England Would Not Be England Without

the Queen

allotments

picnics

bell-ringers

cucumber sandwiches (no crusts)

daisies in the lawn

Miss Marple

Morris dancers

queuing

Jane Austen

the National Trust

Thomas Rowlandson

cream teas

grass tennis courts

scouting

wet bank holidays

Hogarth

the boat race

the Isle of Wight

hunting

Ascot

roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

well dressing

Horatio, Lord Nelson

Sloane Rangers

bluebell woods

P.G. Woodhouse

agricultural shows

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

inglenooks

knotted handkerchiefs

greenhouses

morning dress

Elgar

village greens

the Routemaster bus

Fortnum and Mason

the Lake District

J.M.W. Turner

pipers and slippers

meadows with buttercups

Charles Dickens

Marks and Spencers

antimacassars

Cornish pasties

the Proms

Number 10

Ivor Novello

bowler hats

Fisherman’s Friends lozenges

Glyndebourne

the Daily Telegraph

Cowes Week

Edward Seago

the Derby

beehives

the Season

Melton Mowbray Pork Pies

Winston Churchill

twenty-one-gun salutes

the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

seagulls

Crown Green Bowling

the Burlington Arcade

Chatsworth

‘The Lark Ascending’

fish and chips and mushy peas

Hampton Court

Thomas Gainsborough

glorious Goodwood

the Shipping Forecast

Osborne House

Blackpool rock

Beefeaters

the Cotswolds

the Grand National

bantams

steam railways

the Garter Service

Agatha Christie

donkey rides

Trooping the Colour

policemen in shirtsleeves

the Lord’s Test Match

George Stubbs

Morris Minors

Chewton Glen

Radox

Twickenham

Badminton Horse Trials

Smythson of Bond Street

Samuel Pepys

polo

Rev. Gilbert White

real ale

the National Gardens scheme

Oxbridge

John Clare

Hatchards

the Beatles

meat pies

cheese and pickle sandwiches

cricket matches

the Sunday papers

duck ponds

The Mousetrap

Alan Bennett

red pillar boxes

sheds

churchyards

egg sandwiches

Oliver Cromwell

cornfields with poppies

Eton mess

Eton

the Prince of Wales

amateur dramatics

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk

black cabs

beefeaters

Gardner’s Question Time

cheese-rolling

A.J. Munnings

Wimbledon

Chelsea Flower Show

pubs

bacon sandwiches

public libraries

Sunday walks

flat caps

the WI

ploughman’s lunches

punting

Savile Row

Bath

a bath

John Constable

Stonehenge

weird village names like Barnoldswick and Piddletrenthide

The Beano

the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

the Globe Theatre

Henley Royal Regatta

Coronation Street

Betty’s Cafe

Guy Fawkes Night

maypoles

animal rescue centres

church choirs

gymkhanas

Ilkley Moor

village fetes

leaves on the line

Oliver Cromwell

Gilbert and Sullivan

and

the weather.

– Alan Titchmarsh, England, Our England