1 Identity: the foundations · 5.Cinema, photography andfashion 6.Mediaand communications 7.Foodanddrink 8.Livingculture: thestateof modernBritain 1.1 Geography It’s the original

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1 Identity: the foundations

of British culture

1.1. Geography p51.1.1. Britain: whatis it and what does itlook like? p61.2. History p151.2.1. Come in, makeyourself at home:Celts, Saxons, Vikingsand Normans p161.2.2. The splitpersonality takesshape p231.2.3. The modern age:empire, slavery andsacrifice p311.3. Language andbelonging p431.3.1. Languagelessons: how theBritish talk p441.3.2. Being British:I wish I’d never asked…p50

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1. Identity: thefoundationsof British culture

2. Literatureand philosophy

3. Art, architectureand design

4. Performingarts

5. Cinema,photographyand fashion

6. Media andcommunications

7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:the state ofmodern Britain

1.1 Geography

It’s the original island nation.

Standing aloof on Europe’s western fringe,

battered by some of the world’s roughest

seas, Britain has clung to its detachment

for centuries. From outside it looks

homogenous, defiantly separate from

continental Europe in body and soul.

However, step ashore and it dissolves into a

stew of landscapes, people and cultures.


Table for four pleaseThe British state harbours four nations – Wales, Scotland,England and Northern Ireland – each with its own distinctculture. All four nations can be broken down further, intoregions where landscape, language and lifestyle varymarkedly. And then there’s the dense historical jigsaw, fromstone circles to ruined abbeys, each corner of Britain has itsstory to tell. Surely no other country so modest in scale isso regionally pronounced, so packed with cultural variety, soconnected to its past yet steadfastly modern.

So, is it Britain, the United Kingdom or the British Isles?The term Great Britain, or just Britain (or Breatainn Mhòr inScottish Gaelic and Prydain Fawr in Welsh), is usually takento mean England, Wales and Scotland. The United Kingdomthrows Northern Ireland into the mix. The British Islesincludes the Republic of Ireland and any island lumpssurrounding mainland Britain. Informally – and for mostBrits – the term Britain is taken to mean England, Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland, and is used as suchthroughout this book.

Small but beautiful: the lie of the landBritain squeezes a pleasingly diverse landscape into itsmodest frame. Emily Brontë’s feral moorland with its‘bare masses of stone’ might sound a long way fromWilliam Blake’s ‘pleasant pastures’, but they coexist closelyand comfortably. If we’re looking for a vague rule, thefurther north and west you travel the lumpier Britain gets.Fertile lowlands in south-eastern England are relieved bysoft hills before the West Country breaks out into stretchesof moorland. In northern England the Pennine hills form aspine running from the Peak District through the Dales upto the border country with Scotland, whilethe winsome peaks of the Lake District cover England’snorth-west. Much of Wales, to the west of England, and

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1.1.1 Britain: what is it and what does it look like?


Scotland, to the north, are mountainous. Scotlandharbours the Highlands and Islands, rare in Britainfor retaining an element of wilderness. Only thesenortherly uplands, rugged, boggy and cold, escapedthe centuries of farming that tamed Britain’scountryside, native deciduous forests included. Acrossthe Irish Sea, west of southern Scotland, lies NorthernIreland, a land of bare, peaty hills encircling LoughNeigh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles.

Counting countiesBritain breaks down into a complex map of regions,counties, boroughs, districts, unitary authorities andparishes. Some are historic and familiar but unofficial;others are new and sanctioned by government butrarely used in conversation. Each of the four Britishnations has been divided into counties (so calledbecause local regions were once controlled by counts(or earls)) for hundreds of years. England has 39‘historic’ counties, each with its own cultural identityshaped by customs, accents and sporting teams.However, for the purposes of local government, theold, geographical arrangement of counties has beensliced and diced to accommodate metropolitancounties (urban zones that spread, connected, acrossthe old boundaries) and unitary authorities. Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland have been similarlyaffected by modern reshuffling. In Wales the 13historic counties were reduced to eight in the 1970sand then carved into 22 unitary authorities in 1996.In Northern Ireland the ratio is six old counties – stillused in everyday chat by the majority – to 26 newdistrict council areas. Scotland’s current set upaccommodates 32 council areas, although, again, themap of 34 old counties has more day-to-day resonancefor most people.

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Dear old BlightyBlighty, a kindly term forBritain, was used firstby soldiers in the IndianArmy. It corrupts anUrdu word for ‘foreigner’,itself derivative of anArabic term. Blightyentered common usagein the First World War,popularised in music hallsongs like Take Me Backto Dear Old Blighty.


