Category: Culture

Grammar schools in Britain have a history stretching back to the 7th century, with churches and universities incorporating schools to teach the all-important Latin and the classics. Following a long period when grammar schools were mainly funded by tuition fees but also offered free places via scholarships, the Education Act of 1944 established 1,200 grammar schools entirely funded by the state. However, there remained 179 other grammar schools still charging fees.

In the decades that followed, the world of high-class education was opened up to students from all backgrounds who passed the ’11-plus’, an I.Q. test. Latin was still taught and students were streamed according to ability. Sports such as cricket and hockey were played and high achievement was expected both in the sporting arena and academically, with most students moving on to the top universities.

In 1976, the state-funded grammar schools were heavily encouraged to convert to non-selective ‘comprehensives’. Margaret Thatcher halted this when she became Prime Minister in 1979 and managed to save ninety-four grammar schools. Some areas, such as Kent and Lincolnshire, still have a grammar school system today, with their own admission tests. These schools are in extremely high demand.

(Image: Clint Budd at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

Fish and chips is a traditional British takeaway meal consisting of fish deep-fried in batter and potato cut into strips and deep-fried as well. In fact, the combination of these two foods is British, but they were introduced separately to this country by European immigrants. It is said that fish fried in flour, or in flour plus water, was a Jewish dish, while the potato recipe was Huguenot.

Britain’s large fishing industry supplied the fish and ‘fish’n’chips’ became established as a seaside treat in the 1860s. Its popularity grew and by the 1930s there were over 35,000 shops all over the country, selling fish and chips to take away. They would be cooked to order and wrapped in paper, with salt and vinegar on request. A ‘chippy’ is the slang term for a fish and chip shop.

Today, there are fewer chippies and considerably more takeaways offering other types of food, but ‘fish’n’chips’ remains a British classic and you can still see customers queuing for their regular culinary treat each week. Inevitably, a vegan version was introduced in 2018 in London.

(Image: LearningLark at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

The Eton Boating Song was first performed either in 1863 or 1865 ~ sources differ ~ for Eton College’s annual Open Day, known as the ‘Fourth of June’, even though it does not often occur on that date. The boys row towards picnicking visitors, then stand up, raise their oars vertically, remove their straw hats and shake flowers into the river ~ unless they have already capsized, that is!

The tune is very catchy and stirring, and it has been known for alternative lyrics to be written for various communal gatherings. The original lyrics, which begin with “Jolly boating weather”, were written by an Eton master and poet, William Johnson Cory (1823-92) and the music was composed by Captain Algernon Drummond (1844-1932). It has eight stanzas but only four are generally sung.

(Top image: rawpixel.com)

As an island nation, many Britons feel an affinity for the sea. The Sea Cadets is an organisation for 10- to 18-year-olds which teaches a variety of water-based skills. It is mainly funded by the Royal Navy but also by donations, subscriptions and fund-raising.

Experiencing the teamwork and knowledge of a Sea Cadet group can give these youngsters a terrific boost to their self-confidence and help them mature into considerate, community-minded people.

There are four hundred Sea Cadet units around the country, each of them run by adult volunteers. Uniforms are free. More information can be found on the Sea Cadet website.

(Image: UK Parliament at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

David Hockney is an artist of extraordinary talent. He was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1937 and attended two Colleges of Art before moving to Los Angeles. There he produced his series of paintings of swimming pools using a beautifully precise, partly abstract style with bright, pure colours.

He has created works in other media – photography, for instance – and has explored the use of modern technology, but he says that “painting can’t die because photography is not good enough, actually” (PBSNewsHour, 2018). This was at the time of his recent exhibition entitled ’82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life’. He is said to have described each portrait as a ’20-hour exposure’.

Another of his recent works was a stained-glass window at Westminster Abbey, commissioned to celebrate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). True to form, he used the latest technology – an iPad – to design its brightly-coloured countryside scene.

(Top images LtoR: Connaissance des Arts at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0 & Francisco Anzola at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0)

The Chelsea Pensioners are retired men and women of the British Army who have no dependants. They receive care and comradeship in return for their past service to the country. There are currently around 300 veterans resident at the home of the Chelsea Pensioners, which is the Royal Hospital Chelsea. This was given to them by King Charles II (1630-85).

They have a blue uniform for casual wear and the famous scarlet for official occasions such as Remembrance Sunday. The annual Chelsea Flower Show takes place in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

(Image: Tim Parker at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

In the early 19th century there was a very popular cookbook called ‘A New System of Domestic Cookery’ (1806, 1st of 65 editions) by the English author, Maria Eliza Rundell (1745/7-1828). In it was the first published recipe for bubble and squeak.

This is a delicious, low-cost, vegan dish of fried potato and other vegetables such as cabbage and brussel sprouts. Traditionally, it is a way to use up left-over vegetables after a roast dinner and it was eaten for breakfast, but today the vegetables are often cooked especially for making ‘bubble and squeak’ as part of the main meal of the day.

In Scotland this dish is called ‘rumbledethumps’ and in Ireland it is ‘colcannon’. The name ‘bubble and squeak’ comes from the noise that the cabbage makes when it is fried.

(Image: Kolforn at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0)

The BBC Proms is a music festival which takes place every year from mid-July to early September, mainly at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The famous ‘Last Night of The Proms’ has a party atmosphere all of its own and always finishes with British patriotic songs such as ‘Land of Hope and Glory’  composed in 1901 by Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) with lyrics added in 1902 by Arthur C. Benson (1862-1925). The chorus is:-

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet,
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

There are also outdoor broadcasts on this night ~ this video shows a huge gathering at Hyde Park, for instance…

(Top image: Paul Hudson at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

Every year since 1984, four different artists (who are either British-born or working mainly in Britain) are shortlisted and their work exhibited at the Tate art gallery (‘Tate Britain’) for the opportunity to win the Turner Prize. All types of artistic expression are considered, including video and live speech.

This is named after the celebrated artist J.M.W. (James Mallord William) Turner (1775-1851) from London. His artistic talent emerged as a child and he spent his life closely associated with the Royal Academy of Arts.

Winning entries are often controversial. For example, in 1995 Damien Hirst (1965-) won the Turner Prize with his piece entitled  ‘Mother and Child (Divided)”. It featured a cow and a calf, divided in two ways ~ the cow and calf were separated  in different display cases and each of their bodies was cut in half lengthways. Art?

(Image of 2016 Turner Prize exhibit by Helen Marten, that year’s winner: Jim Linwood at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)