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

The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is a co-educational specialist residential college of further education based in the English city of Hereford. Students who attend the college are aged 16 to 25 and blind or partially sighted. They can study a wide range of qualifications at RNC, from academic subjects such as English and Mathematics to more vocational topics such as Massage and Complementary Therapies. Alongside regular further education subjects and vocational training, the college offers training in mobility, assistive technology, Braille, independent living skills and personal development.

Founded in 1872 in London as the Royal Normal College and Academy for the Blind, the college had a number of homes before moving to its campus in Hereford; it was renamed The Royal National College for the Blind in the late 1970s. It has been a pioneer in the education of visually impaired people in Britain since the Victorian era, and, as of 2010, is the only college for visually impaired students in the United Kingdom to have been awarded Beacon Status in recognition of its outstanding teaching and learning.

RNC hosts the UK's first VI Sports Academy, having begun as the home of the first football academy for visually impaired players and the England blind football team. It hosted the 2010 World Blind Football Championship and also served as a training facility for participants in the 2012 Paralympic Games. The college is actively involved in the development of assistive technology, including student participation in the Tech Novice Cafe, run for members of the public who are not confident in computer use. Two notable devices were developed at RNC; the Mountbatten Brailler, an electronic braille writer, and the T3, a talking tactile device that helped with the reading of maps and diagrams.

Early in the 21st century, there was dramatic departmental restructuring at the college, and a significant redevelopment and modernisation of the Hereford campus. The campus, located on Venns Lane, Hereford, is home to RNC's teaching, residential and leisure facilities. Students live in halls of residence, which enable them to gain a level of independence within the college environment. RNC operates a leisure facility, thePoint4, which is open to the public.

The college is a registered charity (number 1000388), and its patron is King Charles III. There are several high-profile supporters, including Dave Clarke, former captain of the England and Great Britain blind football teams. RNC has a number of notable people among its alumni, including former Home Secretary David Blunkett. The college was the subject of a 2007 film for the Channel 4 Cutting Edge documentary strand, which followed three students through their first term of study. The film won a 2008 Royal Television Society Award. (Full article...)

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Selected biography

Grylls at a meeting with Coventry Scouts groups in 2012

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls OBE (/ˈɡrɪlz/; born 7 June 1974) is a British former SAS trooper who is a survival expert, adventurer, and television presenter. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable adventures, including several world records in hostile environments, and then became widely known for his television series Man vs. Wild (2006–2011). He is also involved in a number of wilderness survival television series in the UK and US, such as Running Wild with Bear Grylls and The Island with Bear Grylls. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed as The Scout Association’s youngest-ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories at age 35, a post he has held for a second term since 2015 and in 2024 became the 2nd longest serving Chief Scout after Robert Baden-Powell. (Full article...)

On This Day in South East England

2 May:

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