Bacon butties, roast dinners and a cuppa: 50 things we love best about Britain show we're a nation of food lovers
The tasty bacon butty is what we love most about Britain, a survey revealed today.
A humble bacon sandwich topped the poll of the 50 things we most adore about the nation, with a traditional roast dinner taking second place.
Nothing washes down a meal better than a lovely cup of tea - which came in at number three in the survey of 60,000 Brits.
Nation of food lovers: The bacon butty and roast dinner came in first and second place
Our proud national history came fourth followed by the BBC in fifth, Big Ben in sixth and Buckingham Palace in seventh.
The love for our rolling hills will never dwindle as the beautiful English countryside made eighth spot.
Food continued its domination in the remainder of the top ten, with fish and chips and the Yorkshire Pudding coming in at ninth and tenth respectively.
Incredibly, the poll revealed that cheese is a greater national treasure than our monarch, with cheddar coming in at 13th on the list while the Queen trailed behind in 15th.
Bond and Big Ben: These two national icons feature in the survey on the top 50 things we love about Britain
For an example of style, class and British engineering, the Aston Martin roared into 17th.
It is clear that Brits love bagging a bargain, which comes in at 30th on the list.
James Bond triumphed over Harry Potter as the nation’s best-loved fictional character.
And proving the quirkiness us Brits are known for is alive and well, that most alternative of British ‘sports’ - cheese rolling - made the last spot.
The old and the new: British icons such as Shakespeare and the Royal Family also made the list
While perhaps when it comes to love, the debate is over, as Marmite finished narrowly outside the top 50.
‘When it comes to our great loves food is clearly on top and whether it’s a butty, bun or sanger the trusty bacon sandwich is a worthy winner of the top spot,’ said T-Mobile spokesman Spencer McHugh, after the company commissioned the research for a new TV ad.
He added: ‘Whether we’re eating it between bread or rolling it down a hill it’s obvious that we are a nation of food lovers.'
TOP 50 BRITISH LOVES: These are a few of our favourite things
1. Bacon sandwiches
2. Roast dinners
3. Cup of tea
4. British history
5. BBC
6. Big Ben
7. Buckingham Palace
8. Countryside
9. Fish & Chips
10. Yorkshire Pudding
11. English fry up
12. British sense of humour
13. Cheese
14. Lake District
15. The Queen
16. Sunday lunch
17. Aston Martin
18. Cornish pasties
19. Stonehenge
20. National Heritage
21. Pubs
22. The Tower of London
23. Wimbledon
24. Baking
25. Strawberries and cream
26. The Pound
27. Black cabs
28. The Beatles
29. The coastline
30. Bargains
31. Shakespeare
32. James Bond
33. Red phone boxes
34. Football
35. Crumpets
36. The Houses of Parliament
37. Red buses
38. Harry Potter
39. Ice cream vans
40. The Red Arrows
41. Driving on the left
42. Cricket
43. Concorde
44. Real ale
45. The Royal Family
46. The Queen’s English
47. Festivals
48. Stephen Fry
49. Harrods
50. Cheese Rolling
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I didn't read the list, but I certainly hope pork & beans made it. I've known many English ex-pats over the years, and while they do miss England, they miss the beans more. In fact, some buy an extra suitcase when they go back to visit, just to bring home as many cans as possible. Apparent there is some kind of secret ingredient you have that is lacking in the Canadian version :)
Sheila, G.B. - Just like you, I am sick and tired of the ideas Americans, in particular, have of us. However, as far as the rotten teeth thing goes, I was told by an American friend that we have the BBC to thank for that, as they put this sort of information on the videos and dvd's (of British programmes) that are sold to the USA. WHY would they do that?
Oh dear Joe,of Denver,who commented that 'teeth are nowhere to be found' ... Aww you daft thing. You don't REALLY believe that the English are a nation with rotten teeth, do you? Aw poor s*d. You've been 'had'. We don't have rotten teeth, & just to get rid of a few more myths: The good old English Weather, - while it's true that the north has a fair share of the cold stuff, the rest of our country get's a good deal on the weather. Our seasons are exactly that. So if you visit in the summer - bring plenty of summer clothing.NEXT MYTH: We're not cold lovers. In fact it's a wonder we're not over-populated. NEXT: English Police: They don't all wear pointed hats & ride bicycles.They're 21st century, drive, carry tasers & can get quite aggressive.NEXT: We don't all ride round in mini motor cars or travel on red buses.NEXT: We're VERY friendly. Bit shy of strangers, but once we know you we can't stop talking. I'm running out of space so I'll just do one last one: We DO SHOWER regularly.
Also am shocked 'Tea' figures highly as Coffee Shops are booming, but Tea Shops now only survive in Tourist Towns and on Soaps. - abigail, covent garden, London, UK, 4/2/2012 3:27 >>>>>>> Really? Aw, that shatters my illusions. We have a tea shop in my town run by a woman from England that's really popular here. Coffee's sort of gone out of popularity.
" "Teeth" are nowhere to be found?" - Joe, Denver, Colo, 4/2/2012 15:22================== Are teeth quintessentially British then? Doesn't anyone have them in Denver? How odd!
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Joan, Canada, 8 years ago
Sheila, Great Britain your response made me laugh and laugh! I especially loved the truth about being shy and the talking. I used to love my dad's expression 'talk the back legs off a donkey!'. I don't know if anyone still uses that these days, but ah me reading this list brought back memories...