C4957

Student at University of Liverpool, originally from Shrewsbury. Friday 1st June was spent watching the Olympic Torch relay come through Liverpool. Although this is not directly related to the Jubilee, it did capture British spirit and tied in well with the feeling of Britishness at that time. Surprisingly it was a lovely sunny day and my friends and I spent the rest of the afternoon by the Albert Docks. A highlight of the day was listening to the Lloyds TSB advertising bus blasting out James Brown's "Sex Machine" as it drove through the city centre. Saturday 2nd June was a very rainy day. There was a street party happening but we did not attend due to the weather. I had also heard talk of several other street parties taking place in Anfield and in North Liverpool. People living in my street did not organise a street party. I spent the rest of the Jubilee weekend packing and getting to go home for the summer from University.

J4793

Sex: Female Age: 31 Marital Status: Married Lives: Scotland Works: Part time Yesterday (Friday 1st June 2012) I spent the day cleaning the house and tidying, in preparation for the Jubilee. I had invited my Mother to stay, and was looking forward to it, with bunting and Jubilee-themed cake and had got her a box of commemorative biscuits in a special tin from Marks & Spencer’s and made a cushion for her in red cotton with white crowns printed on it, edged in black pom-pom trim. It didn’t take long to do the main cover, but I sat and hand sewed the trim in place to get a better finish. I was excited about spending the weekend watching the celebrations on TV, eating cake, sitting in the garden if it was nice, and talking and laughing and maybe doing a jigsaw. In the morning (2nd June) she text me saying she was going to get her hair done for a night out she had on the Tuesday, and that my husband and I could stop by if we wanted. It felt like a mute response to the efforts I had put in. I was hurt, with everything ready for a party, but no-one to share it with. My husband isn’t very interested, and had an exam to prepare for, so was planning on getting on with that while my Mum and I celebrated. I wanted to nip round the shops and pick up the last round of knick knacks and bargains and branded Jubilee things, but felt there was no point. He accused me of being materialistic, buying things we don’t need, bringing more crap/junk into our house. I couldn’t help tears, feeling somewhat useless and at a loose end. As my husband rightly said: we don’t know anyone else who is interested in the Jubilee – just me and my Mum. The house was ready, and I had even created a space in the living room with a union jack box and a tin in the shape of a London bus with ‘Marble Arch’ as its destination. On top of the box I put the commemorative plate of William and Kate that was made for their wedding, and called it ‘Royal Corner’ and thought Mum would have appreciated it. I stared at it feeling really stupid. I said to my husband, how I’d always wanted to be part of a big family, to have brothers and sisters and cousins living nearby, but my family is spread out and even though we are married, he isn’t close to his family/siblings, which means I am not either. I realised that if I wanted to have a party with someone, I would have to have my own family. The thought was at once sobering, sad and a little distasteful. Why didn’t my Mum want to come and celebrate all together, rather than sit alone? I moped about and cried quite a bit and ended up having a big fight with my husband. I didn’t watch any TV. I read the Marks & Spencer’s Jubilee edition magazine. My eyes were red and sore and I didn’t actually want to be seen in public. My husband suggested going to the cinema but I felt exhausted and emotionally drained. We decided to go for a walk to perk me up and get some fresh air. On the way we saw lots of families with buggies and children and balloons, who had obviously been to a street party. I had heard about one but gave the brochure with all the local events to my Mum. She never mentioned it. With planning to spend the weekend with her, I hadn’t been overly bothered. It just compounded my feelings of loneliness and a sense of having ‘missed out’ while everyone else was celebrating with friends. All the crying made me tired, so it was an early night. On the Sunday I still felt the same, and was still crying on and off. We had another fight, my husband and I. Eventually we decided to get out of the house for a bit because I felt trapped with my emotions and just really desolate. We went to Next Home and I bought a toilet roll holder for the bathroom. The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me. It was sparkly glass mosaic, like diamonds. Like the diamond Jubilee. Then we went to Ikea. I hadn’t been for a while and love the cosy little rooms they make up that feel just like real living rooms and bedrooms etc. It made me feel better and then we saw a special weekend deal on a linen closet in grey wood. It was £99. We bought it. The rest of the night was spent building the closet and making space for it in the spare room. It saved the weekend for me and it was fun working together to build it up. I felt better. I had missed the entire River Boat Pageant and didn’t really care at this point. On Monday I was up early and spent the day re-arranging my spare room and putting my things – fabrics etc – into the new linen closet. This created a lot more space and led to a revamped idea of how it can be used and freed up storage boxes. I also got rid of lots of things I no longer needed and recycled lots of things. I felt good about it but tired at the end of the day. My husband had to work that day so I spent it mainly alone. Overall I was sad that I missed out on the Jubilee. I had arranged to meet my Mother on the Tuesday anyway, and had taken the day off work specially. I was a bit cool with her and explained all the trouble I had gone to. I don’t think she had any idea. She is strange sometimes. It made me sad to write this and to think about the wasted weekend.

