LONDON

John Escott

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1 This is London!

Every year, more than nine million They go to Oxford Street to look at
people come from countries all over the shops, or to Harrods. Two
the world to visit London. They go million visitors go to the Tower of
to the theatres and museums; they London. A million more go to see St
look at interesting old buildings, Paul's Cathedral.
many of them hundreds of years Yes, London is a big and beautiful
old; they sit or walk in the beautiful city with lots to see and do.
parks, or have a drink in a pub. But how did it all begin . . . ?

Trafalgar Square

A London policeman
2 In the beginning

Roman London in AD 200 The Roman city wall

The name London conies from the today, near the Museum of London.
Romans. There were people living It was a rich town with about
here before they came, but we do not 50,000 people living in it. But soon
know very much about them. after AD 400, the Romans left
The Romans came to England in Londinium to go back to Rome,
AD 43. They built houses and other and nobody lived in the town for
buildings and made a town next to many hundreds of years. The
the River Thames. They called the buildings began to fall down.
town Londinium. They built a bridge Danish soldiers destroyed more
over the river, and ships came up to buildings nearly five hundred years
Londinium from the sea. The town later. King Alfred was king of
got bigger and bigger. Important England then. He got the Danes to
new buildings went up, and you can leave London and his men built the
see some of the Roman city wall town again.
 London

In 1066, William the Conqueror quarter of a million Londoners lost

came to England from France to be their homes in the fire. It destroyed
king. Soon after, he began to build St Paul's Cathedral and eighty-
the Tower of London. eight other churches. But the fire
When Henry the Eighth was king also destroyed most of the worst
in 1509, 50,000 people lived in old buildings, and the new houses
London again. By the year 1600, that went up after this were better
there were 200,000, but a lor of for people to live in.
them lived in old and dirty A new St Paul's Cathedral was
buildings. In 1665, 100,000 people built between 1675 and 1711.
died from an illness called the By 1881, more than three
plague. This was called the year of million people lived in London.
'The Great Plague'. Today, more than six million
A year later, in 1666, there was a people live here. There were eight
big fire - The Fire of London. It million in the 1960s, but in the
began in a house in Pudding Lane, 1970s and 1 980s, people moved
near London Bridge. More than a out of the centre of London.

The Fire of London

St Paul's Cathedral
3 Visiting the city

A quick and easy way to get to

different places in the city is to use
an Underground train. The trains
run all day and most of the night.
Buy your ticket before you get on
the train. It's better not to make
your journey between eight o'clock
and ten o'clock in the morning, or
four o'clock and six o'clock in the
evening. These are called the 'rush'
hours. Thousands of people are
going to work or coming home
again then, and it is difficult to
move or to find a place to sit on
the train.
A London bus

You can see much more of

London from one of its famous red
buses. Some special visitors' buses
take you to many of the interesting
places in the city on one journey. It
takes about one and a half hours,
but you can break your journey
and get off (and on again) at the
different places you want to visit.
An Underground train in the rush hour
 London

London taxis are called 'black

cabs'. Most of them are black, but
some are not. You can stop one if it
has a 'For Hire' sign on it. The
drivers are usually friendly and
helpful.
Why not take a boat trip along
the River Thames? Boats leave
Westminster Pier and Charing Cross
Pier, and they go to Tower Pier and
Greenwich. A black cab

Between April and October, you

can take a longer boat trip to
Hampton Court (about four hours)
- a beautiful palace in a big park.

A boat leaving Westminster Hampton Court Palace

4 Some places to go

The Queen has her London home

at Buckingham Palace. It is at the
end of The Mall - a long road that
begins at Trafalgar Square. At half
past eleven most mornings the
soldiers at Buckingham Palace
'change the guard'. It takes about
thirty minutes, and hundreds of
visitors come to watch.
Changing the guard at And in August and September,
Buckingham Palace
you can usually visit some of the
rooms in the palace. But there are
One of the Queen's coaches always lots of people coming to see
them, so be ready to wait.
You can also visit the Royal
Mews at the palace. This is the
home of the Queen's horses and
coaches.
The Queen's Gallery is also at
the palace, and you can visit it at
most times of the year. Here you
can see pictures from all over the
world.
The Tower of London is now a
museum, and one of London's
most famous buildings. More than
two million people visit it every
 London

