The British Isles are situated at the edge of the European continent. Historically the Roman invaded Britain in 43 AD and ruled for 350 years. This was followed by successive settlements by northern European. The last successful invasion was by the Norman from France in 1066. Today Britain is administratively divided into four main regions – Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Culturally, British influence has been very important in the world. Many former colonies have inherited the political culture and the social practices from Britain, in particularly the English speaking countries of the world. Economically, Britain was the first country to begin the process of Industrial Revolution. Britain is rich in energy resource but poor in material resources. As an island country, maritime trading has been and important development in its economy. Geological its landscape is varied with many types of habitats.

1. A Country in Change
First created Jan 2020. Version 1.0 - 30 April 2020. Daperro. London.
British Isles
Before sunrise at Isle of Man

2. Jersey. The Channel Island
Mount Orgueil Castle, Gorey Harbour. Jersey. The Channel Islands is situated just off the coast of Normandy. They are not part of UK.

3. Deal Kent
The Deal Castle was a artillery fort, built between 1539 and 1540. It was built in case for a French invasion.

4. The London Array, an offshore wind farm at the Thames estuary. Since 2017 more than 30% of British energy came from renewable sources.
Thames Estuary

5. Bodiam Castle in 1385 to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Year War.
Kent, England

6. London at night from the South Bank looking northeast. On the right of centre is London’s tallest building The Shard.
London, England

7. Financial City of London
The trading floor of the London Metal Exchange. It is the world centre for industrial metals trading.

8. The Palace of Westminster is the venue for the Houses of Parliament. The first construction on the site dated from the 11C.

9. Constable country. Suffolk.
This is the exact spot where Constable painted his Haywagon. River Stour. Dedham. Suffolk.

10. Cambridge University has about 30 colleges. The King’s College was founded in 1441 by King Henry the VI.
Cambridge
Credit. Jason Hawkes 2007

11. East Anglia
This is the Fens of Norfolk, an area of low lying coast marshy plain. This region is slowly sinking.

12. The Needles. Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, off the Dorset coast.
Isle of Wight

13. Dorset Coast
The Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch of the Jurassic Coast. The limestone was lay down some 200 million years ago.

14. St Ives, Cornwall
Bodiam Castle in 1385 to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Year War.

15. Dawlish. Devon
In December 2019, the coastal town Dawlish Devon, was by a storm, which destroyed the coastal railway.

16. The steep cobbled street of Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset, a romantic picturesque of an English villages.
Shaftesbury Dorset

17. Bath Abbey, Somerset
Bath Abbey rebuilt in 12th and 16th centuries, showing its fan vaulting of flamboyant Gothic style

18. Stonehenge
The oldest structure at Stonehenge is between 8500 to 7000 BC, but the stone structure date back to around 3500 BC.

19. Wells Cathedral
Work began on the cathedral on 1180. It situated in Wells. Somerset..

20. Nottingham
The Main Market Square and the Council House, Nottingham.

21. Glenridding. Ullswater
The Lake District is a region and national park in Cumbria in northwest England. Ullswater at Glenridding.

22. Castle Howard. Yorkshire
The Manchester United Stadium at Old Trafford can hold about 74,000 spectators.

23. Castle Howard. Yorkshire
Castle Howard, near York is one of Britain’s finest stately homes and not a castle. It was built in 1701-1811.

24. Newcastle
The Gateshead Millenium Bridge and the Sage reflected in River Tyne, Newcastle.

25. Caernarfon Wales
Caernarfon (or Carnarvon) Castle in a medieval fortress in North Wales. The current castle was built in 1283.

26. Wrexham Wales
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct for the Ellesmere Canal, built in the 1795. was part of a network of waterways to link up the industrial
centres during the Industrial Revolution

27. Roman Britain Hadrian’s Wall
The 73 miles (117.5 km) long, Hadrian’s Wall built in 122 AD, marks the northern most boundary of the Roman Empire

28. Falkirk. Scotland
The Kelpies 30 metre-high horse-head sculptures were completed in 2013, in Falkirk, Scotland.

29. Edinburgh. Scotland
Parts of the Edinburgh Castle dates back to the 12C. It is a very popular tourists site because its panoramic view of the city

30. Scottish Highland
Eilean Donan Castle is situated on a small tidal island where three sea locks meet. It was founded in the 13C.

31. Scottish Loch
Lochs are deep sea inlets. This Loch Ard in the background is Ben Lomond. Trees are Norwegian Spruce, Birch and Rowan.

32. Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye is connected to Scotland by a bridge. Its landscape is rocky, dotted with picturesque fishing villages.
Credit. Emmanuel Coupe 2009.

33. Giant’s Causeway
The Giant’s Causeway was formed after a volcanic fissure eruption, between 50 to 60 million years ago. It is a world natural heritage site.

34. This is the City Hall of Belfast. It is the capital of Northern Ireland with about a third of million people.
Belfast, Northern Ireland

35. Morning light at dawn breaking, off the coast of Isle of Man.
Isle of Man

36. The UK produces about 140m barrels of oil and 100 billion cu metres of gas from the North Sea.
Gas & Oil Fields

37. Puffins
Puffins are great swimmer. They are good flyers too with their little wings. They pair for life and their population is declining.

38. Grey Seal
Grey Seals are found on the exposed rocky northern and western coasts. There are 120,000 in Britain, 40% of world’s population.

39. Canadian Light Infantry Captain Megan Couto became the first woman to command the Queen’s Guard at Buckingham Palace. London
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The
End
Music – The Ashokan Farewell by Ungar & Mason
Shared Traditions

40. Places