The weather today was awful. I couldn't decide wherther or not to go into London and try to see the Pageant, but I knew I would regret not making the effort. I put on the waterproofs and some warm clothing and off I went. The atmosphere in town was fantastic. Despite the weather everyone was in a good mood.
All the church bells were ringing which was something I had never heard before. I managed to find a spot with a view of the river which was not easy as I had dithered so much about whether or not to go that it was almost 12 o'clock by the time I found somewhere to stand. I then had over 3 hours to wait but once I got chatting to people around me it wasn't too bad. You heard the flotilla before you saw it as the first boat was the one carrying and ringing the Jubilee bells Then the first boats came into sight - magical. This first one had golden ropes to ring the bells mounted on the front.
All the church bells were ringing which was something I had never heard before. I managed to find a spot with a view of the river which was not easy as I had dithered so much about whether or not to go that it was almost 12 o'clock by the time I found somewhere to stand. I then had over 3 hours to wait but once I got chatting to people around me it wasn't too bad. You heard the flotilla before you saw it as the first boat was the one carrying and ringing the Jubilee bells Then the first boats came into sight - magical. This first one had golden ropes to ring the bells mounted on the front.
Taking photos was quite difficult - the appalling weather didn't help but I was a fair distance from the boats surrounded by crowds of people. So that's my excuse. Anyway here's the best of a bad bunch.
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| This was the leading boat of the first section which were all man powered boats. It had 18 rowers to power it including Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent. Of course from where I was standing I couldn't see the rowers but could see the oars moving in perfect unison. |
Then the rest of the man powered boats followed.
The Venetian gondoliers
The sea cadets carrying the flags of the Commonwealth
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| The Queen's boat which carried not only the Queen but Princes Charles, William and Harry, I think this was a first as the whole of the Royal family never travel in the same vehicle in case of a terrorist attack. |
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| These were the beginning of the Historic and service vessels |
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| This was the section with the Dunkirk boats ( the ones that were involved in the evacuation) |
Other sections included fire boats, narrow boats and barges; passenger boats and finally a boat with the London Phiharmonic choir. The choir were travelling on deck and were absolutely soaked but they continued singing until the end of the procession. It took approx 90 minutes to go past.
In the end I went home drenched, exhausted but elated by the experience. Apparently there were over 1,000.000 people lining the banks of the Thames.
The story and footage was on our nightly television news program and it looked like a marvellous event. Our Aussie Lifesavers were in several row-boats also, just in case there were any calamities! You've captured some great shots especially those amazing red, white & blue outfits!!
ReplyDeleteWell, your vantage point might not have been perfect, but they are a lot better than I could have gotten! I really like the one with all the people taking pictures in the foreground. And I think you did GREAT! I'm glad you went because I got to be there too, virtually! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour- what a neat event! I'm not sure I could have stood the rainy weather for that long, but I am glad you did.
ReplyDeleteWhat an exciting event to witness! I saw a program about this flotilla on an American TV show on Sunday and I was hoping an eyewitness blogger would blog about it--thank you so much for coming over to my blog this morning to leave a comment so I could see this post. Congratulations and best wishes to Queen Elizabeth on her jubilee!
ReplyDeleteOh--- I am SO glad you went... You would have been disappointed to have missed it, regardless of the rain.. I watched some of it on TV here. So sorry that it rained --but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits at all...
ReplyDeleteThanks SO much for sharing. I loved seeing the boat parade.
Hugs,
Betsy
I was there too, but laying on the sofa the whole afternoon to watch the Jubilee Pageant on the Thames. I even took a lot of pictures from the TV as if I was there ! What a pity that the sun wasn't shining !
ReplyDeleteSuch a wonderful and exciting event! I am sorry the weather wasn't cooperating!! Your photos are terrific! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I, too, loved the boat parade!! Hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
I really enjoyed your post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures! Over on this side of the pond, we have been watching the Queen's Jubilee build-up with a fair amount of interest, but without a real appreciate of how wonderful the pageantry really is.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing it with us. And thank you for your kind comments today on Spots and Wrinkles. Have a wonderful week. ~ Marsha
Great captures of this celebration. I recorded the flotilla from the TV (as it was late evening here then), but I'm sure it would have been an electric atmosphere to be there in person. Thanks for sharing the occasion with us and for visiting my blog. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteVery cool.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an event! Thanks for sharing! Am glad you went, you brave one!
ReplyDeleteSo we hear this account is a live coverage! I only saw it on TV but I was glad that I could watch it from my armchair in a warm room with a cup of hot coffee, as it was pouring here as well. You are brave to go out to join the crowds. But what a great occasion and how important Royalty is for a country. We have Koninginnedag( Queensday) on 30 April and then the crowd is also enthousiastic and friends with the newcomers in our country.Suddenly the nation is not divided.I like Britain and have often been in England,and Wales . I had friends in Cornwall where I stayed several times.
ReplyDeletewhat a great event! and you was sooo near :)
ReplyDeleteWhatever else people say about the royals, they do seem to pull a crowd!
ReplyDeleteI think the Rain Gods must be a Republican!
Stewart M
It looks very festive in spite of the weather. I enjoyed the shots very much.
ReplyDeletesuperbe reportage, et quelle folie ;))
ReplyDeletePublicity ;o) Every Friday (and the Weekend), The Challenge "Walk In The Street Photography"
Sounds like fun, although I try to stay away from crowds like that. You ended up with some nice photos.
ReplyDeleteWonderful shots of the event. So many boats rowing in unison looks great.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of people. Thanks for sharing these shots! Typical British weather too!
ReplyDeleteGreat shots.
ReplyDeletean excellent series of photographs; I did watch this on A.B.C. t.v. I couldn't get over the singers, singing so galantly in torrential rain. It must've been freezing. I thought how many of them are going to escape a cold virus after that. It was all very lovely to see the celebrations though
ReplyDeleteSo exciting that you were there! Fabulous Pics!
ReplyDeleteWow those are a lot of boats! Must have felt AMAZING to be there and experience that! I can just imagine the amount of energy from the crowd... And those photos are pretty good! :o)
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