Media types: Image

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather” John Ruskin

John Ruskin was one of the most prominent figures throughout the Victorian era  – an eminent art critic, watercolourist, writer, philanthropist and prominent social thinker.

As we all know the British weather has a tendency to be unpredictable so we like to take this positive attitude. Our climate is certainly a fundamental part of the British lifestyle with it being one of our favourite things to talk about.

We’re no sure if our weather is something to be proud of, but it’s certainly something that makes us undeniably British!

 

Image Credit: HÃ¥kan Dahlström

The National Lottery has been most firmly established in Britain since 1994, when then Prime Minister John Major approved its national status.

All prize money won is paid to the lucky winner as a lump sum, and is tax free. For every pound spent on a lottery ticket, 50p goes toward the prize fund, 28p is donated to charities and good causes, 12p to the UK Government and 5p to ticket issuers as commission.

To play and take part in a lottery draw or scratch card, players must be 16 years or over. To date, The National Lottery have created over 2,800 millionaires in Britain.

 

Image Credit: wwarby

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give” Sir Winston Churchill

 

Sir Winston Churchill, who served twice as Prime Minister between 1940-1945 and 1951-1955, was widely considered to be one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century after leading Britain through the 2^nd World War.

Churchill was passionate about economic social justice, and firmly assisted in passing the People’s Budget; a budget that introduced new taxes for the wealthy, to allow for the development of new social welfare programmes.

As well as serving as Prime Minister, Churchill was an officer in the British Army, an artist, historian and writer. Incidentally, he is the only Prime Minister to have ever won the Nobel Prize for literature.

Sir Winston Churchill, your legacy is definitely a reason for us to be proud to be British.

 

Image Credit: OliBac

Joke: A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. “But why?” they asked, as they moved off. “Because,” he said “I can’t stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.”

 

Webster’s Dictionary defines the pun as; “A play on words which have the same sound but different meanings; an expression in which two different applications of a word present an odd or ludicrous idea; a kind of quibble or equivocation.”

In Britain in the 18th Century, it was common practice for people to converse replacing longer words with single syllable words. They coined the word ‘pundigrino’ to describe this play on words. It is thought that this is where we now get the word ‘pun’.

In terms of British humour, some would say there’s nothing better than a satisfyingly witty pun delivered with gusto. Often received with much eye-rolling and groaning, the pun is the height of bad taste ‘Dad jokes’.

 

We thought we’d demonstrate this with our chess joke. How punny!

 

Image Credit: zoetnet

First class Olympian Mary Rand is most highly esteemed for being the first British female to win a gold medal in a track and field event.

She won her medal by breaking the world record for long jump at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Since then, Mary Rand has proved an inspiration for British athletes, in particular female athletes, and for Britain as a country. Another reason to be proud to be British.

Image Credit: haemengine

Westminster Abbey, or to use its full name; The Collegiate Church of St. Peter Westminster, has stood proud in London since 960AD and is a historic landmark of Britain. It boasts stunning architecture including stained glass windows, vermillion and gold wall arcades and a carved fan vaulted roof with hanging pendants. Much of the building has stayed the same since it was first erected and this adds to its rich British history.

The Abbey is the burial place of many royals, and influential British people including; Jane Austen, Charles Darwin and Rudyard Kipling.

Steeped in over 1000 years of history, Westminster Abbey has been the host of many royal events including Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s wedding in April last year. It has consistently been Great Britain’s coronation church since William the Conqueror in 1066. This year we celebrated the crowning of our very own Elizabeth II 60 years ago with her Diamond Jubilee. Definitely a reason to be patriotic and proud to be British.

Image Credit: OwenXu