1.
The Mall, London
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The Mall is a road in the City of Westminster, central London, between Buckingham Palace at its western end and Trafalgar Square via Admiralty Arch to the east. Before it terminates at Whitehall it is met by Horse Guards Road and Spring Gardens where the Metropolitan Board of Works and it is closed to traffic on Sundays, public holidays and on ceremonial occasions. The Mall began as a field for playing pall-mall, in the 17th and 18th centuries it was a fashionable promenade, bordered by trees. C. These routes were intended to be used for major national ceremonies, as part of the development – designed by Aston Webb – a new façade was constructed for Buckingham Palace, and the Victoria Memorial was erected. The Queen Victoria Memorial is immediately before the gates of the Palace, the length of The Mall from where it joins Constitution Hill at the Victoria Memorial end to Admiralty Arch is exactly 0.5 nautical miles. St. Jamess Park is on the side of The Mall, opposite Green Park and St Jamess Palace. Running off The Mall at its end is Horse Guards Parade. The surface of The Mall is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace and this colour was obtained using synthetic iron oxide pigment from Deanshanger Oxide Works, which was created using the Deanox Process devised by chemist Ernest Lovell. It was David Eccles decision, as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954 and these scenes were repeated in 2011 for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and again in 2012 for the Queens Diamond Jubilee, and the Jubilee concert. Scheduled buses are not allowed to use the Mall and go past Buckingham Palace except by permission of the monarch and this has only happened twice in history, in 1927 and in 1950. The annual London Marathon finishes on The Mall and it was also the start and finish line for the marathon course, the road race, and the race walks of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The womens marathon took place on 5 August and the mens Olympic marathon on 12 August, the mens 20 km walk took place on 4 August, with the mens 50 km walk and womens 20 km walk took place on 11 August. The Paralympic marathons were held on 9 September, media related to The Mall, London at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Westminster
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Westminster is an area of central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically the area lay within St Margarets parish, City & Liberty of Westminster and it has been the home of the permanent institutions of Englands government continuously since about 1200 and is now the seat of British government. In a government context, Westminster often refers to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the closest tube stations are Westminster, St Jamess Park on the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines. Within the area is Westminster School, a public school which grew out of the Abbey. Bounding Westminster to the north is Green Park, a Royal Park of London, the area has a substantial resident population, indeed most of its listed buildings are residential. A proportion of residents are people of limited means, living in council, hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist nearer to Buckingham Palace. The name describes an area no more than 1 mile from Westminster Abbey, the settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a church, St Margarets Westminster for the servants of the palace. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a local government unit until created as a civil parish. Indeed, the Cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, as such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built, the abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson onwards. From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and Englands law courts, thus London developed two focal points, the City of London and Westminster. The monarchs later moved to St James Palace and the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east, the main law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice. The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex, the ancient parish was St Margaret, after 1727 this became the civil parish of St Margaret and St John, the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by —, until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John, which was based at Westminster City Hall in Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields, Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
National Rail
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The name and the accompanying double arrow symbol are the intellectual property of the Secretary of State for Transport. The National Rail logo was introduced by ATOC in 1999, and was used on the Great Britain public timetable for the first time in the edition valid from 26 September in that year. Rules for its use are set out in the Corporate Identity Style Guidelines published by the Rail Delivery Group, the NR title is sometimes described as a brand. As it was used by British Rail, the operator before franchising, its use also maintains continuity and public familiarity. National Rail should not be confused with Network Rail, the two networks are generally coincident where passenger services are run. Most major Network Rail lines carry traffic and some lines are freight only. About twenty privately owned operating companies, each franchised for a defined term by government. The Rail Delivery Group is the association representing the TOCs and provides core services. It also runs Rail Settlement Plan, which allocates ticket revenue to the various TOCs, and Rail Staff Travel and it does not compile the national timetable, which is the joint responsibility of the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail. Since the privatisation of British Rail there is no longer a single approach to design on railways in Great Britain, the look and feel of signage, liveries and marketing material is largely the preserve of the individual TOCs. However, National Rail continues to use BRs famous double-arrow symbol and it has been incorporated in the National Rail logotype and is displayed on tickets, the National Rail website and other publicity. The trademark rights to the arrow symbol remain state-owned, being vested in the Secretary of State for Transport. The double arrow was already prescribed for indicating a railway station, the lettering used in the National Rail logotype is a modified form of the typeface Sassoon Bold. It is a misconception that Rail Alphabet was also used for printed material. The British Rail typefaces of choice from 1965 were Helvetica and Univers, TOCs may use what they like, examples include Futura, Helvetica, Frutiger, Bliss, and a modified version of Precious by London Midland. Several conurbations have their own metro or tram systems, most of which are not part of National Rail, LO now also possesses some infrastructure in its own right, following the reopening of the former East London line of London Underground as the East London Railway of LO. Heathrow Express and Eurostar are also not part of the National Rail network despite sharing of stations, northern Ireland Railways were never part of British Rail, which was always confined to Great Britain, and therefore are not part of the National Rail network. National Rail services have a common ticketing structure inherited from British Rail, through tickets are available between any pair of stations on the network, and can be bought from any station ticket office
5.
Charing Cross railway station
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Charing Cross railway station is a central London railway terminus on the Strand in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South Eastern Main Line to Dover, all trains are operated by Southeastern, which provides the majority of commuter and regional services to south-east London and Kent. It is connected to Charing Cross tube station on the London Underground and it is one of 19 stations in the United Kingdom that are managed by Network Rail. Charing Cross is the 14th busiest station in the country, the tracks approach the station from Hungerford Bridge over the River Thames. There is an office and shopping complex above the station, known as Embankment Place, the original station building was built on the site of the Hungerford Market by the South Eastern Railway and opened on 11 January 1864. The station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, with a single wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms on its relatively cramped site. It is built on an arched viaduct, the level of the rails above the ground varying from 13 feet at the north-east end to 27 feet at the bridge abutment at the south-east end. A year later the Charing Cross Hotel, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, opened on 15 May 1865 and gave the station an ornate frontage in the French Renaissance style. Contemporary with the Charing Cross Hotel was a replica of the Eleanor Cross in Red Mansfield stone, also designed by Edward Middleton Barry and it was based on the original 13th-century Whitehall Cross that had been demolished in 1647. Distances in London are officially measured from the site of the cross, now the statue of Charles I facing Whitehall. The condition of the cross deteriorated until it was in such a condition that it was placed on the English Heritage At Risk Register in 2008. A ten-month project to repair and restore the cross was completed in August 2010. A 77-foot length of the elegant original roof structure, comprising the two end bays at the south of the station, and part of the wall collapsed at 3,45 pm on 5 December 1905. A gang of men were employed at the time in repairing, glazing and painting the section of roof which fell. Shortly after 3,30 pm, the roof emitted a loud noise, part of the roof began to sag and the western wall began to crack. It was another 12 minutes before the collapse occurred, which enabled trains and platforms to be evacuated, the roof, girders and debris fell across four passenger trains standing in platforms 3,4,5 and 6, blocking all tracks were. The part of the wall that fell had crashed through the wall and roof of the neighbouring Royal Avenue Theatre in Northumberland Avenue. At the Board Of Trade Inquiry into the accident, expert witnesses expressed doubts about the design of the roof, consequently, the South Eastern and Chatham Railway decided not to repair the roof but to replace it
6.
London Underground
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The London Underground is a public rapid transit system serving London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, the 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day. The system has 270 stations and 250 miles of track, despite its name, only 45% of the system is actually underground in tunnels, with much of the network in the outer environs of London being on the surface. In addition, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London, the current operator, London Underground Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, the statutory corporation responsible for the transport network in Greater London. As of 2015, 92% of operational expenditure is covered by passenger fares, the Travelcard ticket was introduced in 1983 and Oyster, a contactless ticketing system, in 2003. Contactless card payments were introduced in 2014, the LPTB was a prominent patron of art and design, commissioning many new station buildings, posters and public artworks in a modernist style. Other famous London Underground branding includes the roundel and Johnston typeface, to prepare construction, a short test tunnel was built in 1855 in Kibblesworth, a small town with geological properties similar to London. This test tunnel was used for two years in the development of the first underground train, and was later, in 1861, the worlds first underground railway, it opened in January 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. It was hailed as a success, carrying 38,000 passengers on the opening day, the Metropolitan District Railway opened in December 1868 from South Kensington to Westminster as part of a plan for an underground inner circle connecting Londons main-line termini. The Metropolitan and District railways completed the Circle line in 1884, built using the cut and this opened in 1890 with electric locomotives that hauled carriages with small opaque windows, nicknamed padded cells. The Waterloo and City Railway opened in 1898, followed by the Central London Railway in 1900, the Metropolitan Railway protested about the change of plan, but after arbitration by the Board of Trade, the DC system was adopted. When the Bakerloo was so named in July 1906, The Railway Magazine called it an undignified gutter title, by 1907 the District and Metropolitan Railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines. In January 1913, the UERL acquired the Central London Railway, the Bakerloo line was extended north to Queens Park to join a new electric line from Euston to Watford, but World War I delayed construction and trains reached Watford Junction in 1917. During air raids in 1915 people used the stations as shelters. An extension of the Central line west to Ealing was also delayed by the war, the Metropolitan promoted housing estates near the railway with the Metro-land brand and nine housing estates were built near stations on the line. Electrification was extended north from Harrow to Rickmansworth, and branches opened from Rickmansworth to Watford in 1925, the Piccadilly line was extended north to Cockfosters and took over District line branches to Harrow and Hounslow. In 1933, most of Londons underground railways, tramway and bus services were merged to form the London Passenger Transport Board, the Waterloo & City Railway, which was by then in the ownership of the main line Southern Railway, remained with its existing owners. In the same year that the London Passenger Transport Board was formed, in the following years, the outlying lines of the former Metropolitan Railway closed, the Brill Tramway in 1935, and the line from Quainton Road to Verney Junction in 1936
7.