A Yeoman Warder The Crown Jewels

year. Yeoman Warders (also called Tower Bridge is near the Tower of
Beefeaters) tell them all about the London. It is one of the most
Tower. famous bridges in the city and first
You can sec the Crown jewels, opened in 1894.
and visit the Bloody Tower and the St Paul's Cathedral is not far
White Tower. Or take a walk away, on Ludgate Hill. It was built
round the wall and perhaps see one by Sir Christopher Wren after the
of the Tower's famous black birds: Fire of London. Wren built more
the ravens. than fifty London churches. Visitors
can go up to the Golden Gallery to
Tower Bridge and the Tower of London look across London.
5 Westminster

Westminster Abbey is more than The clock high up on the building is

nine hundred years old, and is a called Big Ben.
very famous London church. The Prime Minister - the head of
After William the Conqueror, every the British government - lives at 10
King and Queen of England was Downing Street. Walk along
crowned king or queen here. Parliament Street to Whitehall, past
The Houses of Parliament are the government buildings, and you
near Westminster Abbey. This is can see the little street on your left.
the home of the British government.

The Houses of Parliament and

Westminster Abbey

10 Downing Street
 London

Parks and gardens Kensington Gardens is next to

When you are tired of looking at Hyde Park. Here you can see the
buildings, yon can sit or walk in one statue of Peter Pan, the famous boy
of London's beautiful parks. in the children's story, Peter Pan,
Hvde Park has a lake in the by J. VI. Barrie.
middle called the Serpentine, and Regent's Park is the home of
vou can take a boat out on the London Zoo. The zoo has
water. thousands of birds and animals
It is a good place ro get away from from all over the world. There is
the crowds and the noise of the city. also a theatre in the park. On a
You can listen to the speakers at summer's evening, you can sit out
Speakers' Corner near Marble Arch. under the night sky and watch a
People from all over the world come play by William Shakespeare,
and speak here. You can ask a England's most famous writer.
speaker some difficult questions if St James' Park is next to The
vou like. Or vou can stand on a box Mall. It is smaller, but many people
and speak to some of the listeners! think it is more beautiful.

Peter Pan

A boat on the Serpentine The open air theatre

in Regent's Park
6 Shops...

The most famous shop in London - famous is Foyles. It has thousands

some people say the most famous of books - but it can sometimes be
in the world - is Harrods, in very difficult to find the book you
Knightsbridge. It opened in 1849. want!
Oxford Street has many big Covent Garden was once a big
shops - Selfridges, Marks and food market, but now it has lots of
Spencer, John Lewis, Debenhams. small shops and cafes - and there
There are always lots of people arc street performers to watch.
looking at the shops here, but at There are two very famous
Christmas thousands more people markets in London. Petticoat Lane
come to see the wonderful market (open on Sundays) is in
Christmas lights - a n d to buy Middlesex Street, and is a good
things for their friends and family place to buy cheap clothes and
for Christmas. things for the home. At the market
Charing Cross Road is famous in Portobello Road (open on
for its bookshops. There arc lots of Saturdays) you can buy old clocks,
them, and they sell old and new- old chairs and tables, and hundreds
books. One of the oldest and most of other things.

Shopping in Covent Garden Portobello Road

Oxford Street
 London

. . . and eating

You can find food from nearly There are also thousands of pubs
every country in the world in in the city. In many pubs you can
London. In Soho, in the West End cat as well as drink.
of London (see map on pages 18 Or why not have some English
and 19), you can eat food from fish and chips? They are cheap, and
Italy, India, China, Japan, Greece, good to cat.
and lots more places. Or you can have 'tea' at the Ritz
in Piccadilly, or at the Savoy Hotel
Soho in the Strand.

