1.
Somerset
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Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset is a county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park. There is evidence of occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War, the city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Somersets name derives from Old English Sumorsǣte, short for Sumortūnsǣte, an alternative suggestion is the name derives from Seo-mere-saetan meaning settlers by the sea lakes. The Old English name is used in the motto of the county, Sumorsǣte ealle, adopted as the motto in 1911, the phrase is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin, but some hill names include Brittonic Celtic elements, for example, an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682 refers to Creechborough Hill as the hill the British call Cructan and we call Crychbeorh. Some modern names are Brythonic in origin, such as Tarnock, the caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. Bones from Goughs Cave have been dated to 12,000 BC, examples of cave art have been found in Avelines Hole. Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole, the Somerset Levels—specifically dry points at Glastonbury and Brent Knoll— also have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by Mesolithic hunters. Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the worlds oldest known engineered roadways, the Sweet Track, the exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic. There are numerous Iron Age hill forts, some of which, like Cadbury Castle, on the authority of the future emperor Vespasian, as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the Second Legion Augusta invaded Somerset from the south-east in AD47. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around AD409, a variety of Roman remains have been found, including Pagans Hill Roman temple in Chew Stoke, Low Ham Roman Villa and the Roman Baths that gave their name to the city of Bath. After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples, by AD600 they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet, which was Englands oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. In the English Civil War Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton, in 1685 the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset
2.
W. Somerset Maugham
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William Somerset Maugham CH, better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s, after losing both his parents by the age of 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. Not wanting to become a lawyer like other men in his family, the initial run of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, sold out so rapidly that Maugham gave up medicine to write full-time. During and after the war, he travelled in India and Southeast Asia, all of these experiences were reflected in short stories. Maughams father, Robert Ormond Maugham, was a lawyer who handled the affairs of the British embassy in Paris. Since French law declared that all born on French soil could be conscripted for military service, his father arranged for Maugham to be born at the embassy. His grandfather, another Robert, had also been a prominent lawyer and co-founder of the Law Society of England and it was taken for granted that Maugham and his brothers would follow in their footsteps. His elder brother Viscount Maugham enjoyed a legal career and served as Lord Chancellor from 1938 to 1939. Maughams mother, Edith Mary, had tuberculosis, a condition for which her physician prescribed childbirth and she had Maugham several years after the last of his three older brothers, they were already enrolled in boarding school by the time he was three. Being the youngest, he was raised as an only child. Ediths sixth and final son died on 25 January 1882, one day after his birth, Edith died of tuberculosis six days later on 31 January at the age of 41. The early death of his mother left Maugham traumatized, he kept his mothers photograph by his bedside for the rest of his life, two years after Ediths death Maughams father died in France of cancer. Maugham was sent to the UK to be cared for by his uncle, Henry MacDonald Maugham, the move was damaging, as Henry Maugham proved cold and emotionally cruel. The boy attended The Kings School, Canterbury, which was difficult for him. He was teased for his bad English and his short stature, Maugham developed a stammer that stayed with him all his life, although it was sporadic, being subject to his moods and circumstances. Miserable both at his uncles vicarage and at school, the young Maugham developed a talent for making wounding remarks to those who displeased him and this ability is sometimes reflected in Maughams literary characters. At sixteen Maugham refused to continue at The Kings School and his uncle allowed him to travel to Germany, where he studied literature, philosophy and German at Heidelberg University. During his year in Heidelberg Maugham met and had an affair with John Ellingham Brooks
3.
The Times
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The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1967 and its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in touch with 10 Downing Street. In these countries, the newspaper is often referred to as The London Times or The Times of London, although the newspaper is of national scope, in November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in a new font, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, the Sunday Times remains a broadsheet. The Times had a daily circulation of 446,164 in December 2016, in the same period. An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006 and it has been heavily used by scholars and researchers because of its widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index. A complete historical file of the paper, up to 2010, is online from Gale Cengage Learning. The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company where he was working went bankrupt because of the complaints of a Jamaican hurricane. Being unemployed, Walter decided to set a new business up and it was in that time when Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was faster and more precise. Walter bought the patent and to use it, he decided to open a printing house. The first publication of the newspaper The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain was 1 January 1785, unhappy because people always omitted the word Universal, Ellias changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name, the Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its life, the profits of The Times were very large. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig, in 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000. Thomas Barnes was appointed editor in 1817
4.
