Where does WAB include ?

[Jonny]

Reading and commenting on the end of the Tshirt / car sticker thread, I was wondering, what are the boundarys of WAB. Does it just include the mainland, or does it stretch as far as the channel islands, or even as far as the fauklands. I should imagine it does not cover the whole commonwealth, or does it. As we are part of the EU, should it not be WAE................Jon

[Gill Catton]

Oooh that's a can of worms!!!.....

[eeyore]

Definitively the term Britain includes the mainland, ulster, the ilses of Scilly, the western Isles, Orkney, and Shetland. The isle of Man and the Channel islands are generally considered to be british but are in fact protectorates with a limited degree of home rule ( such as different tax laws etc.) The Falklands, and sundry small islands in the pacific and caribean also fall into this category.

The Commonwealth countries are largely those bits of the "empire" which devolved via a planned process - these generally feature the union jack on their flags (but not always, vis canada). However these are not considered part of Britain.

The term British isles is geographical not pollitical and includes all the local islands including the channel islands, and is generally considered to also include Eire.

Its an interesting question but one which also invites a lot of political debate and high feelings, which I'm not sure belongs on here.

[Jonny]

Nice one Eeyore...........I think you said that well.................Jon

[Alan]

Hey that eeyore's not just a pretty face..........it's either that or he's been on the Encyclopædia Britannica website

[wildone]

Just done a Google and the Queen is "hereditary head of state for Great Britain and Northern Ireland" which suggests that Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom but not of Britain. Sorry to the folks of Northern Ireland.

[Boddie]

I Dont Understand Where This Thread Is Going. It Is A Completely Uneccesary Question That Invites Political Discussion. I Would Ask That It Be Deleted

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Boddie

I Dont Understand Where This Thread Is Going. It Is A Completely Uneccesary Question That Invites Political Discussion. I Would Ask That It Be Deleted

Well I am sorry to upset you Boddie. I was just wondering if someone from say Jersey would be welcomed here. You are allright sitting there in the mainland, but what about others in far flung places wanting to join in...............Jon

[Boddie]

As far as I can see we have members from Germany and France and are not omitting any members. I just dont understand the Falklands and Europe comments.

I echo the comments of Eeyore

The term British isles is geographical not pollitical and includes all the local islands including the channel islands, and is generally considered to also include Eire.

Its an interesting question but one which also invites a lot of political debate and high feelings, which I'm not sure belongs on here.

End of

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Boddie

I Dont Understand Where This Thread Is Going. It Is A Completely Uneccesary Question That Invites Political Discussion. I Would Ask That It Be Deleted

I would think that anyone from anywhere would be welcome on here if they have an interest in the kind of wildlife found in britain.

However although I am sure your intent was innocent jonny, I agree with boddie that this has many political ramifications that could get out of hand very quickly, and invite D.O.S attacks on the site,

So I too would ask that it be deleted.

[Jonny]

Well first let me say, I am feeling really hurt now, it was asked in innocence, I am not into political stuff, I am into wildlife, and so are many people that do not live on the mainland, why should they be left out.
Also, is it ok to start a thread on cloggs, what is that to do with wildlife. I am sorry for that Boddie, but you really cut me with that remark..................Jon

[Alan]

An innocent enough thread if you ask me. If you don't want to discuss the subject why post on it!

[Jonny]

If it gets out of hand then it would of been dealt with by the mods, thats what they do. I think it has got out of hand now though because its not been taken the way in which I meant it too and a lot of bad feeling has now started. Please delete this mods, incase I say something I might regret...............Jon

[Boddie]

The post on clogs is part of the community and became very popular, as are most of the community posts. I am sure you contributed to the clogs thread? You may have noticed that the treehouse is one of the most popular categories and caters for non-wildlife subjects?

It was not an attack on you Jonny. I just did not like the way the thread was going and the possible ramifications.

I dont believe the name of the site excludes anyone and I am perplexed by the implication that it might

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Jonny

Well first let me say, I am feeling really hurt now, it was asked in innocence, I am not into political stuff, I am into wildlife, and so are many people that do not live on the mainland, why should they be left out.
Also, is it ok to start a thread on cloggs, what is that to do with wildlife. I am sorry for that Boddie, but you really cut me with that remark..................Jon

Jonny, I have no doubt at all that your intent was entirely innocent, and as I said above I strongly feel that people from anywhere should be welcome on here.

However what I fear, and I would suspect that boddie has the same reservations is that if we start openly discussing whether certain pieces of land belong to britain or not we might get some very strong views expressed and the situation get quickly out of hand.

Another forum I used to go on made the mistake of going down this road and after a while they started getting denial of service attacks on their server, eventually causing them to have to rehost and change their URL at great expense and inconvenience.

I know this was not your intention and no offence to you is intended in anything I have said here, I also recognise that I am not a Mod and if our Mods feel that this thread is okay then I trust their judgement.

Just to reitterate I never intended to hurt your feelings and am deeply sorry if I did so, the only reason I posted what I did was out of concern for WAB.

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Boddie

The post on clogs is part of the community and became very popular, as are most of the community posts. I am sure you contributed to the clogs thread? You may have noticed that the treehouse is one of the most popular categories and caters for non-wildlife subjects?

It was not an attack on you Jonny. I just did not like the way the thread was going and the possible ramifications.

I dont believe the name of the site excludes anyone and I am perplexed by the implication that it might

Well then, you should of not posted on then Boddie, that way you would not of really upset me big time. Its not your oh i have had enough of this

[StuartDH]

Hi Jonny,

It's a fair question, but as Boddie will know from the early days of WAB, it's a very political subject and many people have been fighting (literally) over what is or isn't UK, GB, British Isles etc for hundreds of years.

In the past we've had some very strong posts and PMs from people all over the UK and beyond debating the politics of the map. We've had people tell us that they want a seperate category in the gallery for their island, as they don't fit into any of the other groups, and obviously the political divide in Ireland will always cause some very strong feelings.

For the most part, Wild About Britain covers Great Britain, which is the mainland of England, Scotland and Wales, together with the adjacent islands. However, as WAB is all about wildlife, and wildlife doesn't have any political boundaries, we also extend our coverage to the larger non-political geographical group of the British Isles - the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe. This includes the UK, Ireland and the surrounding Islands of the ilses of Scilly, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, Lundy, the Isle of Man, the Channel islands etc. As a result, this doesn't include the rest to Europe, the commonwealth countries or the Falkland Islands etc.

Obviously, while the charity and this website focus on the above areas, the site can be used by everyone around the world who has an interest in the wildlife of the British Isles.

Stuart