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Georgian

London

(1714—1837)

In

1714,

George I became king. He began the line of kings and

queens called the Hanovers who ruled Britain until 1837.

London

quickly grew

in size and population during the Georgian

era. In

1801

the population

reached

about one million. Merchants and

In 1837, Victoria became Queen at

the age of 18.

The

time

when

she was Queen is called the Victorian era.

London was busy with trade and industry and it grew fast. Better

lighting,

water supply and

transport developed too. By the time

Victoria

died in

1901, London was a very different city.

During the reign of Victoria London expanded enormously. Many of

the

buildings

today

were

built in the Victorian

times. The most

famous

is

probably

the Houses

of

Parliament

built

in

1834

after

fire

had

destroyed the

original

buildings.

By the 1840's gas lights were used to light streets all over London.

There

were

also horse-drawn buses and then horse-drawn trams. The

world's

first

underground

railway, the Tube, opened in 1862.

At

first

carriages

were

pulled

by steam

trains. The

system

was

electrified

in

1890 —

1905.

DISTRICTS OF LONDON

Now London

consists of several parts. But

originally

it was made

up of two ancient cities joined

together: the

City

of

London

and the

City

of Westminster.

The

City

of

London

The City

of

London,

known

simply as «the

City»,

is

the

business

and

financial

heart

of the United Kingdom. It

is

also

known

as

the

Square Mile because it occupies the territory equal

to one square mile. It

was

the

original

Roman

settlement — ancient

Londinium.

The City

of

London

is

one

of

the

major

banking

centres

of

the

world

and

banks

of

many

nations

can

be

found

in

the

famous

Threadneedle

Street

and the surrounding area. Here, too, you will find the

Bank of England and the Stock Exchange.

The centre of the country's judicial system

is

to be

found in

the

western

part

of

the

City.

Fleet

Street

is famous as

the home of the nation's newspapers but,

in fact, only two of them -

«The Daily Express» and «The Daily

Telegraph»

- are still

in

Fleet

Street.

However,

people

still

say

«Fleet

Street» to mean «the press».

Hundreds

of

thousands of

people work in the City's offices by day,

but it is almost deserted at night.

There

are

some

historic

buildings

in the

City.

St. Paul's

Cathedral

and the

Tower

of

London are

the most famous of them.

The City of

Westminster

Westminster

is

associated

with

Parliament

and

government

as

the

British Parliament and most of

the government offices are located there.

It was King Edward the

Confessor who first decided to build a

palace,

later known

as

the

Palace of Westminster, beside the river

Thames

in

the

11th century. His

successors extended the palace

and

made

it their

main

residence.

Gradually,

Westminster

became

the

centre

of

flying over it whenever Parliament is in

session.

In the north rises the

famous Clock Tower, called Big Ben.

In fact,

this name

does not

originally refer to the Clock Tower, but to

the big clock bell inside. The

clock

is so

huge

that its

hands are

as tall

as a double-decker bus and it

is still wound by hand. The House of

Lords sits to the side of the

Victoria Tower, while the House of Commons — to the side of

the

Clock

Tower.

Opposite the Houses of Parliament

there

is

Westminster

Abbey.

Since the Norman times British monarchs

have been crowned there and

since

the 13th century they

have

been buried there

too. Many

famous

people

are

also

buried

in

Westminster

Abbey

including

statesmen,

found

statues and

tombs

of poets including Geoffrey Chaucer, Robert

Burns, Lord Byron, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, William Wordsworth,

Charles

Dickens and

many

others.

the front of Buckingham Palace

is the Mall, a wide tree-lined avenue

designed for royal processions on

different important occasions.

The street called Whitehall stretches from Parliament Square

to

Trafalgar Square. In Whitehall there are all the important ministries:

the

Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office

and

the

Treasury.

Off

Whitehall there is

a small side street, Downing

Street,

which

is

the home

of the

Prime

Minister, who lives in

House Number 10.

The

West End

The

West

End is

the

name

given to

the area of

central

London

shopping

areas

of

Oxford

Street, Regent

Street

and

Bond Street. Also

there are entertainment centres of Soho, Picadilly

Circus,

Leicester

Square

and Covent Garden.

Soho and Covent Garden are lively areas

with

a

huge variety of

shops, restaurants,

cafes, bars.

Further west there are residential districts broken by spots of green

parkland,

such

as

Hyde

Park, Kensington

Gardens

and

Regent's

Park.

Kensington,

Knightsbridge

and Chelsea are the

most expensive

places to live in

the country. In

the area of Kensington

and Knightsbridge

People say you

can buy anything in Harrods, including wild animals —

they even have a zoo which will sell you

lion cubs as well as more

common pets, such

as dogs, cats or parrots.

Once, Harrods succeeded in

matches take place there too.

London's three very interesting

museums — the

Victoria

and

Albert,

the Science Museum and the Natural

History Museum — are

also

in

this

district.

Most of London's major theatres are located

in the West

End

as

well.

The East

End

The

East End was formerly the

centre of London's heavy industry

and

docks. It grew with the spread of

industries to the east of the City.

It

covers

a wide area. There are

kilometres of docks, wharfs and

popular among Londoners and tourists as a thriving and

vibrant area with

a wide range of shops, restaurants, pubs and wine bars.

The East End is not attractive in appearance, but very

important for

the country's commerce. Moreover, it is one of those

areas of

London

where people from abroad come to find work. Some

of

these

people

brought new skills and started new industries. Now one

of

the industries

bells of the Church of St. Mary Le Bow.

Cockneys have a specific East

London language whose vocabulary and

pronunciation are unlike any

replaced by a phrase or a person's name which

rhymes

with

it. For

example, instead of

saying, «I don't believe it» a

cockney person

might

say, «I don't Adam and Eve it».

Here are some more examples of rhyming slang:

wife — trouble

and

strife

stairs — apples

and

pears

head — loaf of

bread

house — Mickey Mouse

mum — finger and

thumb

bread — Uncle

Ned

wine — rise and shine

water — fisherman's

daughter

The cockney language

can be

traced back to

the early

19th century.

It was used to hide

the true

meaning

of discussions

from the

police.