An A-Z of Great Britain

For the Blogging A-Z Challenge 2014, my theme was an A-Z of Great Britain. Throughout April I blogged about British music, literature, TV, film, food, wildlife and culture. Here is the master list of posts:

W is for Wildlife

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'W' I have chosen Wildlife.

There aren't many species of animal that are unique to the UK because of frequent glaciations and former land bridges connecting us to continental Europe. A few endemic species are the Pied Wagtail, Irish Hare and Scottish Wildcat. We also don't have many mammals here compared to continental Europe due to the short period of time between the last ice age and the flooding of the land bridge between Great Britain and the rest of Europe, so only those species which crossed before the creation of the English channel (or those introduced by humans) exist in Great Britain.

V is for Voting

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'V' I have chosen Voting. I rarely delve into the realm of politics, but I've decided to give it a go.

There are two main types of voting systems in the UK: First Past the Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR). This BBC Bitesize article explains the differences quite well.

Anyone in the UK over the age of 18 can register to vote in UK elections and referendum. You can vote in person at a polling station, by post or by proxy. Find out more about how to register and vote here.

There is a lot of cynicism surrounding elections in the UK. Many people think that the voting system is unfair or fixed, or that all the political parties are so corrupt that voting is a waste of time. My Mum always told me I should never waste my vote because of what the Suffragettes went through to earn it for me, so I try to research as best I can and pick the best of a bad lot! At least if you've voted you can legitimately complain about who gets in.

Below is a very basic guide to the main political parties you can vote for in the UK:

U is for Union Jack

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'U' I have chosen Union Jack.

This is the UK's national flag. It is based on the flag of Great Britain, which was created in the early 1600s when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones. After the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, the Union Jack was designed to represent all three countries.

T is for Tea!

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'T' I have chosen Tea! There are over 3000 types of tea in the world and all of them come from the same plant-camellia sinensis.

Britain is renowned for it's love of tea, and I can't really argue with that since I love the stuff. My favourite cuppa is a Builder's Brew-a strong tea with a little milk and two sugars. It has virtually no health benefits when taken like this, but I adore the taste. I normally drink 2-4 cups a day, depending on the weather. I automatically put the kettle on in the morning and whenever I get home-it's a reassuring daily ritual.

S is for Sherlock Holmes

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'S' I have chosen Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes is famous for his fantastic logical reasoning and methods of "deduction", forensic science skills and the ability to adopt amazing disguises.

R is for Robin Hood

We're now into the fourth week of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'R' I have chosen Robin Hood. Like King Arthur, Robin Hood is a legendary British hero who became popular during medieval times. He is portrayed as a noble outlaw known for 'stealing from the rich to give to the poor', along with his band of 'Merry Men'. According to the stories, he was a skilled archer and swordsman and a supporter of King Richard the Lionheart. He is said to have lived in Sherwood Forrest, Nottinghamshire, using a large oak tree as a hideout.

Q is for the Queen

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'Q' I have chosen the Queen. Like Marmite, she seems to be a figure either adored or despised by the rest of the world. Most British people have more neutral feelings towards her. We celebrate the monarchy on occasions like royal weddings and jubilees as it's a good excuse to have a party and we secretly enjoy all the pomp and ceremony. We also appreciate the tourism they bring to the country and the younger members of the royal family have become celebrities, but there's a general consensus that they 'don't really do a lot'.

P is for Phone Booths and Post Boxes

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'P' I have chosen Phone Booths and Post Boxes.

A classic British telephone box near St. Paul's Cathedral
[Creative Commons image. Source.]

These have both become iconic British symbols. The red telephone box was introduced in 1924 as the result of a design competition and has always been a familiar sight on UK streets, although there are not so many of them now as there used to be. They were coloured red to make them noticeable, and from 1926 they were adorned with a crown to represent the British government.

Some telephone boxes that are no longer used have been converted for other uses, such as an art gallery called The Gallery on the Green and a library, Little Eaton Book Exchange. The Community HeartBeat Trust also has a project to turn telephone boxes into mini medical centres containing defibrillators! I think these are fantastic ideas.

