JANE GOODALL & DAVID ATTENBOROUGH AT LONDON ZOO

Today, The Morgans and The Grandma have visited London Zoo. 

It has been a very special visit because they have had the amazing of two English celebrities: Jane Goodall, the English primatologist and anthropologist, and David Attenborough, the English broadcaster, natural historian and writer, who have been their guides and informants during this unforgettable visit.

Before the visit, the family has been reviewing English grammar with the Present Simple and Comparatives of Equality Adjectives.

More information: Present Simple

More information: Comparative Equality Adjectives

Download Animals Vocabulary 

London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study.

In 1831 or 1832, the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoo's collection. It was opened to the public in 1847. As of December 2022, it houses a collection of 14,926 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom.

It is managed under the aegis of the Zoological Society of London (established in 1826), and is situated at the northern edge of Regent's Park, on the boundary line between the City of Westminster and the borough of Camden (the Regent's Canal runs through it). 

The Society also has a more spacious site at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants and rhinos have been moved. As well as being the first scientific zoo, London Zoo also opened the first reptile house (1849), the first public aquarium (1853), first insect house (1881) and the first children's zoo (1938).

ZSL receives no state funding and relies on 'Fellows' and 'Friends' memberships, entrance fees, venue hire, and sponsorship to generate income.

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was established by Sir Stamford Raffles and Sir Humphry Davy in 1826, who obtained the land for the zoo and saw the plans before Raffles died of apoplexy (a stroke) later that year on 5 July, his birthday. After his death, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne took over the project and supervised the building of the first animal houses. The zoo opened in April 1828 to fellows of the Society, providing access to species such as Arabian oryx, greater kudus, orangutan and the now extinct quagga and thylacine. The Society was granted a royal charter in 1829 by King George IV, and in 1847 the zoo opened to the public to aid funding.

More information: London Zoo

Dame Jane Morris Goodall, 3 April 1934, formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her over 55-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees since she first went to Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania in 1960. 

She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots programme, and she has worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues. She has served on the board of the Nonhuman Rights Project since its founding in 1996. In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. 

More information: The Jane Goodall Institute

Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall was born in 1934 in Hampstead, to Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall, a businessman, and Margaret Myfanwe Joseph, a novelist who wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall.

As a child, as an alternative to a teddy bear her father gave Goodall a stuffed chimpanzee named Jubilee, and she has said her fondness for this figure started her early love of animals, commenting that My mother's friends were horrified by this toy, thinking it would frighten me and give me nightmares. Today, Jubilee still sits on Goodall's dresser in London.

Goodall had always been passionate about animals and Africa, which brought her to the farm of a friend in the Kenya highlands in 1957. From there, she obtained work as a secretary, and acting on her friend's advice, she telephoned Louis Leakey, the notable Kenyan archaeologist and palaeontologist, with no other thought than to make an appointment to discuss animals.  

Leakey, believing that the study of existing great apes could provide indications of the behaviour of early hominids, was looking for a chimpanzee researcher, though he kept the idea to himself. Instead, he proposed that Goodall work for him as a secretary. After obtaining approval from his wife Mary Leakey, Louis sent Goodall to Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where he laid out his plans.

In 1958, Leakey sent Goodall to London to study primate behaviour with Osman Hill and primate anatomy with John Napier. Leakey raised funds, and on 14 July 1960, Goodall went to Gombe Stream National Park, becoming the first of what would come to be called The Trimates. She was accompanied by her mother, whose presence was necessary to satisfy the requirements of David Anstey, chief warden, who was concerned for their safety; Tanzania was Tanganyika at that time and a British protectorate.

 

More information: British Council

Leakey arranged funding and in 1962, he sent Goodall, who had no degree, to Cambridge University. She went to Newnham College, and obtained a PhD degree in ethology. 

She became the eighth person to be allowed to study for a PhD there without first having obtained a BA or BSc. Her thesis was completed in 1965 under the tutorship of Robert Hinde, titled Behaviour of free-living chimpanzees, detailing her first five years of study at the Gombe Reserve.

