Don't break Granny's windows!



Photo by Anibus3
West Façade of Buckingham Palace

Prince William hosted a football match in the backyard of his grandmother’s house, Buckingham Palace yesterday. The Queen is a patron of the Football association, but is still on holiday at Balmoral in Scotland. The game was arranged by the prince to honor the work of thousand of volunteers who give up their time. Prince William is President of the Football Association and plays plays left back in park games with friends. He described football as a "personal passion", adding: "Football, in particular being a Villa supporter, has brought me a great deal of pleasure over the years. A chance to escape with friends and family and enjoy its virtues – teamwork, competition, endeavour and, more occasionally on my part, skill."

The Civil Service Football club was chosen because it is the oldest football club in the world and Polytechnic Football club which was founded in 1875, is an obvious choice of opposition as both clubs are based in Chiswick, west London. The first ever goal on the Palace lawn was made by Polytechnic’s Bojan Jelovac who is a male model and part time tennis coach. His team went on to beat Civil Service FC 2-1 in the amateur League match.

Before the game started Prince William said, "I cannot tell you how excited I am that later today we will be playing football on my grandmother’s lawn. One warning, though: if anyone breaks a window, you can answer to her."

Mixing sport with royalty was always bound to be surreal, but the sight of Palace footmen in tailcoats coming onto the pitch carrying orange slices, Mars bars, water and orange juice on silver trays was unreal. Prince William told the teams that "The one small silver lining to Her Majesty not being present today is that there shouldn’t be any corgis running on to the pitch!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0LH9jMM8pk

Cadbury Chocolate

John Cadbury

 
The British love their sweets, and the average adult consumes 30kg of sugar a year. I was very surprised when I bought a Cadbury Chocolate while in London at how much better it was than the American version. Turns out that Hershey owns a license to manufacture Cadbury in the U.S. Cadbury allows some leeway to license owners to change parts of the formula.

John Cadbury was a small candy shop owner in Birmingham, England when he
developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate - creating the modern chocolate bar. Before this, chocolate was a treat that people could only drink. Because John was a Quaker, he believed that alcohol was bad for society and tea, coffee, cocoa and drinking chocolate were healthy, delicious alternatives. In 1831 the Cadbury manufacturing business started to produce chocolate on a commercial scale from a warehouse on Crooked Lane.

His brother David Boddy joined the business in 1848 and they rented a large factory on Bridge Street in Birmingham. The district around the factory has been ‘dry’ for over 100 years. No alcohol is sold in pubs, bars or shops. In March 2007, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco attempted to sell alcohol in its local store and the town won the court battle to prevent it.

Long live the English Eccentric!



John Singer Sargent painting of the Sitwell Family;
From left: Edith Sitwell (1887-1964), Sir George Sitwell, Lady Ida, Sacheverell Sitwell
(1897-1988), and Osbert Sitwell (1892-1969) Date circa 1900


I most confess I have a very large soft spot for eccentrics! Britain seems to cultivate exceptional eccentrics and one of the outstanding examples is Sir George Reresby Sitwell (1862 - 1943). He seemed to come from a family of eccentrics; his father’s name was Sitwell Sitwell. When George was four he greeted people on his train by stating, "I am Sir George Sitwell, baronet. I am four years old and the youngest baronet in England." Early on Sir George came to the conclusion "that it is always a mistake to have friends." Three days after he married Ida Emily Augusta Denison, the bride rushed back to her mother. IN 1880 he attended a seance with the celebrated medium, Mrs. Florence Cook. When Sir George noticed corset stays peaking out from the ethereal veil of the spirit of someone called Marie, he decided to grab her and pin her down until the lights were turned on. The other guests were quite astonished to find Florence clad in only her underwear!

Sir George was very into the Medieval times and kept his home in the style of the 14^th century. Which is all well and fine, but then he tried to pay Eton school fees for his son Sacheverell with produce from his farm and gave the children pocket money calculated from 14^th century currency. Sir George was also an imaginative inventor who came up with a small pistol for shooting wasps and a musical toothbrush. Sir George felt one of his inventions was so noteworthy; he visited Sir Gordon Selfridge himself to promote it. He had invented the "Sitwell Egg" which was completely egg free. It was shaped like and egg with a ‘yolk’ of smoked meat, a ‘white’ of rice and a shell made of synthetic lime. Sir Gordon did not take a fancy to Sir George’s egg and it was never stocked.

