Oy Richard don't get carried away. Quite a lot of countries got democracy before we did even if Greece doesn't count- women didn't get the vote here till the 1920s. And American football, rugby and soccer (and all-in wrestling, D-Day and sado- masochistic orgies) are all weedy watered down versions of Shrovetide football.

Some more British values:

Fry's 5 boys chocolate
Paddling in the sea with trousers rolled up
Knotted hankies on the head on the beach
Wait half an hour, then three turn up at once
Bank holiday traffic jams
Fighting at the January sales
Curry powder
Buying rounds
Mispronouncing Welsh placenames
Rainy bank holidays
Allotment sheds
Pigeon racing
Whippets in flat caps and mufflers
Mutually incomprehensible dialects changing every 5 miles
Curlers and fags
Scrambling to get the washing in when the rain starts
Parodies of God Save The Queen
Resurfacing a road then digging it up a month later
Milk on the doorstep