The Welsh are an ancient people and while they were unlikely the first human settlers, their time in these islands is long indeed and long predates the Germanic incursions. They are one surviving group of the Celts, the very first race of people that can be called European as we understand it today.

Now an historian I am not, so this is a personal view from what I have learned. Most I believe to be true as taught but I haven’t been afraid to add the odd theory of my own. This fully complies with the Celtic approach which has a strong tendency towards ‘why spoil a good mystery with the truth’.

Indeed the facts are wanting; the Celts committed all their knowledge to memory through their Bards and the Druids, all now passed into oblivion alas. We have the Romans to thank for that. But there are plenty of clues, many buried in their surviving languages.

The history books are unclear as to their origin and tend to favour the East. In any event it is clear enough that they spread from the Balkans or Asia Minor to cover all of Europe. Their culture reached its zenith in the Alpine countries from around 800BC, lasting until the Roman period. They spread across Spain, France, the British Isles, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, the bulk of Germany and into Italy, Romania, the Balkans, Bulgaria and even the Ukraine and Turkey.

Diachronic distribution of Celtic peoples: core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Macedonians the Greeks fought were Celts, as were the Etruscans well into the Roman period. Indeed much of the Roman Empire was Celtic. Slowly they were subsumed leaving France (Gauls) and Britain. This was, there is little doubt in my mind, assisted by a nature that readily accepts outside influence, as they still do. Nevertheless their nature persists and Rome was certainly influenced by them in turn.

That their history is so long is side-stepped constantly by the English and I suspect a sense of wishing to define their own culture as having a natural right in these islands. I have on several occasions seen references to local history within England that are blatantly Celtic but unaccredited.

And now to language. Having now become acquainted with Welsh (though short on fluency I’m afraid), I can see much that seems to be invisible to academics. French, for example, clearly has a Celtic origin.

Welsh, in line with all Celtic languages has several marked peculiarities. Here we see the origins of counting systems based on twenty, so confusing to French learners (as well as much other grammar and sentence construction).

But most noticeable are the unique systems of initial mutation and a strange device whereby the past tense ‘did’ is formed by a variant in the present tense. And it is this latter device that I think gives the game away as to their origins. I read somewhere that the only known non-Celtic language where this is found is none other than Ancient Egyptian. Could it be?

And the mark of the Celts abounds. It is said that every river name and many mountain names throughout Europe originated with them. This is certainly true of Britain, from the island name itself (Prydain in modern Welsh) to the River Avon (Welsh afon = river) and even London itself (Londinium = Llundain or Caer Llun). And on the mainland Belgium owes its name to the tribe who once lived there, as does Paris and the international name for Switzerland, ‘Helvetia’.

But to end I’ll recall an idle conversation I once had with a Serbian friend when I happened to note a similarity in certain habits of the Slavs being akin to the Welsh and Irish and wondered if they originated with the Celts. A few weeks later she said she had told a friend, expert in Serbian history who had said she too suspected this.

So it appears these understudied people were influential indeed. And I am content to live among them. I doubt they are God’s chosen as claimed but they sure are more entertaining than South East England.

Vector version of a design from the Book of Kells (Wikipedia)

kenscribbles

Official language: English, Irish, Scottish

Land area: 93,628 sq mi/242,495 sq km

Population:  62,761,000

Dominant religion: Christianity

Capital: London

Current leader: Prime Minister David Cameron

The United Kingdom is an island country in northwestern Europe, lying across the English Channel from France. It consists of the island of Great Britain, the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and dozens of nearby smaller islands including the Channel Islands. Great Britain, Ireland and the nearby smaller islands are sometimes referred to as the British Isles.

 The island of Great Britain is divided into three self-governing political units – England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is also self-governing. While all inhabitants of Great Britain are commonly referred to as British the people of Scotland and Wales, with their own cultures and political opinions that sometimes differ greatly from those of England, prefer to be called Scots and Welsh, respectively. Whites make up about 93 percent of the United Kingdom’s population. Among them, about 5 percent are people from nearby European countries such as Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands in addition to a small number of people from poorer European countries such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Ukraine who came seeking better opportunities. The United Kingdom’s non-white population comes primarily from its former colonies in Africa and Asia, especially from member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations. Over 90 percent of the U.K.’s population resides in urban areas.

