TandemJeremy - Member
Still Leonard Cheshire.Not one person on this thread to touch him [b]in my opinion[/b]
In no way should that belittle Cheshire. Quite an amazing chap.
Oh and Alfred the Great. Only King from these isles to get called that. Good reasons too.
Yes, he was going to be my choice too. Without him this country would be drastically different.
Apart from that I'd go with Brunel, Shakespeare, and George Stephenson.
He doesn't look British to me... (thought you'd have spotted that before posting the pic 😉 )
I'm with TJ on this with Leonard Cheshire
+1.
There's nobody who I can genuinely say gives me any pride in being British. People are just people, wherever they are. Nationality is pretty irrelevant to me.
A few people do great things, a few others are massive gits, the rest of us make up the numbers doing all the stuff necessary to keep the lights on.
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I'm with iDave. No individual makes me proud to be British. The general British public often make me feel proud though.
This country is on the whole pretty tolerant, open minded, outward looing and honest - I like that.
Christopher Hitchens
troll surely..?
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William Wilberforce.
Only 1 mention for this chap? Is it because he was Christian?! Took him decades to get Brits to outlaw Slavery then the Brits took on the world. Significant stuff.
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Terry Pratchett
@ oldgit, yeah a great hero, are you refering to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom? I read it about 15 years ago and struggled with it but I was trying to read it when doing some evening work when I was a student in a local corner shop, been meaning to revisit sometime soon with a more maturer focussed mind.
@ oldgit, yeah a great hero, are you refering to the Seven Pillars of Wisdom? I read it about 15 years ago and struggled with it but I was trying to read it when doing some evening work when I was a student in a local corner shop, been meaning to revisit sometime soon with a more maturer focussed mind.
I struggled with it a while back too. Wasn't what I was expecting. Have long been fascinated with the man himself - very dashing. Visited an exhibition devoted to him at the IWM a few years ago - very interesting. Add to that his quirky house and the nature of his death and you can't help but wonder what more he could have achieved. An ex-girlfriend is also related to him.
The chef at the Red Onion in Stockport. Ok, so he's not the stereotype but he is British and his 'meal for three deal' brings a tear to my eye.
Not forgetting the distaff side...
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can't believe no one has posted this chap yet...
JEREMY CLARKSON
... brilliant, we should have him for PM!
It's got to be Abu Hamza for me. He's fighting really hard to retain his British passport.
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-was-pretty-shocked-this-morning-religious-content ]Kryton57[/url], we need more of this type of vigilance to keep this sceptered isle nice and safe.
Essentially, what clubber, idave, molgrips and others said above.
But, I'll throw Richard Francis Burton (the explorer, not the actor) into the mix- I'm not British, and he's not too well known these days, but to me he seems to have all the characteristics that the British hold dear.
From my own country- Ed Hillary, for the same reason as I chose Burton.
I'm impressed that the forum here assembled instantly recognise Jonathan and Camilla... 😉
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I once saw him playing Captain Hook at the Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford. Came on in the second half completely pissed. Fell over twice. Hugely entertaining. 😀
Two people for me that have made an impact on my life personally, Sir David Attenborough and John Peel and I think define to me what being British means.
I genuinely mourned John Peel's death, a real character whose shows used to get me through many a long shift as a chef.
Sir David Attenborough, i think again the day that anything happens to him will be a very sad day.
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Draper ]Christopher Draper - The Mad Major[/url]
Ray Mears for his unfailing ability to be able to extract a cup of tea out of any landscape
My mate Bob
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Blimey, struggling to think of one....maybe that doctor that goes to Russia and does brain surgery for free.
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The captain of the Italian liner is making me quite proud to be British at the moment!
All those fine Britons that fell defending these lands against the foreign Saxons, Angles and Jutes (Englisch). 😉
TandemJeremy - Member
Still Leonard Cheshire.Not one person on this thread to touch him
Leonard Cheshire's missus.
just to prove the above statement wrong
rightplacerighttime - Member
For all your rationalisation, I"m not sure it's possible to be quite so "lone fox"
My old English teacher once gave me a 5 word quote as a report: "No man is an island" (John Donne) 🙂
I've always been proud to be an individual.
I've never really 'got' team sport either.
As for the tour, I'd be happier to see Jens Voigt win a stage than Cav...
Living:
Jonathan Ive
Ian Callum
Dead:
I.K. Brunel
Alan Turing
Equal tie between Wordsworth and Darwin.
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George W
Hmmm,
Having the same nationality as someone else who's successful, bringing about pride in ones own nationality?
Interesting concept...
I am neither Proud nor displeased at being born British, it was an accident of birth...
I contributed in no way to the achievements of other notable British citizens, therefore for me to take pride in their work sort of denegrates it to my mind and is a tad jingoistic really...
Are you asking us to name British people whom we admire for their achievements?
If so then I'd go with...
Brunel...
Maybe Leonard Rossiter...
Or Lady Di cos she hugged that AIDS kiddy, defused some mines or something and had lovely hair...
Equal tie between Wordsworth and Darwin.
To be decided on penalties?
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DLG
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slowrider - Member"TandemJeremy - Member
Still Leonard Cheshire.Not one person on this thread to touch him"
Leonard Cheshire's missus.
just to prove the above statement wrong
LOLZ
Do you know who it was? Sue Ryder
yunki - Member"Christopher Hitchens"
troll surely..?
Why would it be a troll ? Many people recognise Christopher Hitchens as a towering giant of a man who's life had a profound effect on millions of people throughout the world.
As this letter published in the Guardian shortly after his death clearly shows :
[i]Christopher Hitchens, by common consent the greatest man of the last century and probably in the entire history of the world, has just died. But this fact has been shamefully ignored by the Guardian. So far I have only found half the front page, a double-page news spread, a cartoon, a leader, a full-page obituary and half Simon Hoggart's column. Where are your priorities? Can I look forward to a special supplement soon?
Linda Evans
Chiswick, London[/i]