Archives for Anglophilia

Hoist a pint to the pub sign, now an endangered species: The painted pub sign, one of the oldest popular visual arts traditions in Britain, is locked in decline. That is the fear of conservationists who hope to alert pub chains and breweries to a “catastrophic” loss of the traditional skills involved and a failure… Continue reading »

“Beyond the Wild Wood comes the Wide World,” said the Rat. “And that’s something that doesn’t matter, either to you or me. I’ve never been there, and I’m never going, nor you either, if you’ve got any sense at all. Don’t ever refer to it again, please. Now then! Here’s our backwater at last, where… Continue reading »

Britain has done away with a thousand of its zebra crossings (picture John, Paul, George, and Ringo on the cover of “Abbey Road”). The London Times columnist Janice Turner waxes nostalgic : And, while our towns are now besmirched with vile signage, clashing coloured lanes and ugly railings to imprison pedestrians, zebra crossing have a… Continue reading »