The written word is often said to the greatest of man’s creations. I tend to agree. However, as far as old books are concerned, they apparently have no value. We have been wrangling with the issue of getting rid of 4 large boxes of books for about 5 years. They have even moved with us twice. The problem is that nobody wants them. We have approached charities, local hospitals, free listings ect… This weekend we decided to take drastic action.

Our kitchen was half decorated (as is much of the house still) and we had boxes and boxes of books just cluttering up the place. This is a rare example of where 2 wrongs make a right. We used the old books to decorate our kitchen! Perhaps this proves that the British spirit is ever resourceful.

Here’s how we did it:

We spent Friday evening sifting through the old books, keeping anything we wanted, separating anything that Emily’s school might like and chopping the images from anything that was left. There was a serious pang of guilt about chopping up literature but after 2 hours we were left with about 200 separate images.

Today I mixed up some PVA glue and water solution (50/50) and simply soaked the pages before applying them to the wall. The walls in our kitchen are particularly bumpy (Emily’s dad did the plastering – need I say more?) and this process certainly hides a multitude of sins.

Once dry  I applied a further coat of PVA solution, and that should make the walls splash proof and wipe-able. This is a handy feature in our house.

Now we can do the washing up and read a book at the same time. That’s what I call multi-tasking!

– James

We are beginning to finalise the details of our Easter holiday 
plans. While much of this journey will be using rail, we 
will also have to hire a car while in Exeter for a couple of days. 
This means that we want to hire a British car to complete this leg 
of the journey (from a British hire company). We suspect that this
might be difficult and are not adverse to hiring a classic British
car if needs be.

However, to help us we are compiling a 
comprehensive list of current cars manufactured in the UK. 
Here it is, but if you do notice any omissions (no matter how 
impractical) or know of any hire companies we can use 
please let us know:

British Owned


Make
Models
Location
Owned by


Bristol Cars
All
Bristol
UK - Frazer-Nash


Morgan
All
Worcestershire
UK - Morgan Motors


Mclaren
All
Woking
McLaren Group 


Lotus
All
Norfolk
UK - Lotus Group


The London Taxi
All
Coventry
UK - Manganese Bronze


Peel
All
Unknown
UK - Peel Engineering


Catherham
All
Caterham
UK - Catherham Group









Made in GB


Mini
All
Oxford
German - BMW


Honda
Civic/CRV/Jazz
Swindon
Japan - Honda


Toyota
Auris/Aventis
Derbyshire
Japan - Toyota


Nissan
Micra/Qashqai/Note
Sunderland
Japan - Nissan


Aston Martin
All
Warwickshire
Kuwait 


Bentley
All
Crewe
German - Volkswagen


Rolls Royce
All
Goodwood
German - BMW


Jaguar
All
West Midlands
India - Tata motors


Landrover
All
Liverpool
India - Tata motors


MG Motors
All
Birmingham
Chinese - SAIC Motor


Vauxhall
Astra
Ellesmere Port
 American - GM


Vauxhall
Vivaro (Van)
Luton
American - GM

I had a strange sensation last night (careful now!). I was watching TV and an advert for Coke came on.  I instantly got severe cravings for a chilled, dew soaked, mountain fresh, glistening in the summer sun… ehem!, excuse me… can of Coca-Cola.

This is odd as I drink, at most, 3 cans of Coke per year. I think that it was the idea of not being able to have one (under our self imposed rules) that really made me want one. If I was a conspiracy theorist I would, at this point, begin thinking about the possibly of mind control being used in their advertising. However, being slightly more rational I realised that I was being tempted by the forbidden fruit.

It is obvious to me now that finding British goods is not the only issue we face. We also have to combat our own wills against the dominating power of consumerism itself (especially American). In this battle my will won-out but whether I will be a casualty in the in the war, as the months roll on, it is anyone’s guess.

– James

The British Family have now been on their British journey for 4 weeks and we have had some superb support from all over the country. We were however very excited when we were invited by the CEO of Chapel Down Group, Frazer Thompson to come to his fabulous local winery Chapel Down in Tenterden, Kent.

We were greeted by the warm and friendly team in the shop and were quickly met by our fantastically knowledgeable guide Suzy. She showed us some of the different vines that Chapel Down grow including the Bacchus (a relatively recent crossing with Riesling parentage grown widely in the UK as it does very well in our soil and climate) and Chardonnay a ‘Noble’ grape variety. She also explained that the vineyards had originally been a farm and had been bought by Stephen Skelton in the  1970’s and planted out with vines, a very bold and pretty crazy move at that time.

She did brilliantly at explaining to vineyard novices about the terroir (what the land is like) and how similar our climate is to North France and the region of Champagne. She was also fantastic at listening to Lucan and tailoring the tour to keep things moving and keep him interested.