M4499

Female; 48; Aberdeenshire, Copywriter Saturday 2nd June: The Jubilee couldn’t have been further from my mind as I awoke on Saturday morning with a slightly sore head from the amount of champagne consumed the night before. Nothing to do with the Jubilee at all but we had travelled to Edinburgh for a friend’s hen weekend and enjoyed a night on the town. The most important event on my mind was my wedding anniversary which was 2nd June but we’d decided to celebrate another day. Once the ten ‘hens’ were up and about, we donned our finest outfits and headed to the Musselburgh races where we had reserved seat in the marquee. Many people had brought Jubilee hampers to feast on but sadly, our organiser hadn’t been so forward thinking so we had to make do with some sad sarnies and a few chips to soak up the Prosecco. Saturday evening was spent in pubs in and around Edinburgh. Sunday 3rd June Headed off for a nice brunch complete with Bloody Marys before getting the train back up north. The journey back was a lot more subdued than the one on the way down with no champagne at all. My husband met me at the Station and we walked the dogs and read the Sunday papers – obviously much of it focused on the Jubilee. We also watched the wet and windy pageant in London. Caught up with my Mum who had wandered down to the village’s ‘Jubilee celebrations’ billed as ‘Picnic in the Park’ only to find that there were only two stalls there and a few people milling about. Mon 4th June/Tuesday 5th June In Scotland, we often don’t have the same holidays and also often can choose when we take the days off so my husband headed into work in Aberdeen and I worked from home, went to yoga and walked the dogs. My Mum came to dinner on the Tuesday night but I realised that I’d missed watching most of the Jubilee coverage on the Monday. Spoke to my sister and she had sat and watched it all!

W3163

Age: 54. Occupation: Student. Location: St Gennys, Cornwall. Marital Status: Married This Directive asked me to keep a diary of the Jubilee Weekend, but as I didn’t read the Directive until a week ago it was too late to do that! I have been studying for a Foundation Science Degree and my exams were in the week before, so by that weekend I was feeling quite shell-shocked from having five exams in three days. I didn’t want to read or write anything at all - so I didn’t. However I can write something from memory for the sake of completing the Directive. There some things going on locally in the Institute and Legion Halls respectively though I didn’t attend any of them. Neither can I say that I had any conversations regarding the Jubilee as the people I mix with lately are all students and had the same strains regarding exams as I did. I did watch the River Pageant but found it quite hard to get too excited about that. It was probably more impressive if you were actually there. I also watched All the Queens Horses and found that at times spellbinding. I’ve recorded it and can watch my favourite bits time and again - the Russians were spectacular!! I also watched the Jubilee Concert which was very good and a great achievement of organisation. I have to say that I am and always have been a strong supporter of the Monarchy and am very proud to be British. The Queen has done and is doing a fantastic job and is so selfless and caring. The changes she has seen in attitude and life in this country over the last 60 years are immense. It must be almost unrecognisable as the same country it was 60 years ago. Those who think she has a privileged and easy life clearly don’t consider the whole picture. I wouldn’t want to swap places with her for anything in the world. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

