Icons of England

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BBC - the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began in the 1920s and has a reputation for impartiality. Its TV costume dramas, soaps and news are part of everyday life and conversation. Maybe no longer, but the BBC's broadcasts on TV and radio were once the glue that held the nation together. Completed in 1899, it originally included a theatre, which hosted performances by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. This remained in use until the 1970s. This awesome suspension bridge is the finest of Bristol landmarks, a stunning work of engineering carrying the B3129 road 101 metres (331 feet) above the river Avon.

Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding - Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding along with fish and chips and the full English breakfast are probably the meals most foreigners associate with Britain. Indeed the French used to refer to the English as "les rosbifs" in much the same way as the epithet "frog" was attached to the French by the English. "Beefeaters" is also the name given to the aged guards of the Tower of London. X Factor - the X Factor is a British reality television music contest to find new singing talent. It made a star of its creator, Simon Cowell. Y Apparently it was originally a coffee-table book, where I guess the text is something you only glance at uncritically while swooning over the luscious photography. The pictures, needless to say, are absent from this edition, (though I’m not sure what possible image could have accompanied the piece about discovering that country folk are more friendly than Londoners.) British history is one of being sworn enemies and yet of the being the closest of allies. A land mass with a few scattered islands that were once very separate states. Which came together to form a union, a union of shared thoughts and values but with very distinct characteristics. These are still seen through our the design of our heraldic and British national symbols. Even though that union is straining a little as we move into a new future outside of the EU.

Gloucester is afairly workadaycity but for its wondrous Cathedral, built over 500 years and spanning Romanesque, Gothic and Perpendicular styles. Mini Cooper - at the other end of the scale from the Rolls Royce, the Mini, along with The Beatles defines a 1960s mindset. "You can do it in a Mini" went the advertising blurb - the it being the act of love, supposedly. Bowler hats - not seen too much these days, bowlers were first created by hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in London in 1849. They are part of the attire of the "City Gent" along with a tightly rolled umbrella.

The Roman Baths are a complete Roman bath-house complex, with hot and tepid water baths, a cold-water plunge pool and a heated area called a laconicum. They also contain a wealth of archaeological treasures, including the stone head of the goddess Sulis Minerva. It’s the venue of royal coronations, some royal weddings and state funerals, and id the burial place of many English monarchs and great figures from British life.

I recently returned there 30 years after my previousvisit, andwas blown away. It’s vast, high and spacious, yet somehow warm and intimate. The formidable central White Tower was completed in 1078, the keep of the whole Castle complex, with outer walls added subsequently. One of the great icons of London, it’s home to the Beefeaters, or Yeomen Warders, ceremonial palace guards and tour guides. The vast Victorian Romanesque edifice of the Natural History Museum dominates South Kensington, and one of the main approaches to Central London from the west. Famous Landmarks in England 1. Big Ben & The HousesOfParliament,London Big Ben through a phone box window

Avebury is a gorgeous English country village surrounded by two ancient (possibly 5,000 years-old) stone circles and a ceremonial avenue of stones leading towards the intriguing mound ofSilburyHill to the south. George V postbox put up between 1910-1936. The postbox is located in Windsor, a stone’s throw away from Windsor Castle.

British Icons

It’s one of the great Early English Gothic churches, and replaced the earlier cathedral at Old Sarum, an ancient settlement on the outskirts of the modern city. Whenever I see trees like these, I feel they are waiting for us to get our act together, pre-eminent genii loci, anticipating the day we humans finally rediscover what it is to be at one with the natural world. Possibly not in my lifetime – but I have no doubt these resolute survivors are somehow telling us that we shouldn’t leave it too much longer” (277) – Jonathan Porritt. If you happen to be in the area in autumn, mists often form in the surrounding landscape, leaving the Tor and tower seemingly floating above. It’s an incredible sight indeed. 29. Coventry Cathedral The spire was all that survived the bombing of Coventry Cathedral Chi-chiChester is home to several fine England landmarks, including the fine late Gothic StWerburgh’sCathedral, the famous Chester Rows walkways and the circuit of Roman Walls. It’s unique in that it has sections of each of the main periods of English Gothic architecture – Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular. One of the most impressive landmarks in Britain. 26. Roman Baths, Bath