Sir George was a writer of absolutely no note, but extremely prolific. He filled seven rooms of his estate, Renishaw Hall with drafts and diaries. Some of his titles include, Wool-Gathering in Medieval Times and Since, Lepers’ Squints, Domestic Manners in Sheffield in the Year 1250, Acorns as an Article of Medieval Diet, The History of the Fork, The History of the Cold and The Errors of Modern Parents. A plaque hung in the entryway of Renishaw Hall instructing visitors "I must ask anyone entering the house never to contradict me in any way, as it interferes with the functioning of the gastric juices and prevents my sleeping at night."

 Not suprisingly Sir George was a bit of a hypochondriac and carried a vast array of medicines wherever he traveled. He systematically mislabeled each bottle to prevent other people from taking them. He enjoyed gardening and planning gardens and was apparently very good at it. He should have been as he would raise and entire lawn by three feet one year, and lower it the next. He would relocate full grown oak trees and move artificial lakes, decide it still wasn’t right and move it again. Perhaps my favorite story is of him attempting to decorate cows by stenciling them with the Chinese Willow pattern! I’m certain that living with Sir George was not an enviable task, but life must never have been boring! Long live the English eccentrics!

 

Keep Calm and Carry On



 British WWII propaganda posters

For the last few years we have been deluged with "KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" merchandise. We have also been seen an incredible amount of variations of the slogan. I have to admit I liked it. I thought it was a great way to remember that our times and circumstances are not nearly as dire as we think they are. Then I found out that this now ubiquitous poster was never actually used!

It was designed by an anonymous civil servant working at the British Ministry of Information in 1939, several months before World War II started. The British government predicted massive air attacks, which would destroy public morale. The poster was distributed in limited numbers, even though over 2,500,000 copies were printed. The campaign was considered a resounding failure and the majority of copies were destroyed.

Fast forward to the year 2000 when two book store owners, Stuart and Mary Manley of Barter Books Ltd. in Alnwick, Nothumberland were looking through a box of books they bought at an auction. Stuart discovered one of the original "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters. They liked it so much they had it framed and hung it up by their cash register. Turns out, everyone else liked it too. They produced and sold copies for their customers and other companies picked up on this and it is now this incredible phenomenon. Here is a link to the Barter Books website, which has a good, short video about the sign. http://www.barterbooks.co.uk/

A rose by any other name. . .



Photo by Andre Peltier
Baby Yawning

 I was looking over popular British baby names and found that many of the most popular baby names in Britain are popular in the U.S. too. In fact, out of the top 25 girls names, nine are the in both top 25 lists and seven are in the top boy’s list. I was disheartened not only by how similar they were, but how incredibly boring. Whatever happened to great British names? 




Most Popular American vs. British Baby names 2012
Girls 

         American       British

1. Sophia         Amelia
2. Emma         Olivia
3. Isabella       Jessica
4. Olivia          Emily
5. Ava             Lily
6. Emily           Ava
7. Abigal         Mia
8. Mia             Isla
9. Madison      Sophie
10. Elizabeth     Isabella
11. Chloe          Evie
12. Ella             Ruby
13. Avery          Poppy
14. Addison       Grace
15. Aubrey        Sophia
16. Lily              Chloe
17. Natalie        Isabelle
18. Sofia           Ella
19. Charlotte     Freya
20. Zoey           Charlotte
21. Grace         Scarlett
22. Hannah      Daisy
23. Amelia        Lola
24. Harper        Eva
25. Lillian          Holly

          American       British

1. Jacob           Harry
2. Mason         Oliver
3. Ethan          Jack
4. Noah           Charlie
5. William       Jacob
6. Liam          Thomas
7. Jayden       Alfie
8. Michael      Riley
9. Alexander   William
10. Aiden          James
11. Daniel        Joshua
12. Matthew     George
13. Elijah          Ethan
14. James        Noah
15. Anthony     Samuel
16. Benjamin    Daniel
17. Joshua       Oscar
18. Andrew       Max
19. David         Muhammad
20. Joseph      Leo
21. Logan       Tyler
22. Jackson    Joseph
23. Christopher    Archie
24. Gabriel          Henry
25. Samuel        Lucas

I was disheartened not only by how similar they were, but how incredibly boring. Whatever happened to great British names? I understand that every American parent wants their little girl to grow up to be a cheerleader, but not the Brits too!! I am including some wonderful, British names to keep in mind. 

