Our everyday British genius

FISH AND CHIPS

The first fish and chip shop opened in 1860, and fish and chips quickly became the unrivalled British takeaway - the first fast food to be offered in this country and one of a small number of foods not to be rationed during the Second World War. By the Thirties there were 35,000 fish and chip shops in the UK.

Today even though the number has fallen to 10,000 outlets, they still sell almost a quarter of all the white fish consumed in the UK and a tenth of all potatoes.

MARMITE

The name comes from the French word marmite, meaning a large cooking pot, which is illustrated on the label. Made from yeast extract, Marmite is a by-product of beer brewing and so the first plant was sited alongside the Bass Brewery in Burton on Trent. Introduced in 1902, it was so popular that, just five years later, the then familyowned company opened a further plant in London.

Because of its distinctive strong flavour people tend either to love or hate Marmite and the manufacturers have exploited its ability to polarise opinion by running marketing campaigns that play on the "love it or hate it" theme. It is now so entrenched in British life that the word Marmite is used generally to describe anything people either love or hate.

WELLINGTON BOOTS

The Wellington boot, often known as a "welly" or gumboot, was originally made of leather and popularised by the famous British military leader Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington.

Known as the Iron Duke, Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, wanted a boot that would be hard wearing for battle, yet comfortable if worn in the evening, and he instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St James's Street in London, to create a long, tight-fitting boot that would meet his requirements. Wellington boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to copy their war hero.

The best-known British brand of Wellington boot is Hunter who make their wellies from rubber, which is now the norm rather than leather, and were awarded a Royal Warrant in 1976.

POSTAGE STAMP

Around the same time that Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 an Englishman called Sir Rowland Hill produced a document entitled Post Office Reform: Its Importance And Practicability. In it he suggested that postage should be paid by the sender and not the recipient, as had been customary, and that a postage stamp which would cost the same, regardless of distance travelled, should be introduced. So in May 1840 the first adhesive stamp, known as the Penny Black, arrived in Britain. A year later it was replaced by the Penny Red, the change of colour making it easier to see when a stamp had been cancelled.

It became the first perforated stamp - until then the stamps had to be cut from a printed sheet using scissors.

Every British stamp since the first Penny Black has borne the head of the reigning monarch, always in Every British stamp since the first Penny Black has borne the head of the reigning monarch, always in profile with each king or queen facing the opposite way from his or her predecessor. As these were the very first stamps anywhere, no one thought to put the name of the country on British stamps and to this day Britain remains the only country not to carry its name on its stamps.

THE MINI

The Mini is one of those rare products that has evolved over time from functional workhorse to fashion icon.

It was designed in the late Fifties by the British Motor Corporation as a practical, fuel-efficient family car and was revolutionary because its transverse engine, four-wheel drive layout left plenty of space for four passengers with luggage in a car just three metres long.

Although initially sales were slow, by the early Sixties the Mini became associated with the swinging London fashion and music scene after a number of celebrities, including actor Peter Sellers and The Beatles were seen driving the car. In production for more than 40 years, almost 5.5million cars have been sold and many of its distinctive features have been carried on in the new Mini, launched in 2001. Now owned by the German company BMW, it is still built in Britain and is exported all over the world.

RAILWAY STATION SIGN

The arrow design was created in 1965 as a logo for British Rail, the nationalised system at that time. Even though British Rail was broken up in the Nineties and is now operated by separate companies, the logo, designed by graphic designer Gerald Burney remains. One reason for its continued use is that it is a simple and elegant representation of the railway system - parallel lines evoking the railway tracks and two interlocking arrows representing trains passing one another, one heading east, the other west.

RED PILLAR BOX

The red pillar box is one of the most enduring everyday designs on our streets. The first ones were installed in the Channel Islands in 1852 and were soon adopted across mainland Britain.

Before that time anyone wanting to post a letter would have had to take it to a special receiving house or post office. There have been a number of different designs over the years - some square, some with six or eight sides, some oval - but the most common, the National Standard Design is cylindrical with a domed top. Attempts to modernise the design in the Sixties were not well received by the public and most were withdrawn, leaving the older designs in place.

DECK CHAIR

Constructed from a few pieces of wood, a straight length of fabric and a handful of fastenings the deck chair is a masterpiece of elegant design, simple in concept, cheap to make and comfortable to sit on. Folding chairs were recorded in Egyptian times but it was in the late 19th century that the modern deck chair became popular, John Thomas Moore patented his design for a folding chair in 1886.

As the name suggests it was popular for sitting out on the deck of an ocean liner as it transported its passengers to various parts of the then flourishing British Empire. Its popularity peaked with the heyday of the British seaside holiday - up to the Fifties - before people started going abroad to find more reliable sunshine.

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