Family Day in London

Saturday July 31st

It was the final day that the RAF Central Band were band Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace and members of the band had been able to get permission for their families to watch the ceremony on the forecourt inside the Palace railings. Hamish had not got Joyce’s name onto the list in time, but, in the end this proved to be a real bonus. When they woke and it was raining, Mary sent a text to Hamish to see if it would be cancelled but he was confident that it would go ahead, as it was only a light drizzle. If it had been chucking it down it would have been cancelled.

Because Alan had got dressed up in his flash charity shop jacket and a borrowed tie from Hamish he decided that a back pack was not a good look, so we went to London with minimal hand baggage. There was no room for even the smallest kiwi so Mary is doing the reporting herself today.

We arrived in London in plenty of time to gather at the Wellington Barracks in Birdcage Walk. Joyce left quickly to claim a really good spot by the railings in the place she had worked out from being there yesterday, would give her the best view of Hamish and the band.
Here we met up with Louise mum, Heidi, sister Zoe and her two children. They had travelled up from Kent to attend. Prince Joshua and Princess Jasmine were really looking forward to being special guests at the palace and were very excited about seeing Louise and Hamish all dressed up in their ceremonials. They didn’t have to wait long as while we were waiting, the band formed up at the barracks and waited to march to the Palace.
A very military gentleman gathered the group and walked us all over to the gates of the palace and a policeman saw us safely through the gate that was quickly locked up again with a big key. We were not able to use our cameras or videos on the forecourt. The escort gave us a full commentary of the whole ceremony as it took place which made it very interesting and memorable. Every time he spoke to us he started with Sirs, Madams, Ladies and Gentlemen...

The Band of The Scots Guards was first to arrive down the Mall to demount the Welsh Guards that we had seen mounted yesterday. Of course they are the spectacle that the tourists have come to see in their bright scarlet jackets and busby hats made of bearskin. They were followed about five minutes later by the mounting band which was The Central Band RAF. Hamish was easy to pick being right marker in the front rank, but Louise was buried in the middle ranks and we all struggled to pick her out.

The Band of the Scots Guards had started their march at St James Palace, and the ceremony involves changing the guard there as well, so part of the procedure is for the group of guardsmen who are going to guard St James to march back off down the mall with new guardsmen and to bring the old guard back. While this is going on each band entertains with a musical programme on the forecourt which helps pass the time and displays their musical prowess.

Joyce had secured a wonderful spot right where the RAF were standing and has provided all the photos that most tourists would die for. Her patience standing waiting for an hour having staked her claim on the fence early, was rewarded.

It was exceptionally hot where we were standing right up against the palace and the children eventually found it long and had a sit on one of the porches in the shade. Joshua really enjoyed our exit through the gates ,which were still crowded with tourists, as we left. He waved regally at all the tourists. However once outside the gate we were again in tourist class as well and had to fight our way back through the crowds to the Wellington Barracks.

The band marched to a drum beat only back to the Barracks and Joshua called out enthusiastically, “Go Hamish” to which Hamish managed a wry smile in acknowledgement.
Waiting for the band to change and pack before going to lunch, Joshua again spied Hamish through the fence and said,” There he is with the ironing board!” Each day when they come in on the coach from Northolt they bring the irons and ironing boards. Trousers and jackets have to have crisp seams pressed and these are inspected before step off. He was loading it into the truck to go back. Having helped with the loading, Hamish and Louise joined both families for a long leisurely lunch in a pub near Victoria Station. Joyce produced her camera and everyone was just thrilled at the wonderful photos she had managed to take. They will probably be the best photos anyone was able to get of the band from the outside.

After lunch we all went on a London walk which took us past many of the sights, some of which the children had never seen. We saw Westminster Cathedral, The London Eye, and Westminster Abbey, where we stopped for ice creams. Then onto the Cenotaph, Number 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards, and finally Trafalgar Square where Alan gave them some coppers to throw into the fountain.

Around 5pm we all bid our farewells and went our separate ways. Alan, Mary and Joyce went over to the National Gallery to a very interesting exhibition called Fakes, Forgeries and Mistakes. The Gallery shut at 6pm and as we were staying in London for the Ceremony of the Keys at The Tower of London, we had a lot of time to kill. So it was over to the crypt at St Martin’s in the Field for a cup of tea and cake. We spent quite a deal of time resting our weary legs in there, planning our next move. As we all had travel cards, Mary suggested a few double decker bus rides around London. So we found a bus travelling to Liverpool Street and found it a very interesting way to see London. So once there we got another in the direction of Hackney Wick which is in East London and a rundown poor area that one would not normally visit. It did give a tremendous contrast from where we had been earlier in the day. Of course we had travelled off the map by this stage, so Alan got us off at a stop where he thought we would pick up a bus back towards London Bridge. This we did easily and saw yet another part of London. Once back at London Bridge we went and looked at the Monument that commemorates the Great Fire of London and then sat on a bench and watched the boats going up and down the Thames.

A gentle stroll took us along to the Tower of London. Hamish’s friend Michael (also from NZ) was to be the bugler playing the Last Post at the Ceremony of the Keys at the tower that evening. He was able to invite guests to attend. We had to be by the West Gate at 9.20. Most people had bought tickets, but we were able to say our names and who we were invited by and the Beefeater just let us in. A second Beefeater shone a torch through all our bags to make sure we were not terrorists. The Beefeater in charge of the group spent quite some time explaining the ceremony to us in a very humorous manner.

The ceremony itself is 6 minutes long and is carefully timed so that the Last Post starts on the first chime of 10pm. The explanation of the ceremony took 15 minutes. It is one of the most ancient traditions in England dating back over 700 years. Michael looked magnificent in his dress uniform at the top of the stairs playing the Last Post. Once again no photos were allowed so we were unable to get a picture. (His mum and dad would have loved it.)

So we finally wandered back to Tower Hill tube station to catch the train back to Northolt. The day had been action packed and memorable, and one we will not forget for a long time. We arrived home about 11.30 and went straight to bed.