Attitudes for leisure have been much influenced by the modern love of moving around and by the ease of travel. Britain is the only country in Europe, except Malta, where driving is on the left. There are 2,500 km of motorway (mostly six lanes) and over 2,500 km of dual carriageway (divided high-way). Since Britain […]

In England the national drink is beer, and the ‘pub’, where Englishmen go to ” drink it, is a peculiarly English institution. The word ‘pub’ itself is an abbreviation of ‘public house’, which sounds dull and uninspiring; but there is nothing dull and uninspiring about the associations which the shorter form — pub — arouses […]

English cooking is heavy, substantial and plain. The ideal English breakfast consists of cereals, either porridge (borrowed from the Scots), or cornflakes, with milk and sugar, followed by bacon and eggs, or sausages and tomatoes, toast and marmalade, and finally, of course, a cup of tea. Tea is part of the prose of British life, […]

In Britain while occasional parties of foreigners may sometimes be found picking woodland fungi, the usual British reaction is that only the common field mushroom is edible and all the rest are “poisonous’’. Thus one of our few remaining wild foods is neglected. At one time, doubtless, the English peasant must have shared the fungus-eating […]

Britain is a nation of animal lovers. Everybody knows that. We have an estimated five million dogs, almost as many cats, over three million budgies,  other cage-birds, aquarium fish — and one million “exotic’’ pets, such as reptiles and amphibians. Today, with the profitable encouragement of Big Business and persistent advertising pressures, it looks as […]

The love of gardens is deep-rooted in the British people. Listen to men’s conversation in the 8.18 on Monday morning and, later, to the chatter at the office and the factory. It will be about gardens. It will be of jobs done despite the difficult week-end weather; of seeds sown; of progress made. There will […]

At the Proms the audience are very mixed and there is always a high proportion of young people. The promenaders in particular are informal, often in shirt-sleeves or light dresses as these are summer concerts, and it is certainly the thing to be extremely enthusiastic. Applause is often warm and frequently begins before the last […]

Though England has a lively cultural life, its characteristic pursuits are of a more popular kind. The exploitation of leisure is increasingly the concern of commerce: holiday camps, foreign holiday package tours, gambling of many kinds from bingo to horse-race betting, and the transformation of the traditional English pub by trendy interior decoration. The English […]

Have you ever been to Great Britain? If you have, it will be much easier for you to imagine what a real British pub is. Anyway, I’ll acquaint you with all the peculiarities of this extraordinary place. A pub is a short word for “public house”. It is a unique place not only because there […]

Some people criticize English food. They say it’s unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. The basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that British haven’t had to invent sauces to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh pees or new potatoes just boiled and served with […]