Dateline

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East London

Cable Cars Provide Cross-Thames Link

LONDON’S NEW PUBLIC transportation option has opened in time for the summer Olympics. Dubbed the Emirates Air Line (after its corporate sponsorship), the transport is the first urban cable car system in Britain. The 34 Thames-crossing gondolas can carry 2,500 passengers an hour between Greenwich Peninsula and London Docks. Traveling 160 feet above the river, cars offer views of the City and the Olympic Park that are said to be spectacular. Use your Oyster card for £3.20 single, £6.40 return—or for a nonstop round trip.

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The former Beatles’ humble birthplace had been slated for destruction in Liverpool’s urban renewal.[/caption]

Liverpool

Ringo Starr’s House Saved for Posterity

THE RUN-DOWN THREE-BEDROOM terraced row house where Ringo Starr was born on July 7, 1940, has been saved from demolition following a campaign by Beatles fans. The dingy row house in Liverpool’s Dingle area had been earmarked for destruction for several years as part of an urban generation project. Liverpool City Council has heard the popular outcry and agreed to give the local community opportunity to refurbish 16 properties on Madryn Street where Starr took his first steps.

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Healthy Living at the Seaside

Researchers at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter have concluded that, on average, the closer Brits live to the sea, the more likely they are to report good health. Previous research reported that the coastal environment provided stress reduction. A link remains likely, they say, but as yet undemonstrated.

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McCartney Turns 70

It seems that Paul McCartney, the iconic former Beatle, is still touring and performing at the top of his game. Among his recent gigs, of course, was the Buckingham Palace concert for the Jubilee and his closing number of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics on July 27. That’s going strong.

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Dame Vera Backs White Cliff Campaign

A new National Trust campaign is seeking £1.2 million to buy a stretch of the famous chalk cliffs of Dover so it can be managed to boost the wildlife habitat and improve public access. The NT campaign is being championed by World War II singer Dame Vera Lynn, now 95, iconically associated with the landscape by her 1942 song “There’ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover.”

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Plunging to Earth Without a Parachute

Stuntman Gary Connery became the first man to skydive from a height of 2,400 feet without a parachute. He took the jump above Ridge Wood, Buckinghamshire, from a helicopter into a carefully placed pile of 18,600 cardboard boxes in a specially designed wing suit—and walked away smiling.

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Ben Cross (who played Harold Abrahms) and Nigel Havers (Lord Andrew Lindsey) attended the UK film premiere at the Empire Leicester Square in July.[/caption]

Leicester Square

Chariots of Fire Celebrates Re-Release

STARS AND CREW of the 1981 Olympics epic Chariots of Fire reunited after 30 years for the Leicester Square premiere of the newly remastered film’s release to mark London’s 2012 Olympics. Among the movie’s many honors were four Oscars including Best Picture. Chariots of Fire ranks 19th on the British Film Institute’s list of Top 100 British Films.

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A couple of ardent fans wallow in the mud at the campsite at the Isle of Wight Festival. Rock on![/caption]

Isle of Wight

Torrential Rains Cause Chaos

AS SPRING TURNED into summer, Britain’s monsoon season continued. Rain cast a dreary pall over the last days of Royal Ascot and sporting fixtures, festivals and sundry events were cancelled up and down the country. Nowhere was the rain’s impact more dramatically evident than at the Isle of Wight Festival. Thousands of festival-goers were trapped in traffic gridlock for more than 10 hours, and the festival campsites were a quagmire well before the weekend’s program began featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam. Shades of Woodstock.

Green Park

London’s Newest Monument Unveiled by the Queen

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The Green Park memorial depicts a bomber crew.[/caption]

THE RAF BOMBER Command Memorial honors the 55,573 Bomber Command airmen who gave their lives in World War II. Some 800 veterans and 5,700 widows and family members gathered in Green Park for a service of dedication and remembrance with many of the Royal family in attendance. Her Majesty unveiled the statue of the seven-man crew of a heavy bomber by sculptor Philip Jackson. Britain’s last remaining airworthy Lancaster bomber then flew over Green Park to scatter poppies in a tribute to the fallen.

