It will be the purpose of this book to examine the
natural environment afforded by the British Isles for their human inhabitants; to
examine the advantages and the disadvantages of that
environment; to analyse
the natural resources of value to man which are proper to these islands; to see
the use which the inhabitants have made of those resources, and so to lead up to
a study of the present position—the capital which has been accumulated in
consequence of past exploitation, and the outlook for the future in the
utilisation of the resources which remain. The philosophers of ancient Greece
knew well that the earth was a sphere, and “every schoolboy knows” of the
experiments of Eratosthenes by which the actual size of the sphere was measured.
But the known world of the ancients occupied but a small portion of the surface
of the sphere. It centred round the Mediterranean Sea. To the south it was
bounded by the Sahara Desert, beyond which there were but legendary lands. On
the south-east it extended to the Indian Ocean, to the east as far as Central
Asia, beyond which again lay the mysterious land of Cathay known only because of
the silks and porcelain brought by traders to Mediterranean Europe. On the
north-western margin of the known world lay the islands of Britain. The name
“Albion,” which is still some imes applied to the larger of the two islands,
perpetuates the point of view of the ancients. The British Isles were approached
and explored from the Continent, and it was the white chalk cliffs of Dover,
facing as they do the land of Gaul, which suggested a name for the whole
country. The Celtic lands of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland lay on the outermost
fringe, so little known that in many of the ancient maps Scotland is represented
as an island. Through ut early Christian or Medieval tiWes the marginal or
terminal position of the British Isles became accentuated as the scientific
concepts of the ancients became lost during the Dark Ages. The fantastic maps of
the medieval monks show Jerusalem as the centre of a flat earth separated by the
blue curtain of the sky from the celest ial Jerusalem above, but again with the
British Isles on the margin and doubtless near the dangerous “edge” of the
world.
The year 1492 not only marks the discovery of the
Americas by Columbus, but it marks the end of the dominance of the countries of
the Mediterranean basin. It released the British Isles from the disadvantage of
being on the fringe of world politics and placed London in the centre of the
land of the globe, and the British Isles in a dominating position relative to
all the world. This re-orientat ion was not the result of an accidental
discovery. Columbus’s voyage was based on a firm belief that the earth was a
sphere and that it was consequently possible to sail round it. Anyone holding
such a view at that time did so not only in opposition to public opinion but
also in constant danger of being branded “heretical.” One may wonder why the
land on the far side of the Atlantic remained so long unknown to Europeans.
True, the coasts of Greenland, of Labrador, and of Newfoundland were doubtless
known at a much earlier date to Icelandic and Norwegian fishermen; but however
attractive the fisheries might be, the character of the lands was not such as to
cause enthusiastic wonder. Flowing southwards, parallel to the coast of Greenl
and, is a cold current bearing a constant stream of icebergs from the Arctic,
and whilst a vessel may sight land, the cross ing of this belt of cold water and
actual landing on the shores is a matter of extreme difficulty, and climatic
conditions are obviously not those to attract such attempts. The navigators of
the Mediterianean, a sea which, with its great ext ent and its treacherous
sudden storms, was no mean school for navi ators knew that when they passed
through the Pillars of Hercules, or the Strait of Gibraltar, and turned
southwards they were in the belt of the constant North-East Trade Winds, that
would always blow them from known lands and would allow the venturous mariner no
hope of return. Over the north of France and the south of Britain, the winds,
though variable, were on the whole from the southwest; but to venture with a
sailing vessel of a few tons, which could be victualled only for a limited
period, merely to test the theory that one could go outwards by the north-east
wind, and at some far distant point find it possible to get in the current of
wind which was on the whole
south-westerly, required the efforts of a dominating
and fearless leader, and Columbus’s own sailors nearly lost faith in their
leader before 1nd was sighted. Once the discovery had been made no one can fail
to be impressed by the rapidity of events which followed—the exploration and the
settlement of the American continent—and of the consequent opportunity afforded
to those countries of Europe which faced the Atlantic and of which the British
Isles formed one. The Mediterranean became a backwater, its commerce and its
cultures decayed, and it was not until 1869—70 that the opening of the Suez
Canal afforded a resuscitation of its ancient trading glory. By that time the
world position of Britain was too firmly established to be shaken by the
revived importance of the Mediterranean. Instead, Britain profited by yet
another route to the Far East.
