Proud to be English
Discussion
This is a week or so old, but on radio 4 the other day there was a piece about how scientists know that spring is getting earlier etc. They wrote to loads of parish and local newspapers in England asking if anyone had kept a nature diary over an extended period to help them as there4 is a gap in the record of about 40 years when some brigt spark cancelled the unofficial network of data colections in about 1958. They were swamped! They now have an network of 15,000 people who daily note the budding of trees, flowering of flowers, numbers of butterflies and the migration of birds. One diary went back to the 18th century and had been handed down through generations, and it wasn't the only multi-generational example either. Only in England.... :beer:
I'm proud to be British. I have to be that specific as I have Scottish and English parents 
I can't really place the feeling of being British, it's the feeling when you see the army on parade, or the queen making a speech, or when a RAF jet screams over your head while you're in your garden...maybe even a charity evening at a country pub when one gets the impression that true Brits as well as being great are just... well, rather nice people
>> Edited by minimax on Friday 12th August 19:36
I can't really place the feeling of being British, it's the feeling when you see the army on parade, or the queen making a speech, or when a RAF jet screams over your head while you're in your garden...maybe even a charity evening at a country pub when one gets the impression that true Brits as well as being great are just... well, rather nice people
>> Edited by minimax on Friday 12th August 19:36
minimax said:
I can't really place the feeling of being British, it's the feeling when...
We're at our finest in the face of adversity, witness the London bombings. There's more to being British than simply being born here, it's genetic, instilled in each one of us (true) Brits over thousands of years and the tougher the going gets, the more it shines.
..plus we have the best looking flag on the planet! 
I have a Union Flag in the back of my car, but want a little enamel badge, about 2 inches by 1 inch for the back. Its funny how in the UK people frown a great deal on the flags, etc, yet over here, they are everywhere. Worlds apart when it comes to showing patriotism. (Mind you, it can get a bit OTT sometimes...)
I have a Union Flag in the back of my car, but want a little enamel badge, about 2 inches by 1 inch for the back. Its funny how in the UK people frown a great deal on the flags, etc, yet over here, they are everywhere. Worlds apart when it comes to showing patriotism. (Mind you, it can get a bit OTT sometimes...)Proud to be British, abso 
ing lutley, followed by a few noises about being pleased to be fairly European too. But the English thing? nope, I dont get it. You might just as well make a big fuss about the county you come from, which apparently some folks do too, but its lost on me. Nationality is just an accident of birth anyway, without making it any more irrational by splitting it down into tiny subdivisions.
ing lutley, followed by a few noises about being pleased to be fairly European too. But the English thing? nope, I dont get it. You might just as well make a big fuss about the county you come from, which apparently some folks do too, but its lost on me. Nationality is just an accident of birth anyway, without making it any more irrational by splitting it down into tiny subdivisions.Balmoral Green said:
Proud to be British, abso
Well don't forget that before the two Acts of Union. England, Scotland and Ireland were different countries seperated by religion. England was Protestant, the others were Catholic and far more allied to France and Spain than to England.
Then we duffed them up and that was that
Balmoral Green said:
Proud to be British, abso
Not heard of the Peoples Republic of Yorkshire, then?
shirepro said:
Only in England....
Hmm,
I rather suspect that you might find much more complete records in Germany both from the population and from the probability that they would never have countenanced the cancellation of the original recording process.
Of course the recently reported changes to apparently ever earlier 'spring' may be more the result of having so many people all recording information in their own way wherever they happen to be rather than a controlled and relatively consistent process as operated previously.
That and the changes due to so many rural areas being absorbed into the heat islands of towns and cities.
Balmoral Green said:
Proud to be British, abso
Indeed.
So who was it that that went ahead and set up the DisAssemblies then? And where do most of those with the larger responsibilities of government come from?
Will they never stop their efforts at payback?
Balmoral Green said:
Proud to be British, abso
There is always one. Proud to be British, proud to be European. You say its just a small subdivision, but England is a country, in its own right, just like Scotland, or Wales. I bet you don't critisise when they are 'patriotic'?
Thing is though Andy, whenever I think of things that make me 'proud to be English' I realise that they are actually things that fall under the banner 'proud to be British' and are generally more likely to be considered as such too. Folks up above have mentioned Spitfires, WWII, Churchill, Nelson and stuff like that. The best of British. Whenever I consider great scientists or engineers, particularly from the great industrial age or the Victorian period, it always comes back to 'proud to be British' (especially as many of them where Scottish anyway). Looking at our greatest cities, stately homes, culture and such stuff, yes there are things that are very English, but only because those things happen to be in England, yet still, to me, they are British and more strongly come under the banner 'proud to be British'. I cant actually thing of anything that happens to be uniquely English but also has the quality that would make it also 'not' British too (except maybe the footie, but its tribal aspects like this that are a big negative to me anyway). The BBC ran that series recently 'Greatest Britons' and it was all inclusive, and thats where I tend to come from.
Also why so antagonistic? Am I not entitled to a viewpoint? I wouldnt never consider denigrating how you feel about being English, I was expressing how I felt. And as for the comment about how I may feel about the Scots and the Welsh displaying their patriotism, you assume too much.
>> Edited by Balmoral Green on Saturday 13th August 11:38
Also why so antagonistic? Am I not entitled to a viewpoint? I wouldnt never consider denigrating how you feel about being English, I was expressing how I felt. And as for the comment about how I may feel about the Scots and the Welsh displaying their patriotism, you assume too much.
>> Edited by Balmoral Green on Saturday 13th August 11:38
andy mac said:
Proud to be British, abso
There is always one. Proud to be British, proud to be European. You say its just a small subdivision, but England is a country, in its own right, just like Scotland, or Wales. I bet you don't critisise when they are 'patriotic'?
So why do you have a Union Flag on the back of your car and proclaim it as the best looking flag in the world in a proud to be English thread.
simpo two said:
I can't really place the feeling of being British, it's the feeling when...
We're at our finest in the face of adversity, witness the London bombings. There's more to being British than simply being born here, it's genetic, instilled in each one of us (true) Brits over thousands of years and the tougher the going gets, the more it shines.
interesting view.
So are you saying that people like Bill Morris, Daley Thompson, Lord David Pitt, John Barnes,Elery Hanley....( the list goes on) are not "true" Brits, because their genes came from overseas.?
Mine did too.
Are we all less British than you then?
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