Charing Cross tube station
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Charing Cross is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and The Strand. The station is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines and provides an interchange with the National Rail network at Charing Cross station. On the Northern line it is between Embankment and Leicester Square stations on the Charing Cross branch, and on the Bakerloo line it is between Embankment and Piccadilly Circus stations, the station is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station was served by the Jubilee line between 1979 and 1999, acting as the terminus of the line during that period. For most of the history of the Underground the name Charing Cross was associated not with this station, the Northern line and Bakerloo line parts of the station were originally opened as two separate stations and were combined when the now defunct Jubilee line platforms were opened. The constituent stations also underwent a number of changes during their history. The first part of the complex, the Bakerloo line platforms, was opened as Trafalgar Square by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway on 10 March 1906. The Northern line platforms were opened a year later, as Charing Cross, by the Charing Cross, at its opening this station was the southern terminus of the CCE&HR which ran to two northern termini at Golders Green and Highgate tube stations. The interchange station between the BS&WR and District had been known hitherto as Charing Cross and Embankment and these names lasted only a short time, on 9 May 1915, Charing Cross was renamed Strand and for Charing Cross the tube lines adopted the District Railway name of Charing Cross. At the same time, the separate Strand station on the Great Northern, Piccadilly, the Northern line Strand station was closed on 4 June 1973 to enable the construction of the new Jubilee line platforms. These platforms were constructed between the Bakerloo line and Northern line platforms together with the long-missing below-ground interchange between two lines. In anticipation of the new station, from 4 August 1974 Charing Cross was renamed Charing Cross Embankment. The West End branch of the Northern line has been known as the Charing Cross branch since before the 1979 renaming, and this name has continued despite the change of station to which it refers. Although Charing Cross was constructed as the terminus of the Jubilee line. The tunnels were constructed beyond the station beneath the Strand as far as 143 Strand. The tunnels also extend beyond the platforms into the Overrun, each overrun has the capacity to stable a further two trains each. As the Jubilee line platforms and track are maintained by TfL for operation reasons, they can also be used by film. In 2006, it was proposed that an extension to the Docklands Light Railway from Bank station would take over the platforms, intermediate stations at Aldwych and City Thameslink would be opened, mirroring the planned route of the old Fleet line
8.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
Haymarket, London
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Haymarket is a street in the St. Jamess area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end and it is the location of a variety of restaurants, the Theatre Royal and Her Majestys Theatre, a cinema complex, and New Zealand House. The broad street connecting Pall Mall with Piccadilly is recorded in the Elizabethan era and, at that time, it was a rural spot, with the village of Charing, the closest settlement. This practice continued to the reign of William III, by time, carts carrying hay and straw were allowed in the street to trade. In 1692, when the street was paved, a tax was levied on the loads, 3d for a load of hay, in 1830 the market was moved by Act of Parliament to Cumberland Market near Regents Park. In earlier centuries, Haymarket was also one of the most prominent centres of prostitution in London and it is part of Londons theatre district, the West End, and has been a theatrical location at least since the 17th century. The Queens Theatre in the Haymarket, designed by John Vanbrugh, after Vanbrughs building had been destroyed by fire in 1790, another Kings Theatre on the same site followed. After another fire, His Majestys Theatre was opened there in 1897, This building, todays Theatre Royal at another site in the Haymarket is a building originally by John Nash, replacing a previous theatre of the 1720s. Haymarket runs parallel to Regent Street St James and together the two form a one-way system, Regent Street St James taking northbound traffic and Haymarket taking southbound traffic. The two roads are classified as part of the A4 route from London to Avonmouth, near Bristol, on 29 June 2007, the Metropolitan Police Service made safe a car bomb that had been parked in Haymarket as part of the 2007 London attempted attacks
10.
St James's Street
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St Jamess Street is the principal street in the district of St Jamess, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St Jamess Palace and Pall Mall, the main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road, and in the 17th century Clarendon House faced down the street across Piccadilly on the site of most of Albemarle Street. St Jamess Street was built up without a plan but received a boost with Lord St Albans planned construction of St. Jamess Square. Today St Jamess Street contains several of Londons best-known gentlemens clubs, such as Brookss, a series of small side streets on its western side lead to some extremely expensive properties overlooking Green Park, including Spencer House and the Royal Over-Seas League at the end of Park Place. Two 18th-century yards survive behind the noble frontages and giant orders of columns or pilasters of the street, one is Blue Ball Yard, with stables built in 1742. The other is Pickering Place, with four informal Georgian brick houses of 1731, Jermyn Street leads off St Jamess Street to the east. The nearest tube station is Green Park to the west on Piccadilly, St Jamess Church, Piccadilly St. Jamess Park St. Jamess Square Cavendish Hotel London, located on the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street, St Jamess
11.
Reform Club
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The Reform Club is a private members club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London. As with all Londons original gentlemen’s clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, since its founding, the Reform Club has been the traditional home for those committed to progressive political ideas, with its membership initially consisting of Radicals and Whigs. However, today it is no longer associated with any political party. And todays Reformers are men and women drawn from many backgrounds, the Reform currently enjoys extensive reciprocity with similar clubs around the world, and attracts a significant number of foreign members, such as diplomats accredited to the Court of St. Jamess. Of the current membership of around 2700, some 500 are overseas members, in the 19th century, any Liberal Party MP or Peer crossing the floor, to join or work with another party, was expected to resign as a member. The Reform Clubs building was designed by renowned architect Sir Charles Barry, construction began in 1837 and was finished in 1841. This new club was built on lines, the design being based on the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The Reform was known for the quality of its cuisine, its first chef being Alexis Soyer and it continues to offer meals in its dining room, known as the Coffee Room. Until the decline of the Liberal Party in the early 20th century, it was de rigueur for Liberal MPs and Peers to be members of the Reform Club, being regarded as an unofficial party headquarters. However, in 1882, the National Liberal Club was established under William Ewart Gladstones chairmanship, designed to be more inclusive towards Liberal grandees, today the Reform Club no longer represents any particular political viewpoint, being an impartial and purely social venue. Wilfred Owen, though not himself a member, lunched at the several times in the company of Sassoon. The Reform Club appears in Anthony Trollopes novel Phineas Finn and this eponymous main character becomes a member of the club and there acquaints Liberal members of the House of Commons, who arrange to get him elected to an Irish parliamentary borough. Michael Palin, following his predecessor, also began and ended his televised journey around the world in 80 days at the Reform Club. The Reform Club was the location of a photo shoot featuring Paula Yates for the 1979 summer issue of Penthouse Magazine, victorian publisher Norman Warne is depicted visiting the Reform Club in the 2006 film Miss Potter. The club has used as a location in a number of films. The Quiller Memorandum, The Man Who Haunted Himself, Lindsay Andersons O Lucky Man, the Avengers, Nicholas Nickleby, Quantum of Solace and Sherlock Holmes
12.
Athenaeum Club, London
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The Athenaeum is a private members club in London, founded in 1824. It has admitted women since 2002 and it is primarily a club for men and women with intellectual interests, and particularly for those who have attained some distinction in science, engineering, literature or the arts. The bas-relief frieze is a copy of the frieze of the Parthenon in Athens, the Athenaeum was founded in 1824 at the instigation of John Wilson Croker, then Secretary to the Admiralty, who was largely responsible for the organisation and early development of the Club. A Committee was formed, the names being proposed by Croker, who wrote that all depends on having a Committee with a great many good names and a few working hands. The first meeting was held on 16 February 1824, when fourteen men were present, and it was resolved that there should be 400 members, of whom 300 were to be appointed by the Committee and the remainder elected by ballot. This first committee also included Sir Thomas Lawrence, Francis Chantrey, by May 1824 temporary premises had been rented at 12 Waterloo Place, and Croker and the Committee turned their minds to providing a permanent home for the club. Decimus Burton, then 24 years old, was commissioned to design a permanent clubhouse, a site was chosen on the north side of Pall Mall East but was found to be too small. The next proposed site was on the east side of Trafalgar Square, but then the government decided to demolish Carlton House and develop the site, the offer was accepted and a long lease was granted by the Crown. Aged only 24, Decimus Burton was commissioned to design the Clubhouse at 107 Pall Mall, despite his young age, he had already designed many notable buildings in London. The clubhouse is in the Neoclassical style, with a Doric portico with paired columns, the original building had two principal storeys, the third and fourth were added at the end of the 19th century. Instead of an Ice-House I give you a, the frieze was executed by John Henning at a cost of £1,300. Building works commenced in 1827 and were completed by 1830, the statue of Pallas Athene by Edward Hodges Baily, which stands above the porch, was installed in the same year. The total cost was £43,101 14s 8d and this exceeded the estimate by £2,226, attributed to the cost of gas fittings and furniture. The statue of Apollo above the staircase is a plaster cast of the Apollo Belvedere. A statue of Demosthenes was first installed there but was removed and replaced by the Apollo. The statues of Venus and Diana on either side of the hall are casts of statues in the Louvre in Paris. Decimus Burton and his father, James Burton, were admitted as members, the new building was complete by early 1830 and the first general meeting was held there on 30 May 1830. This rule has always been a feature of the club and, with the addition of the words or for public service
13.
