The "I Love the UK" topic

[kjackson83]

i live in hampshire the tourist always head for london and never get to see the real united kingdom, yes london depicts the modern english lifestyle but the beauty of the uk everyone misses like the simply life in my seaside milatry town/village lol

Hampshire is, what? Hilly? I'd like to see the Isle of Wight (not technically in Hampsire )...a friend of mine who's into the "zombie subculture" (?? ) once asked me, "How would you survive the coming Zombie Apocalypse?" I said, "Three words: Isle. Of. Wight."

god im becoming and anglophile (kjackson )

And it's about time, I say! Hear, hear!

That's another thing about the UK I really admire:
No one in it seems to realise how incredibly awesome their country is...the word "great" isn't in Great Britain for nothing, you know!

Here is the noblest, most civilised nation on earth--the nation that gave us Shakespeare, Milton, and the King James Bible; the nation that virtually called the "modern world" into existence, developed Western democracy to an advanced state well before the year 1776, stood practically alone against the fury of the Blitz, dismantled a massive empire in a mostly humane and enlightened way--and so few of its own subjects grasp the magnificence of all this...

Sure, it has its problems, its failures, its shortcomings, but what a thing to be proud of: to go from being the far-flung, backwater province of an empire, to the zenith of world power itself, and back to ruling a tiny, crowded, rainy little island, all while continuing to progress and push the human race forward--can there be any national narrative greater than that?

[TEB]

The "new" question again:
If you lived in Britain, where would it be, and why?

Someplace rural. I prefer not to have alot of buildings around. Now, one of my favorite of the BritComs is Keeping Up Appearences and I think I would like to live where they filmed that show. Lots of open country.

[kthomp]

hampshire isnt that hill just has quite a bit of countryside and country towns and villages such as the new forset and the 100 acre wood.

the isle of wight is really nice i can see it from my house it has a lot of nice buildings and is really chea to travel from main land to the isle of wright think it stands at £5

[Jude Andrew]

Someplace rural. I prefer not to have alot of buildings around

I have gone the other way , I have been living a rural life for about 6 years, which is great but now that they kids are getting older they need to be driven everywhere !! So, I would like to move back to a suburban set up.

Now, one of my favorite of the BritComs is Keeping Up Appearences and I think I would like to live where they filmed that show. Lots of open country

If I am not very much mistaken, that show is set in Surbiton which is an affluent area in Surrey (KJackson will be delighted )

[Jude Andrew]

the isle of wight is really nice i can see it from my house it has a lot of nice buildings and is really chea to travel from main land to the isle of wright think it stands at £5

One of my colleagues lives on the IOW, he is big into boats and sailing (no surprise there). He loves all the music festivals they have there during the summer. Too many prisons for my liking . 3 on one little Island and one of those is a high security prison (parkhurst). No thanks.

[kjackson83]

the 100 acre wood.

Are there signs that say, "Don't Feed the Bears!"

[Yorkie]

You guys that manage to get to the UK don't just stop in London, try to get to the real Britain - Yorkshire! (known to us yocals as God's own county). And, if I may say so, we also have one of the worlds finest Cathedrals in York Minster (a gold star for anybody that can name the Libera song sung at York Minster).

kjackson83 - my sister lives in Surrey in a village called Shere. I have to admit it's a beautiful part of the world. Yorkshire has a bleak, masculine beauty, where as Surrey has a rather softer, rounder feminine charm (but eye wateringly expensive).

As they say "Yorkshire born Yorkshire bred, strong in t'arm and thick in't 'ead"

I have a friend in Yorkshire--it looks absolutely stunning. As a member of ECUSA, my church is under the authority of the Archbishop of York (John Sentamu), whom I think will make an excellent Archbishop of Canterbury eventually...the Minster is overwhelming in just pictures, I can only imagine what it looks like firsthand. York Minster is, I think, the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps I would like to see the stained glass at sunrise or sunset...

