116-796: The North Midland Railway was a railway line and British railway company, which opened a line from the city of Derby in Derbyshire to the city of Leeds in Yorkshire in 1840. At Derby , it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri-Junct Station . In 1844, the three companies merged to form the Midland Railway . The East Midlands had for some years been at
232-631: A landbridge now known as Doggerland , Great Britain has been inhabited by modern humans for around 30,000 years. In 2011, it had a population of about 61 million , making it the world's third-most-populous island after Honshu in Japan and Java in Indonesia , and the most populated island outside of Asia . The term "Great Britain" can also refer to the political territory of England , Scotland and Wales , which includes their offshore islands. This territory, together with Northern Ireland , constitutes
348-454: A Goidelic language, Manx . Northern Scotland mainly spoke Pritennic , which became Pictish , which may have been a Brythonic language. During the period of the Roman occupation of Southern Britain (AD 43 to c. 410 ), Common Brythonic borrowed a large stock of Latin words. Approximately 800 of these Latin loan-words have survived in the three modern Brythonic languages. Romano-British
464-452: A common ancestral language termed Brittonic , British , Common Brythonic , Old Brythonic or Proto-Brythonic , which is thought to have developed from Proto-Celtic or early Insular Celtic by the 6th century AD. Brythonic languages were probably spoken before the Roman invasion at least in the majority of Great Britain south of the rivers Forth and Clyde , though the Isle of Man later had
580-405: A diversion through Dronfield and Sheffield, which became known to railwaymen as the "New Road", as opposed to the "Old Road". It followed a route which, in 1840, would have been uneconomic to build and difficult to work. Nevertheless, the terrain was more difficult than for the other two railways to Derby, requiring 200 bridges and seven tunnels, and an aqueduct for the railway to pass underneath
696-522: A mile between Wath Road Junction and the site of Wath North station itself has been eradicated by a large new area of light industry and commerce called Brookfield Park, one of the largest developments of its kind in the country and part of the Dearne Valley Enterprise Zone (much of this area being the former site of Manvers Main Colliery and several others), while about three quarters of
812-601: A mile of the route north of Darfield is now a road (the A6195). Cudworth North Junction to Oakenshaw survives, mostly as a single line, to serve the Ardagh Glass works on the Monk Bretton spur, but Oakenshaw to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction) is all gone. This section is used by stopping and semi-fast passenger services from Sheffield to Leeds (via Barnsley), and north of Methley Junction also by Knottingley to Leeds services. The line
928-566: A peninsular extension of mainland Europe until catastrophic flooding between then and 130,000 years ago resulted in the creation of the English Channel and Britain becoming an island during warm interglacial periods like the Last Interglacial/Eemian (130–115,000 years ago), though it remained connected to mainland Europe during glacial periods when sea levels were low. Archaic humans repeatedly occupied Britain before abandoning
1044-494: A possible royal match in 1548, Lord Protector Somerset said that the English and Scots were, "like as twoo brethren of one Islande of great Britaynes again." In 1604, James VI and I styled himself "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland". Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain. Politically, it may refer to the whole of England , Scotland and Wales , including their smaller offshore islands. It
1160-502: A practical measure. In cases where the difference between sin and tan is significant, the tangent is used. In either case, the following identity holds for all inclinations up to 90 degrees: tan α = sin α 1 − sin 2 α {\displaystyle \tan {\alpha }={\frac {\sin {\alpha }}{\sqrt {1-\sin ^{2}{\alpha }}}}} . Or more simply, one can calculate
1276-746: A result of this eventful geological history, the island shows a rich variety of landscapes . The oldest rocks in Great Britain are the Lewisian gneisses , metamorphic rocks found in the far north west of the island and in the Hebrides (with a few small outcrops elsewhere), which date from at least 2,700 My ago. South of the gneisses are a complex mixture of rocks forming the North West Highlands and Grampian Highlands in Scotland. These are essentially
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#17328444640851392-699: A similar sense to fauna, and for similar reasons, the flora consists of fewer species compared to much larger continental Europe. The flora comprises 3,354 vascular plant species, of which 2,297 are native and 1,057 have been introduced. The island has a wide variety of trees , including native species of birch , beech , ash , hawthorn , elm , oak , yew , pine , cherry and apple . Other trees have been naturalised, introduced especially from other parts of Europe (particularly Norway) and North America. Introduced trees include several varieties of pine, chestnut , maple , spruce , sycamore and fir , as well as cherry plum and pear trees . The tallest species are
1508-455: A train of wagons. The result was chaos, with trains running late or erratically, and the remainder of the workforce demoralised. Finally a luggage train, with an elderly driver of only three weeks experience, collided with the rear of a stationary train at Cudworth in fog on 12 January 1843. The inquest sent the 24 year old driver, Edward Jenkins, to the York Assizes for trial and criticised
1624-680: A vehicle can ascend while maintaining a particular speed is sometimes termed that vehicle's "gradeability" (or, less often, "grade ability"). The lateral slopes of a highway geometry are sometimes called fills or cuts where these techniques have been used to create them. In the United States, the maximum grade for federally funded highways is specified in a design table based on terrain and design speeds, with up to 6% generally allowed in mountainous areas and hilly urban areas with exceptions for up to 7% grades on mountainous roads with speed limits below 60 mph (95 km/h). The steepest roads in
