Happy St. Georges Day...?

Happy St. Georges day! ….when did someone last/ever say that to you??

So long cooped by the darker sides of English culture. Add to that the long history of ‘rule Britannia’ and England as the seat of a huge empire, the idea of celebrating England still feels awkward and riddled with nationalistic pot holes!

In response, broadly two options…

1. Reject/ignore the day and leave it to nationalists and the far right.

2. Begin to embrace and reclaim today as a time to re-affirm how creative, diverse and welcoming this nation actually can be! Celebrate the England we know. The real England - not a worn out fantasy of what used to be, and not ignoring the bad stuff… but celebrating the aspects of England that we love!

So far it seems to have been mostly option 1…Time for a change?

Small beginnings - What do I love?…. Firstly (and kind of inevitably) images of nature and woodland come to mind (who doesn’t love a robin in a scruffy hedgerow??). Then the wealth of music and culture here! And then the oddness…the self deprecation, the sense of humour and tendency toward to the absurd! …There’s a few for starters!

How about you?....