August 30, 2019
Canterbury in August
Just as policy elites broke Pakistan in 1971, Britain’s breakup may be slowly underway in the aftermath of the unwisely held June 2016 referendum. A visitor finds how Brexit is roiling Britain. Leaked government memos expect “significant” shortages of medicine and food should Britain quit the EU without a trade deal.
Among the four nations constituting the United Kingdom – England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – it was England’s action that has set in motion a process which, according to former prime minister Gordon Brown, may make the current incumbent, Boris Johnson, the last prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Coming from America, it was refreshing to see a salutary contrast in that two top positions, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mayor of London, are occupied by Muslims, unlike in America, where two young Muslim congresswomen are constantly vilified. A reigning soccer superstar is Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, who features prominently in adverts and has a loyal fan base.
Southeast of London, in Kent County, is Canterbury, whose Cathedral is the hub of the Church of England and made famous by Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, depicting pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Archbishop Thomas Becket, slain there at the behest of Henry II in 1170.
Canterbury is quiet, quaint, has an aura of gentility, with continuity of heritage. Not far are the cliffs of Dover. Much action of the Battle of Britain took place under the sky of Kent.
A short drive from Canterbury is the seaside town of Whitstable, where the Tudor Tea Rooms was a favorite eating spot of Peter Cushing, legendary co-star of Sir Christopher Lee, in the “Dracula” series popular in Pakistan. Ironically, Cushing, master of the horror genre, suffered from nyctophobia, fear of the dark. It was a casting coup for Dr Akbar Ahmed to snag Christopher Lee to play the title role in the movie “Jinnah.”
In mid-50’s, my father, Amjad Hussain Sayed, then a Major, distinguished himself in a military course at Maidstone, Kent.
Fish & chips and cream tea remain staples. The food police haven’t made a dent yet, and the sugar-rich English diet is at its pomp with liberal use of full fat cream.
The term “sandwich” was coined after the habit of the 4th Earl of Sandwich to forego a formal meal in preference to a slab of meat between two pieces of bread. The town of Sandwich is a 40-minute bus ride from Canterbury. It is well-preserved, escaping bombardment by the Luftwaffe.
At the Guildhall is preserved a 1300 AD copy of the Magna Carta, one of the cornerstones of English history, which protected citizens from arbitrary abuse of power. 18th century revolutionary philosopher Thomas Paine once lived in Sandwich and played a key role in the American Revolution, in part through his anti-monarchy pamphlet, “Common Sense.” He aroused ire in England because he also shunned Christian orthodoxy.
Around Canterbury are locations associated with the great novelist, Charles Dickens, who spent his boyhood in Kent and later returned to live there. His stories, like “David Copperfield, “Great Expectations,” and “A Tale of Two Cities” were prescribed in school curricula in Pakistan.
Some traditions endure. At the Loake shoe store, the manager told me it takes 8 weeks to craft one handmade pair of shoes.
Not everything in England is automated. It is reassuring to find human beings manning booths and maintaining a semblance of human connection.
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