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Parks and Gardens of London

Londoners do not have to go far to find green fields and flowers, for London is very rich in parks and gardens. There are lawns and flower-beds, fountains and avenues in the parks, but mostly the parks consist of trees and grass and water. They are planned to look very natural. You can spend your time between early hours in the morning till late in the evening in the country – without leaving London.
Londoners love their parks and are proud of them. The air in the parks is full of scents of flowers and plants. You may walk on the soft green grass among ancient oaks. Between the trees you can see the glittering water. If you are in Richmond Park, you can see the Thames flowing past and the boats on it. Regent’s Park is famous for an open-air theatre where every summer Shakespeare’s comedies are performed. St. James’s Park is very beautiful with its graceful trees and flower-beds. But probably best-loved of all is Hyde Park where you can find many outdoor entertainments.  Hyde Park is famous for its “Speakers’ corner”. Here on a Sunday morning you will find a number of strange-looking people, each standing on a box or a small platform brought with himself and each making a long and earnest speech about something he believes to be very important. Small crowds gather and argue and ask questions and then drift away to the next speaker.
London Clubs

The word “club” is one of those words which has found its way into a great many languages. A club is usually associated with some sport or with social purposes, sometimes with both.
Most of the clubs are situated in the small area, known as St. James’s. At midday you can see clubmen going along its streets with serious looks on their faces, as if they were going to church. And, indeed, club membership is a part of their professional and business life.
Membership of the clubs is regarded as carrying a certain social prestige.
Most of the clubs are old. They derived fr om a coffee-house where Englishmen gathered for company and conversation.
The two chief political parties of England formed their own clubs. For the Conservatives the chief club is the Carlton where party history has often been made. The Labourists founded the Reform club.
All the clubs are managed by committees of members. The members of all clubs are to be elected.
All the clubs are proud of their history and carefully guard their traditions. Applicants for membership are carefully considered.
The London clubs move with the times. About one hundred years ago, clubs were regarded to be only male territory. The principle of introducing lady members began early in this century in some clubs. Now nearly all the clubs are open for both men and women.
After the last war it was said that the London clubs were in decline from which they would never recover. Damaged buildings, lack of new members, shortage of staff – there were many difficulties. But these were overcome and today the West End clubs are as flourishing as ever.

Theatres in England

The centre of theatrical activity is London, wh ere it is concentrated mainly in London’s West End. Theatres are very much the same in London as anywhere else. If you are staying in London for a few days, you will have no difficulty in finding somewhere to spend an evening. You will find opera, comedy, dramas, musical comedy, variety. The performances start at about eight and finish at about eleven. Seats are expensive and a night out at a theatre is quite a luxury for the average Londoners. Most theatres and musical halls have good orchestras, with popular conductors.
Theatre organization in England differs greatly from that in Russia. Only a few theatres have their own permanent companies. Troupes are formed for a season, sometimes even for a single play.
Some of the most known theatres in England are: Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Old Vic and others.
The Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House, or Covent Garden, as it is usually known, stands not far away from one of the most famous of London streets, the Strand, and you ought to go there at least once during the season if you can.
The fine building of the Opera House, as you see it today, was opened in 1858. Yet its “father” and “grandfather” that were burnt down (in 1808 and 1856) stood on this very place before. The inside of the Opera House is in the shape of a horseshoe. There are seats for 2,320 persons.    
Now Covent Garden is one of the few well-known opera houses open for eleven months of the year and it employs over 600 people both of the Opera Company and the Royal Ballet.
At the Royal Opera House you get the best of everything – a first-rate orchestra, famous conductors and singers. But of course if you are not fond of music, this won’t interest you.

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre
(The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre)

Stratford is only a small country town, standing on the banks of the peaceful Avon. This river runs slowly past the green meadows, never hurrying.
April 23rd, Shakespeare’s birthday, is the greatest day in the year at Stratford.  On this day in 1879, the first Memorial Theatre was opened with a Shakespeare Festival. From that time, Festivals were held for a few weeks every year. In 1926, Stratford’s theatre was burned to the ground.
The present Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, an excellent modern building of red brick, was opened in 1932.
The Theatre now one of the most comfortable and best equipped in the world, with its own workshops, library, picture gallery and restaurant.
The whole season the Theatre gives only Shakespeare’s plays. It is a great pleasure to see here Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth night, Hamlet and many others.
Museums
The British Museum

There are many museums in London. One of the most famous is the British Museum. Built in the middle of the last century, it is situated in the Bloomsbury, a district in central London. It is an immense, light-grey building, like a Greek temple.
For a long time it was a great library, one of the largest in the world, with something like 5 or 6 million books. By law a copy of every book, pamphlet, periodical, including maps and music published in Britain, are to be kept at the British Museum.
During the Second World War, the library was badly damaged, over 150,000 volumes perished in flames caused by Nazi bombs.
Besides, the British Museum is a great scientific institution, generally known as Natural History Museum.
Lastly, the British Museum has a wonderful art gallery. It has unique collections of sculpture, ceramics, drawings, and paintings of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and many other peoples.
It has unique collections of Italian drawings (Leonardo da Vinci), English and French prints, and so on, and so on.
The British Museum is the most important place of archaeological study in the world, with unique prehistoric collections. We could go on enumerating its treasures for hours.
The National Gallery

If you stand today in Trafalgar Square with your back to the Nelson Column you will see a wide horizontal front in a classical style: the National Gallery. It has been in this building since 1838.
The National Picture Gallery is comparatively young, younger then the great galleries in Rome, Paris and so on.
An interesting fact is that in 1777 one of the greatest private collections of pictures was offered for sale. Some of the members of Parliament suggested this collection to be bought for the Nation and special gallery for it to be built near the British Museum. But this suggestion found no support in the House of Commons and the wonderful pictures were brought to Russia. They are in the Gallery of Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Now one can admire a great number of pictures by great British painters Hogarth, Constable, Turner, the portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds who became famous the world over as well as the world’s greatest masters – Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Holbein, Goya and many others. All great schools of painting are represented here: Italian, Spanish, etc.