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England (pronounced IPA: /ˈɪŋglənd/) is a country in the north west of Europe and constituent country of the United Kingdom. England has an estimated population of 50,714,000, thus making it the most densely populated constituent country, accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland to the north and with Wales to the west. During the 10th century, England became a unified state, taking its name from the Angles, one of several Germanic peoples who settled in the territory.
England ranks among one of the world's most far-reaching and influential centres of cultural development across the world. Since the Act of Union in 1707, England has not had a government or constitution. It was under this act, that the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland became united, and formed the Kingdom of Great Britain, commonly referred to today as The United Kingdom.
The establishment of the Church of England occurred during the English Reformation in the 16th Century, when the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was abolished and replaced by Royal Supremacy. The English reformation differed significantly from the other countries of Europe, as England's was political, rather than theological like other European countries. The flag of England is the cross of St. George, who is also England's patron saint and St George's Day, which falls on England's national day.
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The Chew Valley is an area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of the Chew and its tributaries; however, the name Chew Valley is often used less formally to cover other nearby areas, for example, Blagdon Lake and its environs, which by a stricter definition are part of the Yeo Valley. The valley is an area of rich arable and dairy farmland, interspersed with a number of villages.
The landscape consists of the valley of the River Chew and is generally low-lying and undulating. It is bounded by higher ground ranging from Dundry Down to the north, the Lulsgate Plateau to the west, the Mendip Hills to the south and the Hinton Blewett, Marksbury and Newton Saint Loe plateau areas to the east. The valley's boundary generally follows the top of scarp slopes except at the southwestern and southeastern boundaries where flat upper areas of the Chew Valley grade gently into the Yeo Valley and eastern Mendip Hills respectively. The River Chew was dammed in the 1950s to create Chew Valley Lake, which provides drinking water for the nearby city of Bristol and surrounding areas. The lake is a prominent landscape feature of the valley, a focus for recreation, and is internationally recognised for its nature conservation interest, because of the bird species, plants and insects.
Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in natural history while studying medicine at Edinburgh University, then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell’s uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author. Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.
His 1859 book On the Origin of Species established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil. In recognition of Darwin’s pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, close to John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
- ... that the Handlebar Club (member pictured), based in London, is a gentleman's club for those with handlebar moustaches, considers itself at war with a society that demands people choose "the bland, the boring and the generic"?
- ... that Holy Trinity Church, Guildford served as pro-cathedral of the Diocese of Guildford until the consecration of the current cathedral?
- ... that Plymouth Sound, Shores and Cliffs has units of rock showing the lower to early Middle Devonian period, laid 417–354 million years ago?
- ... that seven Cornish fishermen sailed to Australia in the lugger Mystery in 1854–55, a journey which is being recreated today by the Spirit of Mystery?
- ... that although Fairfield Grammar School, Bristol, expelled Cary Grant for going into the girls' lavatories, the city later erected a life-size bronze statue of him?
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