标签英国下的文章

兰鲁斯特一座名为Pont Fawr的石拱桥，英国威尔士 Pont Fawr, a stone arch bridge in Llanrwst, Wales, UK (© Pajor Pawel/Shutterstock)

A bridge too Fawr

How much quaintness can be crammed into one picture? We're pushing the limits with this verdant summer scene in North Wales, looking across the Conwy River from its east bank in the town of Llanrwst. Past the Pont Fawr (Big Bridge) in the foreground, the shrubbery-shrouded cottage dubbed Tu Hwnt I'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) seems to sprout straight from the grass. Built in the 15th century as a farmhouse, it's now a traditional Welsh tearoom serving up scones to locals as well as visitors bound for nearby Snowdonia National Park.

The Pont Fawr is itself the stuff of history: Built in the 1630s, it's often called the 'Inigo Jones bridge' after the pioneering early modern architect who, legend has it, designed the triple-arch span that today carries motor traffic. A one-way bottleneck along an otherwise two-way main road, the bridge's humped shape tends to obscure oncoming cars, earning it yet another local nickname: Pont y Rhegi (Bridge of Swearing).

Micheldever Wood的蓝铃花，英国汉普郡 (© Hursley/Getty Images Plus)

四月的满月从圣迈克尔山上升起，英国康沃尔 The April full moon, or pink moon, rises over St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall, England (© Simon Maycock/Alamy Live News)

Once in a pink moon

We're seeing a vivid 'pink moon' rise above St. Michael's Mount—a granite-encrusted isle connected to the rugged peninsula of Cornwall, England, by sandy flats and a man-made causeway that submerge at high tide. The same order of monks that established France's Mont-Saint-Michel built a church and priory here in the 12th century. In ensuing centuries of war, the insular monastic outpost was fortified into the imposing castle we see today. Privately purchased in 1659, the mount was opened to the public in 1954—and is still managed by members of the family that bought it over 350 years ago.

This photo may give the moon a somewhat salmon tint, but the term 'pink moon' doesn't arise from its coloration, nor from any place near the Cornish shores. The April full moon is called the pink moon because Native Americans associated it with the flowering of wild ground phlox, or moss pink—an early sign of spring in eastern North America. The pink moon for 2020 will crest tonight around 10:30 PM EDT, and for extra effect, it's also a supermoon—that means it'll be full at the same time it's passing closest to Earth, making it appear larger.

拉德克利夫图书馆，英国牛津 The Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, England for Tolkien Reading Day (© Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images)

It's Tolkien Reading Day

For Tolkien Reading Day, we're featuring Oxford University's Radcliffe Camera, home to the world's largest archive of J.R.R. Tolkien's original manuscripts and drawings. While Tolkien never worked in the Radcliffe Camera (Latin for 'room'), he both studied here at Oxford (graduating in 1915 with first-class honors in English language) and taught here as a professor of Anglo-Saxon and later as a professor of English language and literature.

During his years at Oxford, Tolkein wrote 'The Hobbit' and its sequel, 'The Lord of the Rings,' along with other books and research. In 2003, the Tolkien Society organized the first Tolkien Reading Day to celebrate and promote the works of Tolkien. They selected March 25 since it was the day that the Dark Lord Sauron was defeated and the Black Tower destroyed in the 'Lord of the Rings.'

Loughrigg Tarn的日出，英国英格兰湖区安布尔塞德 (© John Finney photography/Getty Images)

马勒姆的夜空，英国北约克郡 (© Stephen Dinsdale/Alamy Stock Photo)

斯诺多尼亚国家公园多尔威泽兰城堡，英国威尔士康威 (© Sebastian Wasek/Sime/eStock Photo)

The Cutty Sark turns 150

We're featuring the Cutty Sark in today's image to mark the 150th anniversary her launch on November 22, 1869. Built for speed, this extreme clipper ship began its abbreviated career as a tea clipper racing across oceans 'at a clip' (hence the designation 'clipper ship') to deliver the season's first tea harvest to England. While at times the Cutty Sark was considered one of the fastest ships in the world, its practical use as a cargo ship was ending almost as soon as it was launched. That's because steamships using the much shorter route through the newly opened Suez Canal were able to deliver the highly anticipated tea harvest faster and cheaper. In 1883, the Cutty Sark began hauling wool from Australia, but within 10 years steamships also disrupted this business.

By 1922, she was the last clipper ship still in use when she was sold to Wilfred Dowman, who had her restored and turned into a cadet training ship. In 1954, the Cutty Sark was docked at Greenwich, restored again, and opened to the public. After a devastating fire in 2006 she was closed again for the Cutty Sark Conservation Project which was completed in 2012. Today, visitors to the Royal Museums Greenwich can explore all facets of this onetime pinnacle of sailing technology, which is part of Maritime Greenwich, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It's time to fall back

While today's image may look like a scene from the Doctor Who TV show, its actually an image of workers maintaining Big Ben's clock face. But like The Doctor, the show's main character, today we're all time travelers. This morning we fell back (or will fall back for night owls and insomniacs reading this before 2 AM) in time an hour for the end of Daylight Saving Time. And like changes to Doctor Who, this change isn't without controversy. Since the 1970s, many different studies have tried to quantify the advantages or disadvantages that come with falling back and springing forward, as yet there's no definitive answer on if the scheme is better or worse for us. Have an opinion on if Daylight Saving Time should be kept or scraped? To participate in our completely unscientific poll, scroll down, or go to the homepage and then scroll down until you see the poll.

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