1.
Devon
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Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, combined as a ceremonial county, Devons area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936, Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter. The north and south coasts of Devon each have both cliffs and sandy shores, and the bays contain seaside resorts, fishing towns. The inland terrain is rural, generally hilly, and has a low density in comparison to many other parts of England. Dartmoor is the largest open space in southern England at 954 km2, to the north of Dartmoor are the Culm Measures and Exmoor. In the valleys and lowlands of south and east Devon the soil is fertile, drained by rivers including the Exe, the Culm, the Teign, the Dart. As well as agriculture, much of the economy of Devon is linked with tourism, in the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh, Dyfnaint, Breton, Devnent and Cornish, Dewnens, each meaning deep valleys. One erroneous theory is that the suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire. However, there are references to Defenascire in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 AD, the term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia to Defenascir. Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30–40,000 years ago, Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under occupation for around 350 years. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was absorbed into Wessex by the mid 9th century. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited rather than a movement of people. The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times, Devons tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devons Stannary Parliament, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century
2.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
3.
Districts of England
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The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of government in England is not uniform. Some districts are styled as boroughs, cities, or royal boroughs, these are purely honorific titles, prior to the establishment of districts in the 1890s, the basic unit of local government in England was the parish overseen by the parish church vestry committee. Vestries dealt with the administraction of both parochial and secular governmental matters, parishes were the successors of the manorial system and historically had been grouped into hundreds. Hundreds once exercised some supervising administrative function, however, these powers ebbed away as more and more civic and judicial powers were centred on county towns. From 1834 these parishes were grouped into Poor Law Unions, creating areas for administration of the Poor Law and these areas were later used for census registration and as the basis for sanitary provision. In 1894, based on these earlier subdivisions, the Local Government Act 1894 created urban districts and rural districts as sub-divisions of administrative counties, another reform in 1900 created 28 metropolitan boroughs as sub-divisions of the County of London. Meanwhile, from this date parish-level local government administration was transferred to civil parishes, the setting-down of the current structure of districts in England began in 1965, when Greater London and its 32 London boroughs were created. They are the oldest type of still in use. In 1974, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties were created across the rest of England and were split into metropolitan districts, in London power is now shared again, albeit on a different basis, with the Greater London Authority. During the 1990s a further kind of district was created, the unitary authority, metropolitan boroughs are a subdivision of a metropolitan county. These are similar to unitary authorities, as the county councils were abolished in 1986. Most of the powers of the county councils were devolved to the districts but some services are run by joint boards, the districts typically have populations of 174,000 to 1.1 million. Non-metropolitan districts are second-tier authorities, which share power with county councils and they are subdivisions of shire counties and the most common type of district. These districts typically have populations of 25,000 to 200,000, the number of non-metropolitan districts has varied over time. Initially there were 296, after the creation of unitary authorities in the 1990s and late 2000s and these are single-tier districts which are responsible for running all local services in their areas, combining both county and district functions. They were created in the out of non-metropolitan districts, and often cover large towns. In addition, some of the smaller such as Rutland, Herefordshire
4.
Exeter
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Exeter is a cathedral city in Devon, England with a population of 127,300. It lies within the county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council, currently, the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district and is therefore under the administration of the County Council. The city is on the River Exe about 37 miles northeast of Plymouth and 70 miles southwest of Bristol, Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Britain, although there is evidence a Cornish tribe existed in Exeter before the Roman invasion. Exeter became a centre during the Middle Ages and into the Tudor times, Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century. During the late 19th century, Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, after the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now considered to be a centre for modern business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. The name Exe is a development of the Brittonic name—meaning water or, more exactly, full of fish —that also appears in the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC. Such early towns had been a feature of pre-Roman Gaul as described by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries, the Romans established a 42-acre playing-card shaped fort named Isca around AD55. To distinguish the two, the Romans also referred to Exeter as Isca Dumnoniorum, Watertown of the Dumnonii, a small fort was also maintained at Topsham, a supply depot on the route between the two was excavated at St Loyes on Topsham Road in 2010. The presence of the built up an unplanned civilian community of natives. This area was excavated in the 1970s, but could not be maintained for public view owing to its proximity to the present-day cathedral, in January 2015, it was announced that Exeter Cathedral had launched a bid to restore the baths and open an underground centre for visitors. In the late 2nd century, the ditch and rampart defences around the old fortress were replaced by a bank and wall enclosing a much larger area, although most of the visible structure is older, the course of the Roman wall was used for Exeters subsequent city walls. Thus about 70% of the Roman wall remains, and most of its route can be traced on foot, the dating of the coins so far discovered, however, suggests a rapid decline, virtually none have been discovered dated after the year 380. By that time, the city was held by the Saxons, Exeter was known to the Saxons as Escanceaster. In 876, it was attacked and briefly captured by Danish Vikings, alfred the Great drove them out the next summer. Over the next few years, he elevated Exeter to one of the four burhs in Devon and these permitted the city to fend off another attack and siege by the Danes in 893. King Athelstan again strengthened the walls around 928, and at the time drove out the remaining Britons from the city
5.
Regions of England
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The regions are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within Government, while they no longer fulfil this role, they continue to be used for statistical and some administrative purposes. They define areas for the purposes of elections to the European Parliament, Eurostat also uses them to demarcate first level Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics regions within the European Union. The regions generally follow the boundaries of the former standard regions, the London region has a directly elected Mayor and Assembly. Six regions have local authority leaders boards to assist with correlating the headline policies of local authorities, the remaining two regions no longer have any administrative functions, having abolished their regional local authority leaders boards. In 1998, regional chambers were established in the eight regions outside of London, the regions also had an associated Government Office with some responsibility for coordinating policy, and, from 2007, a part-time regional minister within the Government. House of Commons regional Select Committees were established in 2009, Regional ministers were not reappointed by the incoming Coalition Government, and the Government Offices were abolished in 2011. Regional development agencies were public bodies established in all nine regions in 1998 to promote economic development and they had certain delegated functions, including administering European Union regional development funds, and received funding the central government as well. After about 500 AD, England comprised seven Anglo-Saxon territories – Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, the boundaries of some of these, which later unified as the Kingdom of England, roughly coincide with those of modern regions. During Oliver Cromwells Protectorate in the 1650s, the rule of the Major-Generals created 10 regions in England, proposals for administrative regions within England were mooted by the British government prior to the First World War. In 1912 the Third Home Rule Bill was passing through parliament, the Bill was expected to introduce a devolved parliament for Ireland, and as a consequence calls were made for similar structures to be introduced in Great Britain or Home Rule All Round. On 12 September the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, within England, he suggested that London, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands would make natural regions. While the creation of regional parliaments never became official policy, it was for a widely anticipated. In 1946 nine standard regions were set up, in central government bodies, statutory undertakings. However, these had declined in importance by the late 1950s, creation of some form of provinces or regions for England was an intermittent theme of post-Second World War British governments. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed the creation of eight provinces in England, one-fifth of the advisory councils would be nominees from central government. The boundaries suggested were the eight now existing for economic planning purposes, a minority report by Lord Crowther-Hunt and Alan T. Peacock suggested instead seven regional assemblies and governments within Great Britain, some elements of regional development and economic planning began to be established in England from the mid-1960s onwards
6.