 The Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom in the 1700’s and today the country remains one of the world’s five most industrialized nations and leading economies. As an island nation with a large population, manufacturing and trading constitutes the bulk of its lifeline. It is also the largest producer of petroleum and natural gas in the European Union. The country also has deposits of important minerals such as chalk, clay, fluorspar, gypsum, salt and gravel. Another important source of income for the country is the millions of tourists who visit this beautiful country every year to taste its rich culture and history. The United Kingdom is also a top destination for students hoping to broaden their education, particularly at either Cambridge or Oxford, both which are considered by many academics to be the world’s finest universities.

 Very few nations in the world can boast a prouder and more storied history than United Kingdom can. In terms of percentage of the entire world, the British Empire, at its height, was the largest empire ever amassed. By the dawn of the 20th Century, roughly one-quarter of the world and its population was under British rule and for the better part of 200 years its navy was the master of the world’s seas. While the loss of its American Colonies in the American Revolution was one of its greatest setbacks it continued to build a great empire that eventually consisted of large swaths of Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania. But fall from glory awaited. The aftermath of World War I began spelling doom. The Japan and the United States were emerging as world powers while the citizens of the Empire’s possessions, particularly Ireland, were becoming increasingly restive and demanding greater freedom. In 1931, the United Kingdom granted independence to Australia, Canada, the Irish Free State, New Zealand and South Africa although all of them would remain members of the Commonwealth of Nations. World War II, however, was the final seal of death for the British Empire. While the United Kingdom fought bravely and fiercely under the leadership of Winston Churchill, bringing Germany’s successes to a halt in 1942, its failure to protect its possessions in Asia against the Japanese juggernaut exposed its weakness. Immediately after the war, more colonies demanded and were granted independence. In 1947 the United Kingdom lost both India and Pakistan. The following year Burma became independent. In the early 1960’s it lost Malaysia and Singapore and most of its possessions in Africa. By 1980 all that remained of the once mighty British Empire were Hong Kong, Gibraltar and a few island protectorates and dependencies in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

 Despite its decline, the United Kingdom remains one of the world’s most influential countries as well as an economic superpower. Its monarch, Queen Elizabeth, remains the head of state in most of country’s former colonies. In 1982 it proved that it was still a military force to be reckoned with in its naval shootout with Argentina in the Falkland Islands War. It played a role in expelling the Iraqi army from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War and also helped removed Saddam Hussein from power during the 2003 Gulf War.

From Waterloo Bridge looking west down the Thames

The Victims

From forensic evidence and examination, the police surmised that the victims had in all likelihood been murdered by the same killer as there were significant resemblances between each.  The main connections were that all of the women were prostitutes on the streets of London and, as far as we can ascertain from the information currently available to the public, the victims had had some teeth missing.

The first of the confirmed victims was 30 year old Hannah Tailford who was found on 2 February 1964 near Hammersmith Bridge in London.  She had been strangled and her underwear had been forced down her throat.

The second victim was Irene Lockwood, a 26 year old, whose body was discovered on the shores of the Thames not far from where Hannah had been found.  She had been strangled.

A 57 year old caretaker by the name of Kenneth Archibald came forward and confessed to Irene’s murder a few weeks after the body had been found but, following a third murder together with some inconsistencies in Archibald’s statement, the police concluded that there was no way he could have carried out the murder.

The third victim was Helen Barthelemy who was just 22, and was found dead on 24 April 1964 in an alleyway in Brentford.  Fortunately for the police, this girl gave them a good lead.  They discovered some flecks of paint, the type of which would be used in the manufacturing of cars; they surmised that this had probably come from the killer’s workplace.  There was an engineering business fairly close by, so the police began their search for a suspect within that area.

During police investigations into those three murders, a fourth body was discovered; that of Mary Flemming, a 30 year old who had originally come from Scotland.  She was found on 14 July 1964 in a street in Chiswick, the area in which police were currently concentrating their efforts to locate the killer.  Once again, paint spots were found on the body.

The police now began linking these killings with a murder some five years earlier.  21 year old Elizabeth Figg had been murdered by strangulation and her body had been discovered on 17 June 1959 near the Thames in Chiswick where Mary Flemming had been found.

It was a while before the fifth victim came to light.  21 year old Frances Brown was found in an alleyway in Kensington on 25 November 1964.  She’d last been seen alive on 23 October by a friend and fellow prostitute, Kim Taylor, who was able to provide an identikit picture of a man who had picked up Frances in a car that night and was even able to provide some information regarding the car in which she was picked up – either a Ford Zephyr or a Ford Zodiac.  At  long last the police had gained another thread of evidence to narrow down the identity of the killer.

