These are just some of my favourite things

Having just endured a miserable existence living amongst the poor in Paris, where he wound up scrubbing pots in the bowels of the infamous Hotel X, George Orwell set about assembling a list of his favourite British things, as he sat in the third class compartments of a return ship bound for London.

‘There are, indeed, many things in England that make you glad to get home; bathrooms, armchairs, mint sauce, new-potatoes properly cooked, brown bread, marmalade, beer made with veritable hops – that are all splendid,’ he scribbled away excitedly.

Whilst Orwell as usual is quite concise and quite correct, he could well have expanded a little further. There are a number of additional things that we Brits treasure closely; strawberries, wellington boots, dimly lit pubs crammed full of dark-varnished furniture and, of course, our boats.

As with any people that live on as island we need boats for two principle reasons. Firstly, if we want to leave we can get in one and sail off into the blue. Secondly, if anyone wishes to come in without permission then they have to get past them first.

Browsing through a list of British national heroes, one can quickly discern that our admirals, captains and sailors all feature heavily in the national conscious. There is Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, Captain James Cook and Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, each of whom made their names striding about the poop deck whilst wearing a silly hat.

The boats themselves are held in a similar level of reverence. Just think of the Cutty Sark, The HMS Victory and the SS Great Britain, all three of which are still bobbing up and down in harbours across the country and are as much an important part of our social fabric as all of the marmalade in the world.

Now take the English language. Known for its cool treatment of nouns as gender neutral, it has perhaps bestowed one of its most subtle honours upon the boat by making it feminine. A rare linguistic prize indeed, allowing us to ‘wish her well,’ and refer to her alternately as ‘an old girl’ or ‘a beautiful little thing.’

Then consider the fact that we would be aghast at anyone who would dare to daub a boat with garish modern art as we do quite happily to our aeroplanes; instead we paint them a brilliant white perhaps adding an elegant stripe or two. Whilst for the launch, we require the attendance of the most important people for miles around, allowing a member of the aristocracy to soak the new vessel in finest Champagne in front of the great and the good.

We do all of this because our boats have for centuries been our finest feature; our impenetrable shield. For centuries the Royal Navy has patrolled the seas, protecting us with effortless grace; casting off the threat of the Spanish Armada, being the thorn in the side of Napoleon Bonaparte and wrecking the careful plans of the wicked NAZIs.

As a result, we now hold boats in the highest esteem. We watch them slip in and out of the harbour, use them as much as we can and when we clamber onboard, we often feel more than a sharp pang of pride.

Tags: Britain, P&O Ferries //