Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England episode 302 England's Garland.

Now to all of you lot this is just another week, just another blessed podcast you're going to have to wade your way through.

But for me I have to tell you it's the first bit of recording I have done for two months while I have dealt with medical matters,

so it feels very good to be back. I have a few episodes pre-written before all that medical stuff,

so I'm hopeful there will not be a hiatus while I return to full strength.

But I am for example still wearing a blanket on my knees while I watch Tully, so it is a bit of a possibility.

Now let me start by talking about my mate Roy Field, you know of the things that made England fame,

and his podcast, Ten American Presidents. It's an audio documentary on the ten pivotal

presidences in America's history. Each episode features contemporary audio clips and new spade

reports to enrich the narration which is provided by an expert on that presidency. Each show

is an immersive dive not only into the life of that president but of the time in which he lived,

as well as fascinating aspects of each presidency such as how the presidency has affected

American English, impeachment or speech writing. So check it out, Ten American Presidents with Roy

Field Brown on a podcast near you also. At the end of this podcast after I've signed off,

you will find a brief trailer from Roy Field so you can find out more and get a flavor.

Now over the last few episodes we've covered the halting start of England's international trade

with distinct focus on Africa. That leaves us with one more topic to cover. I speak of the senior

service. And I know I do not refer to the delicious navy cut brand of untipped cigarettes of

which I used to partake behind the bike sheds of Loughborough all those years ago. I refer in fact

to the English navy. Because we can now begin to refer to the Royal Navy or the Navy Royal,

as I will explain in some exhaustive and possibly reasonably dull detail for the rest of the episode.

And I might start with a frankly discontentious discussion of why the navy is referred to as the

...