Savoy Theatre
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The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity, for many years, the Savoy Theatre was the home of the DOyly Carte Opera Company, which continued to be run by the Carte family for over a century. Richards son Rupert DOyly Carte rebuilt and modernised the theatre in 1929 and it is a Grade II* listed building. In recent years it has presented opera, Shakespeare and other non-musical plays, the House of Savoy was the ruling family of Savoy descended from Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia, who became count in 1032. The name Sabaudia evolved into Savoy, Count Peter of Savoy was the maternal uncle of Eleanor of Provence, queen-consort of Henry III of England, and came with her to London. King Henry made Peter Earl of Richmond and, in 1246, on Peters death, the Savoy was given to Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster, by his mother, Queen Eleanor. Edmunds great-granddaughter, Blanche, inherited the site and her husband, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, built a magnificent palace that was burned down by Wat Tylers followers in the Peasants Revolt of 1381. King Richard II was still a child, and his uncle John of Gaunt was the power behind the throne, in about 1505 Henry VII planned a great hospital for pouer, nedie people, leaving money and instructions for it in his will. The hospital was built in the ruins and was licensed in 1512. Drawings show that it was a magnificent building, with a dormitory, dining hall, Henry VIIs hospital lasted for two centuries but suffered from poor management. The sixteenth-century historian John Stow noted that the hospital was being misused by loiterers, vagabonds, in 1702 the hospital was dissolved, and the hospital buildings were used for other purposes. Part of the old palace was used for a prison in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, the old buildings were demolished. Carte bought the freehold of the site, then known as Beaufort Buildings, early in 1880 for £11,000, in 1877 he engaged Walter Emden, an architect whose work includes the Garrick and the Duke of Yorks theatres. Before completing the purchase, city officials had assured Carte that they would open a new street on the south side of the plot. He paid his half in March 1880, but the officials caused lengthy delays, Carte told The Times, I am struggling in the meshes of red tape. He finally received the agreement in June. At the same time he ran into another obstacle, Emden suddenly revised his estimate of building costs upward from £12,000 to £18,000, Carte dismissed Emden, who successfully sued for £1,790 for services to date and £3,000 for wrongful dismissal
5.
Santa Monica neighborhoods
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The western border of Santa Monica, California is the 3-mile stretch of Santa Monica Bay. With winding roads and steep canyon walls this small enclave shares more with wooded Topanga Canyon than the city of Santa Monica, the border between Santa Monica Canyon and the Palisades is Chautauqua Blvd. Homes on La Mesa Drive are among the most expensive in Los Angeles County, lot sizes vary between 15,000 sq feet up to 60,000 sq feet. Home prices range from $5 million to $30 million, La Mesa Drive is one of the least known in the city, planted with a dense canopy of rare Moreton Bay fig trees the street makes a picturesque driving or walking location. Twenty blocks closer to the ocean the Santa Monica Steps are a set of 189 public steep steps that lead down into the canyon. Streets north of San Vicente are usually short and contain gated estates, North of San Vicente the streets are La Mesa Drive, La Mesa Way, Gale Place, Woodacres Road, Esparta Way, Ermont Place, Foxtail Drive, Larkin Place, Winnett Place and Adelaide Place. This is part of the North of Montana 90402 zip code, South of San Vicente and north of Montana Avenue consist of larger family homes of varying styles and age on larger lots. Most of the lot sizes are 7,500 square feet on 50 X150 lots, the South of San Vicente, North of Montana streets provide an understated conventional walkable play-in-street feel. The Gillettes Regent Square tract, developed by King Gillette - the razor blade manufacturer, are 9,000 square feet on 60 x 150 lots. The Gillette Regent Square section is coveted by potential buyers for the larger homes allowed under the very restrictive zoning laws, wider lots. In 2012, a newly built 11,000 square foot house on a 13,047 square foot lot sold for $9 million. In 2013, a 6,200 square foot house sold for $8.6 million. Homes on La Mesa Drive are among the most expensive in Los Angeles County, lot sizes vary between 15,000 sq feet up to 60,000 sq feet. Home prices range from 5 million to 30 million, La Mesa Drive is one of the least known in the city, planted with a dense canopy of rare Moreton Bay fig trees the street makes a picturesque walking location. Twenty blocks closer to the ocean the Santa Monica Steps are a set of 189 very steep steps that lead down into the canyon. Streets north of San Vicente are usually short and contain gated estates, North of San Vicente the streets are La Mesa Drive, La Mesa Way, Gale Place, Woodacres Road, Esparta Way, Ermont Place, Foxtail Drive, Larkin Place, Winnett Place and Adelaide Place. This is part of the North of Montana 90402 zip code, west of 7th and East of Ocean Ave is the neighborhood noted by 100 x 220 foot lots, some of which have been subdivided into 50X220. Many of Santa Monicas historically significant land marked homes are located here, during Halloween, the streets near 16th Street and Georgina Avenue are famous for their prevalence of trick or treaters, parties, and sheer amount of people
