How To Be British

There are some spot on observations, and a host of cliches and stereotypes in the BBC 12 Part Guide To The UK.


"The English are British and lots of people think the British are English but that annoys the Scottish and Welsh because although some think they're British and some think they aren't and some think they are but don't want to be, they all agree that they definitely are not English. The Irish mostly think they are Irish, apart from the ones who are Northern Irish. Some say that makes them British and Irish. But others disagree and say they should just be Irish and then some say they aren't British either but part of the United Kingdom. People from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland can all play cricket for England because they're British as can those from Ireland even though they aren't British. So can South Africans. The English play football for England unless they aren't that good when they might try to play for Ireland. Those from the Isle of Wight are English, from Anglesey are Welsh and the Orkneys are Scottish, but although that means they aren't from the island of Great Britain they're still British. The Channel Islanders depend on the crown which is what the Queen wears but they aren't in the UK and those from the Isle of Man are the same, apart from their cats."



"He never gets his round in." There is no more damning assessment of one's character to be heard in the British Isles.

Can Turkish Fireman Get Water On A Burning Building

"Local television footage captured the building engulfed by flames, and later, firefighters dousing the charred building"

From BBC Istanbul

It's windy lads, use more pressure. Here the helicopter, can he hit the enormous 42 story building ? Ha ha, nope.

"I have had the feeling of being crushed under a rock till I could only see one crack of light - and that was the love of God: the absolute certainty, when everything else had been taken from me, that God loved me." - Gerald Priestland, author and broadcaster, speaking about his faith and suffering a stroke, in his final R4 broadcast.

Do Our Colleges Fail Their Students ?

Image by RobW_ via Flickr"There are more college students studying performing arts than there are people employed in the entertainment industry as a whole, this includes ticket sellers, cinema cashiers and lap dancers"

"There are ten times more people studying hairdressing than there are jobs in the hairdressing industry."

Educating Cinderella, BBC Radio 4

63,000 Paintings You Can See For Free

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe BBC 'Your Paintings' project has now digitised 63,000 paintings, from a target of 200,000 works of art, that are not normally accessible to the public because they are either on display in non-public areas such as government buildings, or are in storage in museums where there is not enough wall space to display them.

Click the link and have a poke around.