Anglophile in Exile: My Anglophile Story

By the time I was in middle school, I was a self-proclaimed Anglophile. My love for all things British developed out of an introduction to The Beatles and Sherlock Holmes, both of which I am still greatly passionate. On whim, I picked up a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories when I was in the fifth grade. I have no idea why, but I do remember the bookstore owner telling me these stories were “too old for me.” I quickly fell into the world of crime sleuthing and Victorian England. At the same time, PBS was showing the Jeremy Brett Holmes series which I equally loved. If there was some way I could work Sherlock Holmes into a project at school, I did. 

As for the music, like many people of my generation, my mother introduced me to Beatlemania. Soon after countless listens to their albums, The Beatles Anthology was shown that Thanksgiving. Through The Beatles’s music I began to explore other British artists and music, and discovered the likes of The Kinks, The Who, and then later Oasis, Robbie Williams, Radiohead and Coldplay.

To this day a majority of the music I listen to and read about are from the UK and I am known to listen to Radio 1 & 2.  I find British music to be more adventurous and creative, even though in the beginning they were simply building off of American rock’n roll and blues. It stirs me more than many American music that I hear today. 

My first trip to London was at the end of middle school (I progressed quickly!) when I won a Beatles radio contest. It was a life changing trip that included visits to 221B Baker Street and my own tour of Abbey Road Studios (part of winning the contest).

That trip confirmed my love of all things British and opened my eyes to the history (which I specialized in at university), comedy, television and movies. Since then, I have been back twice, including last year where I started in Liverpool then to Wales to London, then up to Ely/Cambridge/Norfolk area. It is a dream of mine to go to one of the many summer festivals, namely Glastonbury.

Maybe this year is the year?