It may be thought that in this modern world, with all the
improvements in
transport and communications which have characterised the last
hundred years, position would be of little importance to these islands. Such,
however, is far from being the truth. An attempt has been made in Fig. 3 to show
facts which can much more readily be appreciated by a glance at a globe. From
the thickly populated, industrialised countries of northern Europe to the
corresponding area of urban development on the far side of the Atlantic,
characterised by the north-eastern United States and by the St. Lawrence Basin
of Canada, the shortest route (the Great Circle route) lies across the British
Isles. Presuming that the prov erbial crow really does take the shortest route,
that sagacious bird bound either from New York or from Montreal for any one of
some fifteen or sixteen capital cities in Europe would, of necessity, have to
pass over the British Isles. Actually, all ocean traffic from the ports of the
northern seaboard of Continental Europe bound for North America has to make a
detour to escape the British Isles and passes down the English Channel. The
vessels are not taken out of their way by dropping anchor for a short time at
one of the ports on the south coast of England, for example Southampton. A short
time ago the importance of constructing a Channel tunnel was once again before
the public eye. The scheme is interesting geographically because if the tunnel
were completed a British port, such as
Liverpool, would almost automatically become the
railhead of the whole European system—providing a new route for passengers and
mails from Europe to America. However, where speed is important airways have
replaced both seaways and railways, so that the Channel tunnel is not now likely
to be undertaken. It is an interesting experiment to take a globe and a piece
of string and to notice the shortest distance between Europe and various other
parts of the world, and also to calculate the saving of distance—not to say the
saving of time—which results by the utiisation of new routes. In any case they
all serve to stress the importance of the position of Britain at present and the
importance which its position is likely to maintain in the future. The modern
development of trans-Atlantic
Within the two dark lines are the shortest
routes between New York and the capitals of European states marked by
dots; in each case the shortest route passes through the British Isles.
The pecked line shows the same relationship for Montreal; the dotted
line for the Panama Canal. air transport has already demonstrated
this. Eastward bound it is not difficult to make Montreal or New York to
London in one hop and from New York London may be by-passed en route to
a continental airport. The westward flight, however, is often a battle
against headwinds and convenient stops are afforded by Prestwick
(Ayrshire) or Shannon (near Limerick), Goose Bay (Labrador) or Gander
(Newfoundland). Not infrequently surprised passengers find themselves
touching down in Iceland.
Before the British Overseas Airways Corporation put into service the
Comet jet-liner on the South African route in 1952 cruising speed of air
liners was 200 to 300 miles per hour and any point in the world was
theoretically within 48 hours of London. The Comet doubled the speed and
halved the time.
The world relations of Britain reflect in many ways her world position.
If, by virtue of situation, the British Isles belong to the Continent of
Europe, it is still not too much to say that the British Isles do not
really belong to Europe. Viewed from the other side of the Atlantic, it
seems obvious that Britain would form an essential unit in a United
States of Europe or Western European Union. But the countries of
Continental Europe are more “foreign” to the people of Britain than are
countries overseas more distant but more closely related such as United
States of America and, still more, the countries of the British
Commonwealth. A few years ago Professor C. B. Fawcett carried out an
interesting calculation in studying the direction of foreign mails from
the British Isles. Eliminating business correspondence, the mail to
America and car overseas dominions was overwhelmingly more important
than that to the countries of Continental Europe. Blood ties, linguistic
ties, social ties, and economic ties are with the new lands of the
world.
