East Anglia
East Anglia is extremely flat, and it is dominated by agriculture. It has beautiful cities with fine historic buildings (such as Cambridge, Ely, Norwich, Peterborough and Colchester), and it has many sandy beaches and inland waterways.
In medieval times, it became rich because of the wool trade. It was not affected by the Industrial Revolution, and even today there is very little heavy industry. It was, however, the home of the agricultural revolution and is now best known as a farming region.
It is rather isolated from the rest of Britain because of its position away from the main national routes and because of its shape. It is more than half surrounded by sea.
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Harwich and Felixstowe are important ports linking the east coast with continental Europe. |
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Newmarket is well-known to horse-racing fans. It has a racecourse, and many horses are bred and trained here. |
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North of Colchester are the "Wool" villages with picturesque houses and huge churches built by rich wool merchants from the 14th to 16th centuries. |
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From the Wash south to Cambridge is known as the Fens. |
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Sandringham is one of the residences of the Royal family, who usually spend Christmas there. |
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To the north and south of Norwich are the Broads: nearly 150 miles of waterways, popular with week-end sailors, fishermen and nature-lovers. |
Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 41