Stay ConnectedAn affectionate meandering through the things that make England the way she is – from HP Sauce to the Allottment, Aethelstan to the politics of Queuing. With Luke Baxter, Roifield Brown, David Crowther and Fiona Powell trying to make some sense of it all, though rarely succeeding it might be said. And when you’ve listened, join us on Facebook, vote, and tell us what you think.
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The Levellers were the first radical political movement of modern history. They developed a full constitution based on wide male suffage, religious toleration and equality in law. They called it 'The Agreement of the People'. In 1649 they were at the very centre of power; where did they come from - and where did they go?
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In 1762 John Montague earl of Sandwich ordered an easy to east snack to keep his strength up while gambling - and the word Sandwich was born. Was this one of the things that made England?
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Seventy-five years ago, on June 22, 1948, the HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, marking a pivotal moment in British history. In this episode, we delve into the significance of this landmark event, as we explore one man's journey to prove his British citizenship amidst a hostile environment. Thanks to the dedicated work of journalist Amelia Gentleman, who shed light on the plight of tens of thousands of British West Indians facing wrongful deportation, the Windrush scandal came to the forefront of public consciousness
Amelia Gentleman, a journalist renowned for her tireless efforts, played a crucial role in bringing the Windrush scandal to light. Her in-depth reporting exposed the injustices faced by the Windrush generation, many of whom had lived in Britain for decades, only to find themselves wrongly targeted by deportation measures. By acknowledging Gentleman's sterling work, we pay tribute to her dedication and the impact of her reporting in raising awareness about the systemic mistreatment faced by British West Indians and the urgent need for reform.
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David and Roifield answer your questions on British political history. This episode is the last in a five-part miniseries going from The Exclusion Crisis to the vote on Brexit.
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David and Roifield tackle the first half of the 20th century.
Labour Representation Committee (1900–1906)
Liberal reforms 1906–1914
People's Budget (1909)
David Lloyd George
First Labour government and period in opposition (1923–1929)
1926 General Strike
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The Great Reform act transformed politics and parties in the UK - and Victoria's reign was the stage for one of the great political rivalries - Gladstone and Disraeli
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David and Roifield go over the start of UK party politics from Exclusion Crisis to the Great Reform act of 1832
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Where did metal start? What were its influences? Who is the greatest guitarist ever? What is Feminist Doom Metal? No idea, but you will hear some clips of guitar music, and hopefully there'll be a small plastic caddy at the end of it all
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Luke and Roifield discuss whether Rave Culture can be considered a Thing That Made England. The episode includes an interview with globe-trotting DJ Tristan and we hear one of his banging tunes. We also have music from Occult playing while we chat and this chilled, ambient track plays out to the end of the episode.
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Luke announces the Intelligent Speech Conference, find out more at: https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com
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Ancient routes criss-cross England and Wales, giving access in law to all English and Welsh citizens across private property, to tread in the feet of countless generations. We talk firstly to Kate Ashbrook of the Open Spaces Society about the OSS's work to broaden access to the countryside and protect what we have. Then Luke and I blather on about some other issues and Right to Roam - R2R not being, I hasten to add, part of the OSS policy.
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Lulu and I discuss beer, a topic we have avoided for a while it must be said. Because - beer's been available everywhere for ever. How can the English lay claim to such a thing? And yet...and yet... I figure many people would say there's something distinctive to the English about beer. Is it the type of beer? Or the setting? Or does it stay outside the Cabinet along with The Sun?
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In this second episode on English comedy, we put the historical comedy, Blackadder up for consideration. Is it a thing that made England? Does it exemplify English comedy? Is it historically accurate? Is it even funny? Is David a polyglot? For the answers to all these and more, have a listen to the show.
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Is there such a thing as specifically English comedy? Certainly the English have thought so since Shakespeare's time, it's one of our vanities. Luke and David sicuss what English comedy might be - and test Monty P against the framework
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At long last we bring you the one and only William Shakespeare, or "Billy the Bard" as some prefer. Fiona proposes the great man as a thing that made England. Does anyone dare disagree? Have a listen to find out.
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Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. Ska combined elements of mento and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by accented with stabs on the off-beat. Prince Buster
Ska developed in Jamaica in the 1960s with Prince Buster, producers Clement Dodd, and Duke Reid and found its way to England in the early sixties alongside the wave of Jamaican immigrants that moved to England's big cities from the Caribbean.