Travellers Club
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The Travellers Club is a gentlemens club situated at 106 Pall Mall, London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest of the surviving Pall Mall clubs, having established in 1819. It was described as the quintessential English gentlemans club by the Los Angeles Times in 2004, the original concept of the club, by Lord Castlereagh and others, dates from the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars. They envisaged a club where gentlemen who travelled abroad might meet, the original rules of 1819 excluded from membership anyone “who has not travelled out of the British islands to a distance of at least five hundred miles from London in a direct line”. The members of the clubs first Committee included the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Auckland, novelist Anthony Powell was a member and the club is featured in various guises in the work of Graham Greene, Jules Verne, William Makepeace Thackeray and John Le Carre. Other well known current members include Field Marshal Lord Bramall, Terry Waite, Sir Christopher Ondaatje, Douglas Hurd, Bruce Anderson, the clubs original premises were at 12 Waterloo Place. It moved to 49 Pall Mall in 1821, the architect was Sir Charles Barry who was later to be the architect for the Houses of Parliament, and the Travellers Club building proved to be one of his masterpieces. It takes the form of a Renaissance palace which is said to have inspired by Raphaels Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence. It was completed in 1832, with the tower added in 1842, the club building includes a smoking room, the cocktail bar and adjacent Bramall room, the Outer Morning Room, and the dining room. The Times on 10 January 2004 noted the dining, heavy on fish and game with echoes of school food. The magnificent library is decorated with a cast of the Bassae Frieze from the 5th century BCE Greek temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae. The originals of this frieze were discovered by the architect Charles Robert Cockerell, who was on the first Committee of the Club in 1819, the library has a large and important collection of books, from the antiquarian to the modern, mainly on travel. There are a number of bedrooms at the club for out-of-town members, gentlemen are required to wear a jacket and tie, denim, sports shoes and other casual attire are not permitted. H. S. Escott, Chapter VIII, Club Makers and Club Members, Sturgis & Walton Company, New York,19142003 article on secret diplomatic negotiations with Libya at the Travellers Club
14.
Royal Automobile Club
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The Royal Automobile Club is a British private club and is not to be confused with RAC, an automotive services company, which it formerly owned. It has two houses, one in London at 89–91 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, Surrey. Like many other clubs in London today, the Royal Automobile Club welcomes women as members. It was founded on 10 August 1897 as the Automobile Club of Great Britain, the headquarters was originally in a block of flats at 4 Whitehall Court, moving to 119 Piccadilly in 1902. In the face of considerable opposition a speed limit of 20 mph was retained in addition to the creation of the offence of driving recklessly, dangerously or negligently, in 1905, the Club organised the first Tourist Trophy motorcycle race, the oldest regularly run motor race. The Club became the body for motor sport in Britain. King Edward VIIs interest in motoring led to the command in 1907 that the Automobile Club of Great Britain and it cost over a quarter of a million pounds and is described in the Survey of London as a polished essay in the late French Renaissance manner. In September 1914, a group of RAC members put themselves and their cars at the disposal of the British Red Cross. The RAC was responsible for organising the first British Grand Prix motor race at Brooklands, Surrey in 1926 and also runs its sister organisation, in 1978 during a re-organisation the Associate Section was established as a separate company RAC Motoring Services Ltd, which was owned by the organisation. In 1991 the RAC Foundation was split off as the arm of RAC Motoring Services. In September 1999 members sold RAC Motoring Services to Lex Service plc, RAC Plc was then acquired by Aviva plc in March 2005 for around £1.1 billion. As of 2009, the subscription is £1,125 per year. The entrance fee is on a scale, ranging from an additional £940 to £1,600. The patrolmen had a rank structure with corporals, sergeants. Mounted on Matchless motorbikes with sidecars containing a tool kit, fanbelts, engine hoses, until around 1930 control could only contact the mobile patrolmen by telephone, so they waited by public telephone boxes for the callout. From 1957 onwards they were equipped with sets for two way contact with their local headquarters. Although they were never as numerous as AA boxes there was a measure of cooperation between the two motoring clubs—keys fitted both types of box and members messages were passed on. The telephones were installed in locked boxes painted in blue with the RAC logo badge mounted on the top of the box
15.
St James's
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St Jamess is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a location for the British aristocracy. Anciently part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields, since the Second World War the area has transitioned from residential to commercial use. The St James name is derived from the dedication of a 12th-century leper hospital to Saint James the Less, the hospital site is now occupied by St Jamess Palace. The area became known as Clubland because of the presence of gentlemens clubs. Until the Second World War, St Jamess remained one of the most exclusive residential enclaves in London, notable residences include St Jamess Palace, Clarence House, Marlborough House, Lancaster House, Spencer House, Schomberg House, Norfolk House and Bridgewater House. St Jamess was in the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields in the Liberty of Westminster, attempts made in 1664,1668 and 1670 to separate St Jamess from the parish were resisted by St Martins vestry. The building of St Jamess Church, Piccadilly in 1684 forced the issue, the parish stretched from Oxford Street in the north to Pall Mall in the south. It roughly corresponded to the contemporary St Jamess area, but extended into parts of Soho, land south of Pall Mall remained in St Martin in the Fields parish and St Jamess Park was split between the parishes of St Martin and St Margaret. St Jamess Palace was an area and not part of any parish. A select vestry was created for the new parish, for elections to Westminster City Council, the area is part of the St Jamess ward. The ward includes Covent Garden, Strand, Westminster and part of Mayfair, St Jamess is bounded to the north by Piccadilly, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall and St. Jamess Park and to the east by Haymarket. Notable streets include, St Jamess Square, which many of its original houses but is mostly in office use. The London Library is located there, Jermyn Street, an upmarket retail street best known for bespoke shirtmakers and shops offering the finest gentlemens attire. Pall Mall, which many of Londons gentlemens clubs. Haymarket was once the best known centre of prostitution in London and it contains two historic theatres, the Haymarket Theatre and Her Majestys Theatre. Carlton House Terrace, a pair of terraces of houses designed by John Nash overlooking St. Jamess Park. St Jamess Street which runs down from Piccadilly to St Jamess Palace, St Jamess is a predominantly commercial area with some of the highest rents in London and, consequently, the world
16.
City of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Jamess, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963. On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
17.
Trafalgar Square
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Trafalgar Square is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars with France and Spain that took place on 21 October 1805 off the coast of Cape Trafalgar, Spain. The site of Trafalgar Square had been a significant landmark since the 13th century, after George IV moved the mews to Buckingham Palace, the area was redeveloped by John Nash, but progress was slow after his death, and the square did not open until 1844. The 169-foot Nelsons Column at its centre is guarded by four lion statues, a number of commemorative statues and sculptures occupy the square, but the Fourth Plinth, left empty since 1840, has been host to contemporary art since 1999. The square has been used for community gatherings and political demonstrations, including Bloody Sunday, the first Aldermaston March, anti-war protests, a Christmas tree has been donated to the square by Norway since 1947 and is erected for twelve days before and after Christmas Day. The square is a centre of celebrations on New Years Eve. It was well known for its feral pigeons until their removal in the early 21st century, the square contains a large central area with roadways on three sides and a terrace to the north, in front of the National Gallery. The roads around the square part of the A4, a major road running west of the City of London. The square was surrounded by a one-way traffic system, but works completed in 2003 reduced the width of the roads. At the top of the column is a statue of Horatio Nelson who commanded the British Navy at the Battle of Trafalgar, surrounding the square are the National Gallery on the north side and St Martin-in-the-Fields Church to the east. To the south west is The Mall leading towards Buckingham Palace via Admiralty Arch, while Whitehall is to the south, Charing Cross Road passes between the National Gallery and the church. London Undergrounds Charing Cross tube station on the Northern and Bakerloo lines has an exit in the square, other nearby tube stations are Embankment connecting the District, Circle, Northern and Bakerloo lines, and Leicester Square on the Northern and Piccadilly lines. London bus routes 3,6,9,11,12,13,15,23,24,29,53,87,88,91,139,159,176,453 pass through Trafalgar Square. Building work on the side of the square in the late 1950s revealed deposits from the last interglacial. Among the findings were the remains of cave lion, rhinoceros, straight-tusked elephant, the site of Trafalgar Square has been a significant location since the 13th century. During Edward Is reign, the area was the site of the Kings Mews, running north from the original Charing Cross, from the reign of Richard II to that of Henry VII, the mews was at the western end of the Strand. The name Royal Mews comes from the practice of keeping hawks here for moulting, after a fire in 1534, the mews were rebuilt as stables, and remained here until George IV moved them to Buckingham Palace. After 1732, the Kings Mews were divided into the Great Mews and the smaller Green Mews to the north by the Crown Stables and its site is occupied by the National Gallery
18.