South West England
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South West England is one of nine official regions of England. It is the largest in area, covering 9,200 square miles, five million people live in South West England. The region includes the West Country and much of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, other major urban centres include Plymouth, Swindon, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Exeter, Bath, Torbay, and the South East Dorset conurbation. There are eight cities, Salisbury, Bath, Wells, Bristol, Gloucester, Exeter, Plymouth and it includes two entire national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, and four World Heritage Sites, including Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast. The northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall, the region has by far the longest coastline in England and many seaside fishing towns. The region is at the first-level of NUTS for Eurostat purposes, key data and facts about the region are produced by the South West Observatory. Following the abolition of the South West Regional Assembly and Government Office, the region is known for its rich folklore, including the legend of King Arthur and Glastonbury Tor, as well as its traditions and customs. Cornwall has its own language, Cornish, and some regard it as a Celtic nation, the South West of England is known for Cheddar cheese, which originated in the Somerset village of Cheddar, Devon cream teas, crabs, Cornish pasties, and cider. It is also home to the Eden Project, Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury Festival, most of the region is located on the South West Peninsula, between the English Channel and Bristol Channel. It has the longest coastline of all the English regions, totalling over 700 miles, much of the coast is now protected from further substantial development because of its environmental importance, which contributes to the region’s attractiveness to tourists and residents. Geologically the region is divided into the largely igneous and metamorphic west and sedimentary east, Cornwall and West Devons landscape is of rocky coastline and high moorland, notably at Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor. These are due to the granite and slate that underlie the area, the highest point of the region is High Willhays, at 2,038 feet, on Dartmoor. In North Devon the slates of the west and limestones of the east meet at Exmoor National Park, the variety of rocks of similar ages seen here have led to the countys name being lent to that of the Devonian period. The east of the region is characterised by wide, flat clay vales and chalk, the vales, with good irrigation, are home to the regions dairy agriculture. The Blackmore Vale was Thomas Hardys Vale of the Little Dairies, another and these downs are the principal area of arable agriculture in the region. Limestone is also found in the region, at the Cotswolds, Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills, all of the principal rock types can be seen on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon, where they document the entire Mesozoic era from west to east. The climate of South West England is classed as oceanic according to the Köppen climate classification, the oceanic climate typically experiences cool winters with warmer summers and precipitation all year round, with more experienced in winter. Annual rainfall is about 1,000 millimetres and up to 2,000 millimetres on higher ground, summer maxima averages range from 18 °C to 22 °C and winter minimum averages range from 1 °C to 4 °C across the south-west
7.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
8.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
9.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
10.
Postcodes in the United Kingdom
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Postal codes used in the United Kingdom are known as postcodes. They are alphanumeric and were adopted nationally between 11 October 1959 and 1974, having been devised by the GPO, a full postcode is known as a postcode unit and designates an area with a number of addresses or a single major delivery point. For example, the postcode of the University of Roehampton in London is SW15 5PU, the postcode of GCHQ is GL51 0EX, where GL signifies the postal town of Gloucester. The postal town refers to an area and does not relate to a specific town. GL51 is one of the postcodes for the town of Cheltenham which is where GCHQ is located, the London post town covers 40% of Greater London. On inception it was divided into ten districts, EC, WC, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W. The S and NE sectors were later abolished and these divisions changed little, usually only changed for operational efficiency. Some older road signs in Hackney still indicate the North East sector/district, following the successful introduction of postal districts in London, the system was extended to other large towns and cities. Liverpool was divided into Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western districts in 1864/65, in 1917 Dublin – then still part of the United Kingdom – was divided into numbered postal districts. These continue in use in a form by An Post. In 1923 Glasgow was divided in a way to London. In January 1932 the Postmaster General approved the designation of some urban areas into numbered districts. In November 1934 the Post Office announced the introduction of numbered districts in every town in the United Kingdom large enough to justify it. Pamphlets were issued to each householder and business in ten areas notifying them of the number of the district in which their premises lay, the pamphlets included a map of the districts, and copies were made available at local head post offices. The public were invited to include the district number in the address at the head of letters. A publicity campaign in the following year encouraged the use of the district numbers, the slogan for the campaign was For speed and certainty always use a postal district number on your letters and notepaper. A poster was fixed to every box in the affected areas bearing the number of the district. Every post office in the district was also to display this information
11.
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom
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Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom are administered by the UK governments Office of Communications. For this purpose Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, since 28 April 2001, almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code. All mobile telephone numbers have 10 national numbers after the 0 trunk code, regions with shorter area codes, typically large cities, permit the allocation of more telephone numbers as the local number portion has more digits. Local customer numbers are four to eight figures long, the total number of digits is ten, but in a very few areas the total may be nine digits. The area code is referred to as an STD or a dialling code in the UK. The code allocated to the largest population is for London, the code allocated to the largest area is for all of Northern Ireland. The UK Numbering Plan also applies to three British Crown dependencies—Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man—even though they are not part of the UK itself. Possible number formats for UK telephone numbers are as follows, Number ranges starting 01 can have NSN length as 10 or 9 digits, the 0800 range can have NSN length as 10,9 or 7 digits. The 0845 range can have NSN length as 10 or 7 digits, the 0500 range has NSN length as 9 digits only. There are no numbers in the UK with an NSN length of 8 digits. Geographic telephone numbers in the UK always have nine or ten digits, four-digit area codes have either six-digit subscriber numbers or a mix of five- and six-digit subscriber numbers. Xxxxxx This is the used by most areas. It has an area code and a six digit subscriber number. These area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. Just short of 581 areas use this format, and the area range from 01200 to 01998. A small number of areas also have a few subscriber numbers that have only five digits. That is, almost all area codes now have only six digit local numbers, six of the four-digit area codes are known as mixed areas as they share those four digits with the twelve five-digit area codes. The numbers therefore have only nine digits after the initial zero trunk code and these area codes were changed by adding a 1 directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995
12.
Devon and Cornwall Police
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This is the largest police force area in England by geographical area covered, and the fifth largest in the United Kingdom. The total population of the area is approximately 1.5 million. The force also has to cope with an influx of around 11 million visitors to its area during the average year, since 15 November 2012 the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner is Tony Hogg. The police and crime commissioner is scrutinised by the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel, before November 2012 the Devon and Cornwall Police Authority was the police governance. The force is divided into three BCUs, each commanded by a Chief Superintendent, each BCU is divided into large Geographic Areas, which are further sub-divided into Sectors, each with one or more police stations. Each Geographic Area is headed by a Superintendent and each Sector by an Inspector, jim Colwell Teignmouth & Dawlish Sector Chudleigh & Ashburton Sector Newton Abbot Sector*Ivybridge Sector Kingsbridge & Dartmouth Sector Ivybridge Sector Totnes Sector LPA Supt, Supt. Devon and Cornwall has 193 NPTs Traffic Units patrol the roads and target, Criminal Investigation Departments detect serious crime Forensic Services investigate crime scenes for forensic evidence that may correspond with many of the Home Office databases. Pro-active Policing Units target persistent criminals and focus on specific operations, dog Units are officers who patrol with dogs and respond to incidents where a police dog is required. Both rooms are considered virtual and calls from the counties of Devon and Cornwall, the Force Contact Centres employ mostly civilian staff with sworn officers in both command and support roles. Calls that require a genuine non-emergency response are transferred to a multi-skilled Call Handler, the Force Switchboard can also be used to request to speak to individual officers or departments within the organisation. Prior to 2011 Devon & Cornwall Police was contactable on 08452777444 before moving to the Single Non-Emergency Number 101, the conversion to 101 did not change any processes, policies, sites or staff for Devon & Cornwall Police. Radio Dispatch Officers are located at both sites and deploy police officers following calls for service from the Call Handlers, Call Handlers are regularly faced with calls for service where a person is feeling suicidal and has called the police for help. Since 2014 the Force Contact Centre has been staffed by a health professional able to assist operators with dealing with calls for service for persons with mental health issues. This initiative has had a significant impact on the number of persons detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, Support is offered to Force Contact Centre staff who have dealt with distressing incidents. Training for Force Contact Centre staff consists of eight weeks of mixed classroom and in-house tuition, the latter conducted with the assistance of a mentor, and a probationary period of 12 months. In early 2015 a two-year minimum tenure was imposed on recruits into the Force Contact Centre to discourage candidates from using it as a foot in the door to other areas of the police environment. The Operations Department provides uniformed support to the force, and is responsible for traffic policing. Devon and Cornwall Police patrol 20 miles of the M5 which has 6 junctions, as well as many other A roads including the A30, A377, A38, A303, A386, A388, A39, A390, A391, A395, A394 and A376
13.
