Thursday 29 July 2010

Pensioner accepts challenge

Makes a good headline, doesn't it?

One of the blogs I follow is written by Jim 'Suldog' and he recently listed 100 things he loves about America. Having done so, he challenged readers to come up with their own lists, whether about America or their own countries. Now, there's one thing some of us Brits (Limeys, Pongos, Rosbifs) can't resistn, and that's a bit of a challenge. It might take us some time to really get a response going, but we usually get there in the end. And I have.

What follows is a list of 100 things I like about England. Some of the are essentially English, some uniquely English (or even British); some are sentimental, some quirky or downright zany. Some can be found anywhere, some can be found elsewhere than England but not everywhere. All of them can be found right here in the land I love. Yes, I am proud to be English. Anyway, here goes.

1 Cheddar cheese
2 Cricket
3 Country pubs
4 Double-decker buses
5 Big Ben
6 Fish & chips
7 Nowhere is more than a couple of hours from the sea
8 The temperate climate
9 Bovril
10 Cottage gardens
11 Village greens
12 Roast dinners on Sundays
13 Bonfire night
14 The way the scenery changes even in short journeys
15 Ancient churches
16 The National Health Service
17 The South Downs
18 Melton Mowbray pork pies
19 The British system of justice
20 The monarchy - especially the Duke of Edinburgh
21 Royal Marine bands
22 The Last Night of the Proms
23 A stable political system
24 Policemen who don't carry guns
25 Stately cathedrals
26 Free speech
27 Public libraries
28 Free bus passes for the over 60s
29 English apples
30 Fresh cream
31 Crumpets
32 Cornish clotted cream teas
33 Tea - made the English way!
34 Electric kettles
35 A tolerant society (on the whole)
36 Morecambe & Wise
37 Public parks with grass in them
38 Our love of animals
39 The English Channel
40 The Lake District
41 Clean water at the turn of a tap
42 Roast potatoes
43 Mince pies
44 Victoria sponges
45 Cadbury's crème eggs
46 Bournville chocolate
47 Chris Barber's jazz band
48 Elizabethan manor houses
49 Bright red pillar boxes
50 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
51 People not wearing their hearts on their sleeves
52 The BBC
53 Lack of the death penalty
54 A TV channel devoted to repeats of old programmes
55 Christmas pudding
56 William Shakespeare
57 Red telephone boxes
58 The musical drive of the Royal Horse Artillery
59 Freedom of religion
60 Thatched cottages
61 A reliable supply of electricity
62 Bitter beer
63 The British banking system
64 Strawberry jam
65 Blue tits
66 Chelsea buns
67 You can drive from one end of England to the other in a day
68 The Old Crock's Run
69 Punch & Judy shows
70 English understatement
71 Branston pickle
72 Independence of the press
73 Internet banking
74 Steak & kidney pudding
75 Oxford colleges
76 Cambridge colleges
77 Postman's Park
78 Most people speak the same language as me
79 Buses with signs advising the next stop
80 Seaside piers
81 The Royal Pavilion
82 Thick-cut marmalade
83 The song of the blackbird
84 Toasted teacakes
85 Train-spotters are tolerated
86 The massed bands of the Brigade of Guards
87 Not too many dangerous wild animals
88 Men wearing socks with sandals (thereby giving me a laugh)
89 Going abroad is easy
90 Digestive biscuits
91 The white cliffs of Dover
92 Full English breakfasts
93 No land borders with other countries (except Wales & Scotland which, for the purposes of this exercise, don't count)
94 The ability to poke fun at ourselves
95 A wide range of affordable foods
96 Hot, buttered toast
97 Christmas cake
98 Sea water spray in a storm
99 My family is here
100 A warm bed on a cold, windy, rainy night

I've included just a very few links, but I'm sure you can find more if you want to.

3 comments:

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

Good job. You've finished your list before I finished mine.

Shammickite said...

I agree with all those things (especially bournville chocolate) and I haven't lived in England for quite a while. I asked suldog to list all the things that he DOESN'T LIKE about America, I notice that he hasn't done it.

Suldog said...

As I told Shammickite at my place, I considered it and may still do it. Meanwhile, I don't see her in any hurry to make a list of similar type about anyplace she likes.

Very well done. I'll have to look up a few to see what they are exactly, but there are many on your list that I also adore about your land. Having had opportunity to visit there more than once, I've always enjoyed my time there. Thanks for reminding me of so many wonderful things!