A4 road (England)
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The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road, the road was once the main route from London to Bath and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London. The A4 has gone through many transformations through the ages from pre-Roman routes, Roman roads, during the Middle Ages, most byways and tracks served to connect villages with their nearest market town. A survey of Savernake Forest near Hungerford in 1228 mentions The King’s Street running between the town and Marlborough and this street corresponded roughly with the route of the modern A4. In 1632, Thomas Witherings was appointed Postmaster of Foreign Mails by Charles I, Three years later, the king charged him with building six Great Roads to aid in the delivery of the post, of which the Great West Road was one. It was not until the 17th century that a route between London and Bristol started to resemble todays road. During the 17th century, the A4 was known as the Great Road to Bristol, when Queen Anne started patronising the spa city of Bath, the road became more commonly known as Bath Road. Over the years, the direction of the road has taken many detours depending on such factors as changes in tolls or turnpike patronage, the first turnpike on this road was between Reading and Theale in 1714. Due to increasing traffic, sections of the road between Kensington, over Hounslow Hill, to Twyford were turnpike by 1717 with the remaining sections placed under turnpike trusts. This was not always the case with the Bath Road, as many of the landowners along the route co-operated informally. As a result, control of the Bath Road was easy to maintain, tollhouses were established at Colnbrook, Maidenhead, Twyford, Castle Street Reading, Thatcham and Benham. During the 1820s, the employment of good surveyors improved the condition of the road, the tolls raised from such clientele ensured that when the turnpike trusts handed over the route to local highway boards, they had no financial liabilities. Justices of the Peace were empowered by the 1862 Rural Highways Act to combine turnpike trusts into Highways Districts and this meant that by the late 1860s trusts were either not renewing their powers or were being terminated by General Acts of Parliament. For example, most turnpikes in Berkshire, including the Bath Road, were officially wound up by 1878 when legislation transferred responsibility for dis-enturnpiked roads to the new county councils. With the improvement being made to the systems, the business of moving mail became easier. In Bristol, an office had been well established by the 1670s. The journey time to London at this period was about 16, a letter from Bath in 1684 took about 3 days going via a postal office in Marshfield on the Bristol Road. Journey times during the Turnpike era fell with the improvements from 2 days in 1752 to 38 hours in 1782 and 18 hours by 1836, Royal Mail coaches in 1836 were able to do the trip in 12 to 13 hours
19.
Pall-mall
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Pall-mall, paille-maille, palle-maille, pell-mell, or palle-malle is a lawn game that was mostly played in the 16th and 17th centuries, a precursor to croquet. Related to Italian trucco and similar games, pall-mall is a modern development from jeu de mail. The name comes from the Italian pallamaglio, which means mallet ball, ultimately derived from Latin palla and malleus meaning ball and maul, hammer or mallet. An alternative etymology has been suggested, from Middle French pale-mail or straw-mallet, sometime around 1630 a Frenchman named John Bonnealle laid out a court for playing pall-mall on the south side of St. Jamess Square, London, in an area known as St. Jamess Field. A year or two later, in about 1631, Bonnealle had died and the shoemaker, David Mallard or Mallock, had built a house on this land. Jamess Fields, and that such as resort there shall pay him sums of money as are according to the ancient order of the game. Samuel Pepyss diary for 2 April 1661 records that he went into St. Jamess Park, where I saw the Duke of York playing at Pelemele, there do not appear to be references earlier than 1630 to the game being played in England. The game is mentioned in a 1611 French-English dictionary, but this does not demonstrate that it was played in England at that time, Palemaille. A game, wherein a round box bowle is with a mallet strucke through an arch of yron which he that can do at the fewest blowes, or at the nuber agreed on. Cotgraves description of the long alley-like playing surface with an iron hoop at either end accords well with reports of the game as played in London twenty years later. However, theres little reason to read this as an implication that the game was played in England in 1611, the denomination mall given to the game, is evidently derived from the mallet or wooden hammer used by the players to strike the ball. The game was known in the early nineteenth century, as is proved by its reference in many English dictionaries. In Samuel Johnsons 1828 dictionary, his definition of Pall mall clearly describes a game with similarities to modern croquet and it was played in a long alley with an iron hoop suspended over the ground at the end. The object was to strike a ball of unknown circumference with a heavy wooden mallet, down the alley. Many references tell us that the ball was about 12 inches or 30 cm in diameter, however, it is known that this is not correct, as a ball of that size would be far, far too heavy to lift to a high height with a small mallet. Note the ball in the engraving and it is thought that the ball was likely in the region of 2 3⁄4 inches or slightly larger. It differed from trucco especially in its extreme length of playing area. Pall-mall was popular in Italy, France and Scotland, and spread to England, the name refers not only to the game, but also to the mallet used and the alley in which it was played
20.
Charles II of England
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Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland. He was king of Scotland from 1649 until his deposition in 1651, Charles IIs father, Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Cromwell became virtual dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in France, the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Netherlands. A political crisis followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in the restoration of the monarchy. On 29 May 1660, his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim, after 1660, all legal documents were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649. Charless English parliament enacted laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England, Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of his reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, he entered into the treaty of Dover. Louis agreed to aid him in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay him a pension, Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oatess revelations of a supposed Popish Plot sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charless brother, the crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1681, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on his deathbed, Charless wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no live children, but Charles acknowledged at least twelve illegitimate children by various mistresses. He was succeeded by his brother James, Charles II was born in St Jamess Palace on 29 May 1630. His parents were Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Charles was their second son and child. Their first son was born about a year before Charles but died within a day, England, Scotland and Ireland were respectively predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. At birth, Charles automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay, at or around his eighth birthday, he was designated Prince of Wales, though he was never formally invested. During the 1640s, when Charles was still young, his father fought Parliamentary, by spring 1646, his father was losing the war, and Charles left England due to fears for his safety. Charles I surrendered into captivity in May 1646, at The Hague, Charles had a brief affair with Lucy Walter, who later falsely claimed that they had secretly married
21.
Gentlemen's club (traditional)
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Today, some clubs are more accommodating about the gender and social status of their members. The original clubs were established in the West End of London, today, the area of St Jamess is still sometimes called clubland. Clubs took over parts of the role occupied by coffee houses in 18th century London. The first clubs, such as Whites, Brookss and Boodles, were aristocratic in flavour, and provided an environment for gambling, the 19th century brought an explosion in the popularity of clubs, particularly around the 1880s. At their height, London had over 400 such establishments and this expansion can be explained in part by the large extensions of the franchise in the Reform Acts of 1832,1867, and 1885. Each time, hundreds of more men were qualified to vote. Each of the three great Reform Acts corresponded with an expansion of clubs, as did a further extension of the franchise in 1918. Many of these new, more inclusive clubs proved just as reluctant as their forebears to admit new members when the franchise was further extended. Club Life in London, an 1866 book, begins, The Club in the general acceptation of the term, may be regarded as one of the earliest offshoots of mans habitual gregariousness and social inclination. An increasing number of clubs were characterised by their members interest in politics, literature, sport, art, automobiles, travel, particular countries, or some other pursuit. In other cases, the connection between the members was membership of the branch of the armed forces, or the same school or university. Thus the growth of clubs provides an indicator as to what was considered a part of the Establishment at the time. This came to include professionals who had to earn their income, most gentlemen had only one club, which closely corresponded with the trade or social / political identity he felt most defined him, but a few people belonged to several. Members of the aristocracy and politicians were likely to have several clubs, the record number of memberships is believed to have been with Earl Mountbatten, who had nineteen in the 1960s. Public entertainments, such as performances and the like, were not a feature of this sort of club. The clubs were, in effect, second homes in the centre of London where men could relax, mix with their friends, play games, get a meal. Expatriates, when staying in England, could use their clubs, as the East India Club or the Oriental Club and they allowed upper- and upper-middle-class men with modest incomes to spend their time in grand surroundings. The richer clubs were built by the architects as the finest country houses of the time
22.
War Office
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The name War Office is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. During August 2013 it was announced that the former War Office building would be sold on the open market. The War Office developed from the Council of War, an ad hoc grouping of the King and his military commanders which managed the Kingdom of Englands frequent wars. It was equivalent to the Admiralty, responsible for the Royal Navy, and the Air Ministry, the department had several London homes until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722, where it was to remain until 1858. The first War Office Secretary at War is usually said to have been William Blathwayt and it was, however, a fairly minor government job which dealt with the minutiae of administration rather than grand strategy. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments, from 1704 to 1855, the job of Secretary was possessed by a minister of the second rank, although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet. Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of more senior post during 1794. The job of Secretary at War was merged with that of the Secretary of State for War during 1855, during 1855 the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War. This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all duties during 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army and this was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell during 1870, which subordinated the Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britains rivals, the management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H. H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War, making him the first, however, this was thought unsatisfactory, during his tenure, the Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence, the War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. On 1 April 1920, it employed 7,434 civilian staff and its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. During 1936, the government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister during 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether and appointed himself Minister of Defence. Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power during 1945, during 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. The records of the War Office are kept by The National Archives with the code WO and it contains about 1,000 rooms across seven floors, linked by 2½ miles of corridors
23.