Fire services in the United Kingdom
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The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Emergency cover is provided by over fifty fire and rescue services, many FRS were previously known as brigades or county fire services, but almost all now use the standard terminology. They are distinct from and governed by an authority, which is the legislative, public and administrative body. Fire authorities in England and Wales, and therefore fire and rescue services, Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire and rescue services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments. The total budget for services in 2014-15 was £2.9 billion. The devolved government in Scotland has an agency, HMFSI Scotland. This Act provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain,1947, Fire Services Act 1947 This Act transferred the functions of the National Fire Service to local authorities. Now repealed entirely in England and Wales by Schedule 2 of the Fire,1959, Fire Services Act 1959 This Act amended the 1947 Act, it dealt with pensions, staffing arrangements and provision of services by other authorities. It was repealed in England and Wales along with the 1947 Act,1999, Greater London Authority Act 1999 This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London Authority and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. In 2002, there was a series of fire strikes. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service was published with the action still ongoing. Bains report ultimately led to a change in the relating to firefighting. 2002, Independent Review of the Fire Service published 2004, Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, generally only applying to England and it came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises,2006, The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the National Assembly for Wales powers to pass laws on Fire, promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation. But does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries, There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association. The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons select committee, in June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office, Fire Control On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman and Cllr James Pearson from the Local Government Association, also giving evidence Matt Wrack from the Fire Brigades Union and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association
14.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service
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It is the fifth largest fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was founded on 1 April 2007, following the merger of Devon Fire and Rescue Service with Somerset Fire, the Somerset service, previously known as Somerset Fire Brigade, was formed on 1 April 1948. Devon Fire Brigade was formed in 1973, by the amalgamation of Exeter City Brigade, Plymouth City Brigade and it became Devon Fire and Rescue Service in 1987. It is organised operationally into three commands, Central, Western and Somerset, the services main headquarters is located at Clyst St George near Exeter. Its main training centre is the Service Training Centre at Plympton fire station, the service employs approximately 1,983 staff, including 624 whole time firefighters and 46 control room staff,1,032 retained firefighters and 281 non-uniformed staff. Each county operated its own room until 2012 but they now have a single control room at Service Headquarters. These are areas that have identified as having a greater need for ambulance cover. The aim of a team is to preserve life until the arrival of either a Rapid Response Vehicle or an ambulance. Co-responder vehicles are equipped with oxygen and automatic external defibrillation equipment, Co-responder stations have a dedicated vehicle for Co-responder calls. The vehicle, known as the response unit, attends in place of the fire appliance. It is the link road to the south west from the Midlands. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service divide the M5 into sections so that the nearest appliances attend, the dockyard falls into the station ground of 48 Camels Head, and is backed up by 49 Crownhill. Each part of the dockyard is divided into risk areas - this then reflects in the level of attendance by the Fire Service, Hinkley Point is a headland on the coast of Somerset. It is the location of two power stations. Hinkley Point B is the active site. Hinkley Point has its own station, backed up by 67 Nether Stowey. There is a new nuclear power station that will be Hinkley Point C. Devon and Somerset use a variety of front-line and special appliances, operating from 85 fire stations, It has 121 fire engines and 64 special appliances, including aerial appliances, water carriers, incident command units, 4x4s and environmental protection units
15.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
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Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status. The NHS commissions most emergency services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other services, the public normally access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which gradually merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary contract for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England. The service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was established in 1995 by parliamentary order, and serves the whole of Northern Ireland. The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust was established on 1 April 1998, there is a large market for private and voluntary ambulance services, with the sector being worth £800m to the UK economy in 2012. This places the voluntary providers in direct competition with private services, expenditure on private ambulances in England increased from £37m in 2011−12 to £67. 5m in 2013/4, rising in London from £796,000 to more than £8. 8m. In 2014−15, these 10 ambulance services spent £57.6 million on 333,329 callouts of private or voluntary services - an increase of 156% since 2010−11, in 2013, the CQC found 97% of private ambulance services to be providing good care. These private, registered services are represented by the Independent Ambulance Association, there are also a number of unregistered services operating, who do not provide ambulance transport, but only provide response on an event site. These firms are not regulated, and are not subject to the checks as the registered providers, although they may operate similar vehicles. There are a number of ambulance providers, sometimes known as Voluntary Aid Services or Voluntary Aid Societies, with the main ones being the British Red Cross. The history of the ambulance services pre-dates any government organised service. As they are in competition for work with the private ambulance providers. Voluntary organisations have also provided cover for the public when unionised NHS ambulance trust staff have taken industrial action, there are a number of smaller voluntary ambulance organisations, fulfilling specific purposes, such as Hatzola who provide emergency medical services to the orthodox Jewish community in some cities. These have however run into difficulties due to use of vehicles not legally recognised as ambulances, all emergency medical services in the UK are subject to a range of legal and regulatory requirements, and in many cases are also monitored for performance. This framework is largely statutory in nature, being mandated by government through a range of primary and secondary legislation and this requires all providers to register, to meet certain standards of quality, and to submit to inspection of those standards
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South Western Ambulance Service
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The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the organisation responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service across South West England. On March 1,2011 SWASFT was the first ambulance service in the country to become a Foundation Trust, the Trust merged with neighbouring Great Western Ambulance Service on 1 February 2013. SWASFT serves a population of more than 5.3 million, the operational area is predominantly rural but also has large urban centres including Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter, Truro, Bath, Swindon, Gloucester, Bournemouth and Poole. The Trust’s core operations include, Emergency ambulance 999 services Urgent Care Services – GP out-of-hours medical care NHS111 call-handling and triage services Tiverton Urgent Care Centre. It is one of ten Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency services and employs more than 4,000 mainly clinical and operational staff plus GPs. The Trust is one of the largest in England and it covers an area of 51,871 km and 827 miles of coastline. In 2015/16 approximately one in eight 999 calls to South Western Ambulance Service are treated over the telephone, hear and treat is 12. 7% of calls and means the patient receives clinical advice over the telephone. For 36. 4% of incidents the patients experience see and treat, in a further 7. 7% of incidents, the patient is taken to a non-emergency hospital department so that might mean a community hospital or minor injuries unit. The remaining incidents result in a patient being taken to an emergency department. SWASFT is the best performing ambulance service in the country for non-conveyance rates, in addition approximately 62% of patients taken to hospital are admitted – this is again the highest performance for an ambulance trust in the country. SWASFT place a lot of emphasis on patient experience and actively encourage feedback about its services - whether positive or negative, lessons learned from the feedback, and all improvements and changes, are reported to its Board of Directors. The Trust also engages with patients and the public at events and shows, the number of compliments received by the Trust in 2014/15 increased by 41% to 2,055. Complaints also rose by 20% to 1,268, the easiest way to contact the Trust is online at their website. In May 2014 the Trust won a contract to run a minor injuries unit at Tiverton and District Hospital
17.
