No man's land

Is it only me…but whose responsibility is this bit?

Last weekend I headed north and back to the Motherland. Or is it the Fatherland? Now there’s an interesting question, why are some countries Motherlands and others, Fatherlands? Just thought I would ask.

But I digress.

Now it has always been my belief that England and Scotland are contiguous nations, sharing a common border. And I am sure that this thought will be your belief too. Look on any map and lo you will find that Scotland and England are joined at the hip, placed by an accident of geography right slap bang next door to one another and not even independence is going to change that.

And so you can imagine my surprise when heading up the M6 to discover that the English border sign is a good three hundred yards away from that which marks the border with Scotland. In other words there is a strip of land that lies between the two signs that is neither Scottish nor English. To whom does this strip of land belong?

I find this quite intriguing. Don’t you? And if you don’t believe me, next time you drive up the M6 and just before you cross into Scotland squint your neck round and look behind you to see the England Border Post and then look ahead to see where the Scotland Border Crossing is. I would love to know if this strip of no man’s land runs right across the border.

Now I knew that there was a certain amount of antagonism between the tribes to the north and those who have the misfortune to be based to the south of Hadrian’s Wall but I never realised that the state of affairs had grown so serious as to need a buffer zone between them, a kind of de-militarized zone like you find in the Korean peninsula.

Now maybe it’s only me but this throws up all sorts of questions.

If you live there what nationality are you?

Who governs you?

What will happen if and when Scotland rises and becomes a nation again? Are you Scottish or English? Or maybe you are Scotengland?

What would happen if oil is found in this strip? To whom would it belong?

And the biggest question of all, when England are playing Argentina, whom do you support? The answer to this is always a dead giveaway.

Now I am sure that the politicians, constitutional lawyers and even the UN have looked into this and have it covered off, but it is a fascinating question never the less.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.