The final victim it seemed was Bridget O’Hara who was found dead in a shed behind the Heron Trading Estate in Acton on 16 February 1965.  Her body showed signs of industrial paint and, as luck would have it, the paint was traced to a transformer just a few yards away from where Bridget’s body had been found.  Her body showed signs of having been stored away in a warm environment and the transformer would have been an ideal place to keep it.

The police now also linked the murders to that of Gwynneth Rees who had been found on a rubbish tip on 8 November 1963.  Her body had been close to the River Thames, she had been strangled and some of her teeth were missing.

The Investigation

The murderer managed to earn himself the nickname Jack the Stripper and CS John du Rose of Scotland Yard was put in charge of the investigation.  He and his team interviewed around 7,000 suspects, following which he held a news conference.  He initially announced that the police had narrowed down the list of suspects to 20 men and then, later, he announced the list had now been whittled down to 10 suspects.  Following that he made the announcement that it had been knocked back to three, but after the initial conference, it seemed Jack the Stripper dropped off the Richter scale and didn’t commit any more murders.

The Suspects

CS du Rose’s main suspect was Mungo Ireland.  He was described by du Rose as a Scottish security guard who was a respectable married man in his forties.  Ireland had, it seemed, been identified as a suspect not long after Bridget O’Hara’s murder when the flecks of industrial paint had been found along with the transformer.  As it happened, Ireland worked on the Heron Trading Estate and was the security guard at the company where the paint was located.  Unfortunately, before being able to make an arrest Ireland committed suicide.

However, recent research into the Jack the Stripper case has led to some evidence that places Ireland in Scotland at the time of Bridget’s murder.

So who else could be considered as a suspect?

Several years after Jack the Stripper hit the streets of London and the shores of the Thames, a multitude of writers took to the libraries and newspapers to try and get to the bottom of this spate of killings but most of the theories seemed to have discrepancies and wouldn’t have held water in a Court of law, but one of the most recent theories is that Harold Jones, who I wrote about in my article http://socyberty.com/crime/teenage-killers-harold-jones may well have been the murderer.

Harold Jones

Harold Jones was convicted of murdering two young girls back in 1921.  At that time, if Harold had been 16 he would have received the death sentence but, as he was just 15 at the time of conviction he was spared the hangman’s noose and, instead, received a life sentence.  Once imprisoned, he was assessed as having psychopathic tendencies and considered to be an exceedingly unbalanced and dangerous individual but, having served just 20 years of his sentence, in 1941 an application was made for parole, and despite it being argued that Harold was not fit for release, the application was granted.

So, at the age of 35, Harold found himself to be a free man.

It appears that, following release, he changed his name, and for a while disappeared totally off the radar, but Neil Milkins, a tree surgeon who suffered a spinal injury and lived in Harold Jones home town of Abertillery spent three years looking into this infamous Welshman, and thinks he may have traced a route from the Jack the Stripper murders back to this 1920s killer. 

Through his diligent, time consuming and pain staking research he has come up with compelling evidence to place Jones firmly on the list of suspects.

Neil Milkins ascertained that Harold Jones changed his name to Harry Stevens and in 1959 lived just a couple of streets away from the first confirmed victim, Hannah Tailford.

He then moved to Hammersmith – a couple of streets away from Frances Brown and Bridget O’Hara.

According to Neil’s research, forensic evidence showed that at least four of Jack the Stripper’s victims, following their untimely demise, seem to have been stored for a while before he decided to dispose of them.  This was the case with the two young girls he had murdered in 1921.

But the similarities didn’t stop there.  Harold Jones had taken handkerchiefs from the two girls in Abertillery as trophies; in the later killings, Jack the Stripper had taken teeth from his victims following their deaths.

None of the victims had undergone any sexual assaults.  It was understandable that the 15 year old boy may not have thought about sexually assaulting the two little girls in Wales but it seemed slightly more unusual for a man in his mid 50s to take prostitutes off the street and not take advantage of them – either dead or alive!  However, it came to light during Neil Milkins investigations that Harold Jones prison medical officer had reported that the only sexual gratification Jones needed was cruelty and killing.  This definitely fitted the bill with the 1960s victims.

Another “coincidence” was that, according to Neil’s research, Bridget, the last victim, actually went missing on 11 January 1965 which was Jones 58th birthday, although the body wasn’t discovered for about another month, presumably as it had been stored before being disposed of.  Could Bridget have been the icing on top of Jones birthday cake?

