An English Meadow
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An English MeadowThe World > Europe > UK > England > Bath |
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The combination of sun, rain and grass make the English meadow gently distinctive. Traditionally, the many species of grass, particularly quaking-grass shown here and other plants was cut in June or July and left to dry into hay. It provided much of the winter feed for cattle, sheep and horses.
Historically, all but breeding cattle were slaughtered and salted down at the onset of winter.
However, I have noticed a recent decline in haymaking. Why? The dairy industry is declining. Cheap beef imports. Owning a horse has become an expensive luxury and the EEC's set-aside policy which has removed land from productive agriculture.
This panorama is taken from the dried up bed of the disused Somerset Coal Canal which was constructed...
The Somersetshire Coal Canal was built in 1794 to transport coal from the North Somerset coalfields a...
High Summer on the outskirts of the hamlet of Midford which lies in, what used to be, the Valley of t...
Midford Castle is really a folley. Only the super-rich live here. Nicolas Cage owned it for a while.T...
Sunset on a snowy late winter's afternoon. You can see the last red rays of the dying sun on the tree...
This isn't the sort of panorama I usually take but for once, the Burghers of Bath have done something...
This is summer in Summer Lane a narrow road which connects the village suburb of Combe Down with Mon...
Combe Down is a 'panorama literate' village (I wonder why?). This was taken for a Community Christmas...
A pano-portrait of Don Foster taken on Election Day outside Combe Down Polling Station. He was duly e...
Prior Park College is the finest Palladian style house in Britain. It was built by local entrepeneur,...
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.
