Why don't we sometimes talk about what is good about Britain for a change?

All of the above and

Queuing
Castles (thanks to those Norman invaders)
Farm shops selling local produce
The ability to criticise our politicians without fear of arrest
Clean water

vegansrock
Can’t you get clean water out of a tap in any other country?
Even in countries like Australia no, not always - twice filtered rainwater is the norm.

I'll expand on queuing - people often chat to one another when queuing in this country.
I've done it overseas only to be looked at as if I'm peculiar.

Kandinsky

What a lovely refreshing thread - makes such a nice change from the usual ‘we’re an inconsequential island that’s nothing but an embarrassment’ c**p we get on here.

Ditto to that!

Thank heavens for this thread, MOnica. There is so much that is good about this country, but the bad gets emphasised all the time.

Yes big thanks to Monica, you often come across to me as one of our most balanced posters.

British people -
Our olympians and paralympians
HM The Queen
Mary Berry
Sayeeda Warsi
Chris Packham
Marcus Rashford
Everyone on the TV/radio/stage/screen who makes us laugh, cry or rage against the machine.
Grayson Perry
Sarah Gilbert
Tom Jones
Billy Connolly
Zadie Smith
Nurse, doctors, teachers, the people who make our buses run and recycle our junk.

To add to my pp, I think running one’s own country down (I’m talking England here, not the U.K. generally) is something of a national pastime for a good many.

As someone who lived in other countries for 13 years and has travelled extensively to many more, I’ve never encountered it to any extent anywhere else. People are more likely (at least generally, in my experience) to tell you how wonderful their own country is.

Most museums and art galleries are free to enter for all.

And libraries.

Witzend...not wishing to derail this fabulous thread, I wonder if the 'running down' in this country is a symptom of our first past the post voting system. A lot of people are left disenchanted. Also, our print media's reason for being seems to be running the country down at it is contagious.

Now! Back to good things - our wonderful national parks and the National Trust.

I agree with most of the things listed, and always tell my children that although things may not always be brilliant, we can go to bed at night knowing we are safe. I love where I live, and thus my fury at the current government who are intent on destroying all that is good like the NHS, clean water, schools, environmentally sound farming, beautiful countryside etc. We are in general a tolerant and welcoming country, built over generations of immigration and assimilation and I despise people like Farage who abuse this for their own ends.

I think British people are generally nice. We speak to strangers, we help each other. I like living here.

On our way home from 7 glorious days in the Lakes.
If I never got on a plane again I don’t care, Britain has it all.

Chewbacca

Most museums and art galleries are free to enter for all.

Yes, we had a bit of a shock on a visit to Amsterdam 3 years ago - IIRC it was €18 to enter the Rijksmuseum. Even for oldies like us.

Has anyone mentioned. FREE SPEECH.

History, architecture, countryside, seaside, cities, towns, villages, hamlets, free education for all, free healthcare for all, policing by consent, our diversity, stoicism, humour, good manners, sense of fair play, generosity.
Our inventors, entrepreneurs, risk takers, authors, artists, poets.
And so much more.
What a lovely thread Monica thank you. You too Alegrias for your powers of persuasion.

Yes MEGS 3rd post in

Scones

And libraries.

Witzend...not wishing to derail this fabulous thread, I wonder if the 'running down' in this country is a symptom of our first past the post voting system. A lot of people are left disenchanted. Also, our print media's reason for being seems to be running the country down at it is contagious.

Now! Back to good things - our wonderful national parks and the National Trust.

I’m not sure it’s necessarily political - perhaps more of a fairly common mindset, that just about everything foreign or ‘abroad’ is bound to be better.

A seriously trivial example, but an extremely Francophile SiL of mine once insisted that the Knorr packet soup she’d bought in a French supermarket, was bound to be much nicer than the equivalent from a U.K. ditto. (which she’d never dream of buying.)
I never did get around to buying one of each and comparing the list of ingredients! I should have bet her £20 that they’d be the same.

GillT57

I agree with most of the things listed, and always tell my children that although things may not always be brilliant, we can go to bed at night knowing we are safe. I love where I live, and thus my fury at the current government who are intent on destroying all that is good like the NHS, clean water, schools, environmentally sound farming, beautiful countryside etc. We are in general a tolerant and welcoming country, built over generations of immigration and assimilation and I despise people like Farage who abuse this for their own ends.

Thank you, GillT57\

I feel like that, too and I dislike the insinuation that people who are angry about the destruction of the things that made us proud to be British are somehow haters of their country.

I agree with most of what people have said on this thread, too, but a few years ago I could have added more positives about our position in the world and how other nations saw us.

Lovely post, everything I would have said seems to have been covered.

Lovely post, everything I would have said seems to have been covered.

What a fantastic thread M0nica. Thank you.

I've been lucky enough to live in two fantastic counties: Derbyshire and Cornwall. Always loved visiting Yorkshire and Northumberland too.
Architecture and local history are a pleasure to discover. Look at how many visit Britain for this reason alone.
Our music scene continues to spread around the world as do our chefs!
Talking of food - I love the Hairy Bikers.

Probably not my last post here but thank you for the food banks and volunteers who helped during lockdown. Our Bodmin Bikers, made the national press. Their help for the rural community was invaluable during lockdown.

Thank you for your comment Kandinsky.
What a lovely refreshing thread - makes such a nice change from the usual ‘we’re an inconsequential island that’s nothing but an embarrassment’ c**p we get on here.
Total agreement on that.

henetha

Thank heavens for this thread, MOnica. There is so much that is good about this country, but the bad gets emphasised all the time.

Indeed henetha. Seconded.

Urmstongran

henetha

Thank heavens for this thread, MOnica. There is so much that is good about this country, but the bad gets emphasised all the time.

Indeed henetha. Seconded.

I think the problem arises when we start to define our own country by what another country has or doesn't have, or does or doesn't do. It isn't a competition, we should realise nowhere is perfect. This thread shows we have so much to be grateful for in the UK, and likwise, what other nations want to see in us is their own choice.

Our postman just delivered a letter addressed to ‘the lady in the house with white shutters, our hamlet name and Anglesey. Where else in the world…?

I always feel that we as a people are so much more than any government that might be in power.