Meet the People

	"Big Ben" helps London residents stay on time!

Although small in area, the United Kingdom is one of the most densely populated countries of Europe. England is the largest and most populous of the four parts of the kingdom, with more than 80 percent of its people. But the Welsh, Scots, and Northern Irish have maintained their individuality and many of their ancient customs. Some continue to speak their own languages and on special occasions proudly display their traditional dress. To this older population can be added people from former British colonies that immigrated to the United Kingdom after World War II ended in 1945. Since the 1970s, however, tighter immigration laws have greatly reduced the flow.

The major ethnic groups among these newer Britons are blacks, chiefly from the West Indies; East Indians; and Pakistanis. As a result, in many British cities, particularly London, the national capital, and the cities of the English Midlands, one may hear the lilting English speech of the West Indies or see women from India and Pakistan in their colorful flowing garments. At first most of the immigrants were confined by their lack of education and training to low-paying jobs, but succeeding generations have steadily climbed the ranks of British society and entered the mainstream of British life.

Religion. The Church of England (or the Anglican Church) has been the official, or established, church of the English people since the Reformation in the 1500s. The British monarch must be a member of the Church of England, and the church's senior bishops sit in the House of Lords, a house of the British Parliament that is not an elected body. The church's spiritual head is the Archbishop of Canterbury. Almost 70 percent of the English are at least nominally members of the Church of England, but there has been a marked decline in both church membership and church attendance in recent years. The first women priests in the Church of England were ordained in 1994.

Education. Schooling is required by law for all British children between the ages of 5 and 16, except in Northern Ireland, where it is required between ages 4 and 16. Nearly all pupils receive free education financed from public funds. After the age of 11 or 12, most children attend comprehensive schools, which offer a wide variety of programs to prepare them for jobs or for higher education.

Public education is directed by local education authorities, which are part of the elected local government system. Funds come from both local taxes and from the central government. There are two main kinds of free schools — those run completely by local government and those run partly by the local authority and partly by voluntary (mainly religious) groups.

Some children attend non-state-funded, or independent, schools. The most eminent of these are known in England as public schools, although they are what Americans call private schools. Most are boarding schools and have traditionally served to educate the children of the upper classes. Among the most famous public schools are Eton College (founded in 1440 by King Henry VI), Winchester, Harrow, Westminster, Charterhouse, and Rugby. Of the British prime ministers who held office in the 1900s, more than half attended public schools.

A large proportion of British students continues their education at universities and colleges. There are more than 90 institutions of higher education with university status in the United Kingdom. The oldest and most famous are the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which date from the 1100s. Scotland also has a number of distinguished universities, of which three — St. Andrews, Glasgow, and King's College of the University of Aberdeen — were founded in the 1400s. A fourth, the University of Edinburgh, dates from the 1500s. Most British universities, however, are much newer, the majority of them having been created in the years following World War II.

Way of Life. British life has changed dramatically since the end of World War II and in many respects has greatly improved. The average standard of living is much higher and approximates that of the United States. Private automobiles, refrigerators, central heating — all rare or unknown before the war — are now commonplace. Foreign vacations, once the preserve of only the well-to-do, are now enjoyed by all Britons. In general, the class distinctions that once made up a part of British life are much less marked than formerly. But at the same time, in a country that often places great value on its ancient traditions, many things have changed only slowly or have remained the same.

Food and Drink. British cuisine was often considered quite ordinary in the past, but much of it is now first-rate. The traditional large English breakfast is still available, but lighter breakfasts are now more common. Coffee is gaining in popularity but is still drunk less than tea. The custom of afternoon tea, which usually goes with a late dinner hour, is almost universally observed. This differs from high tea, a specialty of Scotland and the north of England, which includes a cooked dish, usually meat or fish, and is an alternative to dinner.

Britain's best-known fast food, fish and chips, consists of fried fish and French fried potatoes (which the British call chips). It is usually taken out to eat, traditionally wrapped in layers of paper. The great increase in tourism has also helped spark a renewed interest in well-prepared restaurant food, including traditional British specialties as well as foreign dishes.

Public houses, or pubs (what Americans would call taverns), are an old British institution, popular as much for their atmosphere of sociability as for their alcoholic beverages. Patrons can enjoy the distinctively "smoky" Scotch whisky along with many kinds of local beers and ales. In the west of England, cider is often the preferred drink. Pubs also serve simple meals.

Ceremonies and Festivals. Many of Britain's ancient customs revolve around traditional ceremony and spectacle. Huge crowds gather for royal ceremonies such as the Queen's official birthday, which is celebrated in June with a military parade known as Trooping the Colour. Another colorful spectacle is the Lord Mayor's Show, a procession through the City of London. One of the most famous of the Scottish festivities is the Royal Highland Games at Braemar, where kilted contestants from all over Scotland play bagpipes, toss cabers (trunks of young trees) as a trial of strength, and perform traditional dances.

The most distinctive of several national festivals are the Welsh eisteddfods (singing and poetry contests), such as the one held at Llangollen. The Henry Wood Promenade Concert season, in London, features one or more concerts every night for two months each year. An international opera festival is held each summer in the opera house at Glyndebourne, a rural retreat east of Brighton. A popular Scottish summer festival honors Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland. The annual Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama — the city's best-known cultural event — includes poetry readings, musical concerts, theater, and dozens of other events.

Sports, Parks, and Recreation. Among Britain's well-known sporting events are the Derby and Grand National horse races. The world center of lawn tennis is in Wimbledon, a London suburb. English lawns are also excellent for such games as croquet. On the Thames in London, crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities compete each year in a rowing match that was first held in 1829. Large crowds gather to watch this event, which is also covered on television. Golf originated in Scotland, where many of the famous courses can still be played. Scottish rivers are among the best in the world for salmon and trout fishing. Fox hunting is a traditional, if controversial, sport in parts of England.

Association football (soccer) is the most popular team sport in winter. Vast sums of money are bet in the football pools each week. Rugby football (which originated in the public school of the same name) is very popular, too, and is far less commercialized. Cricket is the traditional English summer game. Cricket teams range from those at the school and village level to those that represent the county and the country. The Test Matches, or championships, which are played against other Commonwealth nations, last for several days and attract tremendous interest, much like baseball's World Series in the United States.

David C. Large
University of Reading (England)