Buses in London
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The London Bus is one of Londons principal icons, the archetypal red rear-entrance AEC Routemaster being recognized worldwide. Buses have been used on the streets of London since 1829, LGOC began using motor omnibuses in 1902, and manufactured them itself from 1909. In 1904 Thomas Tilling started its first motor bus service, the last LGOC horse-drawn bus ran on 25 October 1911, although independent operators used them until 1914. In 1909 Thomas Tilling and LGOC entered into an agreement to pool their resources, the agreement restricted the expansion of Thomas Tilling in London, and allowed the LGOC to lead an amalgamation of most of Londons bus services. However, also in 1909 Thomas Clarkson started the National Steam Car Company to run buses in London in competition with the LGOC. In 1919 the National company reached agreement with the LGOC to withdraw from bus operation in London, in 1912 the Underground Group, which at that time owned most of the London Underground, bought the LGOC. In 1933 the LGOC, along with the rest of the Underground Group, the name London General was replaced by London Transport, which became synonymous with the red London bus. Bus numbers were first used in 1906, when the independent firms started in 1922, they used General route numbers, along with suffixes from the alphabet to denote branch routes. In 1924, under the London Traffic Act, the Metropolitan Police was given the authority of allocating route numbers, which all buses had to carry. This ultimately led to chaos and in the London Passenger Transport Act of 1933 the powers of allocating route numbers was taken away from the police and handed once again to professional busmen. Suffixes were gradually abolished over the decades, the last such route in London being the 77A, the LPTB, under Lord Ashfield, assumed responsibility for all bus services in the London Passenger Transport Area, an area with a radius of about 30 miles of central London. This included the London General country buses, Green Line Coaches, London buses continued to operate under the London Transport name from 1933 to 2000, although the political management of transport services changed several times. The LPTB oversaw transport from 1933 to 1947 until it was re-organised into the London Transport Executive, responsibility for London Transport was subsequently taken over to the London Transport Board, the Greater London Council and London Regional Transport. However, in 1969 legislation was passed to transfer the country services, outside the area of the Greater London Council. Trading under the name London Country the green buses and Green Line Coaches became the responsibility of a new NBC subsidiary, London Country Bus Services, a former network of express buses operated by London Transport in central London was the Red Arrows. The routes, all numbered in the 500s, ran from main line stations to various locations in the West End and City. They were introduced in 1966 and expanded in 1968, but in the 1990s they were phased out. In the 1980s the government of Margaret Thatcher decided to privatise the bus operating industry in the Great Britain and this regime is still in place today, and bus operations in London must be put out to competitive tendering so that routes are operated by a number of private companies
24.
Piccadilly
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Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earls Court, Heathrow Airport, St Jamess is to the south of the eastern section, while the western section is built up only on the northern side. At just under 1 mile in length, Piccadilly is one of the widest and straightest streets in central London, Piccadilly has been a main road since at least medieval times, and in the middle ages was known as the road to Reading or the way from Colnbrook. Around 1611 or 1612, a Robert Baker acquired land in the area, shortly after purchasing the land, he enclosed it and erected several dwellings, including his home, Pikadilly Hall. Some of the most notable homes in London were built on the northern side of the street during this period, including Clarendon House. Berkeley House, constructed around the time as Clarendon House, was destroyed by a fire in 1733 and rebuilt as Devonshire House in 1737 by William Cavendish. It was later used as the headquarters for the Whig party. Burlington House has since been home to several noted societies, including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Geological Society of London, several members of the Rothschild family had mansions at the western end of the street. St Jamess Church was consecrated in 1684 and the area became St James Parish. The Old White Horse Cellar, at No,155, was one of the most famous coaching inns in England by the late-18th century, by which time the street had become a favourable location for booksellers. The Bath Hotel emerged around 1790, and Walsingham House was built in 1887, both the Bath and the Walsingham were purchased and demolished when the prestigious Ritz Hotel was built on the site in 1906. Piccadilly Circus station, at the east end of the street, was designed by Charles Holden and it was the first underground station to have no above-ground premises, the station is only accessible by subways from street level. The clothing store Simpsons was established at 203 -206 Piccadilly by Alec Simpson in 1936, during the 20th century, Piccadilly became known as a place to acquire heroin, and was notorious in the 1960s as the centre of Londons illegal drug trade. Today, Piccadilly is regarded as one of Londons principal shopping streets and its landmarks include the Ritz, Park Lane, Athenaeum and Intercontinental hotels, Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Academy, the RAF Club, Hatchards, the Embassy of Japan and the High Commission of Malta. Piccadilly has inspired works of fiction, including Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest. It is one of a group of squares on the London Monopoly board, the street has been part of a main road for centuries although there is no evidence that it was part of a Roman Road, unlike Oxford Street further north. In the Middle Ages it was known as the road to Reading or the way from Colnbrook, during the Tudor period, relatively settled conditions made expansion beyond Londons city walls a safer venture. Property speculation became an enterprise and developments grew so rapidly that the threat of disease
25.
Hyde Park Corner
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Hyde Park Corner is an area of London, located around a major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park. Six streets converge at the junction, Park Lane, Piccadilly, Constitution Hill, Grosvenor Place, Grosvenor Crescent, Hyde Park Corner tube station, a London Underground station served by the Piccadilly line, is located at the junction, as are a number of notable monuments. Immediately to the north of the junction is Apsley House, the home of the first Duke of Wellington, several monuments to the Duke were erected in the vicinity, both in his lifetime and subsequently. In the mid-nineteenth century, the space that is now the Hyde Park Corner traffic island was not entirely surrounded by roadway, in its centre stands the Wellington Arch, designed by Decimus Burton and planned as a northern gate to the grounds of Buckingham Palace. In execution it was out as a gate into the Green Park, and was originally sited directly opposite Burtons Ionic Screen. Originally, the Arch was topped with a statue of the Duke by Matthew Cotes Wyatt. The Arch was moved south because of congestion, and realigned to the axis of Constitution Hill in 1883. The boundary of Buckingham Palaces garden was moved south, and a new road named Duke of Wellington Place was created, at this time, the large equestrian statue was removed to Aldershot. It was subsequently replaced with work, entitled The Angel of Peace descending on the Quadriga of Victory, dated 1912, by the sculptor Adrian Jones. Following the passage of the Park Lane Improvement Act 1958, Park Lane was widened in the early 1960s and this left Apsley House on an island site. The InterContinental London hotel was built on the cleared site between the new route of Park Lane and Hamilton Place. At part of the scheme, a tunnel was constructed beneath the junction to allow traffic to flow freely between Knightsbridge and Piccadilly. As a result, the area around the Arch became a traffic island, mostly laid to grass, and accessible only by pedestrian underpassess. Subsequent changes to the layout in the 1990s reinstated a route between Hyde Park and the Green Park for pedestrians, cyclists and horseriders using surface-level crossings. The term is often used for Speakers Corner, which is located at the north-eastern corner of Hyde Park. The 1935 film Hyde Park Corner takes its name from the area, Hyde Park Corner was used as a codeword to announce to the government the death of King George VI in 1952
26.
St James's Palace
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St Jamess Palace is the most senior royal palace in the United Kingdom. Built by King Henry VIII on the site of a hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less. The palace increased in importance during the reigns of the early Georgian monarchy, after decades of being used increasingly for only formal occasions, the move was formalised by Queen Victoria in 1837. Today the palace houses a number of offices, societies and collections and all ambassadors. Mainly built between 1531 and 1536 in red-brick, the architecture is primarily Tudor in style. A fire in 1809 destroyed parts of the structure, including the private apartments. Some 17th-century interiors survive, but most were remodelled in the 19th century, the palace was commissioned by Henry VIII, on the site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less. The new palace, secondary in the kings interest to Henrys Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 as a residence to escape formal court life. Much smaller than the nearby Whitehall, St Jamess was arranged around a number of courtyards, including the Colour Court, the Ambassadors Court and it is decorated with the initials H. A. for Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Henry constructed the palace in red brick, with picked out in darker brick. The palace was remodelled in 1544, with ceilings painted by Hans Holbein, two of Henry VIIIs children died at Saint Jamess, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Mary I. Elizabeth I often resided at the palace, and is said to have spent the night there while waiting for the Spanish Armada to sail up the Channel, in 1638, Charles I gave the palace to Marie de Medici, the mother of his wife Henrietta Maria. Marie remained in the palace for three years, but the residence of a Catholic former queen of France proved unpopular with parliament, Charles I spent his final night at St Jamess before his execution. Oliver Cromwell then took it over, and turned it into barracks during the English Commonwealth period, Charles II, James II, Mary II and Anne were all born at the palace. The palace was restored by Charles II following the demise of the Commonwealth, the first two monarchs of the House of Hanover used St Jamess Palace as their principal London residence. George I and George II both housed their mistresses, the Duchess of Kendal and the Countess of Suffolk respectively, at the palace. In 1757, George II donated the Palace library to the British Museum, in 1809, a fire destroyed part of the palace, including the monarchs private apartments at the south east corner. These apartments were not replaced, leaving the Queens Chapel in isolation, George III found St Jamess increasingly unsuitable
27.
