Inside U.K. U.K. Boasts Full Schedule of Tourist Attractions By STEVE HILL	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
イギリスには見所がいっぱい ロックやポップスの歴史をハイテク設備で楽しませてくれる記念館が最近シェフィールドにオープン。この夏は多くの観光客が予想されます。それ以外にも、ロンドンにできるホームズ探偵の銅像や皆既日食、ラグビーＷ杯など、英国ではこれから見所が目白押しです

The recently opened £15 million (¥3.3 billion) National Center for Popular Music in the Yorkshire city of Sheffield is among the best new tourist attractions in Britain expected to attract plenty of visitors this summer.

The building has been designed in the shape of four giant stainless steel drums and houses a range of interactive exhibits that cover music from the 1950s to today. Instead of displaying guitars and costumes in glass cases, the emphasis is on presenting a high-tech computerized assault on the senses.

Creative director Tim Strickland said: "This is not a place where you walk around looking at memorabilia. The National Center is a place where you have a go: play an instrument, remix a video or design an album cover. Our aim from the beginning was to get people involved."

Sheffield has a long history of producing rock stars, from Joe Cocker in the 1960s to The Human League in the 1980s to bands like Def Leppard and Pulp that are popular today.

Admission for visitors who have the time to drag themselves away from the more traditional sights in London is a very reasonable £7.25 (¥1,595) on weekends and in July and August,　£5.95 (¥1,309) at other times.

The capital, though, will be the first and last stop for many tourists, and why not? It remains a massive draw to throngs of people who are fascinated by the history of London.

Last year, the Tower of London (2.6 million people) and Westminster Abbey (2.5 million) were the two most popular attractions in the country, proving that "Old England" could hold its own against the so-called "Cool Britannia" campaign.

New sights to look out for this year include a first statue in the capital honoring Sherlock Holmes, the great fictional detective. The 9-foot (2.7-meter) bronze figure, by renowned British sculptor John Doubleday, will be unveiled outside Baker Street Underground Station in September.

Those who like a visit to the cinema should take in the British Film Institute's London IMAX Cinema on the South Bank, near Waterloo Station. It is housed inside a £20 million (¥4.4 billion) specially built structure and features Europe's biggest cinema screen — 10 stories high! The theater can seat 482 people and will be used to show selected 2-D, 3-D, 35 mm and 70 mm films.

Visitors who like to shop will love a trip to the Bluewater Mall. Featuring more than 320 stores, including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser, the complex has been built in a former chalk quarry near Dartford, 19 miles (30.4 kilometers) east of London. It is reckoned to be the largest indoor shopping complex in Europe and is expected to attract a staggering 30 million visitors a year. Not all of them will be shopping, as there are seven lakes and a forest as well as a 12-screen cinema multiplex, restaurants, bars and cafes to enjoy.

For people who like to be outside, there are several interesting new attractions that focus on Britain's great maritime tradition.

There is a self-guided walking trail of Titanic landmarks in the southern coastal city of Southampton, the port from which the doomed liner sailed on her maiden voyage in 1912.

And in Bristol, in the west, a superbly detailed replica of the Matthew, the tiny vessel in which John Cabot sailed across the Atlantic from the English port to discover Newfoundland in 1497, is moored next to the magnificently restored S.S. Great Britain, the world's first propeller-driven liner.

Back on the south coast, the resort of Brighton is staging England's largest arts festival from May 1 to 23 with entertainment coming from the Royal Shakespeare Company, Tony Bennett and the Moscow State Circus.

And in London, the famous voyages of Captain James Cook and Charles Darwin will be the focus of a major exhibition opening in July at the Natural History Museum.

One event sure to attract plenty of British tourists as well as visitors from overseas is Britain's first total eclipse of the sun in 70 years. It will be visible throughout the far southwestern county of Cornwall on Aug. 11, and preparations are already well in hand to deal with the vast number of people expected to view this rare spectacle.

Anyone interested in sport will not need reminding that the Fourth Rugby World Cup gets underway in Wales Oct. 1. World champions South Africa will be in Britain to defend their crown, but the New Zealand All Blacks are favorites to win the trophy for the second time. Games are also being held in England, Ireland, Scotland and France, with the final set for Cardiff on Nov. 6.

Before that, though, comes the Cricket World Cup. Twelve nations will play 42 one-day matches in May and June, with players wearing colored clothing instead of the traditional all-white, at 21 venues throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and Holland.

Shukan ST: April 16, 1999

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