The Infant Thames
von Andrew Cole
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The Infant Thames |
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The Infant Thames or Isis at this early point on it's course is nothing more than a stream. This makes it easier to follow the Thames path now as it has at last got a definable river bed. There isn't much of a flow though because of: firstly a lack of water in the summer months and secondly that not much further down stream there is a small flow monitoring station put there by the Thames Conservancy.
This is the official start or source of the River Thames. The first few miles of the Thames is called...
Sapperton is one of those idillic villages situated near the eastern slopes of the Cotswolds. Its mai...
Cowslips are a springtime flower found on ancient meadowland. Its name comes from cowpat (what cows l...
The Marsh Marigold is one of the many species of wild flower found in Cricklade's North Meadow.In som...
North Meadow is an old hay meadow is now a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific I...
Westonbirt Arboretum in the Cotswolds, is set in 300 hectares and has over 16,000 trees. Every Decemb...
Westonbirt holds the national collection of trees. There is a huge variety of different species. The ...
The Rococo Gardens in Stroud hold one of the most varied collections of snowdrops in the country. The...
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.
The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.
Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".
Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states.
Text by Steve Smith.