Goodall is best known for her study of chimpanzee social and family life. She began studying the Kasakela chimpanzee community in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, in 1960. Without collegiate training directing her research, Goodall observed things that strict scientific doctrines may have overlooked. Instead of numbering the chimpanzees she observed, she gave them names such as Fifi and David Greybeard, and observed them to have unique and individual personalities, an unconventional idea at the time. 

She found that, it isn't only human beings who have personality, who are capable of rational thought and emotions like joy and sorrow. She also observed behaviours such as hugs, kisses, pats on the back, and even tickling, what we consider human actions. 

Goodall insists that these gestures are evidence of the close, supportive, affectionate bonds that develop between family members and other individuals within a community, which can persist throughout a life span of more than 50 years. 

These findings suggest that similarities between humans and chimpanzees exist in more than genes alone, but can be seen in emotion, intelligence, and family and social relationships.

 

More information: National Geographic

 
Goodall's research at Gombe Stream is best known to the scientific community for challenging two long-standing beliefs of the day: that only humans could construct and use tools, and that chimpanzees were vegetarians. 

While observing one chimpanzee feeding at a termite mound, she watched him repeatedly place stalks of grass into termite holes, then remove them from the hole covered with clinging termites, effectively fishing for termites. The chimps would also take twigs from trees and strip off the leaves to make the twig more effective, a form of object modification which is the rudimentary beginnings of toolmaking. Humans had long distinguished ourselves from the rest of the animal kingdom as Man the Toolmaker. 

In response to Goodall's revolutionary findings, Louis Leakey wrote, We must now redefine man, redefine tool, or accept chimpanzees as human!

In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), which supports the Gombe research, and she is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. 

With nineteen offices around the world, the JGI is widely recognised for community-centred conservation and development programs in Africa. Its global youth program, Roots & Shoots began in 1991 when a group of 16 local teenagers met with Goodall on her back porch in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. They were eager to discuss a range of problems they knew about from first-hand experience that caused them deep concern. The organisation now has over 10,000 groups in over 100 countries.

Goodall credits the 1986 Understanding Chimpanzees conference, hosted by the Chicago Academy of Sciences, with shifting her focus from observation of chimpanzees to a broader and more intense concern with animal-human conservation. She is the former president of Advocates for Animals, an organisation based in Edinburgh, Scotland, that campaigns against the use of animals in medical research, zoos, farming and sport.

More information: Wanderlust

 

  

Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans 

have been living for hundreds of thousands of years 

in their forest, living fantastic lives, 

never overpopulating, never destroying the forest.

I would say that they have been 

in a way more successful than us 

as far as being in harmony with the environment. 

Jane Goodall

CHARLES CHAPLIN, THE GREATEST ACTOR OF ALL TIME

Today, The Fosters & The Grandma have visited one of the greatest actors of all time, Charles Chaplin, who is spending some days in London.

 

Before this amazing visit, the family has been studying English grammar with the Comparative of Equality.

 

Finally, The Grandma has explained some stories about Charlie Rivel, the best clown of all time, and Marcel Marceau, the best mime of all time. 

 

Charlie Rivel and Marcel Marceau were as prosecuted as Charles Chaplin for political reasons. All three had to exile or escape from terrible situations helping lots of people on their searching of freedom.

More information: Comparative of Equality (AS ... AS)

 

Watch El Pallaso i el Führer (Catalan Version)

 

Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977) is an English actor who famed in the silent film era.

Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. His father was absent and his mother struggled financially -he was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine.

When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian.

 

Chaplin started in the film industry at age 14 and since that moment his career was meteoric co-founding the distribution company United Artists in 1919 and playing successful films as The Kid, Modern Times, Limelight or The Great Dictator where he satirised Hitler and attacked fascism.

 

At 19, he was signed to the Fred Karno company, which took him to the United States. He was scouted for the film industry and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon developed the Tramp persona and attracted a large fan base. He directed his own films and continued to hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National corporations.

 

By 1918, he was one of the world's best-known figures.

Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his films. He was a perfectionist, and his financial independence enabled him to spend years on the development and production of a picture. His films are characterised by slapstick combined with pathos, typified in the Tramp's struggles against adversity. Many contain social and political themes, as well as autobiographical elements.
 