We moved into the the pressing and macerating room and saw the huge machines that they use to very gently press the juice from the grapes and also some of the oak barrels that the wine matures in. Alongside the barrels were beer kegs, something I had no idea Chapel Down would need but apparently they produce exceptionally good beer too. There really is no end to their talents!

Onward we went to see the process of riddling for the sparkling wines. This is a process that we were told the makers of fine Champagne would have us believe is done by hand but is now almost completely done by a machine. It is basically the second stage of fermentation where extra yeast and sugar is added to add a bit of omph to the alcohol content but more importantly to create the bubbles. However the bottles must be tilted and turned on a regular basis (this is the riddling bit) and at Chapel Down they use the best of new technology to allow this process to be done mechanically and efficiently.

 The next process unfortunately we couldn’t see in action, although as Suzy said it was very very noisy and I don’t think Lucan would have enjoyed it. This was the disgorging room where the sediment of the second fermentation is quickly frozen in the neck of the bottle and then pops out as a sediment ice cube before the bottle is topped up, corked and capped. Lucan got a souvenir for the day in the form of an unused cork which was huge in comparison to the cork that pops out the top of the bottle.

After the walking and the talking it was time for a drink for us and some juice and cheese and crackers for Lucan. We firstly tasted the Flint Dry (as I happen to have one sitting at home ready to drink), the Bacchus and the Pinot Noir. All were superb and absolutely as good if not actually better that a lot of the New and Old world wines out there. Next it was on to the sparkling wines starting with the Chapel Down Brut which was perfect for any occasion where bubbles are needed. Then for a treat we tasted the award winning Rose Brut which really was the absolute business! I would highly, highly recommend this as a proper celebration bottle of bubbly as it has the most amazing flavor that really has to be tried rather than described. Lastly we had a small sip of the Chapel Down Necter Late Harvest, a wonderful sweet wine that is really what is says on the bottle pure nectar!

After all this there was the small question of lunch for which we went upstairs to The Swan at Chapel Down (a review of which we will post separately). And then a little bit of shopping was in order before heading home. Our stomachs were full of great food and great drink but our hearts were equally full of pride that such quality was being produced so close to home. Well done Chapel Down. Please keep beating the French at their own game!

– Emily

When we started this project we were expecting that there would be things that we were going to just have to live without, simply because they are not manufactured in the UK. It would appear, we have found our first hole in British manufacturing. We are unable to get British made household batteries. We have spent 2 weeks scouring the net, researching companies and speaking directly to industry experts. Even our mighty Twitter followers have been stumped. We are now ready to call off the search and admit that there are simply no UK battery manufactures.

There is still a small glimmer of hope concerning rechargeable and perhaps even USB charging batteries (still doubtful) but as far as the humble AA’s and AAA’s are concerned the Bradshaw’s are having to go without.

It is possible to make very simple batteries, you might have even done this at school, but without using rather scary chemicals I am not sure we are ever going to get enough voltage to power anything more than a pocket calculator for a few minutes.

We are now rationing batteries in the Bradshaw house at the moment and I am conscious that I cannot remember ever changing the AAA’s in the TV remote. Under sods-law I can envisage those being the first to go ( I will let you know when we are at battery rubbing stage). 

– James

We have hardly been in our house for 3 month, so garden design has not exactly been a top priority. It is, however, now becoming more important as we will look to supplement our diet with plenty of home grown goodies.

We are lucky to have been offered half an allotment by our neighbours which is where all the permanent fruit bushes etc and possibly some asparagus will go. This frees up the garden for a big area for Lucan to run and play as he gets bigger, and also for a long thin raised bed for the annual veggies to be put where they will be easy to tend. 

We have a LARGE shed for all of James’ man-stuff and I have a small greenhouse currently half built (which I am very excited about as it is my first ever). James would also like to try his hand at brick laying and would like to create an entertaining space complete a pizza oven, BBQ and maybe even a tandoor so we can really enjoy our British produce in the summer.

All this, you can imagine, is quite a lot to squeeze into a back garden. I have measured as much as I can and have done a quick design as an idea but I would really love any ideas that anyone else has to make the most of the space. The garden is South East facing with a giant oak tree at the end (which will contain a grand tree house for Lucan). There is also a very well established camellia plant and a magnolia between the shed and the greenhouse. The soil is pH neutral and very densely chalky where the old railway line used to run through our back garden 50 years ago.

Any and all help from the wacky to the sublime would be very gratefully received to make the most of the space and of course all the materials and plants will be properly British.

Thank you in advance, I will keep you posted how things progress.

– Emily

We are not even 3 weeks into our quest to live a normal family life on only British goods and services, but there has been one reoccurring question we get asked – Is it not going to be really expensive?

If you would have asked us just after our first supermarket shop we would have replied to this with a positive yes. However, things are starting to change. The more research we put in the more bargains we find.

