Suddenly it's good to be British!

Good reasons for being British today

The Olympics 2008

Crikey who would have thought it? Ever the pessimist, Britain is actually doing rather well - no lets rephrase that 'Bloody brilliantly'. How many medals - 4 golds and 2 silvers today - but hey who's counting now? Once the gold-ometer shot past the magic number of 15 (Antwerp, 1920), there seemed little point. Excluding London in 1908, when the Games dragged on for six months and Britain provided half of the competitors and 56 golds, Beijing is our most successful Olympics.

Spare a thought for Sebastian Coe. The chairman of the London Organising Committee stood in front of the podium for the women's 400 metres medal ceremony with a look on his face that said: 'How do I follow this?' At opening ceromony I turned round to my husband and said ' There is no way on Earth the London Olympics are going to be anywhere near as awesome as this!'
Behind him with a gold number 16 around her neck was Christine Ohuruogu, born and bred not a mile from the Stratford nucleus of 2012. A delicious omen, not a burden, we hope.
In the weeks leading up to Beijing, officials at Team GB downgraded medal expectations from 40-plus to 35. When Ohuruogu left the stadium, the total had hit 33. Five days of competition remain. Who knows where this will end?
In Atlanta only 12 years ago, Sirs Redgrave and Pinsent won Britain's only gold of the Games. Now the world is a different place. The iron curtain has gone, taking the Soviet Union and all her medals with it. Russia languishes on a mere ten gold medals. Who'd have thought it, Britain thrashing the Kremlin? So at long last we can stand tall and be proud of our Olympic success.

Not only as a nation are we basking in the glory of Olympic success we are suddenly and rather unexpectedly basking in glorious bright sunshine, a delight we now as a nation fear has abandoned our shores and is just as likely as any success in Beijing ! There is nothing greater than England on a summer's day with a gentle breeze rustling through the trees and hedgerows, lifting the soul of the land, the grass every shade of lustrous green rippling softly under the gaze of the sun overhead in the cornflour blue hue of the sky. And there is nowhere better than gazing across Dartmoor, taking in this spectacular panoramic view from the perimeters of your luxury four star self-catering cottage and fishing here in South Devon at Newbarn Farm. Probably one of the best fishing in Devon locations and one of the best Devon Fishing Holiday to be had in the South West.