1740-401: A very extended period of time. Changing latitude and sea levels have been important factors in the nature of sedimentary sequences, whilst successive continental collisions have affected its geological structure with major faulting and folding being a legacy of each orogeny (mountain-building period), often associated with volcanic activity and the metamorphism of existing rock sequences. As
1856-730: Is 23.1% by the 67-Bernal Heights on Alabama Street between Ripley and Esmeralda Streets. Likewise, the Pittsburgh Department of Engineering and Construction recorded a grade of 37% (20°) for Canton Avenue. The street has formed part of a bicycle race since 1983. Grade, pitch, and slope are important components in landscape design , garden design , landscape architecture , and architecture ; for engineering and aesthetic design factors. Drainage, slope stability, circulation of people and vehicles, complying with building codes, and design integration are all aspects of slope considerations in environmental design . Ruling gradients limit
1972-649: Is G. On the Internet, .uk is the country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. A .gb top-level domain was used to a limited extent, but is now deprecated; although existing registrations still exist (mainly by government organizations and email providers), the domain name registrar will not take new registrations. In the Olympics, Team GB is used by the British Olympic Association to represent
2088-491: Is also an important freight corridor north from Healey Mills yard , on the former Lancashire and Yorkshire line west of Wakefield. The line diverts to the modern day Leeds station while the former line and station at Hunslet Lane is now occupied by both the Crown Point Shopping Park and small road alignments. The trackbed can still be seen with Ivory Street and Leathley Road passing over the old trackbed as well as
2204-743: Is also more than 1000 species of bryophyte including algae and mosses across the island. The currently known species include 767 mosses, 298 liverworts and 4 hornworts . There are many species of fungi including lichen -forming species, and the mycobiota is less poorly known than in many other parts of the world. The most recent checklist of Basidiomycota (bracket fungi, jelly fungi, mushrooms and toadstools, puffballs, rusts and smuts), published in 2005, accepts over 3600 species. The most recent checklist of Ascomycota (cup fungi and their allies, including most lichen-forming fungi), published in 1985, accepts another 5100 species. These two lists did not include conidial fungi (fungi mostly with affinities in
2320-654: Is expressed as a percentage, the angle can be determined as: If the angle is expressed as a ratio (1 in n) then: For degrees, percentage (%) and per-mille (‰) notations, larger numbers are steeper slopes. For ratios, larger numbers n of 1 in n are shallower, easier slopes. The examples show round numbers in one or more of the notations and some documented and reasonably well known instances. In vehicular engineering , various land -based designs ( automobiles , sport utility vehicles , trucks , trains , etc.) are rated for their ability to ascend terrain . Trains typically rate much lower than automobiles. The highest grade
2436-558: Is not technically correct to use the term to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom which includes Northern Ireland , though the Oxford English Dictionary states "...the term is also used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom." Similarly, Britain can refer to either all islands in Great Britain, the largest island, or the political grouping of countries. There is no clear distinction, even in government documents:
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#17328444640852552-508: Is subject to continuing urbanisation , which have contributed towards the overall loss of species. A DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) study from 2006 suggested that 100 species have become extinct in the UK during the 20th century, about 100 times the background extinction rate . However, some species, such as the brown rat , red fox , and introduced grey squirrel , are well adapted to urban areas. Rodents make up 40% of
2668-855: Is the capital city of Scotland , and is the seat of the Scottish Government as well as the highest courts in Scotland . The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Cardiff is the capital city of Wales , and is the seat of the Welsh Government . In the Late Bronze Age, Britain was part of a culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age , held together by maritime trading, which also included Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal. In contrast to
2784-577: Is the largest denomination in Wales . There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists , Quakers , the United Reformed Church (a union of Congregationalists and English Presbyterians ), Unitarians . The first patron saint of Great Britain was Saint Alban . He was the first Christian martyr dating from the Romano-British period, condemned to death for his faith and sacrificed to
2900-519: Is the largest species, with roe deer and fallow deer also prominent; the latter was introduced by the Normans . Sika deer and two more species of smaller deer, muntjac and Chinese water deer , have been introduced, muntjac becoming widespread in England and parts of Wales while Chinese water deer are restricted mainly to East Anglia. Habitat loss has affected many species. Extinct large mammals include
3016-780: Is the name for the Latinised form of the language used by Roman authors. British English is spoken in the present day across the island, and developed from the Old English brought to the island by Anglo-Saxon settlers from the mid 5th century. Some 1.5 million people speak Scots —which was indigenous language of Scotland and has become closer to English over centuries. An estimated 700,000 people speak Welsh , an official language in Wales . In parts of north west Scotland, Scottish Gaelic remains widely spoken. There are various regional dialects of English, and numerous languages spoken by some immigrant populations. Christianity has been
3132-532: Is very occasionally used as a diversionary route and by excursions not calling at Sheffield. It serves as a bypass line which keeps freight trains away from the congested lines through central Sheffield. As of 2013 a handful of passenger trains go the "long way round" between Chesterfield and Sheffield, travelling northbound via the Old Road to Beighton Junction then turning left (west) to pass through Woodhouse and Darnall then left again to enter Sheffield station from