Our weekly grocery shopping is now back to it’s usual average of about £100 per week. This is because we found Kent Veg Box who supply all of our fruit, veg, milk, bread and eggs. The variety, quality and cost is significantly better then the supermarkets and as such our weekly bills are going down.

But it is not just groceries. Small plastic items like Rainbow Trugs and Kent combs & toothbrushes are comparative in price to those manufactured abroad and, in our view, far better quality.

Unique Kids fleece range – funky and affordable

Clothes are indeed an area of difficultly as much of what is produced is very high-end, but we are actually finding great value items of clothing too. Take for instance Unique Kid. The Bradshaws have another photoshoot today with the Daily Mail and I wanted something British for Lucan to wear for the photos.   Like most parents, Emily and I are cost consious when buying kids clothes. For day to day wear, we don’t want to pay designer prices for clothes that will be used & abused and be grown out of in a couple of months. This is why Unique Kids was a fantastic find. All of their fleeces, hats, gloves and scarves are made in Wales at a price comparative to, dare I say, Primark. However, the quality is still exceptional! Plus Dr Jo, who owns this brand, is really passionate about what she is doing!

Now when someone asks me if living British is more expensive I would still have to answer yes. But now the reason is not that we cannot find the things we need at a great price but more that we are finding most of what we see utterly irresistible!

-James

What has become quickly apparent while only buying British is that the level of customer service we have received from the companies across the nation is fantastic. Almost without exception, the pleasure of dealing with the people we have come across out weighs the value if the items we are actually buying. Once you leave the sterile environment of the supermarket or the high street you find a wealth of people that really understand what they are selling. 

The pleasure of picking up the phone or receiving an email from somebody that actually cares about their products and, most of all, cares that you love the thing you are willing to purchase is a beautiful thing.

I remember my grandmother talking about the gradual decline of good service from the 1940-50’s but never really understood what this meant. I would like to share with you a recent and particularly memorable example:

One of the first things that I bought when we embarked on our mission to buy only British goods was a pair of Marko John’s socks. I had some communication with the man himself before receiving my package but it was the content of that package which left a lasting memory.

Tucked just inside the neatly folded fuchsia tissue paper and  resting on my brand new lavender coloured socks was a letter. This letter, printed on slightly buff Conquer paper, was a personal message of thanks for my first order. This was not some generic corporate platitude produced by a overactive marketing department – this was a genuine message of appreciation that I had chosen to invest my hard-earned money in something they had made. Opening this package was no longer about buying a pair of socks, it was almost like discovering a time capsule to a level of customer service long forgotten. It suddenly made me understand what my Grandma was talking about.

It must be said that this is not an isolated incident. Once we began ordering more from smaller manufacturers and retailers the more we began to experience the passions of the individuals directly involved in the product they are selling.

Such interactions now make buying the mundane into something really pleasurable.

– James

Emily and I discussed this morning the whole horse meat story in the press over the last couple of days. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21054688.

I think the issue for us is not that the burgers contained horse meat, this is a perfectly accepted meat source for some cultures, but the fact that there has been some level of deceit. Food that we serve in good faith to our families, it would seem, is not necessarily always presented to us honestly and this is very worrying. 

The press have labeled this a contamination, suggesting that it was an accidental occurrence. But it begs the question – given the significant amount of production, has something more untoward been happening here? Are we really aware of the extent of similar such “ contamination”? My gut instinct tells me not.

Given the demand for cheaper and cheaper products, perhaps we have lost some perspective of what our groceries should cost if produced ethically?

If there is a demand for cheaper meat and horse is a viable alternative why should we not sell horse burgers – if they are clearly labelled? Of course we do not have a culture of eating this type of meat in this country but at least there would be an informed choice as a consumer.

I will point out that I have never eaten horse, (at least not knowingly) but as we happily eat cows and sheep, horse meat is not an unreasonable source of protein. However, I will also admit to being typically British and rather squeamish about the idea.

It is a very controversial area and I understand that it is not in our normal blog domain but while we are looking at British brands we need also to make sure that they are looking after us and representing us the way we would expect.

– James

Following our recent brush with the media we are truly humbled by the overwhelmingly positive feedback about our project. We are very much feeling part of a national community here in the Bradshaw home-stead and are deeply moved by the strength of feeling on the subject of British manufacturing.

As we saw last year – isn’t it great that we, as a country, can rally together (leaving behind all differences) to put our combined weight behind something great? There is a small home in Kent where a normal British family continue to feel a small part of this spirit. We thank you all for it!

While we have spent many late nights trying to respond individually to every email and Tweet that has come to us, we hope you appreciate that this is getting more and more difficult. We promise to read every single communication that you send to us but we apologise if we are unable to get back to you personally. Please do not let this stop you getting in touch though. It is important to us, throughout the next year (and beyond), to get your continued support – both emotional and practical.

– Yours a truly proud British family