module 2 England: Unit The Midlands and the North BEFORE READING Cambridge University. The following places are connected with a specific area of England: Cambridge, Birmingham, Yorkshire, Oxford, Manchester, Stratford upon Avon. Scan the texts to find where they are located. www.cam.ac.uk East Anglia East Anglia is a fertile region, a pattern of green and golden fields, where water plays an important role. The lowest and flattest part of it, known as the Fens, looks almost like Holland. Its crops include cereals (wheat, oats and barley), sugar beet, turnips and potatoes. East Anglia is not only known for its agricultural vocation, but also for famous old towns, such as Norwich and Cambridge, which attract a large number of tourists. The Midlands The Midlands are a mainly flat region interspersed with some hills. Birmingham, its most important city, is also the second largest city in the UK. The Industrial Revolution was born here. The area surrounding Birmingham is the heart of the Midlands and it is essentially industrial. The so-called Black Country is a region of coalmines, ironworks and factories producing cars, railway engines, cycles. Coventry, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham are Oxford University. www.ox.ac.uk The Fens The flat landscape of the Fens has a long and fascinating story. East Anglia was once joined to Europe by dry land and its rivers were tributaries of the Rhine. At the end of the Ice Age the forest was flooded, the trees died and fell to form the rich peat soils which are cultivated today. The Romans were the first to try the drainage, which was continued by a famous man of the Fens, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), leader of the Parliamentarian Army against King Charles I and then Lord Protector. Today the landscape of the Fens is the result of Man s desire to control this former wet wilderness, and turn it into a fertile area criss-crossed by rivers and canals. other large manufacturing cities where a large variety of goods are made. The Potteries are the centre of china and earthenware industry in Britain. But the Midlands do not only mean factories. This region is famous for its rich farmland, its countryside, especially in the area of the Cotswolds, and its numerous historic towns and buildings. Oxford, the ancient university town with many superb colleges, is in this area as well as Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare s birthplace. www.tourism.eastcambs.gov.uk/html/fendrain.asp