please empty your brain below
So glad I didn't hang around, will come up to tour the remaining ships today in the dry
I was also surprised at how much of the riverbank had been made "ticket holders only" or "invited gust only". So much for schemes to make the Thames have more public access.
I did see the anti-royalty demonstration, as did the thousands of people who were walking up and down Tooley Street trying to find any access to the riverside that was not sealed off.
it was crowded but the crowd wasn't pushy and everyone kept to their space... we helped each other out - chatting and joking throughout the day...
i knew i wouldn't be allowed on the bridges because i'd been told on the news and read it in the newspaper and on the pageant web site...
the stewards were polite and professional (they had a job to do) and the bobbies jovial (i think a lot of them are frustrated comedians)...
as a group we had a game plan for the food and drink and were well fed and very well watered throughout the day...
even with the weather (i checked the forecast and wrapped up warm and put my water proofs on) it was a great day and very well organised and ran perfectly...
we even got a wave from the Queen... i too am ready for the platinum jubilee...
From Anneka Rice to John Sergeant, absurd and childish nonsense, almost nonsensical at times.
Incredibly, when the picture I had waited to see, the Royal Barge passing underneath the raised Tower Bridge,the BBC idiot editor decided to cut to an interview with some old soldiers. This was a fantastic picture which was being beamed around the World. I did actually see it by switching over to Sky News.
Normally the BBC gives fantastic coverage for this type of event. Today, they should hang their heads in shame.
I would not normally show a link to the Daily Mail but for once...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2154222/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-2012-BBC-sank-tide-wittering-inanity.html
The BBC coverage did seem to match the pagaent with a parade of old TV reporters from the last 60 years.
I can't find the results of the boat race anywhere - though there seemed to be less overtaking than in F1
Agree with Bernie and the Daily Wail - the BBC provided a 'One Show' (which I cannot abide) standard commentary and it was appalling. But, that's the BBC's current standard for just about everything. Dumbed down... but, I suspect they're just matching the life of most of the rest of the population.
And why the BBC can't sort out wet weather cover for their equipment beats me. At Chelsea Flower Show the OB kit was covered with T£$co poly bags!
Good job I went into town with a Plan-B well away from the river :o)
Actually though, the biggest surprise for me were the queues at ticket machines behind clueless people who apparently haven't travelled by train before! Top takeaway from yesterday was to buy all train tickets in advance during the Olympics, 'cos there are going to be more people out there who've never used a ticket machine before, wrecking your plans.
I had hoped to take advantage of work's tate membership to watch it from there but we arrived late because they had closed the south bank Blackfriars station exit and all nearby bridges, so had to go back to Westminster to go south of the river. By this time it was full so we had to think of an alternative idea.
The riverside was really busy when we got to Blackfriars (11am) and as 4 hours in the cold, wind and rain didn't appeal to me we took the train to Wandsworth and watched it just next to Wandsworth bridge. At Waterloo I was amazed by the numbers of people still arriving (it was around 12:30 by then), really with no chance of seeing anything as you needed to be both tall and in the front 2 or 3 rows to get a view of the river.
At Wandsworth we had a proper front-row view - the only disappointment was no Queen - but after leaving 2/3 of the way through I was home in time to watch the first set of boats go through Tower Bridge with Her Maj watching from hers. Also, rather smugly, we missed the rain.
I cannot imagine how busy it would have been if the weather was as good as last Sunday.
The wait was worth it - it was spectacular. The rain started just as the lead boat reached us, and got progressively heavier for the hour and a half, so arrived home very wet.
https://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/209288658157711360
I also did some homework by walking around between Tower and London Bridges the previous day and deciding there would be little chance of enjoyment at that end of show, as well as checking out potential spots earlier in the week during my lunchbreak.
I'm just miffed I didn't think to get tickets to the Battersea Park event.
There were lots of American accents in the crowd - anyone else notice that?
Did they really say that the present day Lord Salisbury was the GRANDFATHER of Queen Victoria's prime minister at the time of her Jubilee?
Or that HMS President was the London home of the Royal Navy Reserve (I thought it was Royal NAVAL Reserve?).
Clearly they couldn't decide whether it was a formal state occasion or a mix of It's A Knockout and the London Marathon.
At times it seemed that they'd hired Alan Partridge...
