Marking 70 years of The Queen’s reign in the United Kingdom, and to kick off the bank holiday celebrations on Thursday 2nd June, a couple of roads were closed to traffic for a street party near by so we decided to pop along, enjoy a cup of tea and slice of cake to celebrate this momentous occasion.
There were activities and entertainment from 12 noon until 9:45pm. We all decided a few days before that we were going to dress up for the occasion.
As we live so close to the street party we headed out early to get a feel for what was happening. There was already a buzz about the place with some people already set up in the middle of the road, with flags and custom made head gear, all cheering and have a jolly good time. The news crews were out and about too and we got asked to do an interview for BBC local television, which aired later on that day (and sure enough we were on TV in the evening). The weather on the day could not have been better, sunny and warm with a light breeze.
The first activity that brought in the crowds was a local arts and crafts shop that had a put on a kids club. There was a bit of karaoke (Disney’s Frozen of course) which the kids all joined in singing and there was a bit of clay painting (Corgi’s and crowns), face painting, drawing and a treasure hunt.
At bang-on midday, the bell in the tower of the town hall sounded and the mayor appeared to open the proceedings and to judge the fancy dress competition. There were not very many people dressed up but enough with first prize given to a family which had dresses up as the suffragettes and second prize going to another family dressed up as The Spice Girls.
With the formalities over it was time for a beer and a bit of cake. All the shops were open and were serving food and drinks from the front of their shops. The stage outside the town hall had music and dancing all day. The atmosphere was just magical and was all about celebrating with the queen. Everyone was jovial and in great spirits. We met some interesting people on the day, some of whom sat with us for a few hours before moving on.
A great way to start a four day weekend of celebration.