3248-466: The British Olympic team . The Olympic Federation of Ireland represents the whole island of Ireland , and Northern Irish sportspeople may choose to compete for either team, most choosing to represent Ireland. Politically, Great Britain refers to the whole of England , Scotland and Wales in combination, but not Northern Ireland ; it includes islands, such as the Isle of Wight , Anglesey ,
3364-797: The Celtic languages to the island. During the Iron Age , Britain was inhabited by various different Celtic tribes . The Romans conquered most of the island (up to Hadrian's Wall in northern England) and this became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia . In the course of the 500 years after the Roman Empire fell, the Britons of the south and east of the island were assimilated or displaced by invading Germanic tribes ( Angles , Saxons , and Jutes , often referred to collectively as Anglo-Saxons ). At about
3480-575: The Cromford Canal . By that time, Stephenson, who was wishing to concentrate in exploiting the coal around Ashby-de-la-Zouch , delegated the responsibility for almost the entire work of its design and construction to his engineer Frederick Swanwick . The major bridges were at Oakenshaw, over the Barnsley Canal , and the Calder and Chevet Viaducts. In addition there were massive stone retaining walls for
3596-937: The Douglas firs ; two specimens have been recorded measuring 65 metres or 212 feet. The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest tree in Europe. There are at least 1,500 different species of wildflower . Some 107 species are particularly rare or vulnerable and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 . It is illegal to uproot any wildflowers without the landowner's permission. A vote in 2002 nominated various wildflowers to represent specific counties. These include red poppies , bluebells , daisies , daffodils , rosemary , gorse , iris , ivy , mint , orchids , brambles , thistles , buttercups , primrose , thyme , tulips , violets , cowslip , heather and many more. There
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3712-512: The Gregorian mission . It was the main religion for around a thousand years. There are over 5 million adherents today, 4.5 million Catholics in England and Wales and 750,000 in Scotland , although fewer than a million Catholics regularly attend mass . The Church of Scotland , a form of Protestantism with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity , is the third most numerous on
3828-473: The Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia . Judaism figured slightly more than Buddhism at the 2011 census, having 263,000 adherents (excluding Scotland's about 6000). Jews have inhabited Britain since 1070. However, those resident and open about their religion were expelled from England in 1290, replicated in some other Catholic countries of the era. Jews were permitted to re-establish settlement as of 1656, in
3944-559: The Isles of Scilly , the Hebrides and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland , that are part of England, Wales, or Scotland. It does not include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands . The political union which joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland occurred in 1707 when the Acts of Union ratified the 1706 Treaty of Union and merged the parliaments of the two nations, forming
4060-692: The Kingdom of Great Britain , which covered the entire island. Before this, a personal union had existed between these two countries since the 1603 Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland and I of England . The oldest evidence for archaic humans in Britain are the Happisburgh footprints and associated stone tools found in Norfolk , dating to around 950–850,000 years ago. Prior to 450,000 years ago, Britain formed
4176-578: The Privy Council of England was drafting the proclamation of the new king, Charles I, a Scottish peer, Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie , succeeded in insisting that it use the phrase "King of Great Britain", which James had preferred, rather than King of Scotland and England (or vice versa). While that title was also used by some of James's successors, England and Scotland each remained legally separate countries, each with its own parliament, until 1707, when each parliament passed an Act of Union to ratify
4292-454: The Treaty of Union that had been agreed the previous year. This created a single kingdom with one parliament with effect from 1 May 1707. The Treaty of Union specified the name of the new all-island state as "Great Britain", while describing it as "One Kingdom" and "the United Kingdom". To most historians, therefore, the all-island state that existed between 1707 and 1800 is either "Great Britain" or
4408-547: The United Kingdom . The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term ' British Isles ' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC, Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain , the Latin term Britannia
4524-433: The brown bear , grey wolf and wild boar ; the latter has had a limited reintroduction in recent times. There is a wealth of birdlife , with 628 species recorded, of which 258 breed on the island or remain during winter. Because of its mild winters for its latitude, Great Britain hosts important numbers of many wintering species, particularly waders , ducks , geese and swans . Other well known bird species include
4640-520: The golden eagle , grey heron , common kingfisher , common wood pigeon , house sparrow , European robin , grey partridge , and various species of crow , finch , gull , auk , grouse , owl and falcon . There are six species of reptile on the island; three snakes and three lizards including the legless slowworm . One snake, the adder , is venomous but rarely deadly. Amphibians present are frogs , toads and newts . There are also several introduced species of reptile and amphibian. In
4756-441: The hypotenuse (the slope length). This is not the usual way to specify slope; this nonstandard expression follows the sine function rather than the tangent function, so it calls a 45 degree slope a 71 percent grade instead of a 100 percent. But in practice the usual way to calculate slope is to measure the distance along the slope and the vertical rise, and calculate the horizontal run from that, in order to calculate