A fish and chip shop

A London pub Tea at the Ritz

7 Going out

Theatres in the West End The Royal Albert Hall

Theatres and music You can hear wonderful music

London's West End has some of and singing from all over the world
the best theatres in the world, so at the Royal Opera House in Covent
tickets can be expensive. Go in the Garden, the Royal Albert Hall in
afternoon; it is often cheaper. Kensington Gore, the London
There is something for everybody - Coliseum in St Martin's Lane, and
from a play by the Royal the Barbican Centre, Silk Street.
Shakespeare Company at the
Barbican Theatre, to Agatha Ballet at Sadler's Wells
Christie's The Mousetrap (this play
began in 1952 and thousands of
visitors see it every year).
There are lots of cinemas to visit.
The most expensive are in the West
End, but you can sometimes get
cheap tickets on Mondays.
 London

Tor ballet, go to the Sadler's

Wells Theatre in Rosebery Avenue,
or to the Royal Opera House.
To get cheap tickets, buy them
an hour or two before it begins.
Do you like to listen to jazz
musicians? You can hear some of
the best at Ronnie Scott's Club in
Frith Street, or at the Bull's Head,
Barnes at Barnes Bridge, or at 100 Ronnie Scott's
Club at 100, Oxford Street.
Tottenham Hotspur play at White
Sport
Hart Lane, High Road, N17.
Sonic of the most famous English
football clubs are in London. You To watch the very English game
can see Arsenal play at Arsenal of cricket, go to Lord's Cricket
Stadium, Avenell Road, N 5 . Ground in St John's Wood, NWS.
Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge, This is the 'home of cricket' tor
Fulham Road, SW6, and most English people.

Lord's Football: Arsenal playing Crystal Palace

8 Museums and galleries
The British Museum in Great
Russell Street is the biggest museum
in Britain. Tickets are free.
The Museum of London at 150,
London Wall is one of the most
interesting museums in the city. It
tells the story of London and its
people. The British Museum
One more museum that tells a
story is the Museum of the Moving Four million people visit the
Image (MOMI), on the South Bank National Gallery in Trafalgar
(under Waterloo Bridge). This tells Square every year. They come to
the story of cinema and television, look at more than two thousand
and there are many things for pictures. Tickets are free.
visitors to see and do. You can act At the National Portrait Gallery
with actors on a film 'set'. Or you in St Martin's Place, you can see
can read the news on TV! pictures of famous people. Tickets
arc free here, too.
The National Gallery
 London

The London Dungeon in Toolcy

Street is a 'Museum of Horror'.
Half a million people visit it every
year, but they don't always stay to
see it all!
Madame Tussaud's in
Marvlehonc Road is famous for its
people made from wax. You can see
famous people from the past and
famous people of today - Abraham
Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson
Mandela, Pavarotti, Marilyn
Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Sylvester
Stallone. And in the 'Chamber of
Horrors' you can see some very bad
people! Madame Tussaud's

The London Dungeon

9 Places and parades

banks and offices. Look for the

City men with their dark suits and
umbrellas!
St Paul's Cathedral is in the
middle of The City, and the Bank
of England has an interesting
museum that you can visit.
Also in the The City is a very tall
building - 60.6 metres high - called
The Monument. Christopher Wren
built this, too, and it stands on the
place where the Fire of London
began in 1666.
The Bank of England
The Monument
The City
Londoners often talk about 'The
City' (see map on pages 18 and 19).
They are talking about the oldest
part of London, the home of the
Bank of England, and many other
big offices.
About five thousand people live
in The City, and at weekends it
feels empty. But between Monday
and Friday, nearly half a million
people come here to work in the
 London

Some interesting and new Lord Mayor in the Lord

exciting days Mayor's Show - a parade from
Every year on a Saturday morning Mansion House, the Lord Mayor's
in June, 'foot guards' and 'horse home, to the Strand. The Lord
guards' have a parade for the Mayor is the most important person
Queen. This is called 'Trooping the in The City after the Queen. The first
Colour'. The 'colour' is the flag Mayor of London was Henry
that the soldiers carry. Thousands Fitzailwin, in 1189. They were not
of people stand in The Mall to see called Lord Mayors until the time of
the Queen and the soldiers go past. King Henry the Eighth.
Big red b u s e s . . . London
policemen . . . Buckingham Palace . . .
Speakers' Corner . . . Big Ben . . .
Netting Hill Carnival - these are
some of the things you can find in
London.
But there are many, many more.
Come and see!
Trooping the Colour

The exciting Netting Hill Notting Hill Carnival

Carnival is on the last Sunday and
Monday in August. There are two
wonderful parades to watch, one on
Sunday and one on Monday, and
you can see them going through, the
streets near Portobello Road and
Ladbroke Grove.
On the second Saturday in
November, Londoners can see their
 Exercises

A Checking your understanding

Pages 15 Find the answers to these questions.

