One minute we were in Brent Town Hall witnessing a Citizenship Ceremony, as a group of Somalis, Sri Lankans and Iraqis were welcomed as fully paid-up (to the tune of £2,500-plus) British citizens, the next in a beekeeper’s garden in Acton, west London.
One minute we were in Brent Town Hall witnessing a Citizenship Ceremony, as a group of Somalis, Sri Lankans and Iraqis were welcomed as fully paid-up (to the tune of £2,500-plus) British citizens, the next in a beekeeper’s garden in Acton, west London. On the way we called in at a Blood Donor centre, the Bushey Tea Dance club and the Peace Hospice in Watford. What did they all have in common? A love of Tea and Biscuits.
This Radio Four mini-series (produced by Richard Bannerman) could have been made for the Home Service 50 years ago — except that our tour guide was a kilt-wearing Sikh called Hardeep Singh Kohli and the tea in Brent Town Hall was served in Thermos flasks. Even the biscuits were much the same as would have been popular then — Rich Tea, Ginger Nuts, Digestives, Custard Creams and Chocolate Bourbons. Kohli, though, mourned the absence of the Gipsy Cream, a Scottish classic now it seems out of production (check out the brilliant nicecupofteaandasitdown.com website for latest sightings of fossilised remains of these long-lost favourites).
The simplicity of the idea behind these programmes — how a love of hot water flavoured with dried leaves can bring very different people together — made for perfect radio of an old-fashioned kind, painting a portrait of Britain that shows how we have adjusted to the last five decades of rapid change. The beekeeper in Acton shares a twice-daily cuppa (or rather mugga) with his neighbour, a tailor from Slovakia who conducts his business from a shed at the bottom of the garden.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in