Certainly the murders seem to have stopped at this stage and Neil Milkins research indicates that Jones had spent time working as a caretaker, the same job as Kenneth Archibald who had confessed to the murders early in the killing spree, and then as a sheet metal worker so would have had easy and regular access to industrial spray paints, flecks of which had been found on the bodies of Jack the Stripper’s victims.

According to Neil, Harold Jones/Jack the Stripper had married and had a daughter.  He died in 1971 from a form of bone cancer and was seemingly buried in Plot 13, Hammersmith New Cemetery.

So has this amateur detective solved the case?

Professional Opinion

A professor of criminology, David Wilson, has confirmed that Neil’s research has certainly led to some damning evidence against Harold Jones and this has further been backed up by Professor Bernard Knight (CBE), a pathologist who was involved in the relatively recent and notorious UK serial killer case of Fred and Rose West.

We’ll probably never know whether Harold Jones was in fact the Hammersmith murderer, Jack the Stripper, but, to date, Neil Milkins seems to have supplied the most plausible culprit.

The park already has one of the darkest skies in the UK.

But keep the lights to see the night sky in all its glory is not as simple as lowering a switch. For starters, it’s a status. Park managers who become a nature reserve dark sky, but to achieve this recognition must be installed lighting controls in the area to prevent any light pollution.

For now already have an advantage. In his own words, the Brecon Beacons enjoy for years one of the most attractive night skies around the country, making it ideal for those who love to lose his eyes on the stars.

According to authorities, on a cloudless night people can see the Milky Way, many constellations, nebulae, bright and even meteor showers.

The intention now is to attract new tourists, but the fight against light pollution can not be carried out only inside the park. We need outside help.
background

In recent days there was a booklet goes into the local population to inform them how they can help or get involved in this project.

In explaining what it can do at home to avoid light pollution.

“We want people to know about this fantastic opportunity and we achieve the greatest possible support to achieve this status,” said Jim Wilson, director of the Brecon Beacons Park Society, adding:

“The lighting consultants will not visit anyone’s home without permission before losing follow, nor can we ask people to uninstall their lights. We will request that they be more careful in how they use them, which also going to help them pay less in energy bills. “

Wilson suggested some minor alterations that could make in their own words, a big difference, such as guiding lights down and not to heaven or to motion sensors to turn on the lights only when someone or something to light .

Brecon Beacons is not the only place in the UK who want darkness to see better, Exmoor National Park and the Isle of Sark last year achieved the status awarded by the Natural Dark Skies Association.

The Island also wants to be considered Bardsy nature reserve dark sky.
many beneficiaries

The expert in biodiversity in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Margaret Underwood, indicates that light pollution not only makes the observation of the sky, but life on earth.

“For most of our wildlife, the disruption caused by street lights and security lights have a major impact on their life cycles.”

“The bright worms, which in the past were a magical and very common to enjoy, now rarely can see them.”

For Underwood, “the project of dark skies is a chance for people, but also for wildlife, to enjoy the benefits of reduced light pollution.”

Image via Wikipedia

After escaping capture where he was held as a slave, St. Patrick turned to the missionary cause after claiming that God had spoken to him in a dream.  He realized that Christianity was the way forward for Ireland and taught Irish citizens about the Holy Trinity using only the clover leaf as a prop.  Thus the green clover (shamrock) became the internationally recognized symbol of Ireland.

The first ever St. Patricks’ Day Parade did not take place in Ireland, but in the United States, in 1762.  The immigrant population began to realize they had strength in numbers and the annual parade was intended not only to celebrate their nationality, but also as a response to the cruel treatments and lack of opportunities they were receiving.  Together, they began forming political groups, including the “green machine.”

St. Patricks’ birthplace is a mystery, but he was not a native to Ireland.  He was transported to Ireland to tend sheep in the Irish hills, where he spent seven years of his life.  March 17th is the anniversary of St. Patrick’s death in 461 A.D.  and several centuries passed before he had been  honored as the patron saint of the island.  There are accounts stating that he was born in Scotland, and reports arguing Wales is his birthplace, with the latter being more likely but still the evidence is inconclusive. 

Saint Paddy, as the nickname goes, did write an autobiography,“Confessio,” which documents most of his life from the age of 16, when he was taken from his family’s settlement.  He reports that he lived in a place called, Bannavem Taburniae, however,  no such a place exists today and there appears to be no records of this place name either.   Others have said that he was born in Dumbarton, Scotland.  Exasperated researchers have found no verification of Saint Patrick’s birthplace, and we can assume that the search will continue until an answer is found.

Arguably the modern festivities are less concerned with the social, political or religious elements, and more about getting together and having a good ol’ Irish knees-up!

