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South East England is one of the nine officialregions ofEngland that are in thetop level category forstatistical purposes. It consists of the ninecounties ofBerkshire,Buckinghamshire,East Sussex,Hampshire, theIsle of Wight,Kent,Oxfordshire,Surrey andWest Sussex. 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 9,642,942 in 2024.
South East England contains eight legallychartered cities:Brighton and Hove,Canterbury,Chichester,Milton Keynes,Oxford,Portsmouth,Southampton andWinchester. Officially it does not includeLondon, which is a separate region. The geographical term for "South East England" may differ from the official definition of the region, for example London,Bedfordshire,Hertfordshire andEssex are sometimes referred to as being in the south east of England. This article only considers the South East as being the official statistical region.
Inmedieval times, South East England included much of theKingdom of Wessex, which was the precursor to the modern state ofEngland.Winchester was the capital of England after unification of the various states, including the kingdoms ofKent,Sussex andMercia. Winchester stopped being the administrative capital of England some time in the 13th century as its influence waned while theCity of London dominated commerce. The lastmonarch to be crowned at Winchester wasRichard II in 1377, although the last monarch to be crowned by theBishop of Winchester wasQueen Mary I in 1553.
Today, 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 toGatwick Airport andHeathrow Airport (the UK's two busiest airports). The coastline along theEnglish Channel provides numerous ferry crossings to mainlandEurope. South East England is also known for its countryside, which includes two national parks: theNew Forest and theSouth Downs, as well as theNorth Downs, theChiltern Hills and part of theCotswolds. TheRiver Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as theThames Valley.
It is also the location of a number of internationally known places of interest, such asHMSVictory in Portsmouth,Cliveden in Buckinghamshire,Thorpe Park andRHS Wisley in Surrey,Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire,Windsor Castle in Berkshire,Leeds Castle, theWhite Cliffs of Dover andCanterbury Cathedral in Kent,Brighton Palace Pier, andHammerwood Park in East Sussex, andWakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; theUniversity 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 annualHenley Royal Regatta,Royal Ascot andThe Derby, and sporting venues includeWentworth Golf Club andBrands Hatch. Some of the events of the2012 Summer Olympics were held in the south east, including the rowing atEton Dorney and part of the cycling road race in theSurrey Hills. (Full article...)
London Gatwick Airport (/ˈɡætwɪk/) (IATA:LGW,ICAO:EGKK) isone of several international airports servingGreater London and southern England. It is located nearCrawley, inWest Sussex (30 miles (48 km) south ofCentral London), England. In 2024, Gatwick was the second-busiest airport bytotal passenger traffic in the UK, afterHeathrow, and was thetenth-busiest in Europe by total passenger traffic. It covers a total area of 674 hectares (1,670 acres).
Gatwick opened as an aerodrome in the late 1920s; it has been in use for commercial flights since 1933. The airport has two terminals: the North Terminal and the South Terminal, which cover areas of 98,000 m2 (1,050,000 sq ft; 117,000 sq yd) and 160,000 m2 (1,700,000 sq ft; 190,000 sq yd) respectively. It operates as a single-runway airport, using a main runway with a length of 3,316 metres (10,879 ft). A secondary runway is available but, due to its proximity to the main runway, can only be used if the main runway is not in use. In 2018, 46.1 million passengers passed through the airport, a 1.1% increase compared with 2017. Gatwick is the secondary London hub forBritish Airways and the largest operating base for low-cost carriereasyJet. (Full article...)
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![Image 67 Credit: Michael Wilmore The Kent & East Sussex Railway was opened by Colonel H.F. Stephens, the railway engineer, in 1900. At its fullest extent, it ran nearly 22 miles[35km] from Robertsbridge on the Tonbridge to Hastings main line to Headcorn on the main line between Tonbridge and Ashford, Kent. More about the Kent & East Sussex Railway... (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKentAndEastSussexRailway(MichaelWilmore)Oct2005.jpg)
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Norman Quentin Cook (bornQuentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), known professionally asFatboy Slim, is an English musician andDJ who helped popularise thebig beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use ofsamples from eclectic genres, combined with pop structures, processed rhythms and "sloganistic" vocals.
In the 1980s, Cook was school friendsPaul Heaton and later on became the bassist for hisindie rock bandthe Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their cover of "Caravan of Love". After he left, Cook moved toBrighton to be part of the dance music scene he loved. He formed the electronic groupBeats International with friends from the scene and produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me" in 1990, and played in the bandFreak Power. He also releasedhouse records under names includingPizzaman and theMighty Dub Katz.
In 1996, Cook released his first album as Fatboy Slim,Better Living Through Chemistry, followed by successfulremixes forWildchild andCornershop. His second album,You've Come a Long Way, Baby, wascertified platinum and produced the successful singles "The Rockafeller Skank", "Praise You" and "Right Here, Right Now".Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars (2000) produced the single "Weapon of Choice", which won six awards at the2001 MTV Video Music Awards.Palookaville (2004) was less successful, attributed to the declining popularity of dance music and a more obscure style. In 2009, Cook released an album as theBrighton Port Authority, a collaboration with artists includingDavid Byrne. He collaborated with Byrne again on the albumHere Lies Love (2010), aconcept album that wasadapted into a stage musical in 2013. In later years, Cook has focused on DJ performances over creating music.
Cook has aGrammy Award, nineMTV Video Music Awards, twoBrit Awards and anIvor Novello Award. He was nominated for theTony Award for Best Original Score forHere Lies Love in 2024. In 2023, he was awarded theGuinness world record for the most UK number-one singles by one musician as a member of different acts. Cook's marriage to the BBC presenterZoe Ball was highly publicised. (Full article...)
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