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4872-548: The mammal species . These include squirrels , mice , voles , rats and the recently reintroduced European beaver . There is also an abundance of European rabbit , European hare , shrews , European mole and several species of bat . Carnivorous mammals include the red fox , Eurasian badger , Eurasian otter , weasel , stoat and elusive Scottish wildcat . Various species of seal , whale and dolphin are found on or around British shores and coastlines. The largest land-based wild animals today are deer . The red deer
4988-420: The ninth-largest island in the world . It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The island of Ireland , with an area 40 per cent that of Great Britain, is to the west – these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks , comprise the British Isles archipelago . Connected to mainland Europe until 9,000 years ago by
5104-520: The pagan gods . In more recent times, some have suggested the adoption of St Aidan as another patron saint of Britain. From Ireland, he worked at Iona amongst the Dál Riata and then Lindisfarne where he restored Christianity to Northumbria . The three constituent countries of the United Kingdom have patron saints: Saint George and Saint Andrew are represented in the flags of England and Scotland respectively. These two flags combined to form
5220-694: The " Kingdom of Great Britain ". Great Britain lies on the European continental shelf, part of the Eurasian Plate and off the north-west coast of continental Europe , separated from this European mainland by the North Sea and by the English Channel , which narrows to 34 km (18 nmi; 21 mi) at the Straits of Dover . It stretches over about ten degrees of latitude on its longer, north–south axis and covers 209,331 km (80,823 sq mi), excluding
5336-511: The 4th century BC. The term used by Pytheas may derive from a Celtic word meaning "the painted ones" or "the tattooed folk" in reference to body decorations . According to Strabo, Pytheas referred to Britain as Bretannikē , which is treated a feminine noun. Marcian of Heraclea , in his Periplus maris exteri , described the island group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles). The Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to
5452-538: The Angles. Germanic speakers referred to Britons as Welsh . This term came to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now Wales, but it also survives in names such as Wallace and in the second syllable of Cornwall . Cymry , a name the Britons used to describe themselves, is similarly restricted in modern Welsh to people from Wales, but also survives in English in the place name of Cumbria . The Britons living in
5568-491: The Ascomycota but known only in their asexual state) or any of the other main fungal groups (Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota and Zygomycota). The number of fungal species known very probably exceeds 10,000. There is widespread agreement among mycologists that many others are yet to be discovered. London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom as a whole, and is the seat of the United Kingdom's government . Edinburgh
5684-652: The Church is the monarch of the United Kingdom, as the Supreme Governor . It has the status of established church in England. There are just over 26 million adherents to Anglicanism in Britain today, although only around one million regularly attend services. The second largest Christian practice is the Latin Church of the Catholic Church , which traces its history to the 6th century with Augustine of Canterbury and
5800-478: The Committee of Inquiry, P. W. Brancker, J. T. Alston, George Hudson, George Wilson, John Waddingham and William Murgatroyd. forced their way onto the board. One of the first acts of the new directors was to close Beighton, Killamarsh and Kilnhurst stations from 1 January 1843. Boys, instead of men, would work points at junctions, services were reduced and fares raised and a number of carriages were sold. A quarter of
5916-459: The Great Western main line, nicknamed Brunel's Billiard Table, because the early locomotives (and their brakes) were feeble. Steep gradients were concentrated in short sections of lines where it was convenient to employ assistant engines or cable haulage , such as the 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles) section from Euston to Camden Town . Extremely steep gradients require the use of cables (such as
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#17328444640856032-618: The Guinness Book. Drawing on the U.S. National Elevation Dataset, 7x7 (magazine) identified ten blocks of public streets in San Francisco open to vehicular traffic in the city with grades over 30 percent. The steepest at 41 percent is the block of Bradford Street above Tompkins Avenue in the Bernal Heights neighborhood. The San Francisco Municipal Railway operates bus service among the city's hills . The steepest grade for bus operations
6148-504: The London area sinking at double this partly due to the continuing compaction of the recent clay deposits. Animal diversity is modest, as a result of factors including the island's small land area, the relatively recent age of the habitats developed since the last glacial period and the island's physical separation from continental Europe , and the effects of seasonal variability. Great Britain also experienced early industrialisation and
6264-555: The North Midland line north of Aldwarke Junction. Stopping passenger trains between Sheffield and Leeds via Cudworth were withdrawn in January 1968, with all of the remaining stations between Rotherham Masborough and Normanton closing at that time. The section between Swinton (Wath Road Junction) and Cudworth had been plagued by mining subsidence for years, and so in October 1968 the decision
6380-436: The North Midland line through Rotherham Masborough as far north as Aldwarke Junction (south of Kilnhurst). In 1987, the opening of a new connecting line between Holmes Junction and Rotherham Central on the former Great Central line allowed local trains to serve a reopened Rotherham Central station, with Masborough station closing the following year. In 1990 the former freight connecting curve between Swinton Town and Mexborough
6496-666: The Scenic Railway at Katoomba Scenic World , Australia, with a maximum grade of 122% (52°), claimed to be the world's steepest passenger-carrying funicular ) or some kind of rack railway (such as the Pilatus railway in Switzerland, with a maximum grade of 48% (26°), claimed to be the world's steepest rack railway ) to help the train ascend or descend. Gradients can be expressed as an angle, as feet per mile, feet per chain, 1 in n , x % or y per mille. Since designers like round figures,
