It’s why I love England…

Right now around here, there’s nothing but St George flags coming out of every available orifice. For some reason the World Cup, and 11 men running round in Germany with 3 Lions on their chest suddenly makes people proud of this country. But what I love about England, and what makes me proud (and I know I sound like an old git) is the fact that around every other corner there are 900 year old castles as beautiful as the one shown in the picture. I had a day off in the sun today at Leeds Castle in Kent and the amazing thing about places like this, which are all over this country of ours, is that you realise just how much history we have, and just how proud we should be of it. It took a lot of hard work to get us where we are today - we could so easily just have been a drab little wet island somewhere off the end of France. Yet it was made great by the people that inhabited these castles and lived on this land. This is a genuine photo from today (thanks Kian) not a promotional shot or a postcard from the gift shop. And it reminds us just how beautiful this country is, and how great our history is, and its what makes England a great place to live. And to me, that has very little to do with 11 over-paid men kicking a ball around - no matter how much I enjoy watching the football.