East Devon (UK Parliament constituency)
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East Devon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Hugo Swire of the Conservative Party. The constituency is in the county of Devon, directly east of Exeter and has a shoreline on the Jurassic Coast, in particular, the towns of Axminster and Seaton were transferred to the Tiverton and Honiton constituency. Also, two wards from the City of Exeter are now part of the East Devon seat, the main settlements in the constituency are the seaside resorts of Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth, and the inland town of Ottery St Mary. Constituency created - two seats The two-seat constituency of East Devon was abolished at the 1885 general election, at the 1997 general election a new constituency of East Devon was established. Sir Peter Emery, MP for Honiton since a 1967 by-election, represented the new East Devon seat until standing down in 2001, list of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon Notes References Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig Whos Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton Whos Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees
18.
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
19.
River Exe
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It flows for 60 miles and reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon. Historically, its lowest bridging point was at Exeter, though there is now a viaduct for the M5 motorway about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. The rivers name is an anglicisation of the Latin isca, itself a form of a Brittonic root meaning water or, more exactly. It seems to be a cognate of pysg, the Welsh word for fish. The river gave the name of Exeter and many settlements along its course, including Exford, Up Exe, Nether Exe, Exwick, Exton, Exminster, and Exebridge. The seaside town of Exmouth is at the east side of the estuary mouth, the river fuelled Exeters growth and relative importance in medieval times, and the citys first industrial area was developed at Exe Island, created by a series of leats to the west of the city. The island was home to numerous watermills producing paper and textiles, tides on the river are limited at Countess Wear, the site of a weir commissioned by the Countess of Devon in the 13th century. The Exeter Canal bypasses this weir to enable ships to reach Exeter Quay, at high tide, the estuary forms a large body of water that is heavily used for water sports especially sailing, windsurfing and water skiing. Railways run along both sides of the estuary, the Avocet Line from Exeter to Exmouth on the eastern side, and the South Devon main line on the western. The latter is on a causeway, the South Devon Railway sea wall from Powderham to Dawlish Warren, at low tide, extensive mud flats are exposed, and these are an important feeding source for wading birds. Along with other rias in South West England, the Exe estuary is an important site for wintering waders, Dawlish Warren is a favoured site for birdwatching. The river has a low pH but does not suffer from an acid rain problem. It is populated with wild brown trout, and in the lower reaches coarse fish including dace, chub, perch, roach, pike and bream and some grayling, there is a run of Atlantic salmon and a sparse run of sea trout. Just 150 metres below the union of the River Barle is Black Pool, which is one of the best, the smaller fish species present include stone loach and there are good reasons to assume others are present. In 2008 the Environment Agency embarked on a project to clean the river from vegetation forming, in order to do so the water level decreased to its lowest level – less water remained than the droughts the city has suffered. Rivers of the United Kingdom Lawrence, Rod, the Exe, A River for Wildlife. RSPB reserves, Exminster & Powderham Marshes Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve
20.
Exmouth
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Exmouth /ˈɛksməθ/ is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort in East Devon, England, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe. In 2011, it had a population of 34,432 making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon, byzantine coins dating back to c. 498–518, with the mark of Anastasius I, were retrieved on the beach in 1970, more recent human occupation of Exmouth Point can be traced back to the 11th century, when it was known as Lydwicnaesse, the point of the Bretons. The town appears on the century Peutinger Map one of only 15 British towns, the two ecclesiastical parishes, Littleham and Withycombe Raleigh, that make up the town of Exmouth today can be traced to pre-Saxon times. The name of the town derives from its location at the mouth of the River Exe estuary, in 1240 an area known as Pratteshuthe was sold to the mayor and citizens of Exeter. This was the site of the ferry dock and over time the name evolved first into Pratteshide. The original site is marked by an area outside the Glenorchy United Reformed Church close to the Magnolia Shopping Centre. The roads in and out of the area were in a poor state, a more permanent dock was built in 1825, replacing a series of apparently seasonal docks first noted on maps from 1576 as The Docke. New docks designed by Eugenius Birch were opened in 1868, the area adjacent to the docks once housed a thriving community of some 125 chalets built on the shoreline. These have been replaced by a marina complex known as Exmouth Quay. Human habitation was restricted by the exposed position on the estuary – civilisation took a hold in a greater. The town began to develop in the 13th century, morin Uppehille owned the land, granting part of it to John the Miller who in turn built a windmill, and earned his living on the exposed point, aided by the prevailing south-west winds. The windmill, the dock and a small settlement of farms began to develop into Exmouth. Sir Walter Raleigh sailed on many of his voyages from Exmouth Harbour, the town established itself during the 18th century and is regarded as the oldest holiday resort in Devon. Visitors prevented from visiting Europe by the turmoil in France were attracted by the views. Exmouth was renowned as a destination for the wealthy to recover their health, notable visitors in this time included Lady Byron and her daughter Ada Lovelace. Exmouth was also the residence of Lady Nelson, the wife of Lord Nelson. She is buried in Littleham Churchyard, high class tourism remained steady for a number of years
21.
United Kingdom Census 2011
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A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011 and it was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National Statistics is the office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department formed in 2008. ONS designs, manages and runs the census in England and Wales, the first results from the 2011 census, age and sex, and occupied households estimates for England and Wales and Northern Ireland, were released on 16 July 2012. The first results for Scotland, and the first UK-wide results, were published on 17 December 2012, more detailed and specialised data were published from 2013. The Registrar General John Rickman conducted the first census of Great Britains population, from 1911 onwards rapid social change, scientific breakthroughs, and major world events affected the structure of the population. The 1971 census was run by the newly created Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, in 1996 the Office for National Statistics was formed by merging the Central Statistical Office, OPCS and the statistics division of the Department of Employment, the first census it ran was in 2001. In 2008 the UK Statistics Authority was established as an independent body, a population census is a key instrument for assessing the needs of local communities. When related to data sources such as housing or agricultural censuses, or sample surveys. Most countries of the world take censuses, the United Nations recommends that countries take a census at least once every ten years, other organisations that use census data include healthcare organisations, community groups, researchers and businesses. The 2011 census for England and Wales included around 25 million households, people could complete and submit their questionnaire online, or fill it in on paper and post it back in a pre-addressed envelope. Guidance was provided online and through the census helpline, completed questionnaires were electronically tracked and field staff followed up with households that did not return a questionnaire. In these cases field staff delivered and collected questionnaires and, where needed, provided advice or assistance in completing the questionnaire, there was a legal requirement to complete the 2011 census questionnaire, under the terms of the Census Act 1920. As at 27 March 2011 everyone who had lived or intended to live in the country for three months or more was required to complete a questionnaire, failure to return a completed questionnaire could lead to a fine and criminal record. The contract is valued at £150 million, approximately one third of the total £482 million census budget, concerns were raised during contract negotiations that the US PATRIOT Act could be used to force Lockheed Martin to reveal census data to US authorities. The Cabinet Office state that Lockheed Martin will develop the systems used to process census data, neither Lockheed Martin UK nor any Lockheed Martin employee will have access to personal Census data. The Office for National Statistics stated that no census information will ever leave the UK or be seen by any American-owned company. Several groups called for a boycott of the census over the involvement of Lockheed Martin, including the Stop the War Coalition, and the Christian thinktank Ekklesia
22.
Topsham railway station
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Topsham railway station is the railway station serving the town of Topsham in the English county of Devon. It is the place for the otherwise single-track branch line from Exmouth Junction to Exmouth. Both the loop and adjacent level crossing are remotely worked from the box at Exmouth Junction. The station, with buildings designed by Sir William Tite, opened with the railway on 1 May 1861, on 23 September 1861 a 700 yards branch was opened from the south end of the station, which dropped steeply to the wharf on the River Exe. The station was owned by the London and South Western Railway. In 1923 this became a constituent of the Southern Railway which, following the privatisation of British Rail it was operated by Wessex Trains but the franchise has now been transferred to First Great Western. The old station buildings and signal box are now occupied by offices, all trains on the Avocet Line from Exmouth to Exeter St Davids call at Topsham. There is a daytime service in each direction, dropping to hourly in the evening. Beyond St Davids they continue alternately to Paignton or Barnstaple, connections are available at Exeter Central for Pinhoe and stations to Waterloo via Salisbury, passengers for other main line stations should change at Exeter St Davids. The station is part of the new Penalty Fare Zone, where passengers could be charged a £20 penalty fare if a ticket is not purchased prior to joining the train and it is unstaffed, with a computerised ticket machine on the Exeter-bound platform
23.
