England to me, Spirit, Strength, Courage, Resilience, Tolerance, Pride, Eccentricity, Fish & Chips, Warm Beer, Villages, Cricket Greens, Thames, Mersey, The Trent, I could go on and on.
[cite]Posted By: stonemuse[/cite]I like this response from Roy Hattersley:
I am English, not British but English.I am very proud about it, very patriotic about England.
But it's not the England that once ruled the world - or at least half of it - that I feel proud of, it's a gentler England, an England that's kinder than that.
It's an England that's associated with Shakespeare, with Elgar, with cricket, and, above all, the landscape.
I live in the Peak District. It's where I call home. The history has got something to do with it. It's got so much history you could cut it with a knife, but it is what England stands for as you see it now, beautiful, and gentle and at peace.
This is my England, the only place I could possibly want to live.
I look at my passport and it says citizen of a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and I say well that's legally what I am. But what I feel, what I know I am in my bones, is English, not British but English.
I like our diversity, different weather, different sorts of country and different people. We are all mongrels in England and I like the idea of a mongrel nation, not one that says it's special because it's particular, because it comes from one blood line. We came from all over the world and we made one country and it's called England and I like living here.
I don't make any special claims about the English. We didn't invent democracy. We are no more tolerant than other countries, we are no freer than most of the countries in Europe and certainly no more prosperous.
It's just the sort of place I want to be, I even like the weather. It is rain that makes it a green and pleasant land.
I'd hate to be somewhere were it didn't rain for six months of the year.
If there's one thing that makes us different we don't go on about being English. We don't go on about our nation except on St George's Day, but that's special.
This is the truth of it: When the chicken hatches it's infatuated by the first hen that it sees. Well, England is the first thing I saw when I came out of the egg and I'm infatuated by it. Always have been, always will be.
[cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]Where did the "small ships" come from re dunkirk ? where did the Free French etc go to when there was no where else ? England.
So the Scots, Irish and Welsh didn't participate in WWII then?!
When you are in a hole...stop digging, or preferably learn a bit of history before shouting your gob off...
[cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]Where did the "small ships" come from re dunkirk ? where did the Free French etc go to when there was no where else ? England.
C'mon. Were there no Welsh, Scottish or Irish soldiers in the BEF being brought back from Dunkirk?
No non-English sailors fighting the war in the Atlantic or manning merchant ships or flying as pilots in the Battle of Britain?
Did no non-English cities get bombed in the blitz?
"One thousand people died as a result of the bombing and even more were injured. In terms of property damage, half of the houses in Belfast were destroyed"
[cite]Posted By: Goonerhater[/cite]i said England was there as today England THE PLACE isnt just full of ENGLISH.
Eh?
For someone who is keen to lecture us about being "English", shouldn't you first learn a few basic grammatical rules of the language? At least it would make your rants a bit easier to read...
My 8 year old has been doing The Blitz for his project. So I took him last week to the Battle of Britain museum at Hawkidge, nr Folkestone.
I totally hate museums but this place was a real eye opener and I'd really recommend you all pop in if your in the area. I'd also recommend ready wikipedia's write up on the blitz. I didn't realise I knew so little about our history.
Have told both my 8 & 6 year olds to ask their teachers about St George's Day today so will be interesting what response they got.
My eldest actually asked morning where the St George's Cross flag comes from, so it has started to impact the youngsters a wee bit.
Today, should be a National holiday like Australia Day and who cares if its just a cynical exercise for a piss-up....
There'll be no bloody pubs left soon the way its going anyway!
I'm going to have a couple in Bexley later. Cheers!
[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]GH, I'm not getting inbetween you and BFR while you have a row but you said
"being there when no one else was in 1940"
1940 was more than Dunkirk and there were non- English Brits involved in all aspects of the fight for freedom and against facism.
That doesn't diminish what the English did but we weren't alone.
I'm not having a row with GH...generally I refuse to get involved in a battle of wits with unarmed opponents, but I do think it amusing that one of the biggest patriots here a) can't write English, while lecturing the rest of us about "Englishness" and b) has a poor grasp of British history. Still if you read the Sun what else would you expect?
As for standing against fascism in 1940, let's not forget that back then there were quite a few Brits and even Englanders who would have welcomed a Nazi victory, including members of the royal family and other establishment figures and even today there are litle Englanders about who like to think they are the only true patriots...
[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]GH, I'm not getting inbetween you and BFR while you have a row but you said
"being there when no one else was in 1940"
1940 was more than Dunkirk and there were non- English Brits involved in all aspects of the fight for freedom and against facism.
