Music, sports, nature and food: four reasons we miss the British
aesthetic view
What’s most homesick, British-born chef Hieke Jippes, Jean Beddington? Nature in England. “I love English landscapes,” says Beddington. “I think it’s so beautiful, those little roads. Then you turn around and you see sheep and lambs all over the place. It really is like a postcard.”
Gibbs still remembers her first walking tour of England as it was yesterday. “I was immediately sold. I climbed through my driveway into the woods and came to a beautiful place. It was spring and the green of the trees was just coming out. A wild apple blossom leaned over and below I saw a blue mist that I had never seen before,” says Gibbs. “It was the famous bluebells.”
Music
The British brought us the Beatles, of course, and so did Joey, the Smiths, Oasis, and the Bloc Party. What makes British musical culture even more special, according to DJ and English music enthusiast Paul Nedervin, is that mainstream music and counterculture go hand in hand. “You come across in both public places and that’s very different in the Netherlands. In Great Britain you have three times as much success as Adele, but she’s also correct in stubbornness and counterculture,” says Niederven.
He mentions the movie Controlling the Joy Department as an example. “Just like you go here with whole families to see a Disney movie, there are whole families in the cinema watching Joy Division. I think that’s really cool.”
sports
Did you know that rugby originated from football? Is football out of cricket again? We owe a lot of sport to the British, says sports journalist Tom Van Holsen. “And then you have arrows and greyhound racing for example.”
Van Holsen. “The best thing is the pride and passion that British people radiate when it comes to sports.”
deserts
Britain is not famous for its cuisine. However, you can order too much of the good stuff, according to chef Jane Beddington. The sweets are especially good. “Pudding and crumbs, for example. I actually put them on the table a lot at my restaurant.”
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