Wednesday 14th September 2022
I think we were all very saddened by the unexpected death of our Queen, and so Richard, Dereyk and myself decided we would like to go up to London to pay our respects. After some discussion and considering our states of health we opted to go and observe the parade from Buckingham Palace to West Hall for the four days of lying in state on the Wednesday, as we considered standing for 3 hours would be far better than for 6 to 10 hours as predicted. An hour of planning and purchasing of tickets early Monday morning to include Richards wife Sarah, meant that we started Wednesday bright and early and arrived, courtesy of the Waller taxi, at the very well kept Templcoombe station in good time to catch our 0827 train up to the nations capital city.
Although it had rained overnight, the morning was cool but forecast to get better as with the difference in return price between 2nd and 1st only a few quid, we were soon seated either side of a large table in the plush and spacious premium seats as we set off through the Somerset and Dorset countryside.
Conversation was as always with us, varied and at times random, as Sarah scanned the many pages of tributes and photographs in a copy of The Times. It soon turned to our normal subject of breakfast as we waited for the drinks trolley to make its first appearance. Richard told us of his grandfather’s train journeys of old where he would regularly order kippers and we each related stories of favourite train journeys, overnight sleepers to Scotland or the British Military train through the Iron Corridor to Berlin.
At Salisbury we were hooked up to more carriages, no doubt anticipating a full train and with only stops at Andover, Basingstoke and Woking we made swift progress eastwards, and the skies were getting brighter with each mile. Dereyk had safe control of our digital tickets and once checked for a second time, we had an amusing exchange with the cockney guard. Unfortunately the buffet trolley was a victim of Covid and has been stopped so on arrival at Waterloo our first stop was one of the concourse catering outlets for our first coffee of the day.
We had discussed possible locations to observe the procession and the most direct rout to it, so once we had crossed the Thames and looked out over the London skyline with flags at half mast on most building, we headed towards Trafalgar Square. Roads were closed to traffic so we were soon joining the throngs heading by Admiralty Arch and towards Buckingham Palace. With the sun lighting up the Victoria memorial outside the palace, and flags hanging still the sight as we walked to find ourselves a good spot took us about halfway up the left side of The Mall. In places the crowds were already 5 -6 deep but we settled on a spot by a tree with a decent view and mainly shorter folks ahead of us. Many had taken chairs and no doubt had bagged their spot a few hours before us, but as we settled in situ, we knew it would be a lengthy 3 hour wait ahead of us.
I had already realised that I wouldn’t be be able to stand “in situ” for any length of time so opted to leave the others to it and retire to a fence that I could lean against. Others had the same thought and I soon struck up a conversation with a gentleman who lived alone in London but felt he had to be on the Mall today. I was also kept entertained by another gentleman to my left who had come up from Kent on the train with his pushbike, which he was hoping to use to gain a bit of height from. He spent most of the couple of hours remaining trying to establish a solid position with the bike leaning on a single fence post, and rather ungainly climbing up from pedal to post to have one foot oh the crossbar and another on the rear pannier carrier. A few attempts the bike moved, others he lost his balance and almost fell head first, and despite advice from those around to the contrary, he continued with his quest.
Time was passing quickly and with the sun on my back it got a bit warm so the blazer came off for a while. We heard the band leave Wellington barracks for Westminster and knew that final preparation must be getting close. The crowds had swollen to almost 10 deep now and there was a real buzz of anticipation in the air. A chap in front of me had dropped back with a toddler fidgeting in its pushchair and I offered him my shoulder if he wished to stand on the railings behind me. He gave the little one a lolly to calm it down and took up position with a great line of sight above the crowd as the time drew near.
Precisely at 2.22 we heard the first toll of Big Ben and the gun fire in the park, signalling the gun carriage was leaving the palace. We could hear the band in the distance as they made their way around the Victoria memorial and down the Mall. Another minute and another bell and gun, as the procession drew closer. In front of us everyone reached as high as they could with arms holding the ubiquitous mobile phones to capture this moment in history.
The procession came into view with the dismounted Household troops leading followed by the bad playing a medley of funeral marches. The crowd fell silent as the first of The Kings Troop horses passed and then the gun carriage carrying the coffin of our late sovereign came into view. The Imperial State Crown of top really did sparkle just as I’d heard, it was certainly a very moving moment in history to witness. Then came the King and his siblings marching slowly behind their mother as they continued their journey to Westminster Hall.
Being at the rear my view was slightly limited although I had previously offered my shoulder to a younger man who came out of the crowd with a restless child, and he climbed onto the barrier I was leaning on and got a very clear view of the whole parade. Thankfully he took up my request to share his photos and videos and I must credit him for all of the above photographs of the procession.
Once the mall procession was well past the crowds started to clear and we waited for a few minutes, grabbed a selfie on our spot before heading up towards Buckingham Palace to go into Green Park for Sarah to lay her flowers. Unfortunately when we reached the area of the Queen Victoria memorial, rather than crossing the mall and heading into Green Park at the bottom corner, we were informed that the route to get there would be right around the back of Buck Palace, up to Hyde Park and the Wellington Arch before we could enter from the northern side. After a slight delay whilst we waited to cross the road outside of Wellington Barracks, we started the steady stroll around the outer edges of the place wall and grounds. A well timed stop about midway for drinks and loos and it wasn’t too long before we were crossing through by the arch, pausing g for a bit at the RAF memorial and then into the park. The area where all the flowers were being laid was all fenced off and in a triangular shape. A marshalled one way system took along along 2 sides of the triangle before we gained access to the area on the 3rd side. There were literally flowers and tributes everywhere, and Sarah found a suitable spot to add her tribute.
The day was creeping on so we decided it was time to start retracing our steps and make our way back to Waterloo, so with occasional stops at memorials and Horse Guards we made it to Parliament Square just around the same time as the public we’re starting to be admitted to file past the Queen laying in state. Unable to cross Westminster bridge we made our way along Whitehall, past the Cenotaph and Downing Street before taking another breather in a garden alongside the embankment, finally crossing wearily back over the Thames and Waterloo to grab something to eat.
Our train back to Somerset was on time as we settled into comfy first class seats for the return journey. An absolutely amazing but very tiring day, almost 18,000 steps walked with memories to last a lifetime and photos to show ‘we were there’. Many thanks to Dereyk, Richard and Sarah for their great company.
Comments