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The Buns that made England - Crumpets and Muffins, and some bun throwing traditions
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To Lardy Cake and beyond!
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Some triumphant buns in the bread cabinet of English cooking over which you may salivate. And come to Facebook to post pictures of your buns too.
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The British Empire... was it a thing that made England or a thing that England made? Find out here, well, find out what we think any way.
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Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of fried fish in batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from Jewish immigrants and probably flemish migrants. Fish and chips is a common take-away food in England and numerous other countries, particularly in English-speaking nations.
Fish and chips first appeared in the UK in the 1860s, and by 1910, there were over 25,000 chippies across the UK.
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The Constitution of the United Kingdom is the system of rules that decides the political governance of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unlike in most countries, it is not codified into a single document. However, it recognises that there are principles, such as parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, democracy and upholding international law.
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Luke and David discuss Elizabeth I, sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor.
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A public school is a fee-charging endowed school originally for older boys which was "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession. Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes
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Following World War II, there was a baby boom which brought about the birth of a distinct youth culture in England which frequently reinvented itself every few years or so. Young people began to turn away from their parent’s ethics and style of dress to dance to new music, the influence of US culture and post war affluence created the English Teenager but then England made it its own.
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Athelstan was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939 when he died. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings.
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The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's eighth-oldest bank.
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Roifield and David talk about The Archers a British radio soap opera on BBC Radio 4 which has been broadcast since 1951, having aired over 19,100 episodes, it is the world's longest-running drama.
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"The countryside holds a special place at the heart of English life and culture. And although the vast majority of Britons are now urban, the countryside remains for most people in Britain an idyllic place, a place where one can live and relax. At weekends and other moments of free time, Britons love to go to the country. And they do not hesitate to do so, because the English countryside is beautiful, diverse, and often easily accessible from the major cities.
For many people, the countryside is Britain as it should be - an area full of historic sites, memorials, monuments, protected areas, pretty villages, pubs with tables in the garden – a part of Britain where time seems to have stopped in its tracks. But as towns and cities, even villages, keep growing to cater for England's rapidly growing population, and with England already the most densely-populated country in Europe, the English countryside is shrinking and changing.
Fortunately, there are still plenty of wonderful places left to see." Taken from https://about-britain.com/tourism/english-countryside.htm
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Do I need to introduce them? A boy band, popular back in the 60-s and early 70s. Can a 4 piece really be part of what makes England?
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Curry is a variety of dishes originating in the Indian subcontinent that uses combination of spices or herbs, usually including ground turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, and fresh or dried chilies. The word also originated in Southern India and Curry is generally prepared in a sauce.
The UK celebrates National Curry Week every October because we have made curry our own. it’s so popular that it contributes more than £5bn to the British economy. Chicken Tikka Masala has been the nations favourite dish for 20 years, we are not a nation of pie munchers any more.
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A nice cup of tea, a cuppa, tea at the Ritz, I'm off for my tea now...tea time. Not just a thing that made England, but the thing that helps get it moving, and at the same time put its feet up.
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Birmingham is the second city in England, a "city of a thousand trades" its the heart of modern Britain, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands.
Birmingham is the epitome if Englishness, it's had a civil war battle, victorian grandeur, ring roads and Baltis. It's growth shadows the rise of industrial England, it's the city of thousand trades and fuelled the industrial revolution. Though mentioned in the Doomsday book Birmingham became an urban and commercial centre in 1166. The Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market at his castle, “ a bull ring” and after this a market town began.
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England's geography has played a significant part in shaping her history and culture and making her as she is. I say that without fear of contradiction.
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England is a haunted country. Yokel bear talks about the English tradition of literary ghost fiction. Nineteenth-century England was perhaps the golden age of the ghost...
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Hello and Merry Xmas, it's me Roifield without David, we thought we'd give you an episode of songs that remind you of England. We asked you on Facebook to nominate your most English of ditties, so as you pull your crackers we give you some songs that made England!
Michael Wheal - Vin da Loo!
Alison Mary Hebborn Remember 'singing ' Jerusalem on a coach to the hotel after a Czech /English wedding.
The Beatles - I want to hold your hand.