1 How many visitors go to the Tower of London every year?
2 Who gave London its name?
3 In 1666, a lot of Londoners lost their homes. How?
4 When is it better not to make your journey on the Underground?
Pages 6-9 Write answers to these questions.
1 Where and when can you see soldiers 'change the guard'?
2 Who built St Paul's Cathedral?
3 Where and what is Speakers' Corner?
Pages 10-15 In London . . .
1 .. . which road is famous for its bookshops?
2 . . . which famous market is open on Sundays in Middlesex Street?
3 . . . what Agatha Christie play began in 1952?
4 . . . what English sport can you watch at White Hart Lane?
5 . . . which museum tells the story of cinema and television?
6 ... where can you see famous people made of wax?
Pages 16-19 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F) ?
1 'The City' is the oldest part of London.
2 The Bank of England is in Westminster.
3 The Monument stands on the place where the Fire of London began.
4 You can see the Trooping of the Colour on a Saturday in July.
5 The first Mayor of London was Christopher Wren.
B Working with language
1 Complete these sentences with the information from the book.
1 Hampton Court i s . . .
2 The Mall i s . . .
3 At the Queen's Gallery you can sec . ..
4 Covent Garden was once . . .
5 At Ronnie Scott's Club you can listen to
6 At the National Portrait Gallery you can sec . . .
2 Put these sentences in the right order. Chech your answers with
pages 2 and 3.
1 100,000 people died from an illness called the plague.
2 It destroyed St Paul's Cathedral and eighty-eight other churches.
3 But soon after AD 400, the Romans left Londinium to go back to
Rome.
4 Today, more than six million people live here.
5 A year later, in 1 666, there was a big fire - the Lire of London.

C Activities

1 You are on a visitors' bus in London. Which four interesting places do

you get off the bus to visit? Write a paragraph about each of them. Say
why you want to see them.
2 You are on holiday in London. Write a postcard to a friend saying what
you did today.

D Project work
Write an 'In the beginning . . . ' about your own town or city. How did it get
its name? Who lived there first? What old buildings can you see today and
when were they built? I low many people live in your town or city today?
 Glossary

act to be in a play or film museum a building to keep

beautiful, old and interesting things
bank a place where you keep
for people to look at
money
music a nice noise to listen to when
cathedral a big, important church
people sing or play something
church a building where people go
park a place where there are trees
to talk and sing to God
and grass, and where people can
destroy break something so that walk and sit
you can't use it again
place where something or someone is
fall down move quickly down to
pub a building where people drink
the ground
and talk to their friends
fire something hot that destroys
queen the most important woman
things
in a country (often wife of a king}
food the things we eat
soldier a man or woman who
gallery rooms where you can go fights for their country
to look at pictures
speak say something
government the people who say
theatre a building where you can
what must happen in a country
see plays and hear music
king the most important man in a
world all seas and countries are on
country (often husband of a queen)
it, and all people and animals live
market a place in the street where on it
you can buy and sell things
 CASSETTE AVAILABLE

LONDON
London - two thousand years of history.
From the Romans and King Henry the
Eighth to the city of today and tomorrow
- and from St Paul's Cathedral and
Buckingham Palace to Petticoat Lane
and Ronnie Scott's Jazz club. The rich
and exciting life of a great city-and some
of the people who helped to make it.

OXFORD BOOKWORMS FACTFILES g i v e

important and interesting information
to the reader, moving enjoyably towards
real reading in English. Each book has
been carefully graded to help the learner.

Cover photograph by Tony Stone

Images/Jan Gill.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

ISBN 0-19-422801-0

Oxford
English

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