The British Isles
lie mainly within the quadrilateral formed by the two lines of
longitude 0° and 10° West and the two lines of latit ude 50° and 60° North. In
latitude the position is roughly comparable with the almost uninhabitable lands
of Labrador, to the northern part of British Columbia, and again to the almost uninhabitable lands of Sakhalin and the Kamschatka Peninsula of the coasts of
Asia. The British Isles, indeed, enjoy a more favourable climate than any other
land so far from the equator. To the north of the islands the sea way is open
between the coasts of Iceland and of Norway to the Arctic Ocean, and a constant
drift of warm water and of correspondingly warm air passes by these islands into
that open channel. We have long been accustomed to refer to this drift of water
as the Gulf Stream, and if purists prefer to call it the North Atlantic Drift it
does not alter the fact of the significance of the phenomenon. More especially,
of course, is the fact significant in winter, since the shores of the British
Isles lie in the winter gulf of warmth. Apart from the advantages of world
position, there are numerous advantages from the position of the British Isles
more local in character. The existence of a broad Continental Shelf on which the
warm waters drifting across the North Atlantic are piled up ensures not only the
maximum benefit from these waters in the amelioration of climate, but it
accentuates the movement of water by the tides. Thus our ports, always free from
ice, are kept free from silt by the strong tidal scour, whilst the shallow seas
on the Continental Shelf afford the richest fishing grounds in the world, where
variety, caused by the constant movement and mixing of the waters, is the spice
of life in the fish world. The English Channel, narrowing eastwards to the
Strait of Dover, which is only 21 miles wide at the narrowest part, separates
the south of England from France. The North Sea lies between Britain and
Holland, Germany,
In citing statistics and statements relative to
the British Isles the greatest care must be taken to note the area to which
reference is made in each specific case. The island of Great Britain consists of
three countries— Scotland in the north, Wales in a part of the west, and England
occupying the remainder. England, Scotland, and Wales have been joined under one
monarch since 1603; but whilst England and Wales are usually considered together
for many purposes, Scotland is distinct. Thus the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries refers to England and Wales but not to Scotland. Statistics and
details which are published by the Ministry refer, therefore, to
England and
Wales only. Since 1920 Ireland has been divided into Northern Ireland and the
Irish Free State (now known as the Irish Republ ic or Eire). Northern Ireland
has a parliament of its own, but is otherwise
closely united to Great Britain.
But the Republic of Ireland is an independent republic. Thus “United Kingdom”
used to mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, now it means the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The distinction is
important when comparing pre-1914 with later statistics. For many purposes the
Isle of Man, with a parliament (or House of Keys) of its own, is not part of the
United Kingdom. Again, the laws of Great Britain do not apply to the Channel
Islands unless such application is specifically laid down and approved by the
islands. The following table is given for reference purposes:
Denmark and Norway.1 Whatever may be the opinion of travellers crossing the
“silver streak,” these separating seas are a great advant age to the islands
rather than the reverse. The part they played in saving Britain from invasion
during the Second World War is too well known and too recent to need emphasis.
But Britain is double-faced. The ports on her southern and eastern shores face
the most important and most developed parts of northern Europe. The embouchure
of the Thames is opposite that of Europe’s most important river, the Rhine. On
the other hand, Britain’s west-coast ports face the most developed parts of
America. This is again symbolical of the intermediate position which Britain
occupies, political, financial, and commercial, between America on the one hand
and the countries of Europe on the other.
The table shows that the total area of the
British
Isles, including the Isle of Man and the Channel Isles, is 120,879 square miles
excluding inland water. In round figures one may say 121,000 square miles or
nearly one- eighth of a million. This gives a basis of comparison with other
countries itis equivalent to about one twenty-fifth of continental
United States and so on. Out of this total the larger island of Great Britain is
roughly 89,000 square miles with 49,000,000 people, the smaller island 32,000
square miles with 4+ million people. The population of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
passed the
50,000,000 mark about 1950—on its total area of
94,278 square miles. The census population of the whole United Kingdom in 1951
was 50,423,668. The figures of area given on p. 125 are smaller because inland
water is excluded.
H. J. Mackinder: Britain and the British
Seas, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