Yes, unfortunately Surrey is REALLY expensive but with some clever investing...

Didn't know that our Archbishop had such a large reach! It certainly is a small world He seems like a good guy, he set up a tent in the Minster for a few months where he lived overnight in protest at something or other. He also decided to bring back old style baptisms where you get dunked under the water. He set up a kiddies paddling pool to do the job! I seem to remember it looked quite fun on the local t.v. news!

I live less than 40 miles from York and I was there last Thursday for a mooch around the Minster - they charge £6 (although that covers as many visits as you want in a year). I went so I could listen to Libera on my iPod whilst soaking in the views:oops:

Sad to say that one of the glories - the great East window - has been taken down for a repair to the stonework and will be out of sight for several years. A petty because it is the largest area of medieval stained glass in the world. Oh by the way, did you know that there is a depiction of the Stars & Stripes carved & paintedin to one of the roof bosses in the Minster?

[kjackson83]

Didn't know that our Archbishop had such a large reach! It certainly is a small world He seems like a good guy

the way ECUSA is administered is a little unnecessarily complicated, but technically, I think the Episcopal Church is supposed to be under the spiritual patronage of the Archbishop of York vis-a-vis the Communion...

Sad to say that one of the glories - the great East window - has been taken down for a repair to the stonework and will be out of sight for several years.

Now that is a real shame and I am hoping to make the journey in a year or so...

Oh by the way, did you know that there is a depiction of the Stars & Stripes carved & paintedin to one of the roof bosses in the Minster?

no, I didn't know that...wonder why?! lol

[kjackson83]

try to get to the real Britain - Yorkshire! (known to us yocals as God's own county).

The whole "real Britain," if I may say so, is "God's own country" (oh, and Ireland too... ).

A thought on this



...but I'm sure He holidays in Yorkshire--since He has such a nice house there (even if the windows are down for cleaning...must get awfully drafty in there ).

[Yorkie]

no, I didn't know that...wonder why?! lol

Ah, well now there is a story behind that Old Glory. Obviously the original builders didn't put it there but sadly fire is no respecter of age or beauty.

Back in 1984 the roof of the South transept (one of the oldest parts of the Minster) was hit by lightning and the roof was set ablaze. Unfortunately, the original builders of the Minster broke with the tradition of the time by having an oak framed roof rather than a stone roof. Using wood meant that they could build a larger roof without the need for the buttresses (stone arches that are built outside the wall to keep the wall in place due to the weight of a stone roof) that you see on other Cathedrals. Of course wood burns........

Anyway, when they rebuilt the roof they needed to put new bosses up (the previous 700 year old ones having being destroyed). Although the construction was done using exactly the same materials and building methods as the original, it was decided that this was an opportunity to add something to represent the 20th century - every era of building in the Minster has it's own style.

A famous British kids t.v. show called Blue Peter (yes that's its name and it runs on good old Auntie Beeb) ran a competition for new designs. One of the winners was a representation of Neil Armstrong planting the Stars & Stripes on the moon

[Yorkie]

try to get to the real Britain - Yorkshire! (known to us yocals as God's own county).

The whole "real Britain," if I may say so, is "God's own country" (oh, and Ireland too... ).

A thought on this



...but I'm sure He holidays in Yorkshire--since He has such a nice house there (even if the windows are down for cleaning...must get awfully drafty in there ).

That may be true - or not - but Yorkshire is His county

[kjackson83]

Doesn't Bill Bryson (author of Notes from a Small Island) live in Yorkshire somewhere?

[kjackson83]

county

apologies for misunderstanding the first[/n] time

[Yorkie]

Doesn't Bill Bryson (author of Notes from a Small Island) live in Yorkshire somewhere?

He did but after returning to the States so that his kids could experience some time living there he returned to live in East Anglia (I think). By the way, have you read the book? If not I can't recommend it enough - I love Bill

[Yorkie]

county

apologies for misunderstanding the first[/n] time

I forgive you