Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Got a story to tell for the magazine? Get in touch with the editor!

media

Author Topic: Being English - what does it mean to you?  (Read 1588 times)

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 78374
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Being English - what does it mean to you?
« on: January 27, 2025, 11:30:46 PM »

I consider myself English, having been born in deepest Norfolk.  My family go back to the 1700s on both sides, from Norfolk.

I don't think that the English have a culture - no music, no specific dances; various counties have traditions, i.e. Well Dressing in Derbyshire, the Floral Dance in Cornwall .......... the Bear Dance in Whittlesey, Cambridge/Oxford boat race.  But I don't feel English in the way that I believe the Irish, Welsh and Scottish feel ..........  we did dance the Polka in Music, Movement and Mime  ;D.  Even St George isn't celebrated. 

This comes from watching a programme where the commentator mentioned having a culture of dance, music, singing within their communities. 
Logged

jaypo

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2917
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2025, 10:22:48 AM »

Aww come on now clkd,you've got Morris dancing  ;D
Maybe the Celts have more traditions because they are the minority and more sparsely populated,so feel the need to keep things going,as it were.
I always considered myself Scottish through and through,until I moved to the south of England,where the people were so welcoming and friendly towards me,now,back in Scotland, consider myself British more than anything
« Last Edit: January 28, 2025, 12:58:26 PM by jaypo »
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 78374
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2025, 11:15:11 AM »

Morris dancing was in my thoughts as I dropped off to sleep.  Ashley Hutchins [80 last week] did a lot of work at Cecil Sharpe House researching old dances/tunes.  Music of course evolves.

Logged

getting_old

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 831
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2025, 05:52:27 PM »

Why oh why did you have to mention the floral dance?? I now have that dreadful song whirling round my brain  ;) :bouncing:

I think of myself as British so culturally think of the royal family, national anthem, fish & chips & musy peas  ;D
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 78374
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2025, 07:25:04 PM »

Years ago [1980s/90s], until anxiety took over, we were out every night at a Folk Club.  So mixing with like minded people.  Our hobbies however, no one comes back - the socialisation is done at the venue. 

Come back Terry Wogan, all is 4given  :D  :whist:

Logged

Fuzzwhizzer

  • First Flush
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2025, 10:22:18 PM »

Ooh I’m Norfolk born and bred still live in good old Norwich what a small world eh! What makes me feel English/ British hmm craving Yorkshire t bags wherever I go.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2025, 09:51:29 PM by Fuzzwhizzer »
Logged

Dierdre

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1442
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2025, 07:21:42 AM »

I think it depends where you live. The more rural seem to be more traditional but inner city is now so diverse it's unrecognisable, you could be anywhere.
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 78374
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2025, 08:36:14 AM »

Arrr Bor ......... ;-).  Fuzzwhizzer - there's a lot of history to keep Norfolk people grounded.
Logged

Sophya

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 48
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2025, 07:13:32 PM »

It feels a bit like a mix of random traditions and just... vibes. There’s no big, obvious culture like you’d find in Ireland or Scotland. It’s more about the little things—Morris dancing, the royal family, or the whole fish and chips thing. It’s not as in-your-face, but it’s still there, kind of quietly holding everything together.
Logged

Fuzzwhizzer

  • First Flush
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2025, 09:52:30 PM »

That certainly is or-right. Anybody got a light bor? 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
Logged

CLKD

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 78374
  • changes can be scary, even when we want them
Re: Being English - what does it mean to you?
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2025, 12:44:52 PM »

Alan ???? charged a pound for his autograph  >:( my Dad was horrified but paid up.  ::)

Keith Skipper - I think that he passed away earlier this year?

My Mum and the Man from the Pru would speak in high Norfolk which no one else could understand!
Logged