Isca Dumnoniorum
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Isca Dumnoniorum, also known simply as Isca, was a town in the Roman province of Britannia at the site of present-day Exeter in the English county of Devon in the United Kingdom. It served as the capital of the Dumnonians under and after the Romans. The city walls of Exeter mark the perimeter of Isca. The town seems to have grown up around this fort but seems to have gone into decline prior to the Roman withdrawal from Britain c. 410, the name Isca Dumnoniorum is a Latinization of a native Brittonic name describing flowing water, in reference to the River Exe. More exactly, the name seems to have originally meant full of fish and this is also reflected in the modern Welsh name for Exeter, Caerwysg meaning fortified settlement on the river Uisc. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC, Fortress Following their initial invasions, the Romans established a 42-acre playing-card shaped fort at the site around AD55. It was the base of the 5 000-strong Second Augustan Legion for the next 20 years before moved to Isca Augusta. Both Iscas were also home to their families as settlements are thought to have grown up outside the fortress gates, the only known building in the fortress not of timber was a stone-built military bathhouse. The water for the bathhouse was supplied by a natural spring via an aqueduct which entered the fortress through the rear gate, the excavations revealed the hot room and part of the warm room. The bathhouse was supplied with an external exercise yard, one corner of which was a cockfighting pit. The legion had formed part of the Claudian invasion of Britain in AD43, Vespasian led campaigns against both the Durotriges and Dumnonii. The presence of the legion at Exeter is supported by the discovery of a dolphin antefix from levels within the military bathhouse dated to about AD60. The antefix appears to have created from the same mould as an example from the legionary fortress at Caerleon—where the legion is known to have been stationed from around AD75. The legions of Britain were rearranged after Suetonius Paulinuss victory against the Boudiccan rebellion, there was a small subsidiary fort at Topsham. A supply depot along the line between the Isca fortress and Topsham was excavated at the St Loyes site on Topsham Road in 2010. Initial dating suggests that it was occupied at the time as the Isca fortress. It is one of the four attributed to the Dumnonii by Claudius Ptolemy in his 2nd-century Geography
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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
25.
Margaret the Virgin
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Her historical existence has been questioned by Rome. She was declared apocryphal by Pope Gelasius I in 494, and she was reputed to have promised very powerful indulgences to those who wrote or read her life, or invoked her intercessions, these no doubt helped the spread of her cultus. According to the version of the story in Golden Legend, she was a native of Antioch and her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman five or six leagues from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, olybrius, Governor of the Roman Diocese of the East, asked to marry her, but with the demand that she renounce Christianity. Upon her refusal, she was tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, the Golden Legend describes this last incident as apocryphal and not to be taken seriously. She was put to death in AD304, as Saint Marina, she is associated with the sea, which may in turn point to an older goddess tradition, reflecting the pagan divinity, Aphrodite. The Eastern Orthodox Church knows Margaret as Saint Marina, and celebrates her feast day on July 17 and she has been identified with Saint Pelagia, Marina being the Latin equivalent of the Greek Pelagia who—according to her hagiography by James, the deacon of Heliopolis—had been known as Margarita. We possess no historical documents on Saint Margaret as distinct from Saint Pelagia, the Greek Marina came from Antioch in Pisidia, but this distinction was lost in the West. Some consider her a saint of pregnancy. In art, she is usually pictured escaping from, or standing above and she is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology for July 20. Margaret is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and is one of the saints who spoke to Joan of Arc, Saint Marina the Monk and Saint Pelagia, both of whom are sometimes conflated or confused with Margaret Acta Sanctorum, July, v. 24—45 Bibliotheca hagiographica. 5303—53r3 Frances Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications, i and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
26.
HMS Terror (1813)
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HMS Terror was a bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in battles of the War of 1812, including the bombardment of Fort McHenry. On 12 September 2016, the Arctic Research Foundation announced that the wreck of Terror had been found in Nunavuts Terror Bay, off the southwest coast of King William Island. The wreck was discovered 92 km south of the location where the ship was reported abandoned, HMS Terror was a Vesuvius-class bomb ship built over two years at the Davy shipyard in Topsham, Devon, for the Royal Navy. Her deck was 31 m long, and the ship measured 325 tons burthen, the vessel was armed with two mortars and ten cannons, and was launched in June 1813. Terror saw service in the War of 1812 against the United States, under the command of John Sheridan, she took part in the bombardment of Stonington, Connecticut, on 9–12 August 1814. In January 1815, still under Sheridans command, Terror was involved in the Battle of Fort Peter, in the mid-1830s, Terror was refitted as a polar exploration vessel. Her design as a bomb ship meant she had a framework to resist the recoil of her mortars, thus, she could withstand polar sea ice. In 1836, command of Terror was given to Captain George Back for an Arctic expedition to Hudson Bay, the expedition aimed to enter Repulse Bay, where it would send out landing parties to ascertain whether the Boothia Peninsula was an island or a peninsula. Terror was trapped by ice near Southampton Island, and did not reach Repulse Bay, at one point, the ice forced her 12 m up the face of a cliff. She was trapped in the ice for ten months, in the spring of 1837, an encounter with an iceberg further damaged the ship. She nearly sank on her journey across the Atlantic, and was in a sinking condition by the time Back was able to beach the ship on the coast of Ireland. Terror was repaired and assigned in 1839 to a voyage to the Antarctic along with Erebus under the command of James Clark Ross. Francis Crozier was commander of Terror on this expedition, as well as second-in-command to Ross, the dormant volcano Mount Terror on Ross Island was named after the ship by the expedition commander. Before leaving on the Franklin expedition, both Erebus and Terror underwent heavy modifications for the journey and they were both outfitted with steam engines, taken from former London and Greenwich Railway steam locomotives. Rated at 25 hp, each could propel its ship at 4 knots, the pair of ships became the first Royal Navy ships to have steam-powered engines and screw propellers. Twelve days supply of coal was carried, iron plating was added fore and aft on the ships hulls to make them more resistant to pack ice, and their decks were cross-planked to distribute impact forces. Along with Erebus, Terror was stocked with supplies for their expedition, Terrors library had 1,200 books, and the ships berths were heated via ducts that connected them to the stove
27.
