Being British

Whilst I was in France I began to question what it is to be British. I am fiercely proud to be Brisith (I say British rather than English as my Father is Scots/Irish and my Mother is Welsh) but still class myself as from this 'Sceptred Isle'. I am also hugely proud of having Hull as my hometown, and being classed as a 'Yorkshireman!'. However when it comes to community and national pride, we seem to take a very British stiff upper lip, must not make a fuss attitude, which I really think is a shame. We are, and have been since the Romans' first conquered us, a hugely multicultural society but we do not seem to be able to stand up and say "Here we are, we are British!"



This is at complete odds to the reaction that you see in France, who are equally diverse and multicultural, although community and national pride is something that they readily display. A simple example was a French family I met, who although they lived in Canada their 7 year old daughter considered France her Mother Country, and who knew more French history, traditions and heritage than I did about England. Did that mean that they had a longer history, or more heritage, that we do......I didn't think so, but this question kept coming back to me as I saw more and more of their pride in the country and community.

This culminated when I went to a re-enactment of the last battle of the Hundred Years War, which led to the expulsion of the British from Aquitainne. It took place outside a small town called Castillion (now Castillion de Battaile!) about 30 kilometres from Bordeaux. Having been to a couple of re-enactments I was not sure what to expect (they can be somewhat of a mixed bag usually......and certainly my expectations were not enhanced to see on arrival a dozen frenchwomen dressed as what I can only describe as warrior princesses, with leather and fur......a VERY VERY SCARY SIGHT!) Fortunately the event itself did not conform to my initial impressions.

It did not start until 10:30pm and was set in a valley beneath an old chateau, with a large grandstand. I did wonder whether it would just be a bunch of men hitting each other with swords, more for their enjoyment than anything else, but this could not have been further from the truth. The fighting itself only consisted of a small proportion of the three hour spectacle. It consisted of about 700 local people who portrayed the everyday life of life in the mid-15th Century, from Lords out hunting, to the lowliest ox drivers and washer women. I think that they probably emptied the majority of the town, who all took great pleasure in displaying their town's and country's history 5 weekends throughout July and August.

It was an amazing experience to be sitting surrounded by about 4,000 french men, women and children all experiencing and enjoying their history in fantastic surroundings (it also smacked somewhat of watching 'Braveheart' in a Scottish cinema hearing the cheers as the British were womped!) As we left the cast formed a channel through which the entire audience walked to be greated and thanked. There was such a feeling of community that I had to question whether such a thing could ever take place in the UK? I have no doubt that we have equally as many key turning points in our history of which we can be proud but I cannot see that we would ever have the community or national spirit to put on such a spectacle.

I don't for a minute support or even condone the views of the more radical political groups who do not seem to be able to grasp that to be 'British' is to have such a mix of cultures and histories. From Celts, to Romans, Angles, Saxons, Vikings, Normans and so on, but I do think it is a shame that we do not seem to be able to put aside our Georgian veneer and say "yes were British, this is who we are, where we have come from, what we have done, acheived and this is where we are now!"

Recently there has been a movement to get to know your neighbours, to hold street parties, and I think that is a great idea, that we can grow stronger as communities, towns, and indeed a nation!