Once upon a time I would have said the smell of tobacco wafting over the terraces on a cold winter tuesday night match was one of the things that I most liked. No chance of that ever happening again.
I think one of the ways of finding out what you most like about Britain is to live somewhere else for a while. I'm surprised that some of the ex-pats haven't piped up. Having lived abroad for a little while the things I missed the most, apart from the above, were:
- Marmite
- British eggs
- Roast spuds
- Mature cheddar cheese
- Branston pickle
- Smoked bacon
- The Trades Description Act
- Queue etiquette
- The smell that comes from the Chippy as you pass it

Things we do well:
- Fine china
- Aerospace engineering
- Good basic food, (see above)
- Behaving basically decently to each other
- Parks and gardens
- Irony

Edited by Catfish (08 Jan 2008 10:03pm)

Yes, I am an agent of Satan but my duties are largely ceremonial

Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India, on 16 April 1918, the son of an Irish-born father, Captain Leo Alphonso Milligan, MSM, RA, who was serving in the British (not Irish) Indian Army. His mother, Florence Mary Winifred Kettleband, was born in England. He spent his childhood in Poona (India) and later in Rangoon (Yangon), capital of Burma (Myanmar). He was educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Poona, and St Paul's Christian Brothers, de la Salle, Rangoon.

He lived most of his life in England and served in the British Army, in the Royal Artillery during World War II.

Hardly a paddy.

"It's not the bullet that's got my name on it that concerns me; it's all them other ones flyin' around marked 'To Whom It May Concern.'"

I'm simply going to have to disagree with this one, and say the Welsh and Irish are far superior in the singing stakes

Has to be Churchill for me. Admittedly he was half American but he epitomised "Britishness" more than the majority of people could hope to do these days.

I can't agree with Diana, apart from skipping over the occasional dud landmine she did nothing but go on holidays. Not for me I'm afraid.

NB: I agree with your other choices though.

England cricket team followers the barmy army. Very patriotic.

And of course as Fubar said our war veterans whether they be alive or not, we owe a great deal of gratitude to them.

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

Please visit my blog: [Link]

Bloody brilliant!!! Spot on.

As someone said earlier. It sometimes takes a little while away from our beautiful island to realize what we have got. But as an expat here are somethings we miss and we're proud of.

Pubs (especially old country pubs on the river)
Sunday dinners at the pub
Tesco's doughnuts
The English countryside (even NZ can't compare)
Public rights of way
English heritage and National trust sites
Decent football
The build up to important national sporting events on TV (know one does it better)
The grand national
Custard creams
Beef and ale pie
English sense of humour
Ginger nuts - good ones, not the crap they sell here!
Lemon sherbets
English women
Match of the day
Village cricket
The BBC
Nice crisp early winters morning with a frost.
Real supporters who support their team week in week out, regardless of how often they win or loose.
Watching Palace

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

Archie Griffen

Hating Brighton since 1974