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Old February 5th 04, 02:26 AM
Dave Holford
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"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Spiv" wrote in message
...

I'm not comparing the UK with others. I am looking at the UK. It is not
small.


I am looking at the UK too. It is small.




I have been following this "discussion"? with amusement and would like
to make the following contributions:

I recall that at one time every page of most atlases used in British
schools tended to have a corner insert of the British Isles to provide a
sense of scale - invariably they were tiny by comparison with the
countries being depicted.

I am old enough to have seen the Brabazon in the air, and it certainly
gave me the impression of a large but ungainly aircraft which was being
handled with great care. I have also flown in Britannias, Viscounts and
Vanguards; and while I found all three comfortable it should be obvious
to anyone that the Viscount was the only successful one.

I recall that during that time there was a large body of opinion, which
included me, that anything "made in England" was the best and foreign
stuff just couldn't stack up (especially that Japanese junk!). I had
friends who were convinced that the British destruction of the German
Naval Base at Helgoland was actually the British test of a nuclear
weapon. This attitude can still be seen on ancient British TV and
Movies.

Luckily I, and most of my generation, grew up and realized that the Sun
was indeed setting on the Empire and other peoples were capable of
building stuff which was just as good (sometimes even perhaps a little
better) than British stuff.

The days of the Brabazon closely followed the heyday of the "SPIV",
probably best defined as one whose words were, to put it politely, not
to be taken at face value.

I shall continue to follow this threat if for no other reason than to
see who finally gets the last word.

Dave