It is 20 years since the Channel Tunnel or Chunnel was officially opened , both Queen Elizabeth II and France's President Francois Mitterrand attended the initial ceremony in Calais on May 6th 1994 , before travelling through the tunnel , or le tunnel sous la manche in French , for a similar event marking it's opening , in Folkstone

A few years ago it was voted one of the seven wonders of the modern world , by the highly respected American Society of Civil Engineers , that puts it in the  same league as the Empire State Building , Panama Canal and The Golden Gate Bridge

They have been talking about a channel tunnel since the beginning of the 19th century , Napoleon liked the idea but the Brits did'nt fancy the idea of possibly being invaded from a giant hole

Since then there have been dozens of proposed schemes , they even dug half a mile underneath Kent in the 1880's and the old tunnel is still there today , a fundamental mistrust of the French stopped it in it's tracks

another idea proposed , was a tunnel of Ice , which could have been deliberately melted by switching off the refrigeration units , in case of invasion

It has also been suggested that had such a tunnel been   around during the Great War , the British would have brought the war to an end possibly two years sooner , by being able to re supply their troops more effectively

The Channel Tunnel runs 131 feet ( 40m ) under the seabed , none of it goes through water

There are actually three tunnels , two for trains and a third smaller service tunnel down the middle , it can be used as a "lifeboat" to evacuate people during an emergency

St. George was a Roman soldier during the 3rd century A.D. , when the Emperor Diocletian was in power , George is believed to have been a great martyr for his faith , he defended the Christian faith and values

The legend of him saving a maiden by killing a dragon probably originated in the middle ages

While the Western world marks St. George's Day  on April 23 , the Mid Eastern countries using an old world church calendar , celebrates the Day on the 6th of May

Argentina said next week's drills would include missil launches and were part of a 'pattern" of "hostile acts"

the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires ha been summoned by Argentina's Deputy Foreign Minister , who will protest over the 'new show of military force"

But the U.K. Foreign Office dismissed the claims as "fanciful" and said the exercises were mearly routine , Argentina lays claim to the islands and said the U.K. planned to cunduct  the exercises on "occupied argentina territoory" between April 14th and the 27th

'WHOLLY FALSE'

A spokseman for the Argentine embassay in London said "this action is a new example of the U.K.'s disregard for U.N. resolutions , which call on both parties to resume negotiations over sovereignty and refrain from introducing unilateral modifications in the situation as long as the dispute persists"

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has called the islands"Nato's Military Base" in the region

But a spokesman for the U.K. Forign Office said the planned exercises took place at least  twice a year , if not every few months and had been carried out for many years

He said the reprimanding of Britain's Ambassador was "not unusal" but was an indicing of the state of of relations between the two countries

"Argentine claims that we are militarising the South[ Atlantic  are" Wholly false", added the FCO in a statement : "U.K. forces numbers have declined to the minimum necessary to defend the island

"Argentina's suggestion that the U.K.is seeking to threaten militry either Argentina itself  or the wider region is entirely without foundation , as is the suggestion that we deploy nuclear weapons in the region

A total of 255 British troops and about 650 Argentines died after the U.K. , sent a task force                                                        following the Argentine Invasion on April 2nd of 1982

Last year Falkland islander's took part in a referendum , voting 1,513 to 3  to remain a British overseas Territory

The complex logistical operation involves trains , planes , ferries , range rovers and vans not to mention an army of posties six days a week

In the case of remote islands like Orkney , which has just one family , it is delivered by a fisherman

Yet until now , no one has thought twice about such costs , they were a necessary part of Royal Mail univerasl service obligation , the requirement to deliver "at an affordable , uniform tariff across the U.K."

But now that Scotland's independence is a possibility , it has become apparent that the Royal Mail is ,in effect , subsidising it's remote Scottish operations with income from customers elsewhere in the U.K.

Delivering door to door in urban areas , for example , is relatively cheap so if Scotland votes "Yes" later this year , and most of those remote places are taken out of the equation , should'nt the price of a stamp in England , Wales and Northern Ireland actually go down?

Royal Mail itself refuses to comment on the implications of Scottish Independence , but some analysts believe it could make a significant diffrence to the economics of delivering mail in the U.K