of the city and the monument where the Mayflower left.








Instead of allowing cities to "sprawl". What will typically be done is that "new towns" will be started. Milton Keynes was the prototype postwar new town. Bournemouth began as such a new town. Bournemouth has one of the beach piers that are common at resorts on the south coast. They offer food and amusements. Remember that these beach resorts are where many Londoners used to go for vacation after the development of trains but before air travel.
Salisbury Cathedral is one of the best-known cathedrals in the world. It was built in the 13th Century and one of the original copies of the Magna Carta is here.




These shipping containers are awaiting transport by truck. There are rail lines alongside the port but I don't think that Britain uses freight trains very much. Long distances are necessary to make freight trains worthwhile and Britain is kind of a compact country. Cities are also compact and not too far apart. This makes passenger and commuter trains worthwhile but freight is better transported by truck.
There are grain silos reminiscent of those in Buffalo.
These parking ramps are holding imported cars.
Portsmouth is another extremely busy port. Portsmouth is the naval center while Southampton is the center of commercial shipping. The Spinnaker Tower is built in the form of a sail.
Look at how white the seaside cliffs are at Dover. This is caused by the chalky limestone of the area and are known as the White Cliffs of Dover. Images from Google Street View.
Reading, inland and not on the coast, was an early medieval trade and religious center. It is a favorable place to live, being away from the prices and congestion of London but close enough to easily visit. The first two images are of the ruins of it's abbey. An abbey was the church of a Catholic monastery, which the Protestants closed after the Reformation.
Canterbury Cathedral was one of the two cathedrals of archbishops when England was Catholic. There was Canterbury in the south and York in the north. The archbishop at Canterbury was the senior of the two.
The city of Canterbury goes back to ancient times, with an early abbey and a Norman castle. After the Reformation it became the center of the Anglican Church. The actual residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Anglican Church, is Lambeth Palace, across the river from Parliament in London.
The Anglican Church, or the Church of England, was created by Elizabeth I after the Reformation in an attempt at compromise between the Puritans and the remaining Catholics. The Anglicans, one of the four main branches of Protestantism, kept much of the liturgy of the Catholic Church, but led by the British sovereign, rather than by the pope.
The compromise did not please everybody. Some, particularly in northern England, remained Catholic. Some Puritans wanted nothing to do with Catholicism or any compromise with it. These left the country altogether to set up their own Puritan society in Massachusetts.
When the U.S. declared independence the Anglican churches there were separated from England and was renamed the Episcopal Church. Today, America's national cathedral in Washington is an Episcopal Church. All are now, once again, part of the Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Church would eventually become known for it's "high church" side, meaning more Catholic, and "low church" side, meaning more Puritan, sides.
Another denomination, the Methodists with their emphasis on social justice, would spin off from the Anglican Church. But it is a separate church and Methodists are not part of the Anglican Communion. An example of the charitable emphasis of Methodism is the Salvation Army, which was founded in London by a Methodist.
Here is Canterbury Cathedral.