Saxons
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The Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes first mentioned as living near the North Sea coast of what is now Germany, in the late Roman empire. They were soon mentioned as raiding and settling in many North Sea areas, as well as pushing south inland towards the Franks. Significant numbers settled in parts of Great Britain in the early Middle Ages. Many Saxons however remained in Germania, where they resisted the expanding Frankish Empire through the leadership of the semi-legendary Saxon hero, the Saxons earliest area of settlement is believed to have been Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein. This general area also included the probable homeland of the Angles, Saxons, along with the Angles and other continental Germanic tribes, participated in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain during and after the 5th century. The British-Celtic inhabitants of the isles tended to refer to all of these collectively as Saxons. It is unknown how many Saxons migrated from the Continent to Britain, the Saxons may have derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known. The seax has a symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word Saxon. The Elizabethan era play Edmund Ironside suggests the Saxon name derives from the Latin saxa, Their names discover what their natures are, More hard than stones, in the Celtic languages, the words designating English nationality derive from the Latin word Saxones. The most prominent example, a loanword in English, is the Scottish Gaelic Sassenach and it derives from the Scottish Gaelic Sasunnach meaning, originally, Saxon, from the Latin Saxones. Scots- or Scottish English-speakers in the 21st century usually use it as a term for an English person. The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1771 as the date of the earliest written use of the word in English. Sasanach, the Irish word for an Englishman, has the same derivation, as do the words used in Welsh to describe the English people, Cornish terms the English Sawsnek, from the same derivation. In the 16th century Cornish-speakers used the phrase Meea navidna cowza sawzneck to feign ignorance of the English language, England in Scottish Gaelic is Sasainn. Other examples include the Welsh Saesneg, Irish Sasana, Breton saoz, and Cornish Sowson, Sowsnek, the label Saxons was also applied to German settlers who migrated during the 13th century to southeastern Transylvania. From Transylvania, some Saxons migrated to neighbouring Moldavia, as the name of the town, Sas-cut, sascut is located in the part of Moldavia that is today part of Romania. The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the term Saxony over the centuries to denote now the country of Germany
28.
Leper colony
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A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine people with leprosy. The term lazaretto can refer to sites, which were at some time also leper colonies. Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, historically, leprosy has been greatly feared because it causes visible disfigurement and disability, was incurable, and was commonly believed to be highly contagious. A leper colony administered by a Roman Catholic order was called a lazar house, after Lazarus. Some colonies were located on mountains or in locations in order to ensure quarantine, some on main roads. There is even doubt that the current definition of leprosy can be applied to the Medieval condition. What was classified as leprosy then covers a range of skin conditions that would be classified as distinct afflictions today. Some leper colonies issued their own money, in the belief that allowing lepers to handle regular money could spread the disease, the last existing leper colony in Europe is Tichilești in Romania. In 2002, an inquiry into these colonies was set up, and in March 2005. Did not have any scientific grounds, history of leprosy Kalawao, Hawaii Leprosy colony money Losheng Sanatorium
29.
St James's Park
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St Jamess Park is a 23-hectare park in the City of Westminster, central London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St Jamess area, the park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that comprises Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east and it meets Green Park at Queens Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St Jamess Palace is on the side of The Mall. The closest London Underground stations are St Jamess Park, Green Park, Victoria, the park has a small lake, St Jamess Park Lake, with two islands, West Island, and Duck Island, named for the lakes collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since pelicans were donated by a Russian ambassador in 1664 to Charles II. While most of the time the wings are clipped, there is a pelican who can be flying to the London Zoo in hopes of another meal. The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a view west towards Buckingham Palace framed by trees. Looking east the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock, and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind. In 1532, Henry VIII bought an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed from Eton College. It lies to the west of York Place acquired by Henry from Cardinal Wolsey, it was purchased in order to turn York Palace, subsequently renamed Whitehall, a 775 metre by 38 metre canal was created as evidenced in the old plan. The king opened the park to the public and used the area to entertain guests and mistresses, such as Nell Gwyn. The park became notorious at the time as a place for impromptu acts of lechery, as described by John Wilmot. In the late-17th and early-18th centuries cows grazed on the park, at the same time, Buckingham House was expanded to create the palace, and Marble Arch was built at its entrance, whilst The Mall was turned into a grand processional route. It opened to public traffic 60 years later in 1887, the Marble Arch was moved to its current location at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane in 1851 and the Victoria Memorial was erected between 1906 and 1924. Media related to St Jamess Park at Wikimedia Commons Visitor information at the Royal Parks website
30.
Henry VIII of England
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Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second Tudor monarch, succeeding his father, Henry VII, Henry is best known for his six marriages and, in particular, his efforts to have his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, annulled. Despite his resulting excommunication, Henry remained a believer in core Catholic theological teachings, domestically, Henry is known for his radical changes to the English Constitution, ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings to England. Besides asserting the supremacy over the Church of England, he greatly expanded royal power during his reign. Charges of treason and heresy were commonly used to quash dissent, and he achieved many of his political aims through the work of his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich and his contemporaries considered Henry in his prime to be an attractive, educated, and accomplished king, and he has been described as one of the most charismatic rulers to sit on the English throne. He was an author and composer, as he aged, Henry became severely obese and his health suffered, contributing to his death in 1547. He is frequently characterised in his life as a lustful, egotistical, harsh. He was succeeded by his son Edward VI, born 28 June 1491 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London, Henry Tudor was the third child and second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Of the young Henrys six siblings, only three – Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret, and Mary – survived infancy and he was baptised by Richard Fox, the Bishop of Exeter, at a church of the Observant Franciscans close to the palace. In 1493, at the age of two, Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was subsequently appointed Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, and was inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after. The day after the ceremony he was created Duke of York, in May 1495, he was appointed to the Order of the Garter. Henry was given an education from leading tutors, becoming fluent in Latin and French. Not much is known about his early life – save for his appointments – because he was not expected to become king, as Duke of York, Henry used the arms of his father as king, differenced by a label of three points ermine. In 1502, Arthur died at the age of 15 of sweating sickness, Arthurs death thrust all his duties upon his younger brother, the 10-year-old Henry. After a little debate, Henry became the new Duke of Cornwall in October 1502, Henry VII gave the boy few tasks. Young Henry was strictly supervised and did not appear in public, as a result, the young Henry would later ascend the throne untrained in the exacting art of kingship
31.
Croquet
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Croquet is a sport that involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded in a grass playing court. The oldest document to bear the word croquet with a description of the game is the set of rules registered by Isaac Spratt in November 1856 with the Stationers Company in London. This record is now in the Public Record Office, in 1868, the first croquet all-comers meet was held at Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire and in the same year the All England Croquet Club was formed at Wimbledon, London. In the book Queen of Games, The History of Croquet, Nicky Smith presents two theories of the origin of the game of croquet, which took England by storm in the 1860s. This was the explanation given in the edition of Encyclopædia Britannica. It is to be observed, that there are two of these arches, that is one at end of the alley. The images caption describes the game as a curious ancient pastime, in Samuel Johnsons 1755 dictionary, his definition of pall-mall clearly describes a game with similarities to modern croquet, A play in which the ball is struck with a mallet through an iron ring. However, there is no evidence that pall-mall involved the croquet stroke which is the characteristic of the modern game. Regular contact between Ireland and France had continued since the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169. By no later than the early 15th century, the game jeu de mail was popular in France, including in the courts of Henry II in the 16th century, at least one version of it, rouët was a multi-ball lawn game. There is, however, no pre-1858 Irish document that describes the way game was played, whatever the truth of the matter, Jaques certainly played an important role in popularising the game, producing editions of the rules in 1857,1860, and 1864. Croquet became highly popular as a pastime in England during the 1860s. By 1867, Jaques had printed 65,000 copies of his Laws and it quickly spread to other Anglophone countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States. No doubt one of the attractions was that the game could be played by both sexes, this ensured a certain amount of adverse comment. There was a revival in the 1890s, but from then onwards, croquet was always a minority sport, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club still has a croquet lawn, but has not hosted any significant tournaments. The English headquarters for the game is now in Cheltenham, on the page facing the title page is a picture of Eglinton Castle with a game of croquet in full swing. The croquet lawn existed on the terrace, between Eglinton Castle and the Lugton Water. In 1865 the Rules of the Eglinton Castle and Cassiobury Croquet was published by Edmund Routledge, several incomplete sets of this form of croquet are known to exist, and one complete set is still used for demonstration games in the West of Scotland
32.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
33.