6612-405: The UK government yearbooks have used both Britain and United Kingdom . GB and GBR are used instead of UK in some international codes to refer to the United Kingdom, including the Universal Postal Union , international sports teams, NATO , and the International Organization for Standardization country codes ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 , whilst the aircraft registration prefix
6728-431: The area during cooler periods. Modern humans arrived in Britain about 40,000 years ago, as evidenced by remains found in Kents Cavern in Devon, following the disappearance of Neanderthals . Prior to 9,000 years ago Britain retained a land connection to the continent, with an area of mostly low marshland ( Doggerland ) joining it to what are now Denmark and the Netherlands . During the Mesolithic period, Britain
6844-402: The areas now known as Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall were not assimilated by the Germanic tribes, a fact reflected in the survival of Celtic languages in these areas into more recent times. At the time of the Germanic invasion of southern Britain , many Britons emigrated to the area now known as Brittany , where Breton , a Celtic language closely related to Welsh and Cornish and descended from
6960-600: The basis of the Great Britain royal flag of 1604. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales. There are many other British saints. Some of the best known are Cuthbert , Columba , Patrick , Margaret , Edward the Confessor , Mungo , Thomas More , Petroc , Bede , and Thomas Becket . Numerous other religions are practised. The 2011 census recorded that Islam had around 2.7 million adherents (excluding Scotland with about 76,000). More than 1.4 million people (excluding Scotland's about 38,000) believe in Hinduism , Sikhism , or Buddhism —religions that developed in
7076-425: The bed of the North Sea was dry and acted as a land bridge, now known as Doggerland , to the Continent. It is generally thought that as sea levels gradually rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland reflooded cutting off what was the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BC. Great Britain has been subject to a variety of plate tectonic processes over
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#17328444640857192-427: The boring of the Clay Cross Tunnel . It must be said, however, that some of them were due to carelessness with blasting powder. The track was 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) gauge either single or double parallel (see Rail track ), the former 56 pounds per yard (27.8 kg/m), the latter 65 lb/yd (32.2 kg/m). A mixture of stone blocks and timber sleepers were used. Not all
7308-437: The breaching of the Weald-Artois Anticline , a ridge that held back a large proglacial lake , now submerged under the North Sea. Around 10,000 years ago, during the Devensian glaciation with its lower sea level , Great Britain was not an island, but an upland region of continental north-western Europe, lying partially underneath the Eurasian ice sheet. The sea level was about 120 metres (390 ft) lower than today, and
7424-522: The centre of plans to link the major cities throughout the country. In Yorkshire , George Hudson was the Chairman of the York and North Midland Railway , a proposed line from York towards the industrial markets of Manchester and Liverpool. The new line would connect it, and the Manchester and Leeds Railway as part of a trunk route from the South and London to Yorkshire and the North East of England. Meanwhile, financiers in Birmingham , were looking to expand their system northwards. George Carr Glyn
7540-659: The continental region which approximates to modern Brittany and had been settled in the fifth and sixth centuries by Celtic Briton migrants from Great Britain. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily , daughter of Edward IV of England , and James , son of James III of Scotland , which described it as "this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee". The Scottish philosopher and historian, John Major (Mair), published his 'History of Great Britain, both England and Scotland' ( Historia majoris Britanniae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae ) in 1521. While promoting
7656-440: The cutbacks and there was wide publicity about the trial of the driver for manslaughter. The jury at the York Assizes acquitted Jenkins and censured the directors. Meanwhile, the Board of Trade was also extremely critical and the directors made somewhat grudging improvements to working practices. Meanwhile, the situation between the Birmingham & Derby and the Midland Counties was becoming steadily worse. Hudson's first approach
7772-421: The cutting through Belper and the embankment north of Ambergate. Although the general radius of curves was one mile (1.6 km), gradients were as steep as 1 in 264 and practically the whole length was embanked or in cuttings, when not proceeding through a tunnel. The number of men employed was 8,600, with eighteen pumping engines providing drainage. It was tough work and a number of people died, particularly in
7888-513: The distance being 73 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles [118 km], and the train a quarter of a mile [400 m] long. From the start, there was intense competition between the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway for traffic into London . Though this did not directly affect the North Midland, it had financial problems of its own. With so many earthworks it had been extremely expensive to build, and its station and other buildings were arguably extravagant. Moreover, by
8004-400: The engine house, with its water column, by which they could be flushed. Whishaw commented that it was "a much better arrangement than in common use on other main lines." However, he added "The doorways ... are in so exposed a situation as naturally to shock the female portion of travellers, who, while the trains are stopping, cannot fail to observe the constant bustle about these buildings." It
8120-423: The footplate staff were sacked. The remainder (43 enginemen, stokers and turners) protested over the lower wages, and were sacked as well, on Christmas Eve 1842 and without pay in lieu of notice. He employed in their place, enginemen he described as "skilled replacements" who included in their number a platelayer , a fireman, a stonemason, two had been sacked for drunkenness and one who had been sacked for overturning