Stephen Bōden wrote on the facebook page, “I vow to thee my country” deserves a place on any such list
Abide with me', it was nominmated by one David Crowther
A Song of Patriotic Prejudice by Flanders and Swann: which was nominated by Patrick Adams.
Stephen Bōden wrote that In these days of austerity, I reckon there’s a place in our national discourse for “Hard Times of Old England”.
The Human League's - Don't You Want Me" unmistakably the moment the Second British Invasion, hit The States
Blur - Park Life
Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks was originally entitled "Liverpool Sunset".
On Facebook Richard Lyle opted for Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Lets All Go Down The Strand And Have A Banana.
Baddiel and Skinner’s - Three Lions.
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'I'm off down the allotment!'. What could be more English than that? Literally nothing
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BBC Radio 4 is a spoken-word radio channel owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London.
Radio 4 is the principal radio channel in the UK for:
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The English queue even in a crowded bar, when the casual observer might see no physical evidence. But is this any different to the Canadians, or Singaporeans, both high quality queuing nations? Why do the English queue. I think I have the secret.
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Football is a global sport. Football is thought to have originated in twelfth century England and became so popular that the Kings Henry II and Henry IV had to ban it.
It’s a game where the average sized person can excell. The shot to success ratio being low meaning that a team of lesser ability can overcome a better one. What helped with the globalisation of football was Britains global influence. At the peak of its power, the British Empire nearly covered a quarter of the planet, meaning that it was very easy to spread the game of football.
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England has had a reputation for a certain kind of traditional fashion (suits, boots and so on) for a while, but in the 60’s English Fashion surprised the world. And English flair for fashion design has carried on ever since. Or so I would contend. But what I know about fashion could be written on the inside of a ping pong ball.
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Magna Carta has a reputation as one of the foundational documents in the development of the rights of the individual and in limiting he powers of monarchs. What does it actually say? And does it deserve its reputation?
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Margaret Thatcher, 13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013 was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990. The longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century she was the first woman to hold that office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her the Iron Lady. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that came to be known as Thatcherism. Roifield proposes that her tenure kicks starts English and Scottish nationalism.
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For a while, from the 13th to 15th centuries, the king of England possessed a military tool that no other nation appeared to be able to imitate. The argument is whether it had any lasting impact of why England is as she is.
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The modern suit was founded in the industrial revolution in the late 18th century in London. Mens clothing moved away from the elaborately embroidered and jewelled formality of the 18th century into the simpler and more elegant clothing of the British Regency period, which gradually evolved to the stark formality of the Victorian period. It was in the search for more comfort that the loosening of rules gave rise in the late 19th century to the modern two piece suit.
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The greatest game invented by the human race. Surely a simple decision?
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This week Roifield and David discuss the most English of condiments, HP or Brown sauce that is fighting to keep all manner of fancy BBQ and other foreign sauces from invading our English dining tables!
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Where does the flag of St George come from and why is it England's national flag? Is it a symbol of unity or division, why is there relatively little flag waving in England and should we be waving it more? And most importantly - does it go in the cabinet as one of the things that made England?
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The Battle of Dunkirk was a military operation that took place in Dunkirk, France, at the Second World War which as come to define 20th Century England. The battle was fought between the Allies and Germany, as part of the Battle of France. The Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe from 26 May to 4 June 1940, something that was seen as miraculous a that time. The War Cabinet under Winston Churchill the newly appointed as the Prime Minister was deeply divided with what to do during the German encirclement of the BEF, with Viscount Halifax, the Foreign Secretary believing that in view of the imminent Fall of France that the United Kingdom should explore the possibility of a negotiated peace settlement with Adolf Hitler
Proposition – why should it go on the cabinet?
Why should the Dunkirk go into the cabinet?
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Roifield presents the proposition that Ska is not just important because it's the one musical form everyone can dance to.
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Are English accents a joy and delight, a sign of rich diversity or irritating and divisive? And what is it about the Midlands that makes everyone think they can ignore it? Luke tells us what you all thought of Ska
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Roifield presents the proposition that Ska is not just important because it's the one musical form everyone can dance to.
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Where else could we possibly start other than at the most famous date in English history. The Normans. Is this an iconic event which made England as she is? Was it a good thing, bad thing - or just a thing? Or just a matter of very poor hairstyles?
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