Franklin's lost expedition
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Franklins lost expedition was a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. A Royal Navy officer and experienced explorer, Franklin had served on three previous Arctic expeditions, the two as commanding officer. His fourth and last, undertaken when he was 59, was meant to traverse the last unnavigated section of the Northwest Passage, after a few early fatalities, the two ships became icebound in Victoria Strait near King William Island in the Canadian Arctic. The entire expedition,129 men including Franklin, was lost, pressed by Franklins wife, Jane, Lady Franklin, and others, the Admiralty launched a search for the missing expedition in 1848. Several of these ships converged off the east coast of Beechey Island, in 1854, explorer John Rae, while surveying near the Canadian Arctic coast southeast of King William Island, acquired relics of and stories about the Franklin party from the Inuit. A search led by Francis Leopold McClintock in 1859 discovered a note left on King William Island with details about the expeditions fate, searches continued through much of the 19th century. In 2014, a Canadian search team located HMS Erebus west of OReilly Island, in the portion of Queen Maud Gulf. Finally, two later, the wreck of HMS Terror was found south of King William Island in pristine condition by the Arctic Research Foundation. However, it was suggested that the source of this lead may not have been tinned food. Cut marks on bones found on King William Island were seen as signs of cannibalism. The combined evidence of all studies suggested that they did not all die quickly, the Victorian media portrayed Franklin as a hero despite the expeditions failure and the reports of cannibalism. Songs were written about him, and statues of him in his town, in London. Franklins lost expedition has been the subject of artistic works, including songs, verse, short stories. Voyagers of the 16th and 17th centuries who made geographic discoveries about North America included Martin Frobisher, John Davis, Henry Hudson, in 1670, the incorporation of the Hudsons Bay Company led to further exploration of the Canadian coasts and interior and of the Arctic seas. In the 18th century, explorers included James Knight, Christopher Middleton, Samuel Hearne, James Cook, Alexander MacKenzie, by 1800, their discoveries showed conclusively that no Northwest Passage navigable by ships lay in the temperate latitudes between the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. By 1845, the discoveries of all of these expeditions had reduced the relevant unknown parts of the Canadian Arctic to a quadrilateral area of about 181,300 km2. It was into this area that Franklin was to sail, heading west through Lancaster Sound and then west and south as ice, land. The distance to be navigated was roughly 1,670 kilometres, parry, his first choice, was tired of the Arctic and politely declined
28.
HMS Cyane (1806)
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HMS Cyane was a Royal Navy Banterer-class sixth-rate post ship of nominally 22 guns, built in 1806 at Topsham, near Exeter, England. She was ordered in January 1805 as HMS Columbine but renamed Cyane on 6 December of that year. Cyane had a career in British service that included the award in 1847 of a clasp to the Naval General Service Medal to any still surviving crew members of either of two actions. On 20 February 1815, she and HMS Levant engaged the USS Constitution, outgunned and she then served as USS Cyane, including a stint on anti-slavery duties, until she was broken up in 1836. Cyane was originally named Columbine, but was renamed on 6 December 1805 and she initially mounted 22 long 9-pounders on her main deck and also eight 24-pounder carronades and two long 6-pounders on her quarter-deck and forecastle. Captain Thomas Staines commissioned her in March 1807, at his request the Navy Board exchanged her 9-pounders for 32-pounder carronades. The Board also increased her complement by twenty to 175 officers, men, Staines also added two brass howitzers to her armament. In 1807, Cyane took part in the operations off Copenhagen in September 1807, after the Danish navy surrendered, Cyane participated in the blockade of Zealand. Then on 30 November she, Vanguard and several other British warships escorted a convoy of merchant vessels from Helsingborg back to Britain, on 8 December, Cyane was in company with Vanguard, Tigress and the hired armed cutter Resolution when they captured the Danish ketch Jeltzomine den Roske. On 23 February 1808, Cyane sailed for the Mediterranean, there her boats captured eight merchantmen before, on 22 May, she captured the letter of marque Medusa while cruising of Majorca. Medusa was armed with 12 guns and had a crew of 80 men, Medusa was the last Spanish ship that the British captured before Spain turned against Napoleon. Staines sailed to Palma where he received a most cordial welcome, Staines then notified Rear Admiral Thornbrough who sent Sir Francis Laforey in Apollo to negotiate with the Supreme Junta. Cyane spent the ten months patrolling Spains south coast to harass French shore batteries. 1809 Cyane then transferred to the command of Rear Admiral George Martin, on 8 May 1809, Cyane captured a bombard and drove another vessel ashore near Naples. Two days later, Cyane and Alceste sank two gunboats that were escorting a French convoy at Terracina, then, on 14 and 15 May, the two British vessels raided a depot near the promontory of Monte Circello, which itself is near the Pontine Marshes and Terracina. There they brought off as much wood as the two ships could carry, whilst the ships were loading the timber, a sergeant, two corporals, and 20 privates came on board, deserters from the French Army. Next, Staines captured three Martello towers, each mounting two heavy guns, when the French soldiers made sounds suggesting they were preparing to resist, he fired a musket through the keyhole, the frightened garrison immediately surrendered. He then took the commander from that tower to another tower to persuade its garrison too to surrender, the garrison did surrender and Staines had both towers blown up
29.
English Civil War
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The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists over, principally, the manner of Englands government. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. The term English Civil War appears most often in the singular form, the war in all these countries are known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Unlike other civil wars in England, which focused on who should rule, this war was more concerned with the manner in which the kingdoms of England, Scotland, the two sides had their geographical strongholds, such that minority elements were silenced or fled. The strongholds of the royalty included the countryside, the shires, on the other hand, all the cathedral cities sided with Parliament. All the industrial centers, the ports, and the advanced regions of southern and eastern England typically were parliamentary strongholds. Lacey Baldwin Smith says, the words populist, rich, at times there would be two groups of three lines allowing one group to reload while the other group arranged themselves and fired. Mixed in among the musketeers were pikemen carrying pikes that were between 12 feet and 18 feet long, whose purpose was to protect the musketeers from cavalry charges. The Royalist cavaliers skill and speed on horseback led to early victories. While the Parliamentarian cavalry were slower than the cavaliers, they were better disciplined. The Royalists had a tendency to chase down individual targets after the initial charge leaving their forces scattered and tired, Cromwells cavalry, on the other hand, trained to operate as a single unit, which led to many decisive victories. The English Civil War broke out fewer than forty years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, in spite of this, James personal extravagance meant he was perennially short of money and had to resort to extra-Parliamentary sources of income. Charles hoped to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into a new single kingdom, many English Parliamentarians had suspicions regarding such a move because they feared that setting up a new kingdom might destroy the old English traditions which had bound the English monarchy. As Charles shared his fathers position on the power of the crown, at the time, the Parliament of England did not have a large permanent role in the English system of government. Instead, Parliament functioned as an advisory committee and was summoned only if. Once summoned, a continued existence was at the kings pleasure. Yet in spite of this role, Parliament had, over the preceding centuries. Without question, for a monarch, Parliaments most indispensable power was its ability to tax revenues far in excess of all other sources of revenue at the Crowns disposal
30.
Dutch brick
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Dutch brick is a type of brick made in the Netherlands, or similar brick, and an architectural style of building with brick developed by the Dutch. The brick, made from clay dug from river banks or dredged from river beds and fired over a period of time, was known for its durability. Traditional Dutch brick architecture is characterized by rounded or stepped gables, the brick was imported as ballast into Great Britain and the colonies in the east of America. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1591, was built of red Dutch brick. Dutch brickmakers emigrated to New Netherland in America, where they built kilns for firing bricks locally, bricks were being burned in New Amsterdam by 1628, but the imported bricks were of better quality. At first the bricks were used only for chimneys, but they were used to face the lower story of the house. Most of the surviving Dutch Colonial houses in New York do not in fact follow Dutch architectural practices, bricks were also exported by the Dutch for major buildings in their colonies in the east and around the world. The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was built in 1666, the word brick may be of Dutch origin. The Dutch Brick is described as a hard, light-coloured brick originally made in Holland and used in England for pavements, at the end of this period the clay was mixed with sand and other materials, a process done by foot, by workers stomping on the clay. It was then molded into the shape by an artisan. Children handed the brickmaker the raw material and removed the shaped bricks, molds were moistened with water and strewn with sand to enable the shaped brick to be more easily removed. The raw or green stones were laid out in rows to dry and when they were dry enough they were stood up on their side so the bottom could dry. Ovens came in two types—a single-use construction of the used in the production of charcoal, and a more permanent type. Ovens could hold up to a million bricks, masonry bricks were fired between 900 °C and 1,125 °C, klinkers between 1,150 °C and 1,250 °C. Typically, bricks were baked at low heat for two weeks to all remaining moisture from the clay, and then for four weeks at a higher temperature. Since the klinker was partially vitrified by being fired at a higher temperature it was harder than the standard, klinkers were imported into England for use as paving. Small, yellow Dutch bricks used to be imported into the United States and they were considered superior in appearance and in durability. Houses found today in Zeeland are closer in appearance to the fine Dutch brick houses of New York than are houses from other parts of the Netherlands, Brick farm houses built separately from barns are found in Zeeland, but none have survived in other locations
31.
