If you ask your friendly AI engine to define the character of Britishness, you get something like this: “Britishness is the art of acting unbothered while caring deeply, queuing patiently while seething quietly, being polite reflexively and ironic instinctively – and binding this together with a shared, understated sense of fairness and humour.”
It’s pretty good as far as it goes, even if it doesn’t reflect aspects of British life (complaining about the government, asylum seekers, taxes, potholes, trains, the cost of living, and the weather) that are more contemporary and relevant. But there is a great deal more to us than any large language model could crunch into a paragraph’s précis. We are a polyglot nation, for sure, diverse and eclectic, difficult to characterise. Four nations in one, in fact. Occasionally, however, something occurs that strikes you as the very quintessence of Britishness.
I had that feeling last night after watching the hour-long film of the Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox completing her ultra-marathon challenge in aid of the BBC’s Children in Need appeal. Cox, 50 years of age and with no pedigree as a runner, went on foot from Kielder Forest in Northumberland to Pudsey in West Yorkshire, a journey of 135 miles through challenging, hilly, rural terrain which took five days. In the process, she raised more than £10m for the charity.
It was a remarkable personal achievement, of course. “I’m going to do it for the children… [and] I’m going to do it for all the 50-year-old women with questionable pelvic floors,” she proclaimed before she set off on her odyssey. One of the things that makes Cox such an admirable and unusual presence in showbusiness is the way in which she not only embraces, but rejoices in, her age. She’s 50, and proud of it.
Setting an example to women of her vintage is only part of it, and the lasting sense I got from watching her struggle up hill and down dale was how this challenge defined a slice of life that is undeniably British. The backdrop of the tiny moorland villages, the snaking country lanes, the farms and the woodland and the dry stone walls and the rain and sleet was like an advert for the North of England, but it was the human landscape that was especially striking.
The thousands upon thousands of people who lined the route – even over its most inhospitable terrain and in the most pernicious weather – to cheer her on, the children given time off school to wave home-made banners saying “You can do it, Sara”, the passing lorry drivers honking their horns, the brass band which greeted her at the end of the day, and the countless numbers who donated, who threw fivers and tenners in buckets as she passed, and who, more than anything, wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves.
This was what made it peculiarly British. It is sometimes easy to forget that we are indeed a united kingdom, in more than just name, and even allowing for the fact that this was a depiction of a very particular aspect of Britain – rural not urban, and predominantly white – it is a version of our nation’s story that we could surely all get behind. It is simply people doing their best for each other.
Your next read
square ISABEL HARDMANBoris Johnson is finished – there can be no comeback
square TERRI WHITETrump calling a woman ‘piggy’ is a point of no return
square HAMISH MCRAE Newsletter (£)There’s a simple reason your mortgage won’t go down: Rachel Reeves
square AMBER WINDSORMiddle class parents aren’t exploiting the SEND system, they’re surviving it
It was easy to be moved by both the small scale of the contributions and the grand sweep of the achievement, the high fives from those who turned out in support, and the messages from public figures, including Prince William.
“The nation is so proud of you,” the Prince said, and this wasn’t much of an exaggeration. In a world where the individual holds sway, there are so few things that bind us together, but Sara’s 135-mile run has definitely been one of them. She has raised spirits as well as a remarkable amount of money.
I’m trying my best not to lapse into parochial sentimentality, and I’m not blind to the fact that, at the other end of the country, people were taking to the streets to repel outsiders. But if you wanted to feel good about your country, and about the indomitability of humankind, allow yourself to bask in the reflected glory of Sara Cox’s awe-inspiring, peculiarly British, journey.
Hence then, the article about this hour long film reminded me why i m proud to be british was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( This hour-long film reminded me why I’m proud to be British )
Also on site :