North of England

North of England

The influence of the Roman Empire is strongest in the Northern part of England. Not only is this part full of original Roman settlements, even more, this fact is supported by the existence of the Hadrian Wall. The wall was built as a defensive fortification during the rule of Emperor Hadrian.

Most of the wall is still standing and can be followed on foot thanks to the Hadrian’s Wall Path. A heritage with such a historical value cannot be seen anywhere so it is obvious that when we speak about Hadrian’s Wall, we speak about the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England. Over and above, Hadrian’s Wall was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 80´s.

The best known settlement out of the local Roman settlements is located in the unitary authority area of Yorkshire. Not only Yorkshire is a rare historic county of England, its county town York is even more unique. Its uniqueness rests in an ironical fact that it was firstly occupied by Romans, which were then followed by Angles and finally Vikings.

The result is a mixture of dialects, which can be heard even nowadays, but also cultural mixture which builds a type of atmosphere, that cannot be felt anywhere else but here. Nothing would be the same, if it weren’t the British who took care of their historic treasures and paid attention to their state and regularly managed reconditioning.

Thankfully, there is no need for reconditioning when we speak about English football. The North is the cradle of many famous and successful football clubs. From which the most known are Liverpool and Manchester United. Even though this season is not going well for Manchester, Liverpool is at the top of the table. In case of football another ironical thing pops up. The city of Manchester is home to not only one, but two football clubs. Manchester United and City are the reason why the local citizens cannot live peacefully as the rivalry of the two teams is unstoppable.

What also cannot be stopped is the success of Northern literature. The success itself planted its roots in the 19^th century when Bronte sisters Charlotte, Emily and Ann entered the world of literature. Charlotte's Jane Eyre was the first to know success; she was followed by Emily's Wuthering Heights and eventually Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. During their lives their works weren’t half as adored and praised as they are now. More so, Charlotte and Emily’s works are now considered to be the classic of what literature has to offer.

What drags my attention to this part of England is the mysterious curtain which closes about the area of the town of Whitby, where count Dracula is said to depart from his travel from Romania. As we all know, Dracula really existed but he was quite a different as he is depicted in the famous book by Bram Stoker. Even though, I still wonder if there is any truth lying in between the book and the reality. Nevertheless, Dracula’s presence in Whitby attracts even more people to this region and locals have taken hold of this very well. As they have started a propaganda of this event, which makes Whitby and North as well even more popular.

There is so much to say and point out about North of England that it cannot be included in a single speech. Unfortunately, I have never experienced the nature and character of this part of England. But from the experience my friends shared with me, I am sure that my path will definitely not overpass the journey to the land of Northerners.