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales
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Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his fathers thrones. However, at the age of 18, he predeceased his father when he died of typhoid fever and his younger brother Charles succeeded him as heir apparent to the English, Irish and Scottish thrones. Henry was born at Stirling Castle, Scotland and became Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland automatically on his birth. His father placed him in the care of John Erskine, Earl of Mar, although the childs removal caused enormous tension between Anne and James, Henry remained under the care of Mars family until 1603, when James became King of England and his family moved south. Henrys baptism on 30 August 1594 was celebrated with complex theatrical entertainments written by poet William Fowler, Henrys tutor Adam Newton continued to serve the Prince in England, and some Scottish servants from Stirling were retained, including poet David Murray. The king greatly preferred the role of schoolmaster to that of father, the princes popularity rose so high that it threatened his father. Relations between the two could be tense, and on occasion surfaced in public. At one point, the two were hunting near Royston when James criticised his son for lacking enthusiasm for the chase, and Henry initially moved to strike his father with a cane, most of the hunting party then followed the son. Upright to the point of priggishness, he fined all who swore in his presence, according to Charles Carlton, a biographer of Charles I, in addition to the alms box that Henry forced swearers to contribute to, he made sure his household attended church services. His religious views were influenced by the clerics in his household, Charles stamped on the cap and had to be dragged off in tears. With his fathers accession to the throne of England in 1603, as a young man, Henry showed great promise and was beginning to be active in leadership matters. Among his activities, he was responsible for the reassignment of Sir Thomas Dale to the Virginia Company of Londons struggling colony in North America. The Irish Gaelic lord of Inishowen, Sir Cahir ODoherty, had applied to gain a position as a courtier in the household of Henry, unknown to Sir Cahir, on 19 April 1608, the day he launched ODohertys Rebellion by burning Derry, his application was approved. Because of this Tyrone and his entourage mourned when the Prince met his early death, Henry died from typhoid fever at the age of 18. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, Prince Henrys death was widely regarded as a tragedy for the nation. According to Charles Carlton, Few heirs to the English throne have been as widely and deeply mourned as Prince Henry and his body lay in state at St. Jamess Palace for four weeks. On 7 December, over a thousand people walked in the cortege to Westminster Abbey to hear a two-hour sermon delivered by George Abbot
34.
Charles I of England
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Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
35.
Restoration (England)
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The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political settlement was established. It is very used to cover the whole reign of Charles II. Richard Cromwells main weakness was that he did not have the confidence of the army, after seven months, an army faction known as the Wallingford House party removed him on 6 May 1659 and reinstalled the Rump Parliament. Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the Committee of Safety and of the Council of State, on 9 June 1659, he was nominated lord-general of the army. However, his leadership was undermined in Parliament, which chose to disregard the armys authority in a fashion to the post-First Civil War Parliament. A royalist uprising was planned for 1 August 1659, but it was foiled, however, Sir George Booth gained control of Cheshire, Charles II hoped that with Spanish support he could effect a landing, but none was forthcoming. Booth held Cheshire until the end of August when he was defeated by General Lambert, the Commons, on 12 October 1659, cashiered General John Lambert and other officers, and installed Fleetwood as chief of a military council under the authority of the Speaker. The next day Lambert ordered that the doors of the House be shut, on 26 October a Committee of Safety was appointed, of which Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, the Committee of Safety sent Lambert with a large force to meet George Monck, who was in command of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or force him to come to terms. It was into this atmosphere that Monck, the governor of Scotland under the Cromwells, lamberts army began to desert him, and he returned to London almost alone. The Presbyterian members, excluded in Prides Purge of 1648, were recalled, Fleetwood was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before Parliament to answer for his conduct. On 3 March 1660, Lambert was sent to the Tower of London, Lambert was incarcerated and died in custody on Guernsey in 1694, Ingoldsby was indeed pardoned. On 4 April 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, Monck organised the Convention Parliament, which met for the first time on 25 April. On 8 May it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the monarch since the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. Constitutionally, it was as if the last nineteen years had never happened, Charles returned from exile, leaving the Hague on 23 May and landing at Dover on 25 May. He entered London on 29 May, his birthday, to celebrate his Majestys Return to his Parliament,29 May was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661, some contemporaries described the Restoration as a divinely ordained miracle. The sudden and unexpected deliverance from usurpation and tyranny was interpreted as a restoration of the natural, the Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time on 8 May 1661, and it would endure for over 17 years, finally being dissolved on 24 January 1679
36.
Samuel Pepys
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Samuel Pepys FRS was an administrator of the navy of England and Member of Parliament who is most famous for the diary that he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man. Pepys had no experience, but he rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, hard work, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy, the detailed private diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War. Pepys was born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London on 23 February 1633, the son of John Pepys, a tailor and his great uncle Talbot Pepys was Recorder and briefly Member of Parliament for Cambridge in 1625. His fathers first cousin Sir Richard Pepys was elected MP for Sudbury in 1640, appointed Baron of the Exchequer on 30 May 1654, Pepys was the fifth of eleven children, but child mortality was high and he was soon the oldest survivor. He was baptised at St Brides Church on 3 March, Pepys did not spend all of his infancy in London, for a while, he was sent to live with nurse Goody Lawrence at Kingsland, just north of the city. In about 1644, Pepys attended Huntingdon Grammar School before being educated at St Pauls School, London and he attended the execution of Charles I in 1649. In 1650, he went to Cambridge University, having received two exhibitions from St Pauls School and a grant from the Mercers Company. In October, he was admitted as a sizar to Magdalene College, he moved there in March 1651, later in 1654 or early in 1655, he entered the household of another of his fathers cousins, Sir Edward Montagu, who was later created 1st Earl of Sandwich. From a young age, Pepys suffered from stones in his urinary tract – a condition from which his mother and brother John also later suffered. He was almost never without pain, as well as other symptoms, by the time of his marriage, the condition was very severe. In 1657 Pepys decided to undergo surgery, not an option, as the operation was known to be especially painful. Nevertheless, Pepys consulted surgeon Thomas Hollier and, on 26 March 1658, Pepys stone was successfully removed and he resolved to hold a celebration on every anniversary of the operation, which he did for several years. However, there were long-term effects from the operation, the incision on his bladder broke open again late in his life. The procedure may have left him sterile, though there is no evidence for this. In mid-1658 Pepys moved to Axe Yard, near the modern Downing Street and he worked as a teller in the Exchequer under George Downing. On 1 January 1660, Pepys began to keep a diary and he recorded his daily life for almost ten years
37.
James II of England
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James II and VII was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685 until he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland, the second surviving son of Charles I, he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother, Charles II. Members of Britains Protestant political elite increasingly suspected him of being pro-French and pro-Catholic and he was replaced by his eldest, Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. James made one attempt to recover his crowns from William. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamites at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and he lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV. James, the surviving son of King Charles I and his wife. Later that same year, he was baptised by William Laud and he was educated by private tutors, along with his brother, the future King Charles II, and the two sons of the Duke of Buckingham, George and Francis Villiers. At the age of three, James was appointed Lord High Admiral, the position was honorary, but would become a substantive office after the Restoration. He was designated Duke of York at birth, invested with the Order of the Garter in 1642, as the Kings disputes with the English Parliament grew into the English Civil War, James stayed in Oxford, a Royalist stronghold. When the city surrendered after the siege of Oxford in 1646, in 1648, he escaped from the Palace, aided by Joseph Bampfield, and from there he went to The Hague in disguise. When Charles I was executed by the rebels in 1649, monarchists proclaimed Jamess older brother as Charles II of England, Charles II was recognised as king by the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of Ireland, and was crowned King of Scotland at Scone in 1651. Although he was proclaimed King in Jersey, Charles was unable to secure the crown of England and consequently fled to France, like his brother, James sought refuge in France, serving in the French army under Turenne against the Fronde, and later against their Spanish allies. In the French army James had his first true experience of battle where, according to one observer, he ventures himself, in the meantime, Charles was attempting to reclaim his throne, but France, although hosting the exiles, had allied itself with Oliver Cromwell. In 1656, Charles turned instead to Spain – an enemy of France – for support, in consequence, James was expelled from France and forced to leave Turennes army. James quarrelled with his brother over the choice of Spain over France. In 1659, the French and Spanish made peace, James, doubtful of his brothers chances of regaining the throne, considered taking a Spanish offer to be an admiral in their navy. Ultimately, he declined the position, by the year the situation in England had changed. After Richard Cromwells resignation as Lord Protector in 1659 and the subsequent collapse of the Commonwealth in 1660, although James was the heir presumptive, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit the Crown, as Charles was still a young man capable of fathering children
38.
John Denham (poet)
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Sir John Denham FRS was an Anglo-Irish poet and courtier. He served as Surveyor of the Kings Works and is buried in Westminster Abbey, Denham was born in Dublin to Sir John Denham, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and his second wife Eleanor Moore, daughter of Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford and at Lincolns Inn in London, in his earlier years Denham suffered for his Royalism, during the English Civil War, he was appointed High Sheriff of Surrey and governor of Farnham Castle. Denham became a Member of Parliament for Old Sarum in 1661, became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 20 May 1663 and he built or commissioned the original Burlington House in Piccadilly in about 1665. After the Restoration Denham became Surveyor of the Kings Works, probably for reasons of his political services rather than for any aptitude as an architect. John Webb was appointed Denhams deputy by 1664 and did Denhams work at Greenwich, Denham made an unhappy marriage, and his last years were clouded by dementia. Denham was buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey, Denham began his literary career with a tragedy, The Sophy, but his poem, Coopers Hill, is the work by which he is remembered. It is the first example in English of a devoted to local description. Denham wrote many versions of poem, reflecting the political and cultural upheavals of the Civil War. He also received extravagant praise from Samuel Johnson, who quoted Denhams verse to exemplify the use of several words and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Cousin, John William. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, London, J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource H. M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 ISBN 0-300-07207-4 Kelliher, W. H. Denham, Works by John Denham at Project Gutenberg Works by or about John Denham at Internet Archive
39.
