The Great British Reservation

Reservation

We are an off-shore island; an island people, proud of our sustainability through the ages, in this cold and wretched climate of damp but fertile land, one that has stood the test of time through its ancient rites of passage. Reservation is our language and our inner defence, it is the key to survival.

Reservation is our state of unease caused by the vulnerability of our position, an island bounded on all sides by oceans, with beaches upon which the enemy once landed in both ancient times and modern; The North Atlantic Ocean, The North Sea, The English Channel, The Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea, these waters all circulate our coastline with their sometimes calm waters, suggesting the allure of trust, and tranquility, that can easily mislead and has brought many to misjudge.  Like the sea that can quickly darken into the fierceness of storm and turbulence, do not mistake the still waters of the English, as still waters run deep.

Reservation is our tool, it is one of self-protection, a sense of unease and skepticism at what lies beyond. It is a holding back or withholding of information, a weapon for quiet defence that allows for the art of negotiation, proving that a relationship is worthy of trust, before that barrier of doubt can gently be removed.  But don’t forget that it can just as quickly be put firmly back in place, never to be removed again.

For generation upon generation these islanders have stored in their genes the truth: that when you have nothing to lose you can afford to take great risks without fear, and without the need for reservation, but if you keep nothing in reservation, then you have already lost the game.