Chapter 2: What is the UK? — Set 8

Ben Macdui rises to 1,309 metres and is the second highest mountain in the UK after Ben Nevis (1,344 metres in the official handbook; OS maps now show 1,345 m). It is the highest peak in the Cairngorms.

Pen y Fan stands at 886 metres and is the highest peak in South Wales. The higher Welsh peaks, such as Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), are in the north of the country.

Llyn Tegid, also known as Bala Lake, is the largest natural lake in Wales, around 6 km long. Lake Vyrnwy and Llyn Brenig are reservoirs made by people, and Windermere is in England.

Ullswater is a long, ribbon-shaped lake in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, in the north-west of England.

The University of Oxford has evidence of teaching from as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Cambridge was founded later, in 1209.

The University of St Andrews was founded in 1413, making it the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world, after Oxford and Cambridge.

Canterbury Cathedral is the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the senior bishop of the Church of England.

The Humber Bridge, crossing the Humber Estuary near Hull, had the longest single span of any suspension bridge in the world when it opened in 1981, and kept the record for about 16 years.

The Strait of Dover is only about 21 miles (34 km) wide between Dover in Kent and Calais in France, the shortest sea crossing between England and mainland Europe.

The Prime Meridian line, marking 0 degrees longitude, is set into the courtyard of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, the historic home of British astronomy and of Greenwich Mean Time.

The Royal Mint moved from London to Llantrisant, in South Wales, in 1968, and it is the only place that makes circulating coins for the UK.

The £2 coin that entered circulation was the first bi-metallic coin produced for general circulation in Britain in modern times, with a gold-coloured outer ring and a silver-coloured centre.

St Piran's Day is held on 5 March each year. St Piran is a patron saint of Cornwall and of tin miners, and the day is marked with parades and celebrations across Cornwall.

British Summer Time begins on the last Sunday of March, when the clocks go forward, and ends on the last Sunday of October, when they go back and the UK returns to Greenwich Mean Time.

The Menai Strait is the narrow stretch of water between Anglesey and the mainland of Wales, crossed by the Menai Suspension Bridge and the Britannia Bridge.

Lewis and Harris is one single island — the largest in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles. The northern part is called Lewis and the southern part Harris.

Dunnet Head, in Caithness, extends about 2.3 miles further north than John o' Groats and is the most northerly point of the British mainland.

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, Cardiff is the capital of Wales and Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, but it is not a capital — Scotland's capital is Edinburgh.

Lizard Point in Cornwall is the southernmost point of mainland Great Britain. Land's End, although very famous, is the most westerly point of mainland England rather than the most southerly.

Ness Point at Lowestoft in Suffolk is the easternmost point of Great Britain, and the first place in the UK to see the sunrise.

The Isle of Wight, off the Hampshire coast, is the largest island in England. Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and Lundy are much smaller, and Sheppey lies off the Kent coast.

The White Cliffs of Dover are chalk cliffs on the Kent coast near Dover, facing France across the narrowest part of the English Channel.

Durdle Door stands on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, a stretch of coastline in southern England famous for its rock formations and fossils.

Cheddar Gorge is in the Mendip Hills in Somerset. The area is also famous for giving its name to Cheddar cheese.