Best of British: 60 things that make Britain great

Imagine you're cut off in a far-off land. What longings would be uppermost in your mind? Here we celebrate those aspects of life that make our islands distinct and beguiling.

15. Swaine Adeney Brigg umbrella

umbrella

The wooden parts of these beautifully crafted items can be made in oak, maple and hickory and the canopies were traditionally fashioned in silk, but it’s what they protect us from that has made our land green and glorious. Where would our small talk come from if we didn’t have the weather to discuss and how would our landscape look so verdant without the rain?

‘The English winter—ending in July, to recommence in August’
(Don Juan, Lord Byron)

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