His popularity declined when he was accused of communist and the FBI opened an investigation.

 

He received an Honorary Academy Award for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century in 1972, as part of a renewed appreciation for his work. He continues to be held in high regard, with The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator often ranked on lists of the greatest films. 

 

Chaplin was forced to leave the US and he settle in Switzerland where he died on 25 December. The king of the smile died on Christmas Day but his legacy is eternal.

More information: Charles Chaplin Official Website

 

You, the people have the power 

-the power to create machines. 

The power to create happiness! 

You, the people, have the power 

to make this life free and beautiful, 

to make this life a wonderful adventure.

 

The Great Dictator (1940)

IF ALEX WEASLEY PLAYS WELL, HE WINS WIMBLEDON

Today, The Weasleys & The Grandma are visiting Wimbledon courts, where Alejandro Weasley is playing n the oldest tennis tournament in the world.

Before this, the family has studied Zero Conditional & Comparative of Equality.

  

More information: Zero Conditional

More information: Comparative of Equality

More information: Order of Adjectives

More information: Nationalities

The Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, with retractable roofs over the two main courts since 2019.

Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, the traditional tennis playing surface. Also, it is the only Grand Slam that retains a night-time curfew, though matches can now continue until 11.00 pm under the lights.

The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, starting on the last Monday in June and culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday at the end of the second week. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place. 

In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. A roof was operational over No. 1 Court from 2019, when a number of other improvements were made, including adding cushioned seating, a table and 10 independently operable cameras per court to capture the games.

Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage. Strawberries and cream are traditionally consumed at the tournament. Unlike other tournaments, advertising is minimal and low key from official suppliers such as Slazenger and Rolex. The relationship with Slazenger is the world's longest-running sporting sponsorship, providing balls for the tournament since 1902.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Wimbledon was cancelled, the first cancellation of the tournament since World War II. The rescheduled 134th edition was staged from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021, following from the 2020 cancellation. The 135th edition was played between 27 June 2022 and 10 July 2022, and regularly scheduled play occurred on the middle Sunday for the first time. It marks the centenary of the inaugural championships staged at the Centre Court. The ATP, ITF, and WTA did not award ranking points for the 2022 tournament, due to controversy over the tournament excluding players representing Russia and Belarus.

The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will be the 136th staging and will run from 3 July 2023 to 16 July 2023 and it will be the first event of King Charles III since the death of the former patron, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022.

More information: Wimbledon

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded on 23 July 1868, originally as The All England Croquet Club. Its first ground was at Nursery Road off Worple Road, Wimbledon.

In 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier as an outdoor version of real tennis and originally given the name Sphairistikè, was added to the activities of the club. 

In spring 1877, the club was renamed The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.

The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held. 22 men paid a guinea to enter the tournament, which was to be held over five days. The rain delayed it four more days and thus, on 19 July 1877, the final was played. Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, defeated William Marshall 6–1, 6–2 and 6–4 in 48 minutes. Gore was presented with the silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guineas and donated by the sports magazine The Field, as well as a prize money of 12 guineas. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.

The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was in the middle with the others arranged around it, hence the title Centre Court. The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although no longer a true description of its location. However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly described. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.

Wimbledon is widely considered the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the club is to maintain its leadership. To that end a long-term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.

More information: English Club

There's a certain beauty and majesty to Wimbledon.
The elegance, the way the grass looks on TV.

John McEnroe

SIMON & GARFUNKEL, THE CONCERT IN CENTRAL PARK

Today, The Grandma has been walking across Central Park. She loves this place, and she has remembered when she was there on September 19, 1981 listening to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in an unforgettable concert where they played one of her favourite songs, A heart in New York.

Meanwhile, The Grangers have continued preparing their Cambridge Exam. They have studied Too/Enough and Comparative of Equality.

More information: Too/Enough

More information: Comparative of Equality

Download English-Catalan Slang

Download The Oxford Dictionary of Slang

The Concert in Central Park is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on February 16, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records.