8236-474: The generally accepted view that Celtic originated in the context of the Hallstatt culture , since 2009, John T. Koch and others have proposed that the origins of the Celtic languages are to be sought in Bronze Age Western Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula. Koch et al.'s proposal has failed to find wide acceptance among experts on the Celtic languages. All the modern Brythonic languages (Breton, Cornish, Welsh) are generally considered to derive from
8352-407: The grade (100% × rise/run) or standard slope (rise/run). When the angle of inclination is small, using the slope length rather than the horizontal displacement (i.e., using the sine of the angle rather than the tangent) makes only an insignificant difference and can then be used as an approximation. Railway gradients are often expressed in terms of the rise in relation to the distance along the track as
8468-533: The great cities, particularly London, rather than, like the Midland Counties and earlier lines, an adjunct to coal mines and quarries. Indeed, the rise in the coal trade, which was to become so important to the railways, had barely begun and, even a few years later, directors of the Midland Railway were questioning whether the revenue made it a worthwhile market to pursue. In 1870 the Midland Railway opened
8584-457: The horizontal run by using the Pythagorean theorem, after which it is trivial to calculate the (standard math) slope or the grade (percentage). In Europe, road gradients are signed as a percentage. Grades are related using the following equations with symbols from the figure at top. The slope expressed as a percentage can similarly be determined from the tangent of the angle: If the tangent
8700-415: The interregnum which was a peak of anti-Catholicism. Most Jews in Great Britain have ancestors who fled for their lives , particularly from 19th century Lithuania and the territories occupied by Nazi Germany . Grade (slope) The grade (US) or gradient (UK) (also called stepth , slope , incline , mainfall , pitch or rise ) of a physical feature, landform or constructed line refers to
8816-413: The inverse tangent of the standard mathematical slope, which is rise / run or the grade / 100. If one looks at red numbers on the chart specifying grade, one can see the quirkiness of using the grade to specify slope; the numbers go from 0 for flat, to 100% at 45 degrees, to infinity as it approaches vertical. Slope may still be expressed when the horizontal run is not known: the rise can be divided by
8932-555: The island with around 2.1 million members. Introduced in Scotland by clergyman John Knox , it has the status of national church in Scotland. The monarch of the United Kingdom is represented by a Lord High Commissioner . Methodism is the fourth largest and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley . It gained popularity in the old mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire , also amongst tin miners in Cornwall . The Presbyterian Church of Wales , which follows Calvinistic Methodism ,
9048-451: The language of the emigrants, is still spoken. In the 9th century, a series of Danish assaults on northern English kingdoms led to them coming under Danish control (an area known as the Danelaw ). In the 10th century, however, all the English kingdoms were unified under one ruler as the kingdom of England when the last constituent kingdom, Northumbria, submitted to Edgar in 959. In 1066, England
9164-418: The larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania ) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania ) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD). In his later work, Geography ( c. 150 AD ), he gave the islands the names Alwion , Iwernia , and Mona (the Isle of Man ), suggesting these may have been the names of the individual islands not known to him at
9280-528: The largest religion by number of adherents since the Early Middle Ages : it was introduced under the ancient Romans, developing as Celtic Christianity . According to tradition, Christianity arrived in the 1st or 2nd century . The most popular form is Anglicanism (known as Episcopalism in Scotland). Dating from the 16th-century Reformation , it regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed . The Head of
9396-600: The line would follow the river valleys from Derby to Leeds, with minimal gradients and large radii curves. It therefore bypassed Sheffield , but met the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway at Masbrough . His method of working was to follow river valleys as far as possible, with branches into major towns along the way. The Sheffield people, in lobbying for the line to enter their city, engaged Joseph Locke , who believed lines should pass through towns, proceeding along hills, if necessary, with bridges, embankments and cuttings. These were
9512-482: The load that a locomotive can haul, including the weight of the locomotive itself. On a 1% gradient (1 in 100) a locomotive can pull half (or less) of the load that it can pull on level track. (A heavily loaded train rolling at 20 km/h on heavy rail may require ten times the pull on a 1% upgrade that it does on the level at that speed.) Early railways in the United Kingdom were laid out with very gentle gradients, such as 0.07575% (1 in 1320) and 0.1515% (1 in 660) on
9628-747: The method of expression can affect the gradients selected. The steepest railway lines that do not use a rack system include: Gradients on sharp curves are effectively a bit steeper than the same gradient on straight track, so to compensate for this and make the ruling grade uniform throughout, the gradient on those sharp curves should be reduced slightly. In the era before they were provided with continuous brakes , whether air brakes or vacuum brakes , steep gradients made it extremely difficult for trains to stop safely. In those days, for example, an inspector insisted that Rudgwick railway station in West Sussex be regraded. He would not allow it to open until
9744-489: The much smaller surrounding islands. The North Channel , Irish Sea , St George's Channel and Celtic Sea separate the island from the island of Ireland to its west. The island is since 1993 joined, via one structure, with continental Europe: the Channel Tunnel , the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world. The island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in
9860-463: The name of 'Britanniæ.'" The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia , the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne ) and Middle English Bretayne , Breteyne . The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond ). Britannia