Urban legends: British citiesBritain’s cities are the product of organic growth, ofbuilding, demolition and rejuvenation over the course ofcenturies. Each has its personality, rapidly recognisedthrough buildings, accents and vistas. London, themost multifaceted city and the biggest by impressiveproportions (nearest rival Birmingham is a seventh ofthe size), is among the most multicultural cities onEarth, a flurry of ethnicities, creeds and nationalities.They’re here because, most of the time, Europe’ssecond largest city (Moscow is bigger) is a tolerant,rewarding place. Of course, like anywhere else it has itsdarker side – London’s mixed cultural milieu doesn’ttranslate to some social utopia, and deprivation can behigh, often in areas where migrant communities residein greatest number.

Some British cities – notably Bristol, Liverpool,Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast – are defined by theirwaterside location. Built on maritime trade (includingthe profits of slavery), they’ve endured years of declineto resurface afresh, and now buzz with cultural life.

The mother of all ditchesThe borderlandsbetween England andWales are sometimescalled the WelshMarches. The termmore often refers tothe counties on theEnglish side, namelyHerefordshire,Shropshire and Cheshire.Offa’s Dyke, the deepphysical groove cutbetween England andWales by Mercia’s kingin the eighth century,still runs through muchof the Marches.

Iron in the soulNorthern Ireland issometimes referred toas Ulster, one of the fouraged provinces of Ireland(sharing its island withLeinster, Munster andConnacht). Ulster isactually larger thanNorthern Ireland, withonly six of its ninecounties falling withinthe state. ‘Norn Iron’is a more informal,affectionate name forthe province, a phonetichomeland homagemade with a thick Ulsterbrogue. “We’re notBrazil, we’re Norn Iron,”chant the sagaciousfootball fans at WindsorPark.

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Only Belfast lags slightly behind. In the former engineroom of industrial Britain, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffieldand Newcastle reinvent themselves with gentrificationand cultural credibility yet retain something of theatmosphere that first made them great. In the WestMidlands, Birmingham and Coventry were torn apartby the Luftwaffe in the Second World War beforedour architecture compounded their woe in the 1960s.Money is pouring in to make up for lost charm but it’sslow going.

Where do the British live?Over 80 per cent of Britain’s inhabitants live in England.Around a third squeeze themselves intothe south-eastern corner of England, and a snug20 per cent or so live in or around London. As a whole,England has a population density of 984 sq/mile(380 sq/km) (three times the EU average); Scotland’sis around 168 sq/mile (65 per sq/km) (one of Europe’slowest); Wales’ comes in at 361 sq/mile (140 persq/km); and Northern Ireland’s is 315/sq mile(122 sq/km). Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Britain’s

London in five songsWaterloo Sunset(1967) The Kinks.

I Don’t Wantto Go to Chelsea(1978) Elvis Costello andthe Attractions.

Down in the TubeStation at Midnight(1978) The Jam.

Baker Street(1978) Gerry Rafferty.

A Rainy Night in Soho(1986) The Pogues.

London infive songs


predominantly urban population (four out of five peoplelive in towns and cities) is seeping out to rural areas,reversing the migratory trends of the 19th and early tomid 20th centuries.

Cultural differences between town and country remainand mild sniping still occurs: ‘townies’ are rude andself-important; rural folk are unsophisticated bumpkins(these are the stereotypes). Occasionally thedifferences get drawn into wider spats. The debateover a ban on fox hunting with dogs (outlawed in 2005)was used by pro-hunt campaigners to shout abouturbanites (and Westminster in particular) killing off the‘rural way of life’. Other episodes have brought a morebalanced reflection on the urban/rural relationship: thefoot and mouth crisis of 2001 found city, town andcountry folk alike in sympathy with rural communities,and reminded British people of the old, inescapablebonds between rural and urban life.

The island nation’s main islandsBritain works to keep its myriad small islands inthe fold, from the southerly Isle of Wight (wheregenuine natives are called Caulkheads) to the NorthernIsles of Orkney and Shetland (closer to the Arctic Circlethan London). Two island groups boast significantautonomy, claiming the status of CrownDependencies, a standing that distinguishes themfrom overseas territories and colonies, and whichallows them to pass their own laws, mint their owncoins and to excuse themselves from being in boththe UK (but not the British Isles!) and the EU.

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The first, the Isle of Man, is an ancient Celtic outpostin the Irish Sea. It has its own parliament, the Tynwald(the longest running in the world) and gave theBee Gees their first breath. The second, the ChannelIslands, comprising Jersey, Guernsey and the rest arejust off the coast of Normandy, France. Strange tothink that Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables in theBritish Isles whilst exiled on Guernsey.