That doesn't diminish what the English did but we weren't alone.
Dont think it was aimed at Scotland, Wales or NI, he, & we all know the part all Brits played, I sense it was aimed at some of our closer neighbours across the water in mainland Europe and other parts of the world.
BFR but you do come across as horribly condescending when you take the pee out of someones written word especially when they have already stated they have some problems there.
You let yourself down in your normally intelligent arguments when you start to belittle people. which is a shame as its a very ugly trait.
[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]GH, I'm not getting inbetween you and BFR while you have a row but you said
"being there when no one else was in 1940"
1940 was more than Dunkirk and there were non- English Brits involved in all aspects of the fight for freedom and against facism.
That doesn't diminish what the English did but we weren't alone.
I'm not having a row with GH...generally I refuse to get involved in a battle of wits with unarmed opponents, but I do think it amusing that one of the biggest patriots here a) can't write English, while lecturing the rest of us about "Englishness" and b) has a poor grasp of British history. Still if you read the Sun what else would you expect?
As for standing against fascism in 1940, let's not forget that back then there were quite a few Brits and even Englanders who would have welcomed a Nazi victory, including members of the royal family and other establishment figures and even today there are litle Englanders about who like to think they are the only true patriots...
And people have a go at me for being patronising!!!!!!!!!!
Comments
being there when no one else was in 1940
London
supporting the under dog
The Fens
King Alfred
1066
Bobby Moore
the lake district
River Thames
Real Ale
Cider
rubbard Crumble
That is spot on for me!
Know what you mean but that was Great Britain not just England
So the Scots, Irish and Welsh didn't participate in WWII then?!
When you are in a hole...stop digging, or preferably learn a bit of history before shouting your gob off...
C'mon. Were there no Welsh, Scottish or Irish soldiers in the BEF being brought back from Dunkirk?
No non-English sailors fighting the war in the Atlantic or manning merchant ships or flying as pilots in the Battle of Britain?
Did no non-English cities get bombed in the blitz?
...........
The blitz on Belfast oviously never happened:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Blitz
"One thousand people died as a result of the bombing and even more were injured. In terms of property damage, half of the houses in Belfast were destroyed"
Eh?
For someone who is keen to lecture us about being "English", shouldn't you first learn a few basic grammatical rules of the language? At least it would make your rants a bit easier to read...
"being there when no one else was in 1940"
1940 was more than Dunkirk and there were non- English Brits involved in all aspects of the fight for freedom and against facism.
That doesn't diminish what the English did but we weren't alone.
Please stop going on about the weather. It's -10 here & we're under a foot of fresh snow :0(
I totally hate museums but this place was a real eye opener and I'd really recommend you all pop in if your in the area. I'd also recommend ready wikipedia's write up on the blitz. I didn't realise I knew so little about our history.
Have told both my 8 & 6 year olds to ask their teachers about St George's Day today so will be interesting what response they got.
My eldest actually asked morning where the St George's Cross flag comes from, so it has started to impact the youngsters a wee bit.
Today, should be a National holiday like Australia Day and who cares if its just a cynical exercise for a piss-up....
There'll be no bloody pubs left soon the way its going anyway!
I'm going to have a couple in Bexley later. Cheers!
I'm not having a row with GH...generally I refuse to get involved in a battle of wits with unarmed opponents, but I do think it amusing that one of the biggest patriots here a) can't write English, while lecturing the rest of us about "Englishness" and b) has a poor grasp of British history. Still if you read the Sun what else would you expect?
As for standing against fascism in 1940, let's not forget that back then there were quite a few Brits and even Englanders who would have welcomed a Nazi victory, including members of the royal family and other establishment figures and even today there are litle Englanders about who like to think they are the only true patriots...
Dont think it was aimed at Scotland, Wales or NI, he, & we all know the part all Brits played, I sense it was aimed at some of our closer neighbours across the water in mainland Europe and other parts of the world.
You let yourself down in your normally intelligent arguments when you start to belittle people. which is a shame as its a very ugly trait.
And people have a go at me for being patronising!!!!!!!!!!
(kidding - he's worse than you).
Got the flags out and the Bombardier ready.
BBQ with the family later on. Not sure thats terribly English but I did try and buy as much British/English product as I could.
Lovely spring day.
Any music suggestions to add to my Ipod/Spotify playlist most welcome.
Not too shabby a country this is it?