Every now and then I fell old. No really old. The latest occasion was whilst watching this short by the always watchable J.Draper. The purpose of the short is to quickly explain how money was denominated in the Victorian period. It is, as usual, a well put together short apart from one point. She talks about this as though it was something from the dim and distant past. How crazy was the money back then! Only problem is it wasn’t from the distant past but my childhood. Apart from the farthing this was the system I was taught and used! I am not a Victorian!

This started me thinking. How would I describe the period I have lived through? I suspect in generations time it may well be called Post Colonial. We were the first generation where there wasn’t anything left of the British Empire. We now live in a period where the world is trying to make sense of a shape and order created by the this empire. I think the best spin you can put on it is that there are some teething problems! (Ed. Note: example of British understatement!)

Of course one of the many problems facing modern Britain is dealing with this Imperial legacy. I think it is reasonable to describe that as also having teething problems! Perhaps in a hundred years, when we are all no more, people will look back on this time. They may wonder what it was all about. Or perhaps they might be cursing us for leaving them with a world significantly less benign than the one we grew up in. I hope it is the former. I’m far from sure about that!