It was recorded on September 19, 1981, at a free benefit concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of an audience reported at the time as 500,000 people.

Later estimates determined that the maximum number of people who could fit in the park space was 48,500. A film of the event was shown on TV and released on video. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding.  

The concert and album marked the start of a three-year reunion of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

The concept of a benefit concert in Central Park had been proposed by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis and promoter Ron Delsener. Television channel HBO agreed to carry the concert, and they worked with Delsener to decide on Simon and Garfunkel as the appropriate act for this event. Besides hit songs from their years as a duo, their set-list included material from their solo careers, and covers.

The show consisted of 21 songs, though two were not used in the live album. Among the songs performed were the classics The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, and The Boxer; the event concluded with a reprise of Simon's song Late in the Evening. Ongoing personal tensions between the duo led them to decide against a permanent reunion, despite the success of the concert and a subsequent world tour.

More information: Grunge

The album and film were released the year after the concert. Simon and Garfunkel's performance was praised by music critics and the album was commercially successful; it peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 album charts and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The video recordings were initially broadcast on HBO and were subsequently made available on Laserdisc, CED, VHS and DVD. A single was released of Simon and Garfunkel's live performance of The Everly Brothers's song Wake Up Little Susie, which reached No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982; it is the duo's last Top 40 hit.

New York City's Central Park, an oasis that functions as the city's green lung, was in a state of deterioration in the mid-1970s. Though Central Park had been designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, at the start of the 1980s, the city lacked the financial resources to spend an estimated US$3,000,000 to restore or even to maintain the park. The nonprofit Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980, and began a successful campaign to raise renovation funds.

The concert took place on Saturday, September 19, 1981, on the Great Lawn, the central open space of Central Park. The first spectators, many carrying chairs or picnic blankets, arrived at daybreak to secure a good spot.

The Parks Department originally expected about 300,000 attendees. Although rain fell throughout the day and continued until the start of the concert, an estimated 500,000 audience members made this the seventh-largest concert attendance in the United States in history. Later estimates determined that the maximum number of people who could fit in the park space was 48,500.

More information: Ultimate Classic Rock

 New York, to that tall skyline I come, flyin' in from London to your door

New York, lookin' down on Central Park

Where they say you should not wander after dark

New York, like a scene from all those movies

But you're real enough to me, but there's a heart

A heart that lives in New York

A heart in New York, a rose on the street

I write my song to that city heartbeat

A heart in New York, love in her eye, 

an open door and a friend for the night
New York, you got money on your mind
And my words won't make a dime's worth a difference, 

so here's to you New York.

 

Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel

MIREIA STONE, MISSING ALONG THE MERSEY RIVER

The River Mersey is a river in the North West of England. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon language and translates as boundary river.

 

The river may have been the border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, and for centuries it formed part of the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The start of the Mersey is at the confluence of the River Tame and River Goyt in Stockport. It flows westwards through the suburban areas of south Manchester, then into the Manchester Ship Canal at Irlam, becoming a part of the canal and maintaining the canal's water levels.

After 6.4 km the river exits the canal, flowing towards Warrington where the river widens. It then narrows as it passes between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes. From Runcorn the river widens into a large estuary, which is 4.8 km across at its widest point near Ellesmere Port.

The course of the river then turns north as the estuary narrows between Liverpool and Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula to the west, and empties into Liverpool Bay. In total, the river flows 113 km.

More information: Mersey Ferries

A railway tunnel between Birkenhead and Liverpool as part of the Mersey Railway opened in 1886. Two road tunnels pass under the estuary from Liverpool: the Queensway Tunnel opened in 1934 connecting the city to Birkenhead, and the Kingsway Tunnel, opened in 1971, to Wallasey.

A road bridge, completed in 1961 and later named the Silver Jubilee Bridge, crosses between Runcorn and Widnes, adjacent to the Runcorn Railway Bridge which opened in 1868.

A second road bridge, the Mersey Gateway, opened in October 2017, carrying a six-lane road connecting Runcorn's Central Expressway with Speke Road and Queensway in Widnes.

