Here we go again. Come on England!

Well there's about ten minutes to go before kick off in the England versus Algeria game.

Once again, the magners is chilled, the ice is ready and I've developed a respectable thirst.

Here's to a better performance than last Saturday evening and a much needed morale boosting win.

Come on England!

Inebriation permitting, I'll be back after the game with an update...

Update 9.30pm

Very disappointing, I'm afraid. Let's be honest with ourselves, we weren't good enough - and nor did we deserve - to beat Algeria, did we.

Oh dear. Not a very happy birthday for Fabio, all in all...

And you, good yeoman, whose limbs were made in England...

May I take this opportunity to wish all my fellow Englishmen and women a very happy St George's Day. But in addition, it is also the anniversary of both the birth and death of perhaps the greatest Englishman who ever lived: William Shakespeare. And so, in tribute to him, I hope you enjoy this small section of the speech made by Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt:

And you, good yeoman

Whose limbs were made in England, show us here

The mettle of your pasture; let us swear

That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;

For there is none of you so mean and base,

That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,

Straining upon the start.

The game's afoot:

Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

Majestic.

As you might expect, I'm going to celebrate in my usual way later on, so before I do, here are two more appropriately English-themed poems by the great GK Chesterton for you to enjoy:

The Englishman

St George he was for England.
And before he killed the dragon
He drank a pint of English ale
Out of an English flagon.
For though he fast right readily
In hair-shirt or in mail.
It isn't safe to give him cakes
Unless you give him ale.

St George he was for England,
And right gallantly set free
The lady left for dragon's meat
And tied up to a tree;
But since he stood for England
And knew what England means,
Unless you give him bacon
You mustn't give him beans.

St George he is for England,
And shall wear the shield he wore
When we go out in armour
With the battle-cross before.
But though he is jolly company
And very pleased to dine,
It isn't safe to give him nuts
Unless you give him wine.

Or, quite appropriately and pointedly as the General Election looms...

Elegy in a Country Churchyard

THE men that worked for England
They have their graves at home:
And birds and bees of England
About the cross can roam.

But they that fought for England,
Following a falling star,
Alas, alas for England
They have their graves afar.

And they that rule in England,
In stately conclave met,
Alas, alas for England
They have no graves as yet.

St George he was for England...

This photograph depicts part of King Street in Whalley, which, as you can see, has been liberally decked out with the Cross of St George in anticipation of their celebration of our patron saint's day next Friday.

In point of fact, every business premises on the road was sporting our national flag, creating a parade of red and white about a quarter of a mile long.

Looks like the people of Whalley intend to take their St George's Day celebrations seriously this year; not too strenuous a proposition even for the most athletically challenged, given that there are four pubs within a fifty-yard radius of the spot from which I took this shot, alarming the two men in it in the process, I suspect...

St George he was for England...

My regular reader will not be surprised to see me expressing my delight that the people of Darwen, a small market town in Lancashire (for the geographers and town planners amongst you, a classic example of ribbon-development) have decided to hold a week-long celebration to mark St George’s Day on and around 23rd April this year.

Here’s hoping that other towns and cities decide to do likewise and follow the example set by my fellow Lancastrians.

Dramatic England...

Having posted a picture of the Cross of St George flying from the illuminated inner keep of Clitheroe Castle a few months ago, I doubted that I would ever find a better image of our national flag, hence the absence of any further photos in what was, until that point, a short series of such shots.

I still think that shot is the best one I'll ever take, but the one which appears to the left runs it a very worthy second, even though this photo hardly does it justice.

As regular Thronistas may have gathered, I took it on my mobile as it dominated the skyline above the town of Settle in North Yorkshire.

In point of fact, stood at the vantage point from which I took this shot, I was spoilt for choice in terms of the sheer number of English flags I could see flying fom shops and other buildings in what is a very pleasant, old fashioned, and highly presentable English town.

Commendable.

Of course the most important one I can possibly imagine taking will be of the CoSG flying above the Palace of Westminster.

I'm really looking forward to taking that one...

Awe-inspiring England...

Regular visitors to the Throne will have noticed that I have recently begun posting pictures of the Cross of St George being flown that I stumble across on my travels around Lancashire.

The one depicted to the left was flying from the flag pole on top of the illuminated inner keep at Clitheroe Castle late last night. Whilst the photograph in question, taken on my mobile phone, doesn't really do the view justice - please believe me when I say it was a truly marvellous, indeed awe-inspiring, sight.

I suspect that I will struggle to find a better, or more fitting background for our flag, no matter how hard, or for how long I try...

Meanwhile the one flying from the top of RibbleValley Council offices that I posted about a couple of weeks ago has been removed. Let's hope it only a temporary absence.

Unexpected England...

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have already seen that the rather unprepossessing building pictured to the left of this post is the headquarters of Ribble Valley Borough Council, in Clitheroe.

Unprepossessing it might be, but just take a look at the flag billowing uncontrollably from the top of the flag pole in the late March gales.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, it is the Cross of St George. And for those of you thinking that its presence is a one-off affectation, never to be repeated again, let me reassure you that the English flag flies from that pole on a regular, if not daily, basis.

How refreshing to see a borough council (mine, as it happens) prepared to fly our nation's flag; and what a stark and welcome contrast to the attitude of the many that dishonestly refuse to do so on the basis that it is a 'racist' symbol.

It almost makes me happy to pay my council tax... Almost.