What’s the weather like?Britain’s climate can be a disappointingly tepid affair.It’s often cited as unpredictable, and it is – rain andsun come in quick succession – but it’s unpredictablewithin a rather predictable range. As an island lodgedin the Gulf Stream’s mild westerly flow, Britain iswarmer than its northerly latitude would otherwiseallow. It never gets painfully cold (winter temps rarelydrop below minus ten Celsius), nor does it becometruly hot (anything over 30 degrees is a rarity). Ingeneral, the west is wetter than the east, and alsomilder in winter and cooler in summer, although thedifferences aren’t large. The further south you go themore sun you’ll see, although if you get the right Juneday in northern Scotland you can enjoy a whopping18 hours of sunshine. Upland areas, as you wouldexpect, are colder and wetter: the very tops of theScottish Highlands may retain snow throughout theyear, although this is increasingly unusual. Snow canfall anywhere in winter but rarely stays for more thana couple of days at lower levels where it inevitablyevokes media hysteria and transport chaos. But evenwhile the weather isn’t biblical, the British talent fortalking about it surely is: it’s the default icebreaker inconversation with friends or strangers.

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Defoe’s tourde storm forceDaniel Defoe’s firstbook, The Storm (1704),reflected on the mostsevere storm everrecorded in Britain. With120mph winds the GreatStorm of November 1703destroyed 13 Royal Navyships, killed 8,000 peopleand deposited cows uptrees.

Rivers of crudThe unusually hotsummer of 1858 createdThe Great Stink, whenthe Thames, thenrecipient of London’suntreated sewage (andthe source of its drinkingwater), became a fetid,faeces-clogged hazard.The House of Commonssoaked their curtains inchloride of lime to tryand quell the stench.The city’s modernsewerage system wasduly initiated in thesame year.

“THERE ARETWO SEASONSIN SCOTLAND:JUNE ANDWINTER.”Billy Connolly


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Hebrides, Bailey,variable becoming south-westerly three or four…The shipping forecastdrifts from the radio fourtimes a day. It servesanyone brave enough tonavigate the watersaround the British Isles,yet has a mystical appealthat reaches well inland.With only 370 words toplay with (includingintro), the forecastsounds like a codedincantation (read slowlyso that mariners maywrite it down) with its

outline of wind speed,sea state, weatherand visibility (good,moderate, poor and fog).The region names, fromDogger to Lundy toGerman Bight (there are31 in all, read in a setorder), are strange butfamiliar to British ears,absorbed on childhoodjourneys in the back ofthe car, radio on. Manyclaim a haunting poetryfor the shipping forecast,and its undulating metrehas absorbed the greatand the good of modern

lyricism, from SeamusHeaney (who wrote asonnet, The ShippingForecast) to Radiohead(they referenced theforecast on Kid A). Theday’s final reading of theforecast, delivered at12.48am, is usuallypreceded by Sailing By,a dreamy string piece byRonald Binge intendedas an airwave beacon tosailors in search of theright radio frequency.

Area 94,248 square miles (244,101 sq/km) (about half the size of France).

Length 840 miles (1,350km) from Lands End, Cornwall, to John O’Groats in Scotland.

Width just under 300 miles (480km) (and this is the widest point – you’re never morethan 77 miles (125km) from the sea).

Coastline 7,723 miles (12,429km).

Highest mountain Ben Nevis (Scotland) at 4,406ft (1,343m).

Population approximately 61 million (roughly 52 million in England, five million inScotland, three million in Wales and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland).

Life expectancy 76 for men and 81 for women.

Britain’s vital statistics


Eric Clapton God to some, Slowhand to others and ‘Our Eric’ to the residents of Ripley, Surrey.

Anthony Minghella The late Oscar-winning director of The English Patient grew up above anice cream shop on the Isle of Wight.

Dudley Moore The comedian, pianist and Hollywood star no doubt found his roots inDagenham, Essex, useful for the Derek and Clive routines.

Bryan Ferry The Roxy Music frontman is a farmer’s son from Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Richard Burton The boy from Pontrhydyfen, South Wales, became Hollywood’s highest earner.

Billy Connolly Scotland’s biggest comedian was a shipyard welder in his native Glasgow beforeturning entertainer, initially as a folk singer, in 1965.

Van Morrison The son of a Belfast shipyard worker and a singing tap dancer, George Ivan (van)worked as a window cleaner before climbing fame’s ladder.

Local boys done good: extraordinary folk from ordinary places

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Documents

1 Identity: the foundations · 5.Cinema, photography andfashion 6.Mediaand communications 7.Foodanddrink 8.Livingculture: thestateof modernBritain 1.1 Geography It’s the original