Catherine of Braganza
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Catherine of Braganza was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1662 to 1685, by marriage to King Charles II. She also served as regent of Portugal during the absence of her brother in 1701 and 1704-05, owing to her devotion to the Roman Catholic beliefs in which she had been raised, Catherine was an unpopular consort for Charles II. She was an object of attack by the inventors of the Popish Plot. In 1678 the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was ascribed to her servants and these charges, the absurdity of which were soon shown by cross-examination, nevertheless placed the queen for some time in great danger. On 28 November Oates accused her of treason, and the Commons passed an order for her removal. A series of depositions were made against her, and in June 1679 it was decided that she must stand trial, but she was protected by the king. Catherine had three miscarriages and produced no heirs and her husband kept many mistresses, most notably Barbara Palmer, whom Catherine was forced to accept as one of her Ladies of the Bedchamber. Charles fathered numerous illegitimate offspring by his mistresses whom he acknowledged and she and Charles are credited with introducing the custom of drinking tea to the British court, which was common among the Portuguese nobility. Catherine was born at the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, as the surviving daughter of John, 8th Duke of Braganza and his wife. Following the Portuguese Restoration War, her father was acclaimed King John IV of Portugal, despite her countrys ongoing struggle with Spain, Catherine enjoyed a happy, contented childhood in her beloved Lisbon. Commonly regarded as the power behind the throne, Queen Luisa was also a mother who took an active interest in her childrens upbringing. Catherine is believed to have spent most of her youth in a convent close by the palace where she remained under the watchful eye of her protective mother. It appears to have been a sheltered upbringing, with one contemporary remarking that Catherine, was bred hugely retired. Catherines older sister, Joana, Princess of Beira, died in 1653 and her husband was chosen by Luisa, who acted as regent of her country following her husbands death in 1656. She arrived at Portsmouth on the evening of 13–14 May 1662, the following day the couple were married at Portsmouth in two ceremonies – a Catholic one conducted in secret, followed by a public Anglican service at the chapel of Domus Dei. On 30 September 1662 the married couple entered London as part of a large procession, there were also minstrels and musicians, among them ten playing shawms and twelve playing Portuguese bagpipes, those being the new Queen’s favourite instruments. This was followed by feasting and firework displays, Catherine possessed several good qualities, but had been brought up in a convent, secluded from the world, and was scarcely a wife Charles would have chosen for himself. Little is known of Catherines own thoughts on the match, even outside the convent her actions were governed by the strict etiquette of the royal court of Portugal
40.
Thomas Bowles
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Thomas Bowles was a Church of England priest. He is notable for a controversy in which he was appointed to two parishes in Wales where hardly any parishioners spoke English, despite the fact that Bowles spoke no Welsh, Bowles was a grandfather of the priest and poet William Lisle Bowles. Bowles was born at Corfe Castle, Dorset in 1696, the son of Reverend Matthew, Bowles became married to Elizabeth Lisle of Evenley, Northamptonshire on 6 July 1727. Elizabeth bore Bowles a son, William Thomas Bowles, in 1728, Bowles wife died on 9 August 1767. William Thomas Bowles went on to be Vicar of Kings Sutton, Northamptonshire 1760–73 and also Rector of Uphill, a daughter of Bowles became married to another Church of England clergyman, Arthur Lewis, who was Rector of Thenford, Northamptonshire 1774–87. William Thomas Bowles children included William Lisle Bowles, who was ordained priest in 1792 and was also a poet, Bowles was a graduate of University College, Oxford. He followed his father into the church, being ordained deacon on 16 June 1717 and he was Vicar of St Mary de Haura, New Shoreham, Sussex, from 23 September 1727 until 3 October 1728. Bowles was Rector of the parish of St Peter, Brackley, Northamptonshire for 37 years, from January 1734 he also held two Berkshire parishes, being the absentee Rector of Tubney and Aston Tirrold. In April 1766 Bowles vacated St Peters Brackley and was made Rector of two parishes on Anglesey, St Beuno, Trefdraeth and St Cwyfan, Llangwyfan, in August he also resigned his absentee rectorates of Tubney and Aston Tirrold. Between them Trefdraeth and Llangwyfan had about 500 parishioners, of all but five spoke only Welsh. The churchwardens and parishioners of Trefdraeth therefore petitioned against Bowles appointment, John Thomas, headmaster of Beaumaris Grammar School, supported the petitioners and enlisted funding and support from the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. The churchwardens of Trefdraeth, Richard Williams and Hugh Williams, brought a prosecution under ecclesiastical law, in 1563 the English Parliament had passed the Act for the Translating of the Bible and the Divine Service into the Welsh Tongue. Official translations into Welsh had been published of the New Testament, the Court of Arches finally took evidence on the case in May 1770, two years after the bishop who appointed Bowles, John Egerton, had left the see of Bangor. Richard Williams and John Thomas testified that Bowles had seldom conducted services at St Beunos, another witness, Henry Jones, testified that Bowles had conducted a service at St Beunos no more than three times. Williams and Jones testified that soon afterwards Bowles tried to minister in Welsh, since then Bowles had but seldom attended St Beunos, and had employed a Welsh-speaking perpetual curate, John Griffith, to officiate in his stead. Griffith testified that he never saw Bowles conduct a service at St Cwyfans, the deposition was signed also by Rev. Arthur Lewis, but he was Bowles son-in-law. After taking evidence in May 1770 the Court of Arches did not hear the prosecution, defence counsel contended that it is for the interest of the principality that the English language should prevail in that country. It has always been the policy of the legislature to introduce the English language in Wales and we never heard of an act of parliament in Welsh
41.
Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans
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Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of Saint Albans, KG was an English politician and courtier. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1643 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Jermyn and he was baptised at St Margaret’s Lothbury, London on 25 March 1605. In 1625 Jermyn was elected Member of Parliament for Bodmin, and was re-elected MP for the seat in 1626 and he was MP for Liverpool in 1628. He won the favour of Henrietta Maria of France, Queen consort of Charles I of England whose vice-chamberlain he became in 1628, in April 1640, Jermyn was elected MP for Corfe Castle in the Short Parliament together with his brother Thomas. The brothers were both elected MPs for Bury St Edmunds in the Long Parliament in November 1640 and were active, Jermyn took a prominent part in the First Army Plot of 1641, and on its discovery fled to France. Returning to the Kingdom of England in 1643, he resumed his attendance on the queen. He accompanied Henrietta Maria in 1644 to France, where he continued to act as her secretary, also in 1643, Jermyn was made governor of Jersey, whence he conducted the Prince of Wales to Paris. When Charles II went to Breda, Jermyn remained in Paris with Henrietta Maria, gossip which the historian Hallam accepted as authentic, but which is supported by no real evidence, asserted that Jermyn was secretly married to the widow of Charles I. Francis Robinson of Nathaniel Angelo, a Windsor clergyman, asserting that all the children were Jermyns bastards. At the Restoration St Albans became Lord Chamberlain, and received other appointments. It was a design in itself, and from its inspiration grew the whole of the West End of London. He was a friend and patron of Abraham Cowley and Sir William Davenant, although accused of having dissolute morals, he was really no more or less moral than most other men of his time. He was much addicted to gambling, which was a popular pastime in his era. St Albans died in St James Square in January 1684 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. And updated using material from Anthony Adolphs book The Kings Henchman, Henry Jermyn, Stuart Spymaster and Architect of the British Empire
42.
Real tennis
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Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called the sport of kings – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis is derived. It is also known as tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia. The term real was first used by journalists in the early 20th century as a retronym to distinguish the ancient game from modern lawn tennis, Real tennis is still played on about 43 surviving courts in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and France. Despite a documented history of courts existing in the German states from the 17th century, the sport is supported and governed by various organizations around the world. The rules and scoring are similar to those of tennis, which derives from real tennis. A match is typically best of three sets, except for the open tournaments, in which matches are best of five sets for men. Unlike the latex-based technology underlying the modern lawn-tennis ball, the game uses a cork-based ball very close in design to the original balls used in the game. The balls are white, but around the end of the 20th century optic yellow was introduced for improved visibility. The balls are much less bouncy than lawn tennis balls, the 27-inch short, asymmetrical racquets are made of wood and use very tight nylon strings to cope with the heavy balls. The racquet head is shaped to make it easier to strike close to the floor or in corners. There are two companies in the world hand-crafting these racquets, Grays of Cambridge and Gold Leaf Athletics, there are two basic designs in existence today - jeu quarré which is an older design and jeu à dedans. The court at Falkland Palace is a jeu quarré design which unlike jeu à dedans court lacks a tambour, the more common real tennis court is a very substantial building. There are no dimensions for courts. Most are about 110 by 39 feet above the penthouses, and about 96 by 32 feet on the playing floor and they are doubly asymmetric, each end of the court differs in shape from the other, and the left and right sides of the court are also different. There are numerous and widely varying styles of service and these are given descriptive names to distinguish them – examples are railroad, bobble, poop, piqué, boomerang, and giraffe. The game has many other complexities, for instance, when the ball bounces twice on the floor at the service end, the serving player does not generally lose the point. A chase can also be called at the end, but only on the half of that end nearest the net. Additionally, a player can gain the advantage of serving only through skillful play and this is in stark contrast to lawn tennis, where players alternately serve and receive entire games
Charing Cross
Charing Cross
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