Offering a warm, amusing, and largely anecdotal commentary on modern England, Colin Irwin seeks out the traditional events, festivals and gigs that are becoming increasingly sidelined in our rapidly changing era of instant communication, multi-culturalism and Pop Idol. During his travels, Irwin drinks with eccentrics, sings with strangers and visits a succession of seriously bizarre events and rituals, such as a concert in Dartmoor Prison, sedan-chair racing in Lancaster, people flying in Bognor, and swimming in the Serpentine on Christmas Day. He discovers that there's an increasing tendency for communities to look inwardly at their own heritage, and while the old ways may be in hiding, they still thrive.