The Mersey Ferry operates between Pier Head in Liverpool and Woodside in Birkenhead and Seacombe, and has become a tourist attraction, offering cruises that provide an overview of the river and surrounding areas.

Water quality in the Mersey was severely affected by industrialization, and in 1985, the Mersey Basin Campaign was established to improve water quality and encourage waterside regeneration.

In 2009, it was announced that the river is cleaner than at any time since the industrial revolution and is now considered one of the cleanest in the UK. The Mersey Valley Countryside Warden Service manages local nature reserves such as Chorlton Ees and Sale Water Park. The river gave its name to Merseybeat, developed by bands from Liverpool, notably the Beatles.

In 1965, it was the subject of the top-ten hit single Ferry Cross the Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon mǣres, of a boundary and ēa, a river.

The Mersey was possibly the border river between Mercia and Northumbria. Its Welsh name is either Afon Mersi in essence a respelling of the name Mersey or Afon Merswy, apparently no older than the nineteenth century, with the suffix wy replacing the final syllable of the name, thought at the time to mean water; river and appropriate for forming river names.

Today, The Stones have sailed along the Mersey River. Before sailing along the river, the family had been studying some English grammar. They have revised Comparatives of Equality and the Order of Adjectives.

While they were contemplating the amazing, wonderful views, the boat has suffered a terrible accident, and it has sunk. All the members of the family has arrived swimming to the shore. All except Mireia Stone who is missing. The family has phoned the police, and they have started a great campaign in social networks asking for help and support.

More information: Comparative Equality Adjectives & Order of Adjectives

People they rush everywhere
Each with their own secret care
So ferry 'cross the Mersey
And always take me there
The place I love...

Gerry & The Peacemakers

THE JONES ARE AS LEGENDARY AS HOGWARTS OR NESSIE

William Wallace

Today, The Jones have continued their trip across the Highlands. After meeting Nessie and spending a wonderful day with him yesterday, this morning the family has revised some Social English. Later, they have practised Present Simple vs. Present Continuous and the Adjectives of Equality.

The Grandma has explained to her family that she had bought a new propierty in the island: a beautiful Scottish castle next to the Loch Ness. 

The family has talked about which residence to choose to spend their summer holidays. The selection is easy: or S'Estaca in Majorca Island or Urquhart Castle in Loch Ness.

More information: Equality Adjectives

Finally, The Jones have played some word games to improve their vocabulary and enjoy good moments together before having lunch with their last guests: Sean Connery, Annie Lennox and Amy Macdonald.

More information: Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

This afternoon, the family is meeting William Wallace, an old Grandma's friend, a local hero, who has a very beautiful story of bravery and honour to explain. After this visit, The Jones are preparing their suitcases again because Paris is waiting for them.

William Wallace

Sir William Wallace, in Scottish Gaelic Uilleam Uallas, is a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297. He was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298. In August 1305, Wallace was captured in Robroyston, near Glasgow, and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason and crimes against English civilians.

 More information: BBC Scotland

Since his death, Wallace has obtained an iconic status far beyond his homeland. He is the protagonist of Blind Harry's 15th-century epic poem The Wallace and the subject of literary works by Sir Walter Scott and Jane Porter, and of the Academy Award-winning film Braveheart.

William Wallace

William Wallace was a member of the lesser nobility, but little is definitely known of his family history or even his parentage. When Wallace was growing up, King Alexander III ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. On 19 March 1286, however, Alexander died after falling from his horse.

The heir to the throne was Alexander's granddaughter, Margaret, Maid of Norway. As she was still a child and in Norway, the Scottish lords set up a government of guardians. Margaret fell ill on the voyage to Scotland and died in Orkney on 26 September 1290. The lack of a clear heir led to a period known as the Great Cause, with several families laying claim to the throne.

With Scotland threatening to descend into civil war, King Edward I of England was invited in by the Scottish nobility to arbitrate. Before the process could begin, he insisted that all of the contenders recognize him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. In early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgment was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law.

William Wallace

Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish Lords and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common plaintiff. John was a weak king, known as Toom Tabard or Empty Coat. John renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July, Edward had forced John to abdicate. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1,800 Scottish nobles, many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time.

