Steve Crook

The parks and gardens of London, and other big cities, are superb. Wherever you are you can usually find a tree and a patch of grass, or you can go into the major parks like Hyde Park, St. James's Park, Regent's Park, Green Park, Victoria Park etc and totally escape the metropolis even though you're still in the middle of it.

The trees of London are very clever as well. Most of them are the variety called the London Plane tree. It has the advantage that its bark peels off in small pieces regularly so any dirt or pollution goes with it and they can live there quite happily

And most of the people of London are a polite and cheerful lot. Most of them, there are always a few exceptions and it seems to be only those exceptions that get into the newspapers. People talk about the crowded tube trains where nobody speaks or even dares make eye contact. In the rush hour they are very crowded, true. But even then people do still speak to strangers - usually to complain about how crowded it is

And outside the rush hour the tube is a great way to get around London. I often exchange a few words with strangers when I'm travelling on it. You meet all sorts of people on there. A few are a bit scary, but that's people for you. They're probably nicer than they look. And serious problems are very rare.

Oh, and they have padded seats. Have they still got those hard seats on the NYC subway? I often do a journey of over an hour on the tube to get from one side of London to another. Outside the rush hour I can always get a comfy seat and just settle back with a good book

Steve

Steve Crook

A Canterbury Tale location walk, August 2005


Michael Powell Centenary Conference, Bangor, Wales, September 2005


My "baby" brother singing with his band ("Answers on a Postcard", a local amateur pub band) at a charity gig


Tobermory, Mull, on the I Know Where I'm Going! weekend, October 2005


A peahen comes to visit my Mum at her cottage in Wales, Winter 2005


A very small sample of the very many things I find 'Great' about Britain

Steve

Mark O

Nice to see your Mum and Brother Steve........no need to go to Spain or anywhere else to find beautiful Beaches, we've got 'em here in Great Britain!

This is the delightful Town of St. Ives in Cornwall........

Mark

Mark O

Glastonbury Tor in the County of Somerset.......

Mark

Mark O

Excuse the socks!........

Mark

Dame Starry

I'm not sure that we can, Mark - they look pretty inexcusable to me!

YDSL x.

sippog

Two words: "cheerful cynicism". I think the most admirable quality about us is that we see through most of the bullshit we're constantly being fed but we don't let it get us down; we just get on with it (most of the time).The Brits have great bullshit detectors. The "tough little men with rotten teeth" that won the last two world wars would never have fallen for all that "master race" crap.

I once said that in an interview for a job when asked "what were the qualities you would try to encourage in your team?" I didn't get the job, needless to say, but I still believe it's true. All that American corporate twaddle about company esprit that is force fed to employees in businesses these days sits very uneasily with the British psyche.

Dame Starry

PLUS +



It looks like lunch is shaping up nicely, who's bringing the vegetables?

YDSL x.

dremble wedge

I think Mark's socks - and having no compunction about wearing them - should be added to the list of what's great about Britain...

Mark O

Me!........nothing more British than a good ole Cabbage

(I'll make sure I change my socks first, though!)

Mark

Steve Crook

Oh there are things that are a lot tastier than peahens when I'm at my Mum's in Wales. Like the herd of Welsh Blacks that live just down the road at Llanachaeron mansion.


Steve

Steve Crook

Indeed, we always used to spend our holidays in Pembrokeshire where Grandad and Uncle Jim were farmers. There are some lovely beaches there.

Many of them, like Broad Haven

can't be reached by car and coaches can't get within miles of them, so they are still totally unspoilt

Steve

Dame Starry

I quite like Tenby:



and Carew Castle:



oh - and I'd like the rump off of this one, please Steve - preferably by 4 o'clock for tonight's dinner:



Mmmmmmm!

YDSL x.

Steve Crook

So do I. There are some great places on the Pembrokeshire & Cardigan coast.
There's one lovely little place called Mwnt. It's on the southern bit of the Cardiganshire coast, just up the road from Pembrokeshire so it has the same geology.


The regular Cardiganshire coast road is quite a way inland at that point and the only road to it has what looks like a crease in the map. A right angled left turn very closely followed by a right angled right turn, all on a narrow, single track road. Coaches don't stand a chance of getting there. It also has steep steps leading to the beach itself so it's not even suitable for those with pushchairs - so there are no screaming kids either

They are super tasty. But we usually hang the meat for a few weeks to let it mature properly. That's much better than eating it while it's still warm

Steve

Dame Starry

I had a piece of meat for a few weeks once and all I got was maggots & bluebottles!

Chicken pasta then.....again.........

YDSL x.