About

Britain Explained is a resident’s guide to England, Scotland and Wales that offers simple answers to over 700 of the most common questions. It has been created with help from a whole community of kind and generous people.

I first had the idea several years ago. I became friends with a family from Finland who had just moved to the UK. One day they asked me why there were no signs to the railway station in the town. I was confused. I knew there were lots of signs, like this one:

But talking to them, I realised that although most British people know this logo means ‘railway station’, it is not an international standard. It was devised in the 1960s for the British national rail network. To people from other countries, it is therefore meaningless. Britain has towns covered in meaningless signs!

Just look at this photo of a genuine road sign below. You might reasonably expect to turn left if you wanted the railway station, but you actually need to turn right. This is because the brown train logo is showing the way to a tourist attraction:

Of course, it is not only people from abroad who find things confusing. A residents’ guide to Britain would be useful for British nationals too. I therefore decided to create a simple and straightforward resource that anyone could use. I scribbled some ideas down on a piece of paper and thought it wouldn’t take too long to cover the main points. This was hopelessly optimistic. It took me 5 years and the generosity of a large number of people. Over that time it has been improved and refined many times, until it became what is here today. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, suggest, amend and encourage.

Susanna B

In creating this website, I read these books for history and context. Some of these are specifically about the English. While there are some differences among the Scottish and Welsh, I believe that in many situations we’re pretty similar.

• Watching the English by Kate Fox
• How England Made the English by Harry Mount
• The English by Jeremy Paxman
• Never Eat Shredded Wheat by Christopher Somerville
• English Place Names and their Origins by GJ Copley
• The DK History of Britain & Ireland: The Definitive Visual Guide
• The Medieval Scene by GG Coulton
• Reader’s Digest Yesterday’s Britain
• Debrett’s Correct Form
• Life in the United Kingdom, A Guide for New Residents
• The Domestic Revolution Explained by Stan Yorke
• The English Terraced House by Stefan Muthesius
• The Edwardian House by Helen Long
• A Short History of Engish Architecture by Hugh Braun
• Xenophobe’s Guide to the English by Antony Miall and David Milstead
• The History Today Who’s Who in British History edited by Juliet Gardiner
• Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England by Michael Wood
• Noblesse Oblige edited by Nancy Mitford
• Icons of England, edited by Bill Bryson
• Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
• The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth
• Black and British by David Olusoga
• Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera

For advice and suggestions, my thanks go to S Root, C Thompson, G Townson, T Mbariti, Ruth & Garry Jones, Katharine S, Khalil S, Hazel F, Maggie Trevelyan, Anthony Lewis. Michelle Clare gets a special mention for support, subbing and contributions. And a massive thank you to the team at Aubergine for their time and enthusiasm to make the site look so good and work so well. Despite my best efforts, there may still be mistakes – please let me know so they can be amended.