The Things That Made England

The Things That Made England

By David Crowther and Roifield BrownSociety & CultureHistory
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The Things That Made England episodes

  • Birmingham

    Birmingham is the second city in England, a "city of a thousand trades" its the heart of modern Britain, Birmingham is the cultural, social, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands.


    Birmingham is the epitome if Englishness, it's had a civil war battle, victorian grandeur, ring roads and Baltis. It's growth shadows the rise of industrial England, it's the city of thousand trades and fuelled the industrial revolution. Though mentioned in the Doomsday book Birmingham became an urban and commercial centre in 1166. The Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market at his castle, “ a bull ring” and after this a market town began.

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    43 min
  • Geography
    England's geography has played a significant part in shaping her history and culture and making her as she is. I say that without fear of contradiction.

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    28 min
  • Songs that remind you of England

    Hello and Merry Xmas, it's me Roifield without David, we thought we'd give you an episode of songs that remind you of England. We asked you on Facebook to nominate your most English of ditties, so as you pull your crackers we give you some songs that made England!


    Michael Wheal - Vin da Loo!

    Alison Mary Hebborn Remember 'singing ' Jerusalem on a coach to the hotel after a Czech /English wedding.

    The Beatles - I want to hold your hand.

    Stephen Bōden wrote on the facebook page, “I vow to thee my country” deserves a place on any such list

    Abide with me', it was nominmated by one David Crowther

    A Song of Patriotic Prejudice by Flanders and Swann: which was nominated by Patrick Adams.

    Stephen Bōden wrote that In these days of austerity, I reckon there’s a place in our national discourse for “Hard Times of Old England”.

    The Human League's - Don't You Want Me" unmistakably the moment the Second British Invasion, hit The States

    Blur - Park Life

    Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks was originally entitled "Liverpool Sunset".

    On Facebook Richard Lyle opted for Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life

    Lets All Go Down The Strand And Have A Banana.

    Baddiel and Skinner’s - Three Lions.

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    34 min
  • Allotments
    'I'm off down the allotment!'. What could be more English than that? Literally nothing

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    34 min
  • BBC Radio 4

    BBC Radio 4 is a spoken-word radio channel owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London.


    Radio 4 is the principal radio channel in the UK for:

    • news and current affairs
    • debate and discussion
    • comedy
    • culture, arts and drama
    • science and technology
    • philosophy
    • history
    • religion and ethics
    • factual programmes


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    39 min
  • Queuing
    The English queue even in a crowded bar, when the casual observer might see no physical evidence. But is this any different to the Canadians, or Singaporeans, both high quality queuing nations? Why do the English queue. I think I have the secret. 

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    34 min
  • Football

    Football is a global sport. Football is thought to have originated in twelfth century England and became so popular that the Kings Henry II and Henry IV had to ban it.


    It’s a game where the average sized person can excell. The shot to success ratio being low meaning that a team of lesser ability can overcome a better one. What helped with the globalisation of football was Britains global influence. At the peak of its power, the British Empire nearly covered a quarter of the planet, meaning that it was very easy to spread the game of football.



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    1 hr 7 min
  • Fashion
    England has had a reputation for a certain kind of traditional fashion (suits, boots and so on) for a while, but in the 60’s English Fashion surprised the world. And English flair for fashion design has carried on ever since. Or so I would contend. But what I know about fashion could be written on the inside of a ping pong ball.

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    26 min
  • Road Signs
    Margaret Vivienne Calvert is a British typographer and graphic designer who, with colleague Jock Kinneir, designed many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, as well as the Transport font used on road signs,

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    24 min

About The Things That Made England

From the publisher's feed

An affectionate meandering through the things that make England the way she is – from HP Sauce to the Allottment, Aethelstan to the politics of Queuing. With Luke Baxter, Roifield Brown, David…