9976-457: The north. Southbound trains reverse the process. The main aim of this exercise is to preserve staff route knowledge for times when diversions are necessary. This section has been subject to several changes as a result of integration with the parallel former Great Central Railway line between Sheffield and Mexborough . From 1966, Sheffield–Doncaster services were switched from Sheffield Victoria to Sheffield (Midland) station, and thus ran over
10092-573: The old spur line near Jack Lane. Great Britain Great Britain (commonly shortened to Britain ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe , consisting of the countries England , Scotland and Wales . With an area of 209,331 km (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles , the largest European island and
10208-465: The remains of folded sedimentary rocks that were deposited between 1,000 My and 670 My ago over the gneiss on what was then the floor of the Iapetus Ocean . In the current era the north of the island is rising as a result of the weight of Devensian ice being lifted. Counterbalanced, the south and east is sinking, generally estimated at 1 mm ( 1 ⁄ 25 inch) per year, with
10324-562: The same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic -speaking inhabitants of Ireland. The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans . Greek historians Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo preserved variants of Prettanike from the work of Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia , who travelled from his home in Hellenistic southern Gaul to Britain in
10440-569: The same time, Gaelic tribes from Ireland invaded the north-west, absorbing both the Picts and Britons of northern Britain, eventually forming the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. The south-east of Scotland was colonised by the Angles and formed, until 1018, a part of the Kingdom of Northumbria . Ultimately, the population of south-east Britain came to be referred to as the English people , so-named after
10556-693: The section from Derby to Ambergate , where the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway diverged, has local services as part of the Derwent Valley Line , whilst the section north from Clay Cross is served by other East Midlands Railway services on the Nottingham–Sheffield corridor. All passenger services north from Chesterfield now serve Sheffield . The section north from Beighton Junction to Rotherham Masborough (the "Old Road") has been freight-only since July 1954, although it
10672-504: The stations shown above were open at the beginning. The original intermediate stations were Belper , Amber Gate , Wingfield , Chesterfield , Eckington , Beighton , Masbrough , Swinton , Darfield , Barnsley , Oakenshaw , Normanton and Woodlesford . All were designed by Francis Thompson . Although praising their design, Whishaw was somewhat critical: "we cannot but deplore the growing evil of expending large sums of money on railway appendages. Instead of cottage buildings, which, for
10788-558: The tangent of the angle of that surface to the horizontal . It is a special case of the slope , where zero indicates horizontality . A larger number indicates higher or steeper degree of "tilt". Often slope is calculated as a ratio of "rise" to "run", or as a fraction ("rise over run") in which run is the horizontal distance (not the distance along the slope) and rise is the vertical distance. Slopes of existing physical features such as canyons and hillsides, stream and river banks , and beds are often described as grades, but typically
10904-547: The time it opened, the country had entered an economic depression. In the first two years, dividends were as low as 3.5%, compared with 10% for the London and Birmingham Railway . Economies were put in place but in 1842 the dividend was a mere 1% and the Lancashire and Yorkshire shareholders called for a Committee of Enquiry. This included George Hudson, and after a tour of the complete network, he insisted on drastic measures. Against
11020-581: The time of writing Almagest . The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain , after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae ( c. 1136 ) refers to the island of Great Britain as Britannia major ("Greater Britain"), to distinguish it from Britannia minor ("Lesser Britain"),
11136-464: The traffic of most of the intermediate stopping places on this line, would have been amply sufficient, we find the railway literally ornamented with so many beautiful villas, any one of which would grace the sloping lawn of some domain by nature highly favoured." Trains in those days, of course, had no toilets, so passengers had to use facilities at the stations while the train paused. On the North Midland at Wingfield and elsewhere, they were built under
11252-403: The train arrived at Masbro’ Station, where a number of passengers had arrived from Sheffield... After a few minutes rest, to allow the engines to receive water, the train moved on and arrived at Belper, at 14 minutes before one, stayed four minutes, and at 10 minutes past one, stopped within the truly splendid and extensive station at Derby where was provided a cold collation, nowise unacceptable to
11368-524: The travellers.... The stay at Derby occupied about an hour, or rather more, it being judged necessary to return as soon as possible, on account of the time occupied in the trip. Consequently, at half-past two, the shrill whistle of the engine gave the note of departure. The time occupied in the return however, was not so long as in going. The train left Derby at half-past two, and arrived in Leeds at five minutes before seven o’clock – four hours and twenty five minutes,
11484-400: The two opposing schools of thought at the time and, in this case, Stephenson had his way. An additional advantage was that his customers would, in most cases, be transporting their goods downhill from the mines and quarries to the railhead. It should be said, however, that the North Midland was among the first of the new breed of railway conceived as a means of improved passenger travel between
11600-452: The western and northern regions. It is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets . The greatest distance between two points is 968.0 km ( 601 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi) (between Land's End , Cornwall and John o' Groats , Caithness ), 838 miles (1,349 km) by road. The English Channel is thought to have been created between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago by two catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods caused by
