Читать книгу Anglo-American Cultural Studies - Jody Skinner - Страница 27

witch on a pigWith a little bit of imagination you might agree with the American travel writer Paul TherouxTheroux, who famously described the outline of Britain (island of Great BritainGreat Britain) on the map as a witch riding a pig (with the witch’s head in ScotlandScotland and the pig forming the WelshWelsh coastline).

Fig. 1.4 Outline map UK

Fig. 1.5 Witch on a pig

mountains, hills, coastsFor those who like hiking, the PenninePennine Way was Britain’s first official trail and follows the Pennine Mountains, often said to form the backbone of EnglandEngland, which stretch from the Peak DistrictPeak District (also the name of a national parknational park) up past the border to ScotlandScotland. But don’t let the word “mountains” mislead you: the [25]highest peaks in the Pennines are barely 900 meters, less than a third of the ZugspitzeZugspitze. If you want higher mountains, you have to go northwest to the HighlandsHighlands of Scotland, where you can find the highest point in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom, called Ben NevisBen Nevis, which is however still less than half as high as the Zugspitze. And the highest mountain in WalesWales is SnowdonSnowdon (in the national park area called Snowdonia) at just over 1,000 meters. While the Highland zone might be the favorite for mountain climbing tourists, most British people live in the LowlandsLowlands, which comprises all the land that isn’t part of the Highlands and includes most of England. While some of the Lowlands is hilly, some is flat with the lowest point in Britain in the FensFens on England’s east coast. We’ll be finding out more about some of the more famous areas of Britain that have been set aside as National Parks later ( 9). The Jurassic CoastJurassic Coast isn’t a national park but is England’s first natural World Heritage SiteWorld Heritage Site and offers a geological walk through time along [26]the southern coast of England. There aren’t any dinosaurs, but if you’re not careful, you could get caught by the tides coming in. Another famous attraction along the coast and another World Heritage Site off the coast of Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is Giant’s Causeway, a collection of basalt formations shaped like columns left over from volcanic eruptions many millions of years ago, formations which appear to be stepping stones leading from the coast into the sea. Giant’s Causeway is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern IrelandIreland and belongs to the National TrustNational Trust ( 9).

Returning to EnglandEngland you can find yet another unusual physical feature that sometimes poses an even greater danger of getting caught in the tides than along the Jurassic CoastJurassic Coast. The Severn BoreSevern Bore may sound “boring” but is actually very dramatic and is caused by unusually high tides that racerace up the Severn RiverSevern River. Speaking of rivers …