Today, The Morgans and The Grandma had a morning of business closing the purchase of their wonderful castle in the Highlands.
The family has opened a recruitment process to work in their new Scottish residence and the search is being very interesting because the CVs of the first candidates have already started to arrive.
Before attending to these matters, the family has been studying a little English grammar with the ConditionalTense and TheSuperlative and talking about one of the hardest works: finding a good job.
Finally, They have been talking about the Tube, London Underground and its vital importance during the Second World War as a refuge for the population to protect themselves from enemy bombings, a history parallel to that experienced years earlier by cities such as Barcelona, Viladecans or Gavà, among many others.
The London Underground, commonly known as the Tube, is one of the most iconic public transport systems in the world. Serving the city of London and surrounding areas, it is also the oldest underground railway network, with its first line opening in 1863.
Originally built to reduce street congestion, the early system used steam-powered trains running through tunnels constructed with a cut-and-cover method. Over time, technological advances led to the introduction of electric trains in 1890, making it the first electric underground railway.
Throughout the 20th century, different private railway lines were gradually integrated into a unified network, helping shape modern London. The system also played a crucial role during both World Wars, when stations were used as air-raid shelters.
Today, the Underground consists of an extensive network of hundreds of stations and hundreds of kilometers of track, transporting over a billion passengers annually. Although known as an underground, a significant portion of the network actually runs above ground.
Managed by Transport for London since 2003, the system continues to modernize with improved accessibility, new trains, and infrastructure upgrades.
Today, The Winsors and The Grandma have visited, probably, the creepiest and most appalling dreadful
fearful frightening hideous terrifying building of the English capital, Tower of London.
Before this visit, the family has studied some English grammar with TheSuperlative.
Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower ofLondon, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill.
It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest.The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class.
The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray
twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early
in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat.
There
were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry
III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout
established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on
the site.
Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history.
It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to
controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a
treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record
office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century, a procession would be led from the Tower
to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of
the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This
was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period.
In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the Tudors, the Tower became
used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and
repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with
artillery.
The
zenith of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries,
when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I
before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton,
were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase sent to the Tower.
Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death,
popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century
writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century.
Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In thelatter
half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out
of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony
Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to
what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the
vacant post-medieval structures.
In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower
was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for
espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz
was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public.
Today, Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions.
Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, operated by
the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel
House, and guarded by the Yeomen Warders, the property is cared for by
the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage
Site.
Victorious at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the invading Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror,
spent the rest of the year securing his holdings by fortifying key
positions. He founded several castles along the way, but took a
circuitous route toward London; only when he reached Canterbury did he
turn towards England's largest city.
As the fortified bridge into London was held by Saxon troops, he decided instead to ravage Southwark before continuing his journey around southern England.
A series of Norman victories along the route cut the city's supply
lines and in December 1066, isolated and intimidated, its leaders
yielded London without a fight.
Between
1066 and 1087, William established 36 castles, although references in
the Domesday Book indicate that many more were founded by his
subordinates. The Normans undertook what has been described as the most extensive and concentrated programme of castle-building in the whole history of feudal Europe.
They were multi-purpose buildings, serving as fortifications (used as a
base of operations in enemy territory), centres of administration, and
residences.
William
sent an advance party to prepare the city for his entrance, to
celebrate his victory and found a castle; in the words of William's
biographer, William of Poitiers, certain fortifications were
completed in the city against the restlessness of the huge and brutal
populace. For he [William] realised that it was of the first importance
to overawe the Londoners.
At the time, London was the largest town in England; the foundation of Westminster Abbey and the old Palace of Westminster
under Edward the Confessor had marked it as a centre of governance, and
with a prosperous port it was important for the Normans to establish
control over the settlement. The other two castles in London -Baynard's
Castle and Montfichet's Castle- were established at the same time.
The fortification that would later become known as Tower of London was built onto the south-east corner of the Roman town walls, using them as prefabricated defences, with the River Thames
providing additional protection from the south. This earliest phase of
the castle would have been enclosed by a ditch and defended by a timber
palisade, and probably had accommodation suitable for William.
The tradition of housing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London
probably dates from the reign of Henry III (1216-1272). The Jewel House
was built specifically to house the royal regalia, including jewels,
plate, and symbols of royalty such as the crown, sceptre, and sword.
When money needed to be raised, the treasure could be pawned by the
monarch. The treasure allowed the monarch independence from the
aristocracy and consequently was closely guarded. A new position for keeper of the jewels, armouries and other things
was created, which was well rewarded; in the reign of Edward III
(1327-1377) the holder was paid 12d a day. The position grew to include
other duties including purchasing royal jewels, gold, and silver, and
appointing royal goldsmiths and jewellers.
Today, The Fosters and TheGrandmahave visitedthe Science Museum, oneof the most interesting museums of London, perhaps the most amazing after the British Museum.
Before, the family has been practising some English grammar with TheSuperlative, and learning some vocabulary about the weather.
The Science Museum is a majormuseum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019.
Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the ScienceMuseum
does not charge visitors for admission, although visitors are requested
to make a donation if they are able. Temporary exhibitions may incur an
admission fee.
It is one of the five museums in the Science Museum Group.
The museum was founded in 1857 under Bennet Woodcroft from the collection of the Royal Society of Arts
and surplus items from the Great Exhibition as part of the South
Kensington Museum, together with what is now the Victoria and Albert
Museum.
It
included a collection of machinery which became the Museum of Patents
in 1858, and the Patent Office Museum in 1863. This collection contained
many of the most famous exhibits of what is now the Science Museum.
In
1883, the contents of the Patent Office Museum were transferred to the
South Kensington Museum. In 1885, the Science Collections were renamed
the Science Museum and in 1893 a separate director was appointed.
The Art Collections were renamed the Art Museum, which eventually
became the Victoria and Albert Museum.
When
Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the new building for the
Art Museum, she stipulated that the museum be renamed after herself and
her late husband. This was initially applied to the whole museum, but
when that new building finally opened ten years later, the title was
confined to the Art Collections and the Science Collections had to be
divorced from it.
On 26 June 1909 the Science Museum, as an independent entity, came into existence.
The Science Museum's
present quarters, designed by Sir Richard Allison, were opened to the
public in stages over the period 1919-28. This building was known as the
East Block, construction of which began in 1913 and was temporarily
halted by World War I. As the name suggests it was intended to be the
first building of a much larger project, which was never realized.
However, the museum buildings were expanded over the following years; a
pioneering Children's Gallery with interactive exhibits opened in 1931,
the Centre Block was completed in 1961-3, the infill of the East Block
and the construction of the Lower & Upper Wellcome Galleries in
1980, and the construction of the Wellcome Wing in 2000 result in the
museum now extending to Queen's Gate.
The Science Museum
consists of two buildings -the main building and the Wellcome Wing.
Visitors enter the main building from Exhibition Road, while the
Wellcome Wing is accessed by walking through the Energy Hall, Exploring
Space and then the Making the Modern World galleries at ground floor
level.
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