Many of us who are old enough can remember the days of Expo 67, Montreal's World's Fair. The city became a melting pot of different nations as people flocked to Montreal from all over the world. And the Pavillions at Expo 67 showed the world exactly who the occupants were. There were never so many people in one place at one time, ready & eager to learn all about their neighbours. Expo 67 was just great & tourism was at it's peak!
And the British Pavillion at Expo was certainly a visit to remember forever. The theme "the challenge of change" shows how the British people are meeting this challenge in the modern world. The story of the British people is told in 5 chapters & we learned as we walked. We learned how an island people were moulded by invasions, by the arrival of Christianity, influence of the Church, authority of Kings & disputes of the throne.
We learned how Britain was molded into a society of law & order & in turn spread it's influence throughout the world.
A London shop in Roman times, Norman Keep, Edward 1 & his Parliament, the Becket window at Canterbury, the Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge, & we saw a Bronze Head of Roman Emperor Claudius. the Magna Carta, & so much more!
And we learned of the people that made England great such as Lord Baden Powell, John Milton, Winston Churchill, Christopher Wren, David Livingstone, Henry Hudson, Ernest Rutherford, Alexander Fleming, Dorothy Hodgkin, John Hunt, & many more!
Roman, German, Anglo Saxon, all have influenced life in Britain. England will always be a special place for us Canadians for it is the British that furnished the seeds that grew our country into the beautiful land that we call Canada.
Yes, the visit to the fair was a lot of fun, & a lot of history too!