11716-521: The wishes of the Derby directors, Hudson and the others insisted on halving expenditure. At a meeting on 16 November 1842 in Leeds, the shareholders had their way. On 30 November 1842 at a meeting in Derby, John Walbanke Childers MP, Mr. Pickersgill, Hatton Stansfield, T. B. Pease, F. Carbutt, and Mr. Hall retired from their positions as directors, and W. L. Newton (chairman), A. Titley (deputy-chairman), Mr. Laycock, Mr. Lee, Mr Cox and J. Holdsworth remained. Six of
11832-417: The word "grade" is used for human-made surfaces such as roads, landscape grading, roof pitches , railroads , aqueducts , and pedestrian or bicycle routes. The grade may refer to the longitudinal slope or the perpendicular cross slope . There are several ways to express slope: Any of these may be used. Grade is usually expressed as a percentage, but this is easily converted to the angle α by taking
11948-502: The word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Strabo's Geographica , Pliny's Natural History and Diodorus of Sicily's Bibliotheca historica . Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under
12064-695: The world according to the Guinness Book of World Records are Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, Wales and Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Guinness World Record once again lists Baldwin Street as the steepest street in the world, with a 34.8% grade (1 in 2.87) after a successful appeal against the ruling that handed the title, briefly, to Ffordd Pen Llech . A number of streets elsewhere have steeper grades than those listed in
12180-476: Was conquered by the Normans , who introduced a Norman -speaking administration that was eventually assimilated. Wales came under Anglo-Norman control in 1282, and was officially annexed to England in the 16th century. On 20 October 1604 King James , who had succeeded separately to the two thrones of England and Scotland, proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine, France , and Ireland". When James died in 1625 and
12296-503: Was by Aristotle (384–322 BC), or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle , in his text On the Universe , Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne ". The first known written use of the word Britain was an ancient Greek transliteration of the original Proto-Celtic term in a work on the travels and discoveries of Pytheas that has not survived. The earliest existing records of
12412-425: Was completed to Masbrough on 11 May 1840, and to Leeds on 1 July. The Sheffield Iris for 7 July reported on the opening ceremony: the directors, accompanied by their friends, to the number of several hundreds, in thirty-four carriages, drawn by two powerful engines, proceeded from Leeds at eight o’clock in the morning, to Derby where they met the directors of that end of the line.... At twenty-four minutes past ten
12528-474: Was experiencing subsidence of its own, resulting in the reopening of the North Midland section to passengers. The early 1980s saw the Swinton and Knottingley line back in favour, and finally in 1988 this section of the North Midland section was closed to all through traffic, including freight. Today the section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Cudworth North Junction has been lifted; the entire length of well over
12644-498: Was inhabited by hunter gatherers. Neolithic farmers , of Anatolian origin, arrived in Britain around 4000 BC, replacing the pre-existing hunter gatherers. Around 2000 BC, the Bronze Age Bell Beaker Culture arrived in Britain, which genetic evidence suggests was associated with another episode of nearly complete population replacement. Later significant migration to southern Britain around 1000 BC may have brought
12760-523: Was placed before Parliament and was passed in 1844 and from May of that year the Midland Railway came into being. This section of the North Midland is part of the Midland Main Line used by East Midlands Railway London St Pancras–Leicester–Derby–Sheffield and CrossCountry South West–Birmingham–North East–Scotland (sometimes known as the Cross Country Route ) express services. In addition,
12876-556: Was reopened, allowing passenger trains for Doncaster to use the North Midland line between Aldwarke Junction and the reopened Swinton station. Current passenger services are: CrossCountry long distance express services, and Northern stopping services from Sheffield to Leeds (via Wakefield Westgate), and to Adwick or Scunthorpe (via Doncaster), along with infrequent East Midlands Railway express services from London to Leeds, and Northern Rail stopping trains to York via Pontefract. The stopping trains run via Rotherham Central and only use
12992-448: Was taken for safety reasons to divert all remaining passenger traffic onto the Swinton and Knottingley Railway via Moorthorpe , and thence Wakefield Westgate . This entailed the closure to passengers of the complete section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction), although it was still heavily used by freight. By May 1972 however the Swinton and Knottingley line
13108-500: Was the first Chairman of the new company, with George Stephenson appointed as engineer. George Stephenson surveyed the line in 1835 with his secretary, Charles Binns. It would be 72 miles (116 km) long, meeting the York and North Midland, at Normanton , and also the projected Manchester and Leeds Railway . The North Midland Railway Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4 . c. cvii) received royal assent on 4 July 1836. Stephenson decided
13224-554: Was to the Midland Counties in 1843. He then negotiated a secret amalgamation with the Birmingham and Derby which would remove all the Midland Counties' trade and, in August, returned to the latter with an ultimatum. Finally, on 22 September 1843, at a meeting in Derby under the chairman of the Directors, William Leaper Newton, the triple merger was agreed. The Midland Railway Consolidation Bill
13340-592: Was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule (probably Norway ). The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni or Pretani . Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain , Britain , which has
13456-487: Was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia . The earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion ( Greek : Ἀλβιών ) or insula Albionum , from either the Latin albus meaning "white" (possibly referring to the white cliffs of Dover , the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones ". The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain
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