Wherever you are in the world – enjoy the festivities, and don’t forget to put on your green!

Donnah Clark’s Triond Articles: 

http://www.triond.com/users/Donnah+Clark

Image via Wikipedia

What is the difference between English and British? Alternatively, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish?

All these countries make up the UK or United Kingdom. Britain or Great Britain is Wales, Scotland and England.
What is the difference?
Collectively we tend to be lumped together and referred to as the “Bridish” by the Americans – you have to stop doing that, it is annoying. Please pronounce it correctly – it is the strong “T”, not a D.
I hate to be termed as British; I find it disrespectful to my country’s heritage and my national pride. I am ENGLISH. There is nothing wrong with a little national pride as long as you do not overstep the mark and go all German.
That is not to say that times do not occur when I will accept that yes, I am British. There are four instances when I will accept that I am British.

During the Olympics.
During a time of war.
During Wimbledon when Scottish Andy Murray is doing well – As soon as he is out, back to English.
When referring to our past, because being English, we are not above claiming credit for what the Scots or Welsh may have achieved.

Living on an island with Scotland and Wales has been tense in the past, we have had our skirmishes. I like to think that we have moved on. There is still a little dislike. The Scots do not like us and the Welsh aren’t over keen. If you want to know what the Irish think – Google it, but we don’t care because we don’t really like ourselves. The English frown upon success. We prefer the plucky underdog or the eccentric.
As English, we are a little discriminated within the Union. Scotland has its own parliament and Wales and Northern Ireland have their own assemblies. England does not. A United Kingdom government rules us. There is nowhere that addresses English only issues… Moreover, this stinks. This discrimination affects funding for English education and health costs.
Wales, Scotland and the Northern Irish all celebrate their national or saints day – The English do not. We are discouraged from flying English flags or celebrating our English past on St. George’s day. Another thing that is frowned upon in England – to be proud to be English.
I like being English, we may have a crap football team and a dodgy history, but I like it. I have always felt English before British. I am sure that Scots, Welsh and the Irish feel the same.

If you really want to piss me off, call me European

MISS MARY’S RAMBLING NEWS

Hello my dear friends in news paper land. I hope all of you have had
better news than I have gotten this week. It seems a very dear lady at
the Senior Center has become very ill.
Her name is Isa Deaton. Please pray for her. She is an awesome Lady.

The other bad news I got was about my dear friend Mam over in Wales. It
seems she started to deteriorate and was sent back to the regular
hospital where they are trying to build up her strength. But she is very

frail. I know there are people out there who will pray for her. She too
is an awesome lady.

On Tuesday several Seniors brought bakery goods and home made candy to
the center and some of the workers took trays of it out to sell as part
of a fund raiser for the center. I guess finances are getting bad and we

must do some fund raisers.

We are selling chances on a beautiful Valentine basket from now till
February 13th. That way the winner can give it to their significant
other for Valentines day. The chances are one dollar each or six chances

for five dollars.

The Basket is filled with a Twenty Five dollar Visa gift card, Twenty
dollar dinner certificate for two at El Cancun, beautiful plush
Valentine Dog, bottle of Victoria’s Secret Perfume, Bottle of Sparkling
Grape juice with two Fancy Wine Glasses, Heart shaped box of Chocolates
plus lots of assorted small Valentine Candies, a Valentine DVD called
(P.S. I love you) , A candle Berry Candle, Heart shaped Figurine, Heart
Tart Burner, Valentine Plaque, Valentine Balloon and last but not least
a certificate from The Touch of Grace for a Half Dozen Roses. The
contents of this beautiful Basket amounts to a minimum total of One
Hundred Twenty Dollars.

It would make one great gift for a special lady or several smaller gifts

for other special girls in your life. Please buy some tickets or perhaps

talk your friends into buying some. We would appreciate it so very much.

We are having an indoor yard and bake sale the first week of April. If
anyone has anything they would like to donate please drop it off between

8am and 1pm Monday through Friday at the Senior Center behind the court
house. Large or small it will be welcome.

My little sister Laverne called me a couple of times this past week. She

really isn’t doing well. She has Heart problems, Pancreas problems and
something wrong with her arms. They swell up so bad she can not close
her hands. Just trying to open her door causes her such pain she can
hardly stand it. I worry so much about her. I am still asking for
prayers from all who wish to pray for her.

