Portal:South East England

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The South East England Portal

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England in the United Kingdom at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Major towns and cities in the region include Brighton and Hove, Canterbury, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Portsmouth, Slough, Reading and Oxford.

South East England is the third-largest region of England, with a land area of 19,072 square kilometres (7,364 sq mi), and is also the most populous with a total population of over nine million. The region contains eight legally chartered cities: Brighton and Hove, Canterbury, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester. The region's close proximity to London has led to South East England becoming a prosperous economic hub with the largest economy of any region in the UK, after London. The region is home to Gatwick Airport, the UK's second-busiest airport, and Heathrow Airport (the UK's busiest airport) is located adjacent to the region's boundary with Greater London. The coastline along the English Channel provides numerous ferry crossings to mainland Europe.

The region is known for its countryside, which includes two national parks: the New Forest and the South Downs, as well as the North Downs, the Chiltern Hills and part of the Cotswolds. The River Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as the Thames Valley. It is also the location of a number of internationally known places of interest, such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Thorpe Park and RHS Wisley in Surrey, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, Brighton Palace Pier, and Hammerwood Park in East Sussex, and Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; the University of Oxford is the oldest in the English-speaking world, and ranked among the best in the world.

South East England is host to various sporting events, including the annual Henley Royal Regatta, Royal Ascot and The Derby, and sporting venues include Wentworth Golf Club and Brands Hatch. Some of the events of the 2012 Summer Olympics were held in the south east, including the rowing at Eton Dorney and part of the cycling road race in the Surrey Hills.

In medieval times, South East England included much of the Kingdom of Wessex, which was the precursor to the modern state of England. Winchester was the capital of England after unification of the various states, including the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex and Mercia. Winchester stopped being the administrative capital of England some time in the 13th century as its influence waned while the City of London dominated commerce. The last monarch to be crowned at Winchester was Richard II in 1377, although the last monarch to be crowned by the Bishop of Winchester was Queen Mary I in 1553. (Full article...)

Selected article

Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The team will compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system in the 2024–25 season after winning the 2023–24 EFL League One title. Portsmouth are nicknamed Pompey, a local nickname used by both His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth.

Founded on 5 April 1898, Pompey began their early history in the Southern and Western leagues, before being elected into the English Football League and newly formed Third Division in 1920. Portsmouth won two promotions in 1924 and 1927 to reach the First Division, becoming the first football club south of London to do so. After finishing runners-up in two FA Cup finals in 1929 and 1934, Portsmouth won for the first time in 1939. Portsmouth became League Champions of England in two successive 1948–49 and 1949–50 First Division seasons.

However, Portsmouth's 32 consecutive years in the First Division ended with relegation to the Second Division in 1959 and was followed by another relegation to the Third Division in 1961. In 1978, Portsmouth were relegated to the Fourth Division (formed in 1958) for the first time before earning three promotions in 1980, 1983 and 1987. After one brief season in the 1987-88 First Division, Portsmouth would remain in the second tier between 1988 until 2003.

After winning promotion to the Premier League in 2003, Portsmouth won the FA Cup for a second time in 2008. Portsmouth's seven year stay in the Premier League ended in 2009–10 with relegation, signalling the beginning of a difficult period where the club entered financial administration twice and were relegated three times. After the club was purchased by the Pompey Supporters Trust in 2013, Pompey would begin to recover financially as well as winning the League Two title in 2016–17 and the League One title in 2023–24.

Portsmouth are one of only five English football clubs to have been champions of all four tiers of the professional English football pyramid. Portsmouth's arch-rivals are Southampton, a rivalry based in part on geographic proximity and both cities' respective maritime histories. Portsmouth are also the only professional football club in England which is not located on mainland Great Britain, as the city of Portsmouth and their Fratton Park home football ground are located on Portsea Island. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

Selected biography

Young in 2011.

William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol, making him the first winner of the worldwide Idol franchise. His double A-sided debut single "Anything Is Possible" / "Evergreen" was released two weeks after the show's finale and became the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. Young also came in fifth place in World Idol performing the single "Light My Fire" written by the band the Doors.

As a teenager, Young studied politics at the University of Exeter before moving to London, where he studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick. Young put his studies on hold in late 2001 to become a contestant on Pop Idol. After winning the competition the following year, he released his debut album From Now On (2002) which went straight to number one. Friday's Child (2003) followed and enjoyed greater success, eventually going platinum five times in the UK and spawning three top five singles. His following albums Keep On (2005), Let It Go (2008) and Echoes (2011) also went multi-platinum and 85% Proof (2015) became his fourth UK number-one album. His albums have spawned many songs that have achieved top ten positions in the UK, four of which went to the number one spot. Young has also undertaken numerous concert tours, and has accumulated multiple honours, including two Brit Awards from 12 nominations, and the estimated worldwide sale of over eight million albums. Young's net worth was estimated at £13.5 million in April 2012.

Alongside his music career, Young has acted in film, on stage and in television. For his performance in the 2013 London revival of the musical Cabaret, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. He has also participated in philanthropy and released books Anything is Possible (2002), On Camera, Off Duty (2004), his autobiography Funny Peculiar (2012), To be a Gay Man (2020) and The A–Z of Wellbeing (2022). In January 2022 he appeared in the third series of The Masked Singer as "Lionfish" and in May issued the compilation album 20 Years: The Greatest Hits. (Full article...)

On This Day in South East England

1 May:

1905: The Church of England Diocese of Southwark was formed.
1927: The Church of England Dioceses of Guildford and Portsmouth were created.
2006: Simon Greenish took over from Christine Large as director of the Bletchley Park Trust.

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