Everything - well nearly everything - is right in this country

I live in a house that is 550 years old. I often think about all that has happened to it and it has lived through in that time. War and peace, life and death. happiness and misery. genration after genration.

When it was built it extended the next door home and belonged to a prosperous farmer. One bay was open to the thatch and the smoke from a fire in the middle of the room that both heated the house and was where all cooking happened. It had an earth floor. Light was the fire and tallow candles, smoky and smelly. If the weather was bad and crops failed, everyone starved. There was a private room for the family, but every one else, servants etc slept beside the fire. There was no plumbing of any sort, no medical service, child mortality was high and there were no painkillers.

Now it has every modern convenience . It is warm throughout from central heating, the smoke from the wood burner goes up the chimney. It is lit by electricity, it is warm, dry and the floor is concrete with a damp proof course and wood flooring and rugs. If crops fail there is food in the shops all the same. We are joined to the main drains and have water at the turn of a tap.

Both my children are alive and healthy and if I am ill my GP will supply effective medications or I can buy them in a shop

Although prosperous farmers stopped living in this house 150 years ago, most such, even today, would be happy to be living in it or houses like it. When I look out of my window and see the prehistoric earth work that runs through the village, thousands of years older than my home. I am looking at something that hasn't changed since the builder of this house built it all those years ago.

I am very grateful that today all but a handful of the population in this country can live in a comfort that was unimaginable over 500 years ago, with medical treatment and education, where, countrywide, people do not starve to death when the weather is poor.

There is. however, one other thing that hasn't changed. When the house was being built the manorial records show that the builder was up before the manor court for blocking the twitchen. In other words, he was in trouble because his skip was blocking the road.

The house and I have much to be thankful for.

I have twice been married to foreigners, and my daughter also married a foreigner. These 3 guys did not come from war-torn countries from which you might assume they would want to escape, (one came from Cyprus and 2 from South Africa) but they still thought that Britain was fantastic, the best place they could possibly live, they did not miss their home countries and have stayed in the UK ever since.

They thought how lucky I had been to grow up in such a wonderful country and I felt proud. They loved the diverse scenery even though we are small islands, they loved the seasons. I feel lucky. I have travelled to many places, but there's no place like home.

I love the UK.

Photo now attached - sorry

I live near to Leicester which is one of the most diverse Cities in England. We have lots of different nationalities and religions living side by side, mostly in harmony. I am really proud of my country for that reason.

Opal how beautiful. I love roses with a passion! I had some pretty miniature varieties in tubs, but they were stolen. It is too tempting for some, I live on a main road.
But back to the spirit of the thread..
My life has panned out better than I thought it would all told.
I enjoy my books, music, radio, I love my step grandchildren. I never knew about how much joy they could bring. I didn’t have any children.
I own my old crumbling leaky damp cottage. But mine. All mine !
I have no idea what abroad is like but I enjoy day trips and weekends away.
There is time to appreciate things now.
So yes, there is a lot to be grateful for.

I keep thinking of things to add but they've all been mentioned up thread! So I'll just add: our sense of humour, renowned world wide (not sure why!), and our language.
I've been told that the French are very envious of the enormous breadth of the English language - we have far more words than them apparently!

quizqueen

Yes, we know all those things you quoted are not ‘free’ as such, but we do not have to pay to see our doctor at the time, or to step inside a classroom, or to go to A&E.

I like the weather, because however bad it is it is not extreme, and it doesn't last forever; it always changes.
I like the tolerance that exists among most people, the kindness of strangers, and our freedom of speech.

Yes agree with other posters we do indeed live on a beautiful island.

As bad as the things are with the NHS and I know there is plenty (after looking after terminally Ill parent's).
I still give thanks that we have wonderful caring doctors and nurses.

I also give thanks that my children and grandchildren were delivered safely in NHS hospitals.

In the last few years, I have had three operations.
My grandson has had a procedure under general anaesthesic and is under the children's hospital.
All this without the added worry of how we would find the funds to pay for it.

There is of course lots of room for improvement.



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Of course, Cherrytree, there will always be room for improvement, no matter where we live, but if the above comments are anything to go by, we have a lot to be thankful for. So pleased that this is a positive thread .

Another thought - music - especially The Beatles.
And country walks.
And beautiful old English oak trees.
And daffodils.

Opal, only a few roses are native, most are introduced hybrids. I think I'd far rather live in NZ, given a free choice. It's like an unspoilt version of England, with milder weather. The only problem is that just one of my four children lives there.

Thank you Opal for this thread. I am sick to death of hearing from all the doom mongers.

I love my WI and all the friendship I have received.
The quickness of the emergency services who came to get our DGS into hospital recently.
My free tablets
That I can as a woman go where I want when I want
There is no restriction on what I wear
I can borrow books from our library

I think everyone's said it for me: thank you. ?

Oh thank you for starting this thread Opal

I am sure I speak for many when I say how heartily sick I am of the incessant dreadful threads putting this country down, and idiotically expecting us to believe that the ghastly , dangerous Corbyn is fit to run the country.

It’s so encouraging to see that you have had a good response already.

Hear hear jennifer I totally agree.

Hear, hear from me too ?

I used to think that New Zealand was the Utopia that we missed due to certain circumstances. Having visited recently, yes it is lovely but has its advantages and disadvantages just like the UK.

New Zealand does, however, have a dual healthcare system and does not appear to suffer from the 'sacred cow' train of thought which in fact beleaguered some advocates for our NHS

We are so lucky to live in the best country in the world in my opinion.

There’s beauty everywhere , whatever part you live in. Mountains, moors beautiful coastal areas and trees. We live in a leafy road which is beautiful all year round.

We have freedom of speech thank goodness. Despite some comments the vast majority of us lead comfortable lives in warm homes with decent food to eat.

We do travel abroad on holiday, and thoroughly enjoy exploring other countries and cultures , but I can actually feel quite emotional when I see the white cliffs of Dover from the plane window!

We are truly privileged to live here and that’s why it’s so horrid to read the doom and gloom merchants chuntering on.

Positives

Rewilding Britain
Our generosity to those in need
Have-a-go heroes
Four seasons and our beautifulmscenery
National parks and AONB
Freedom of speech, within certain correct restrictions, without the fear of being arrested or even gunned down. We can criticise our politicians
Our justice system
Our NHS

Oh, and the RNLI - mostly manned by volunteers
Please support them!

How I love this thread. Thankyou Opal

So fed up with all the doom mongering and slagging off our wonderful country.

Nothing else to add but agree with all the positive posts so far

What I love about Great Britain........

We have the freedom to go on any social media sites and say exactly what we think about our politicians, royal family, news and topical events without fear that there will be a knock at our door and we will "disappear".

We have laws protecting minority groups and we're getting better at enforcing them.

Our health service is under resourced and over used but there are thousands of people who, every single day, recieve life saving treatment.

We are pioneering in medical research and we take in people, from all over the world, who cannot access life enhancing/life saving treatment in their own countries. Safa and Marwa Ullah, from Pakistan, are just one example.

We are free to attend public demonstrations without fear of being arrested.

We are free to practice any religion we wish without persecution.

We have a "right to roam" and explore our beautiful country without fear of a feudal landlord charging us with trespass.

I can't add much more to the lists above of all there is to be grateful for in our country. There seems to be a minority belief on this forum that positive affirmations = political naivety. It is so far from the truth as to be laughable. Thank you for this thread Opal, what a breath of fresh air

The NHS is one of the great things about UK. Let's hope it keeps going.