Albertopolis. Or, there’s still a Britain to believe in

I had to go to the V&A this morning, and as it was so warm and I had an hour I walked from Paddington station across Hyde Park. Here are some random photos in the order I took them, walking through a park in London, down a street and back again.

It’s a walk that shows you all you need to know about what makes the UK a good place. A place full of people who care, who enjoy life and the company of others, who are proud to be British and proud to be free, who smile, worry and imagine. The walk has the signs of people like that. Of people who believe there is something bigger than themselves, and who find strength, comfort and inspiration in that thought, or even in venturing out to explore that infinite space. Of people who think the best thing is to ask good questions, not to give trite answers.

Britain got great by understanding how small it is, not by shouting how big it is. By exploring the distant other with curiosity and adventure, not with covetousness and arrogance. There has been much of the last, and worse, and we should recognise and learn from such things, because history is complex. But there is plenty to enjoy too, and only lovers of the dark and of ignorance can truly believe that by taking down the telescopes we see further.

Ideology is not Britain’s way of doing things: it’s listening. Brexit is not British, and most of us know it. We should say it, and this is me doing that.

The photos all have a message (look out for a heron, war damage and a Grand Tour), but I haven’t captioned them. If you’d like to know what any of them show, please ask and I will try to answer.