Holland
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Holland is a region and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. The name Holland is also used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th century, Holland proper was a political region within the Holy Roman Empire as a county ruled by the Counts of Holland. By the 17th century, Holland had risen to become a maritime and economic power, the name Holland first appeared in sources in 866 for the region around Haarlem, and by 1064 was being used as the name of the entire county. By this time, the inhabitants of Holland were referring to themselves as Hollanders, Holland is derived from the Middle Dutch term holtland. This spelling variation remained in use until around the 14th century, a popular folk etymology holds that Holland is derived from hol land and was inspired by the low-lying geography of Holland. The proper name of the area in both Dutch and English is Holland, Holland is a part of the Netherlands. Holland is informally used in English and other languages, including sometimes the Dutch language itself, the people of Holland are referred to as Hollanders in both Dutch and English. Today this refers specifically to people from the current provinces of North Holland, strictly speaking, the term Hollanders does not refer to people from the other provinces in the Netherlands, but colloquially Hollanders is sometimes used in this wider sense. In Dutch, the Dutch word Hollands is the form for Holland. In English, Dutch refers to the Netherlands as a whole, the word Hollandish is no longer in common use. Hollandic is the name give to the dialect spoken in Holland, and is occasionally also used by historians. Initially, Holland was a corner of the Holy Roman Empire. Gradually, its importance increased until it began to have a decisive. Until the start of the 12th century, the inhabitants of the area that became Holland were known as Frisians, the area was initially part of Frisia. At the end of the 9th century, West-Frisia became a county in the Holy Roman Empire. The first Count known about with certainty was Dirk I, who ruled from 896 to 931 and he was succeeded by a long line of counts in the House of Holland. When John I, count of Holland, died childless in 1299, by the time of William V the count of Holland was also the count of Hainaut and Zealand
32.
Greenfield land
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Greenfield land is undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to evolve naturally. These areas of land are usually agricultural or amenity properties being considered for urban development, greenfield land can be unfenced open fields, urban lots or restricted closed properties, kept off limits to the general public by a private or government entity. Rather than building upon greenfield land, a developer may choose to redevelop brownfield or greyfield lands, areas that have been developed, a greenfield development is a welcome opportunity for a cable operator to choose new equipment, without having to consider any migration issues related to legacy equipment. Equipment for the distribution hub can be chosen solely on its own merits, taking into consideration permitting, aesthetic objections
33.
Nature reserve
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Nature reserves may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions, regardless of nationality. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws, early reservations often had a religious underpinning, such as the evil forest areas of West Africa which were forbidden to humans, who were threatened with spiritual attack if they went there. Sacred areas taboo from human entry to fishing and hunting are known by ancient cultures worldwide. The worlds first modern nature reserve was established in 1821 by the naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton around his estate in Walton Hall and he spent £9000 on the construction of a 3 mile long,9 ft tall wall to enclose his park from poachers. He tried to encourage birdlife by planting trees and hollowing out trunks for owls to nest in and he also invented artificial nest boxes to house starlings, jackdaws and sand martins and unsuccessfully attempted to introduce little owls from Italy. Drachenfels was protected as the first state-designated nature reserve in modern-day Germany, in Australia, a nature reserve is the title of a type of protected area used in the jurisdictions of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. The term “nature reserve” is defined in the relevant statutes used in those states and territories rather than by a national statute. As of 2014,1767 out of a total of 10339 protected areas listed within the Australian National Reserve System used the term “nature reserve in their names, in Brazil, nature reserves are classified as ecological stations or biological reserves by the National System of Conservation Units. Their main objectives are preserving fauna and flora and other natural attributes, visits are allowed only with permission, and only for educational or scientific purposes. Changes to the ecosystems in both types of reserve are allowed to restore and preserve the balance, biological diversity. Ecological stations are allowed to change the environment within strictly defined limits for the purpose of scientific research. A wildlife reserve in Brazil is also protected, and hunting is not allowed, there are 30 nature reserves in Egypt which cover 12% of Egyptian land. Those nature reserves were built according to the laws no, 102/1983 and 4/1994 for protection of the Egyptian nature reserve. Egypt announced a plan from to build 40 nature reserves from 1997 to 2017, to protect the natural resources. The largest nature reserve in Egypt is Gebel Elba in the southeast, denmark has three national parks and several nature reserves, some of them inside the national park areas. The largest single reserve is Hanstholm Nature Reserve, which covers 40 km2 and is part of Thy National Park, in Sweden there are 29 national parks. The first of them were established in 1909, in fact, Sweden was the first European country that established 9 national parks. There are almost 4,000 nature reserves in Sweden and they comprise about 85% of the surface that is protected by the Swedish Enironmental Code
34.
RSPB Bowling Green Marsh
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Bowling Green Marsh is a nature reserve located on the confluence of the River Exe and the River Clyst, near the town of Topsham in Devon. It is managed by the RSPB, migratory birds including Siberian brent geese, come to the marsh in the winter to feed. It is a point of interest for birders across South West Britain. Other visitors include osprey, wigeon, teal, avocet and black-tailed godwit, several fish species inhabit the marshs many pools. Otters have been sighted here, as well, there is a wheelchair-accessible bird hide on the marshes and a viewing platform, reached by steps, with views down the estuary. Occasionally, very rare vagrants, such as Barrows goldeneye or king eider, stop at the marshes on their migration
35.
