Our lost heroes

HOW times change! At one time the British people used to hero worship people such as Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, Battle of Britain pilots, Lord Baden Powell, Captain Scott of the Antarctic and the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon.

Now young peoples’ heroes are Simon Cowell, Wayne Rooney, Cheryl Cole, One Direction, ex-drug addict Russell Brand, and even X Factor runners up.

What has happened to the “Great” in Britain?

Jason Westwood, Hamilton Drive West, Holgate, York.

Comments(4)

Despairing Yorkie says...
11:11am Tue 30 Oct 12

Competition over - this wins the award for the most pointless, cliched letter to a local newspaper of the week. Next week he's going for the star prize by blaming all this perceived decline on cycling councillors on the affordable housing committee.

Zetkin says...
11:19am Tue 30 Oct 12

OK, I'll bite.

The "Great" refers to the size of the island, not to the imagined qualities of its inhabitants.

Firedrake says...
11:57am Tue 30 Oct 12

Quite right, Zetkin. I believe the name was coined as a result of the Anglo Scottish Union when - technically - England and Scotland ceased to exist. That bit didn't quite catch on, somehow!

Buzz Light-year says...
10:34pm Tue 30 Oct 12

Zetkin wrote:
OK, I'll bite. The "Great" refers to the size of the island, not to the imagined qualities of its inhabitants.
Took the words right out of my fingers.

The "Great" in Great Britain is still there, it hasn't gone away - Scottish independence hopes notwithstanding.

People who tend to use the stupid "let's put the Great back into Great Britain" idiom tend to be misguided UKIP types.

By the same logic, is Greater Manchester being really arrogant?

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