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Stonehenge might have been a monument to peace.[/caption]

Salisbury Plain

Stonehenge at the Center of the World

A NEW STUDY by researchers from five British universities, the Stonehenge Riverside Project, concludes that Stonehenge may actually have been built to symbolize the unification of Britain —at what was regarded as the center of their ancient world. Its location on Salisbury Plain was already significant, lying on a series of natural landforms that mark the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset.

Folk Happy with Queen’s Role in Church

A BBC poll taken to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee found that 73 percent said Her Majesty should continue as supreme governor of the Church of England and retain the title Defender of the Faith that was first given to Henry VIII.

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Bicentenary Celebrations for Dr. David Livingstone

The Scottish government has announced a yearlong program of events for 2013 in celebration of the bicentenary of missionary and explorer Dr. David Livingstone. Plans focus on the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, where the famous adventurer was born in 1813. Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop paid tribute, “Embodying a thirst for education and knowledge combined with inventiveness, enterprise and a capacity for endurance, he made a significant contribution to our understanding of the world.”

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Robin Hood’s Last Resting Place for Sale

Originally called Kirklees Priory, the 750-acre West Yorkshire estate is where, according to legend, the aged Robin Hood fired a bow and requested to be buried where the arrow landed. Kirklees Estate has come on the market for the first time since the 16th century. Yours for £7 million.

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The Queen and Prince Charles Rate High

On the heels of the Jubilee celebrations, both Her Majesty and Prince Charles are enjoying their highest levels of public support since polling began on the subject in 1992. Nine in 10 Brits approve of the way the Queen does her job, while almost eight in 10 are satisfied with how Prince Charles fulfills his role as Prince of Wales.

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The flags of all 206 nations competing in the summer games fly along a two-mile stretch of Regent Street.[/caption]

Regent Street

Mounting the Colors of the Olympic Nations

AFTER LONDON’S MOST FAMOUS shopping street mounted Union Jacks this spring ahead of the Queen’s Jubilee Weekend, Regent Street did an instant change-over. In anticipation of the Olympic Games this summer, in mid-June the street raised the flags of each of the 206 nations coming to compete in the Games. The display stretches two miles north to south, through Piccadilly Circus and south to Jermyn Street and St. James’s.

Birmingham

Balti Bids for Protected Status

AN INDIAN RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION in Birmingham has filed to make the term Birmingham Balti protected under EU regulations. Invented in the city’s restaurants in the 70s, the Balti is characterized by being cooked and served in the same sizzling wok-like dish. The protected recipe also specifies that the dish be prepared with vegetable oil and fresh herbs and spices. The popular Indian stirfry-with-sauce is now served in 90 percent of Britain’s Indian restaurants. If approved, the Birmingham Balti would join such other British culinary designations as the Bramley Apple pie and Gloucester Old Spot pork.

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The popular Indian stir fry is served in the sizzling dish in which it is cooked.[/caption]

Diamonds for Her Majesty

The rains that fell throughout Britain’s spring and early summer could do nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the British people or the warmth and strength of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during the long weekend of festivities in June to celebrate her 60 years on the throne. Hearts were light and gay despite the gray skies and cool temperatures, and crowds more than a million strong—subjects of the sovereign and well-wishing visitors alike— gathered along the banks of the Thames, lined the streets of London and thronged into the Mall to share in honoring this gracious Queen and to be a part of history.

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Prince Charles pays homage to his mother in front of a million people on the Mall and many more millions around the globe. Fireworks lit up the sky following the Buckingham Palace concert.[/caption]

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More than 1,000 boats of all varieties filled the river for the Thames Pageant—led by the Queen and senior Royals aboard a flower-bedecked royal barge specially fitted out for the occasion.[/caption]

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Despite the adoring crowds and dizzying succession of public events, Her Majesty looked like she thoroughly enjoyed herself through the long weekend.[/caption]

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A carriage procession through the streets of London drew the crowds back to the Mall, where the Queen appeared on the palace balcony and the Red Arrows flew an aerial salute overhead.[/caption]

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