On Thursday we had music at the Center. It was the John and Ellis
singers. They consist of John Wireman and Ellis Linkous with their guest

Wanda Linkous, Who recently got a new Autoharp. Man can she ever play
that thing. Earl and Sonya Patton, Marjorie Baily, Viola Brewer and Bob
Peck. It was a great morning of music and singing. Followed by a
delicious lunch.  

On Friday we played candy bar bingo. There was a nice assortment of
candy bars not that we really need the candy but we all really enjoyed
playing bingo, and the candy was a nice treat. We also had two games of
rook going at one time after the bingo was over.

We got two nice size tables just for playing rook on. Plus we got a
beautiful wrought iron table and four matching chairs to go on our front

porch. They look great. We also got beautiful table cloths to cover all
our dining tables.

It was really nice to see Mr Ed Yager back at the center on Friday. He
was absent for several days and we were worried about him. He said he
had been sick but was feeling better today.

Pearly Stacy was finally back in the Center on Friday as well. She had
been absent for quite a while. She said she had been very sick. Then on
Monday she came in with a badly bruised and scratched face. Seems on
Sunday as she and her hubby were leaving home she fell in the drive way
right on her face.

Last week Haroletta came into the Center to see us. It was so funny
because all morning I kept calling Dena, Haroletta. She had her daughter

and the two little ones with her. It was so good to see all of them. We
love Dena but we still love Haroletta too. They are two wonderful young
ladies

Kenneth Hatton has been working on the exercise equipment we have at the

center. Dena hopes to get some exercise classes started. If any of you
have any equipment that you would like to donate we would be happy to
accept it.

Bob and I went to play bingo in Winchester Sunday. Of course we did not
win. But it was Bob’s 75th. birthday and we had fun. Bob got lots of
Cards, phone calls and best wishes. I hope we can do the same thing when

I turn 75.

It sure has been raining a lot for the past week. But that is so much
better than snow. Anytime the temp is above 40 degrees I am happy. At
least I don’t have to worry about sliding on the ice.

Everyone take care, Be safe and be happy till we meet again right here
next week. May God bless us all. Mary Peck 668-7907

So now Britain is pulling away from Europe in a way that some parts of our nation may not appreciate, what future Britain? What of Scotland, already nationalist drums call longingly for Independence. Closer European ties offer a perfect environment for there national ambitions to flourish within the wider family of Europe.

I respect nationalists, The Scottish and my locals the Welsh. They want and will get more say in there independent futures. I personally don’t fit any nationalist requirements, being half Scottish half English by birth, and having half Welsh children, I feel British to my very core and will do whatever our independent political futures holds.

Will Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales vote for European membership rather than continuing within the United Kingdom? Is it possible the unthinkable could happen? Could the death bell be ringing for the trusty old United Kingdom? Oh I am sure the new independent nations would thrive and live on together happily enough, but I truly feel, if Great Britain in her current form where to pass away, we will have lost a very dear, much loved, irreplaceable friend. 

So I say this, long live the Queen and long live our beloved United Kingdom.

The 42 year-old Wales boss and former Everton, Leeds, Bolton and Newcastle midfielder was found dead in his home today (27th November). It is thought he hanged himself and The Football Association of Wales have confirmed his death and said that his family had authorised the release of the information. According to the police, there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Many footballers and fans have been paying their respects on his twitter page and Robbie Savage wrote: “He was upbeat on phone yesterday we were laughing together , talking football and dancing he was a great teammate and a great friend #RIP.”

RIP Gary Speed.

Death rates from both diseases was higher in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The risk of death from heart disease, stroke, and 10 types of cancers thought to be related to poor diet in all three areas. According to research, if the way people eat British-style applied, it’s not impossible about 30 thousand people a year could be saved.

The experts said this study is not designed to favor the privilege of eating the way British people and not for the English diet is considered very healthy. The final goal of research is very simple, namely the English type of diet was chosen because it is easy to follow everywhere.

“The main dietary factor that differentiates (high-low) mortality rates are the elements of fruit and vegetables,” said lead researcher Dr. Peter Scarborough.

“Consumption of fruits and vegetables in Scotland about 12 percent lower than in England. Similarly, consumption of fruits and vegetables in Northern Ireland about 20 percent lower. The level of consumption in Wales is similar to these numbers. Another important factor is the consumption of salt and fat saturated, which is lower in the UK, but higher in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, “explains Peter.

The researchers believe, one surefire efforts to reduce the death rate due to danger of the types of food it is to implement a food tax. Denmark for example, has imposed the tax for food high in saturated fat. A number of other countries began to consider a similar idea to the product of soft drinks or high-calorie foods