O is for Oak Tree

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'O' I have chosen Oak Tree. 
The Oak tree is one of England's national emblems, as it is the most common woodland tree in England. The symbol has appeared on the back of the pound coin in 1987 and 1992 and oak leaves or acorns are the emblem of the National Trust and The Woodland Trust. The oak tree is also the symbol of the UK Conservative Party. Before Christianity spread to Britain, there were sacred oak groves where Celtic druids met to hold rituals. To the druids, the oak represented doorways to other realms and was said to provide protection and power for their magick.

N is for NHS

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'N' I have chosen the NHS. This stands for National Health Service, and refers to the publicly funded healthcare system in the UK. Basically British citizens contribute taxes and National Insurance towards these services so that we effectively get most of our healthcare for free. We can visit our GP and NHS Dentists for free, and only have to pay for our prescriptions (a standard fee of £8.05 per item) and certain treatments. There is generally no charge for accident and emergency services, hospital treatments and medical operations. The exceptions are road traffic accidents, which are usually paid for out of car insurance and certain operations such as cosmetic surgery (although this can be done on the NHS if it will significantly improve a person's quality of life).


 Foreign nationals also receive free treatment if they have been living in the UK legally for 12 months, have recently arrived to take up permanent residence, are claiming asylum or have other legal resident status. European citizens are also entitled to free treatment if they have a European Health Insurance Card.

M is for Marmite

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'M' I have chosen Marmite. Marmite is a famous British spread made from yeast extract, invented in the 19th century by a German scientist called Justus von Liebig. The Marmite brand was established in 1902 in Burton-Upon-Trent and has since become an iconic British product. We even use the term 'Marmite effect' to describe things that generate strong opposing feelings.

L is for London

We're now into the third week of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'L' I've gone with the obvious choice- London. I've decided to put together a brief guide of some places to visit if you're planning a trip down to London. So here goes:

K is for King Arthur

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'K' I have chosen King Arthur. According to medieval histories, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, Arthur led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The most well-known version of the story is as follows:

J is for James Bond

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'J' I have chosen James Bond. The James Bond films are based on twelve books by the British author Ian Fleming- who also wrote Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang! He based the character of James Bond on several secret agents and commando types that he met during World War II.

The 23 Bond films made by Eon are the longest continually running film series to date, as well as the second highest grossing film series-only beaten by Harry Potter. The first film was Dr. No starring Sean Connery in 1962. Since then, like Doctor Who, James Bond has been played by numerous other actors: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. My favourite is Sean Connery, because he's just awesome.

I is for Inventions

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'I' I have chosen Inventions, so I'm going to talk about some of the things that were believed to  have been invented in Britain. There are too many inventions to write a comprehensive list, for that see Wikipedia.

H is for Humour

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'H' I have chosen Humour. Much like our standards of etiquette, British humour can be hard for 'non-natives' to grasp. There's no 'magic formula' for what British people find funny-we're all different and amused by anything and everything. But generally speaking, British humour tends to focus on silly slapstick, witty wordplay and steely sarcasm.

G is for Glossary

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'G', I've decided to write a Glossary of some popular British words and phrases (an A-Z within an A-Z! So meta!) This list is not comprehensive but includes the words I think most relevant. If you notice any mistakes please feel free to tell me in the comments so I can correct them. I apologise in advance for the length of this post!

F is for Fish and Chips

We're already onto the second week of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'F' I have chosen one of my favourite British delicacies- Fish and Chips. Well, actually I'm vegetarian so I don't have the fish these days, but still. It's a classic.

Deep-fried fish was introduced to Britain by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain during the 16th century. It became a stock meal for the working classes during the 19th century, following the development of trawl fishing in the North Sea and railways connecting the ports to major cities, which meant fresh fish could be easily transported. The first fish and chip shop was opened in 1860.

E is for Etiquette

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge! The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'E' I have chosen to write about Etiquette. British standards of etiquette are often satirised by the rest of the world. We have a reputation for being overly polite and modest-but do we really live up to this stereotype? To a certain extent, yes, though not to the extreme usually expected! Not everyone follows the 'rules' of etiquette and older people often bemoan the manners of the younger generation. As our society becomes more multi-cultural, we are also beginning to adapt to include customs from other countries.