Exe Estuary
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The Exe estuary is an estuary on the south coast of Devon, England. The estuary starts just to the south of the city of Exeter, the estuary is a ria and so is larger than would be the case given the size of the River Exe, the main river feeding into the estuary. On the east shore are the town of Topsham, the villages of Exton and Lympstone and at the estuary mouth, opposite Exmouth on the west shore is the village of Dawlish Warren with its sand spit extending across the mouth of the estuary. Above this there are fewer settlements on the west shore, with just the villages of Starcross and Cockwood, the River Clyst also feeds into the estuary, just below Topsham. The River Kenn feeds into the estuary near Kenton, the soil is alluvial, derived from Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian rocks. The estuary is a Special Protection Area and SSSI and it is also a Ramsar site. The RSPB has two nature reserves adjoining the estuary, at Bowling Green Marsh and Exminster Marshes, over 10,000 wildfowl and 20,000 waders winter on the estuary. These include dark-bellied brant goose, Eurasian wigeon, ringed plover, black-tailed godwit, dragonflies are also supported, such as the ruddy darter and hairy dragonfly. The marshes are bounded by the Exeter Canal, both are fringed by beds of common reed Phragmites australis, providing important habitat for Old World warblers. Burrowing invertebrates are found in the sandbanks and mudflats and these include lugworm, peppery furrow shell, tellins Macoma spp. common cockle, pod razor, sea potato, and masked crab. Beds of blue mussels are food for Eurasian oystercatchers, the estuary is the only British location for the polychaete worm Ophelia bicornia. The Exe Valley Way Footpath runs south from Starcross, Northwards through the whole of the Exe estuary, the route covers almost 50 miles. Avocet Line Exe Estuary Management Partnership - devoted to the improvement of Exe estuary SSSI Details from Natural England website Exe Valley Way webpage by Devon County Council
36.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
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The acronym SSSI is often pronounced triple-S I. Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSI/ASSIs, SSSI/ASSIs may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological SSSI/ASSIs may be selected for reasons, which for Great Britain is governed by published SSSI Selection Guidelines. Within each area, a series of the best examples of each significant natural habitat may be notified. Sites of particular significance for various groups may be selected —each of these groups has its own set of selection guidelines. In Scotland, the authority is Scottish Natural Heritage, the role in Wales is performed by Natural Resources Wales. In the Isle of Man the role is performed by the Department of Environment, Food, Geological SSSI/ASSIs are selected by a different mechanism to biological ones, with a minimalistic system selecting one site for each geological feature in Great Britain. Each of these sites is described, with most published in the Geological Conservation Review series, almost all GCR sites are subsequently notified as geological SSSIs, except some that coincide with designated biological SSSI management units. If the exposure becomes obscured, the feature could in principle be re-exposed elsewhere, Conservation of these sites usually concentrates on maintenance of access for future study. These are features which are limited in extent or physically delicate—for example, they include small lenses of sediment, mine tailings, caves, if such features become damaged they cannot be recreated, and conservation usually involves protecting the feature from erosion or other damage. Following devolution, legal arrangements for SSSIs and ASSIs differ between the countries of the UK, the Isle of Man ASSI system is a separate entity. Scottish Natural Heritage publishes a summary of the SSSI arrangements for SSSI owners and occupiers which can be downloaded from the SNH website, legal documents for all SSSIs in Scotland are available on the SSSI Register, hosted by The Registers of Scotland. Further information about SSSIs in Scotland is available on the SNH website, SSSIs are also covered under the Water Resources Act 1991 and related legislation. An SSSI may be made on any area of land which is considered to be of special interest by virtue of its fauna, flora, SSSI notification can cover any land within the area of the relevant nature conservation body, including dry land, land covered by freshwater. The extent to which an SSSI/ASSI may extend seawards differs between countries, in England, Natural England may notify an SSSI over estuarial waters and further adjacent waters in certain circumstances. Access on to SSSIs is the same as for the rest of the countryside of the relevant country, most SSSIs/ASSIs are in private ownership and form parts of working farms, forests and estates. In Scotland, people may use their rights of access to visit SSSIs. When creating a new SSSI/ASSI the designation hs legal effect from the date of notification. g, in Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage must also notify the relevant community councils and community group having registered an interest in the land. )
37.
Vivien Leigh
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Vivien Leigh was a British stage and film actress. She also won a Tony Award for her work in the Broadway musical version of Tovarich, after her drama school education, Leigh appeared in small roles in four films in 1935 and progressed to the role of heroine in Fire Over England. Lauded for her beauty, Leigh felt that her physical attributes sometimes prevented her from being seriously as an actress. Despite her fame as an actress, Leigh was primarily a stage performer. Later in life, she performed as an actress in a few films. At the time, the public strongly identified Leigh with her second husband Laurence Olivier, Leigh and Olivier starred together in many stage productions, with Olivier often directing, and in three films. Although her career had periods of inactivity, in 1999 the American Film Institute ranked Leigh as the 16th greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema. Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley on 5 November 1913 in British India on the campus of St. Pauls School and she was the only child of Ernest Richard Hartley, an English broker, and his wife, Gertrude Mary Frances. Her father was born in Scotland in 1882, while her mother, Ernest and Gertrude Hartley were married in 1912 in Kensington, London. In 1917, Ernest Hartley was transferred to Bangalore as an officer in the Indian Cavalry, while Gertrude, at the age of three, young Vivian made her first stage appearance for her mothers amateur theatre group, reciting Little Bo Peep. At the age of six, Vivian was sent by her mother to the Convent of the Sacred Heart then situated in Roehampton, southwest London, from Loreto Convent, Darjeeling. One of her friends there was future actress Maureen OSullivan, two years her senior, to whom Vivian expressed her desire to become a great actress, the family returned to Britain in 1931. She attended A Connecticut Yankee, one of OSullivans films playing in Londons West End, shortly after, her father enrolled Vivian at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Vivian met Herbert Leigh Holman, known as Leigh Holman, a barrister 13 years her senior, on 12 October 1933 in London, she gave birth to a daughter, Suzanne, later Mrs. Robin Farrington. Leighs friends suggested she take a role as a schoolgirl in the film Things Are Looking Up. She engaged an agent, John Gliddon, who believed that Vivian Holman was not a name for an actress. After rejecting his many suggestions, she took Vivian Leigh as her professional name, Gliddon recommended her to Alexander Korda as a possible film actress, but Korda rejected her as lacking potential. She was cast in the play The Mask of Virtue, directed by Sidney Carroll in 1935 and received excellent reviews, followed by interviews, John Betjeman, the future Poet Laureate, described her as the essence of English girlhood
38.
Bridge Inn, Topsham
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The Bridge Inn is a Grade II listed public house at Bridge Hill, Topsham in the county of Devon, England. Mentioned as a dwelling in the 1086 Domesday Book, the building was constructed in the 18th century of cob and stone. Queen Elizabeth II visited the inn on 27 March 1998, her first official visit to a pub, there have been people living at the site of Bridge Inn since at least 1086, as the dwelling was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Parts of the present building date from the late 16th century and it is built of cob with stone, although a later 19th-century addition is built of brick. Inside there are three rooms, one of which used to contain a brewery on-site. The interior includes many of the original 19th-century fixtures and fittings and it was designated Grade II listed status on 11 November 1952. The interior has been registered on the Campaign for Real Ales National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, the Bridge Inn has been a public house since at least 1797, when it included two dwellings, a quay and a salt refinery. The inn attracted wrestling competitions during the 19th century, and by 1900 there were cattle sales at the site, in 1998, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Bridge Inn, the first time she had officially visited a pub. There she was presented with a crate of commemorative ale, which she remarked that her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as of 2014, the inn has remained in the hands of the same family for more than a century
39.
Sport England
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Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Nick Bitel is the Chairman of Sport England and Debbie Jevans CBE is Vice Chair, Sport England was established as the English Sports Council in September 1996 as an executive non-departmental public body by Royal Charter. It began operating in 1997 as Sport England, the funding it distributes comes from both the Treasury and the National Lottery. Since 1997, it has invested over £2bn of Lottery funds, Sport England is organised into nine regions. Following restructuring in 2009, its former Regional Sports Boards have been disbanded, closer working with the sports national governing bodies is key to its new strategy to achieve its target of one million people doing more sport by 2012-13. Sport England is headquartered in Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square in London and it is encouraging sports venues to enhance their development potential by registering under Sport Englands SASP programme as either a National or Regional centre for their particular sport. Its Active Places website is designed to help the public sports facilities anywhere in England. Searching can be through a map, within a given locality or to discover more information about a known facility location. Sport England commissioned the preparation of design advice to assist in the planning of large residential. The downloadable publication Active Design, published in 2007, aims to promote increased opportunities for people to be active as part of their everyday life. Mapp was succeeded by Michael Farrar as interim Chair from December 2007 to March 2009, purnell appointed Richard Lewis to review Sport Englands funding priorities, and he was subsequently appointed Chair on 1 April 2009. On 22 April 2013, Nick Bitel was appointed as new Chairman, Clubmark is an accreditation which Sport England makes available to community sports clubs which fulfil certain criteria. As of April 2015 over 12,000 clubs had the Clubmark accreditation, the sport England logo is based on the sport for all logo which was used from the 1970s onwards. Sportsmark Sport in England Official website
40.
Anglicanism
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Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
41.
Methodism
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Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, the movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, the fellowship were branded as Methodist by their fellow students because of the way they used rule and method to go about their religious affairs. John, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church, at a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his heart strangely warmed. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