Cool: Derek, Nigel, Graham, Giles, Dermot, Clive, Ewan, Alasdair, Rex, Buzz, Raeven, Kade, Jarrett, Jamison, Greer, Wren,

Quirky: Rosamund, Fionnula, Bryonie, Rupert, Rufus, Algernon, Hugo, Mungo, Atticus, Wilfred, Percy, Quentin, Rowena, Purity, Queenie, Mercia, Maridel, Jetta, Idalis, Gilda, Evelyn, Blodwyn, Baron, Barton, Beacher, Beasley, Windy

Impossibly, wonderfully British! Cyril, Prunella, Cordelia, Gwenda, Royston, Camilla, Cedric, Prentis, Royston, Ridgewell, Penny, Rowan, Gemma, Clementine, Daphnie,Hermine, Primrose, Poppy, Tabby, Lilibeth, Edwin, Binney, Birdie, Afton, Agate, Bayard, Baxter, Sterling, Sulwen

Just plain Unfortunate: Horace, Fanny, Reginald, Beatrice, Eugenie, Octavius, Winifred, Earlene, Malvina, Eartha

How does British Healthcare work?



The Royal Free Hospital, Hamstead, London

With the healthcare debate raging on in America, I thought it would be interesting to see how healthcare is handled in the U.K. The National Health Service known as the NHS was formed in 1948 at the end of World War II to replace a higgledy piggledy (hodgepodge) systems of volunteer hospitals which required government funding. Upon birth in the U.K. each citizen is registered with NHS number. Otherwise you would register with a local GP. You would then be given a 10-digit NHS number such as 444-555-6666, which will entitle you to all NHS services. If you aren’t born into the system, having "permanent resident status" will make you eligible. If you are a citizen of the European Union (EU) and hold a valid European Health Insurance card or are from another country which the UK has reciprocal arrangements concerning health care can get emergency treatment without charge. The US does not have this agreement. The NHS is funded solely by the British Taxpayer.

The NHS is also responsible for Dentistry and Eyecare. Charges for a dental examination are £18 ($29.21) for an examination; £49 ($79.52) for a filling or extraction; and £214m(347.33) for more complex procedures such as crowns, dentures or bridges. The current cost of a NHS sight test is £20.90($33.92) The maximum cost of receiving any drug from the NHS is £7.40 ($12.01). The tax to fund the NHS is taken out of your income tax.

Tax Breakdown on a £25,500 Salary

• £2,080 Pensions and Benefits (including £212 on Housing Befit and £296 on Incapacity Benefits)
• £1,094 on NHS
• £824 on Education
• £339 on Defense
• £160 on Police
• £44 on Prisons
• £92 on Roads
• £71 on Railways

A perk some employers offer is private health insurance. A minority of patients do opt out of the NHS system. They can choose their specialists and avoid waiting lists for non-emergency procedures. A NHS patient must first see their GP for a referral to any specialist. The average wait for a non-emergency treatment requiring hospitalization is eight weeks and four weeks for outpatient treatments. Diagnostic tests are a two-week wait. NHS Patients do have a choice of hospital, but cannot always choose their specialist.

Almost all hospital doctors and nurses are employed by the NHS and work in NHS run hospitals. Most General Practitioners, dentists, optometrists are self-employed and contract their services to the NHS. They own and operate their own surgeries (offices) and clinics and employ their own staff. The NHS pays 60% of its budget to pay staff, 20% goes for drugs and supplies. Another 20% pay for buildings, equipment and training. Administration costs are low due to the lack of billing required. The NHS also handles the training of student doctors and has approximately 8000 students a year, which are attached to a NHS University Hospital.  After completing medical school the doctors must complete a two-year foundation training, usually at a NHS hospital. 

Let's sit in the Conservatory

Photo by Mike Peel
Conservatory at the Horniman Museum

It may not come as a big shock that Great Britain does not have an overabundance of sunny days, but the people of Britain make the most of what they have. To that end, the English Conservatory (English pronunciation:  Con servtry) became wildly popular to the upwardly mobile in the 1970’s. A conservatory is defined as having a glass roof with at least three walls of windows. While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are adding a 16ft by 16ft conservatory to the kitchen of their new country home, Anmer Hall. For those who don’t have country estates gifted to them from their "gran," they can buy do it yourself kits for as low as £995. The 19^th century was the height of conservatory building in England and reached it’s peak with the Crystal Palace, which housed the 1851 Exhibition in London.

Their are many magnificent public conservatories that are built of iron and glass scattered all over Great Britain. Humbler versions can be found attached to houses all over the sun challenged, garden loving nation. As a side note, the Crystal Palace had the first major installation of public toilets, which were then called Retiring Rooms. During the exhibition, visitors paid one penny to use them. This is the origination of the euphemism, "spending a penny."