St George's Day: England and Patriotism

“By patriotism I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.” George Orwell.

Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, decent beer, mowing the lawn, crosswords, a cup of tea, friendly robins, talking about the weather, cooked breakfasts, saying sorry if someone knocks into one. Just a few of the millions of things that I love about England that make me English.

And our lawn. Needs a bit of scarifying and aerating in parts, but I learned to ride a bicycle on it, had games of garden cricket and tennis on it, played with the dogs on it. There's undoubtedly better and bigger stretches of grass elsewhere in the world but it's good enough. Just please don't tell us what we may or must do with it, thank you very much. Find your own bit.