I think the whole Jubilee celebration has been planned against a 'security' background. Placing the Queen on the river kept the public at arms' length - the best access from road bridges being restricted to pre-vetted ticket holders, or from private apartments unlikely to be occupied by anarchist squatters or the offices of private companies (ditto). The Jubilee RAF fly-past was over Windsor - why wasn't it across London?
Although I wouldn't call myself a fanatical royalist I went up to Tower Hill just to experience the atmosphere. Much of the Tower Bridge approach road was mainly empty but blocked off by police, access to St.Katherine Dock secured by private goons. I found a section of banked terracing by the Tower of London and just, just, managed to see the top of the Spirit of Chartwell (Royal Barge) pass by, and before that, the flags atop the Royal Rowbarge.
No such viewing problem with the helicopter flypast I thought unril, of course, the bad weather got that cancelled.
I then had a whim, surely the Queen would have to leave the area by road via The Highway, so the chance of an unimpeded view aftr all? By the this time it had started to drizzle, then rain. I soon found the intended route, fenced-off with metal barriers and a heavy police presence and there appeared to be many ideal spots in which to wait.
By the wait took longer and longer, and the rain got heavier, until I was wetter than I've ever been, literally soaked-though. No one seemed to know when the royal party would leave - or weren't telling.
At last I gave up and walked back to The Highway (and shelter). With second thoughts I decided to hang on until the police started to stop the traffic and yes, at last, the Queen passed by in a green Bentley. But where was the State Bentley, or Rolls Royce, with their large clear windows? Indeed where was the Royal Standard? It even had a number plate!
I presume such official vehicles are no longer used for longer journies alongside 'normal' road traffic after Prince Charles' experience with rioters a year or so back? So it's thick green glass, and even smoked glass in some cases, just like dodgy Russian oligarchs or Middle-Eastern billionaires...
Travelled down both banks with the family saw 4 ships, sodden took 2 hours to get home. Horrible moment, as so many people personally agreed when 3 bridges closed, just embarrassed really for all our foreign visitors and sad for the 6 policeman who I spoke too and agreed with me. Somewhere a brilliant idea was hijacked by ridiculous crowd control which backfired.
The Daily Mail (yes, them again!) has rather a good picture if you scroll about half way down this story.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2153969/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-Three-generations-Royals-join-Queen-sets-sail-Thames-glorious-Jubilee-river-pageant.html
And for the transport geeks amongst us I found some more information on the steam engine here.
http://www.itv.com/news/central/2012-04-25/birmingham-steam-locomotive-to-help-launch-jubilee-flotilla/
Airport style security to get in, fantastic view, but felt awful for all the people (many with young kids and some elderly) trying to get a look in behind the barriers on the main part of the bridge, who were being ushered on by police - you knew they wouldn't get a view.
When it rained almost everyone left - so the passenger boats and narrow boats hardly got a cheer from the bridge.
The BBC said it was all democratic, but in truth the bridges were highly restricted.
Was a bit tough waiting around for four hours, especially for the last two hours when the path totally filled up and were subject to the odd sway and push. However, crowd good natured and some rugby guys led a few patriotic singalongs.
People started leaving from The Spirit of Chartwell onwards. By the time we left midway through the narrowboats in the bucketing rain we were at the front.
Should have left earlier - Vauxhall station had long queues (you may have seen the crowds in the tunnel in the news). We really thought that Southbank would still be packed, but guess the rain had sent the less hardy folks packing early.
No police were around and I was a little worried that a rush could have got very nasty in the tunnel. Even though the platforms were quiet the trains from Waterloo were already rammed. After two passed and we were soaked, we gave up, got an empty bus to Clapham, had dinner, and got a train about nine-ish. Lots of people had done similar to us - one guy had trudged his knackered kids to the cinema.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18320076
"4.30pm Walked down to London Bridge in sheeting rain to have a look at tall ships and then to blissfully empty Royal Academy where we had tickets for Summer Show and were almost only ones there - warmth and dryness the main features of the show, and 9.15 train pleasingly overheated and so back to Cambridge."
We then faced a long trudge back to Clapham Junction (where we had to queue in the rain to get in to the station) and a train, replacement bus and another bus home - which took 2 hours. Really wished we had sold the tickets on eBay and stayed at home watching it on TV!!
http://insidecroydon.com/2012/06/05/jubilee-pageantry-reinforces-reasons-for-the-queens-reign/
He doesn't use that type of language here, so - unless he was releasing some hideous alter-ego - I can't see him writing like that anywhere else, either.
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