On 11 September 1297, an army jointly led by Wallace and Andrew Moray won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish army routed the English army. John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey's feudal army of 3,000 cavalry and 8,000 to 10,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. 

In April 1298, Edward ordered a second invasion of Scotland. Two days prior to the battle 25,781 foot soldiers were paid. More than half of them would have been Welsh. There are no clear cut sources for the presence of cavalry, but it is safe to assume that Edward had roughly 1500 horse under his command. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but failed to bring William Wallace to combat; the Scots shadowed the English army, intending to avoid battle until shortages of supplies and money forced Edward to withdraw, at which point the Scots would harass his retreat. 

More information: History Cooperative

The English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food supplies low, and a resulting riot within Edward's own army had to be put down by his cavalry. In July, while planning a return to Edinburgh for supplies, Edward received intelligence that the Scots were encamped nearby at Falkirk, and he moved quickly to engage them in the pitched battle he had long hoped for.

William Wallace

By September 1298, Wallace resigned as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick and future king, and John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, King John Balliol's nephew.

Wallace evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow. The site is commemorated by a small monument in the form of a Celtic cross. Letters of safe conduct from Haakon V of Norway, Philip IV of France, and John Balliol, along with other documents, were found in Wallace's possession and delivered to Edward by John de Segrave.

Wallace was transported to London, lodged in the house of William de Leyrer, then taken to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and for atrocities against civilians in war, sparing neither age nor sex, monk nor nun. He was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the treason charge, I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject.

More information: Scottish History

Scotland should be nothing less than equal 

with all the other nations of the world. 

Sean Connery

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY: WELCOME TO THE BEANS, TANIA

Antonio Bean's Declaration. January, 12. 14:05-East Time. New York.

The Beans in the Statue Cruises boat

We started the day practising some English grammar. We talked about Likes and Dislikes and about Comparatives of Equality. We practised some Social English, Vocabulary about Places and Crimes and reviewed some grammar.

We talked about the importance of being a member of a community and about the common work in cooperatives.

More information: Likes and Dislikes

Tania Bean and Rhini

We were very happy because a new member had joined to our family. 

She's Tania from San Marino. She’s a nice person and a great veterinary. She was going to take care of Rhini during our travel. In fact, she's not an unknown person for me because she's my sister. My family kept this secret during a lot of years but I discovered and I wanted to come to the USA to meet her. 

Now, she's missing as the rest of my family. Last time I remember her, she was talking with Anton about an interesting website to download books.

More information: Planetebook 

We were enjoying our moment, sharing some sweets and talking about our personal experiences as a normal family when we heard the terrible sound. Something had happened on the first floor of the boat because the water started to cover all of it. Only five minutes later, the boat had disappeared and all the family was trying to save each other. It was a dramatic moment. I could see Rhini arriving to the shore of Liberty Island but I couldn't see anything more, only water. I closed my eyes and I started to pray God thinking in one of my favourite prayers Near my God to Thee. It's curious. This song was also the last song which was played in the Titanic.

I prayed and prayed and prayed...

I don't remember anything more. I'm so sorry. I'm exhausted and sad. 

In these moments, I remember a William Shakespeare's quote: It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

God bless us!

(To be continued)

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

darkness be over me, my rest a stone;

yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee.
 

Sarah Fuller Flower Adams

UILLEAM UALLAS 'BRAVEHEART', YOUR HEART IS FREE

Today, The Poppins have been talking about the differences between Present Simple and Present Continuous; between as and like and practising some Comparatives of Equality.

More info: Comparatives of Equality 

More info: Present Simple & Continuous

They have read two more chapters of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey and they’ve compared some famous sci-fi characters and they have created some micro plots about The Legend of Saint George.

Finally, they’ve watched a video about perceptions and how to look at something and see nothing.

Tomorrow, they’re preparing some budgets and they’re planning the next travel to Brazil. Moreover, they’re deciding which house they’re going to buy.

Facts matter not at all.
Perception is everything.
It's certainty.

Stephen Colbert