W4925

2nd June 2012 I usually write a holiday diary whenever I go away so as this weekend for the jubilee we are in Cornwall it can double up as my observation as well! Anyway we are spending the week in Cornwall at a cottage in Fowey. My youngest daughter and her boyfriend are also joining us for the weekend. I started the day in a vaguely patriotic mood as there was a lot on news about the Queen etc and even though I'm not a royalist in any way I was getting into the party mood. However, the traffic today was a nightmare and it took us 7 hours to drive here and I'm now feeling knackered. The cottage is great and just what we expected, so arriving and finding it so was relaxing. We walked into the village tonight and down to the riverside for a drink, the place is absolutely beautiful so looking forward to the rest of the time down here. There is also a lot of events planned in the town over the weekend so we will probably just chill out and take part. That should be good fun to see everyone partying and having good fun to lift the country's mood. In my journals I normally note a "crazy" event that happened during the day, as something normally does! Today I guess it must have been the couple in their late fifties in the pub this evening, they obviously had had a lot to drink and although there were not many people there were kissing and touching each other passionately. 3rd June 2012 Today has been a good day, despite not sleeping well because of wind and rain in the middle of the night. Today we explored Fowey which is a beautiful little town. We walked from the cottage down to the nearest beach , Readymoney Cove, which is only 15 mins away , down a lovely wooded path. The tide was out so we had a go at rock pooling which was good fun, seeing the odd crab and plenty of winkles. From there we wandered into town having a cup of tea in a delightful cafe full of old childhood things. The town was full of people all in a good mood for the jubilee and the local townspeople had put on many events. On the quay side there was live music and a hog roast which were hoping to try. Unfortunately we got there too late and they had sold out! So we made do with a pasty, not sure if I was taxed on that one? We then took a boat trip up and down the river estuary which was great fun, seeing the attractive wooded river banks and the town from the river was lovely, and the guide was informative. Then after a drink in a quayside bar we wandered back to the cottage. There we watched the last part of the Queen’s water pageant in the Thames. Good to see that much effort being put into the celebration but I personally find it hard to be enthusiastic about it all. I must say though the Queen looked very good and amazingly stood for many hours on her barge. It was a shame the heavens opened and soaked everyone towards the end. The crazy moment of the days was when we were rock pooling. Anna squealed as she had found a fish trapped in a crack in the rocks. Quite a big fish, 6 ins long, but all we could see was its head and a single beady orange eye looking out at us from the hole. I wondered whether it survived! 4th June 2012 Today has been a wonderful day. Belinda and I walked on the south west cast path from Fowey round to Polkerris. This was a beautiful walk full of alternating lovely coves and wooded dells full of wildflowers. The weather stood up and the still sea was full of sailing boats. On one of the coves we stopped and paddled in the beautifully clear sea. We were the only ones their and it was idyllic. In Polkerris we had a welcome refreshing pint in the pub overlooking the beach and then ate our lunch on the harbour wall watching everyone enjoying themselves in the sun on the beach. The last leg of the walk back was across country and mercifully only about an hour. We were out for 5 hours but it was worth it! This evening we went down to the quayside for a meal and had one of the best meals we have ever had at a restaurant on the quay. Superb fish and seafood and a beautiful view watching the boats come in and out the harbour. Belinda had river oysters, fresh from the river which were brilliant. The evening was topped off by dancing to a jazz band on the quayside, seeing an enormous beacon being lit in the hills over the river and then a massive fireworks display all of which reflected in the river estuary. Not sure we had any crazy moments today, really all great moments. Only thing really was listening to the drunken, and hence loud, ridiculous conversations of people watching the beacon being lit!!! 5th June 2012 Today has been a miserable day as it has rained most of the day. Anna and Dave got up early to go crabbing but the tide was up so no luck! Then they went back to bed for the morning. We just spent the morning reading and watching the Queen’s service on the television. Sad that Prince Philip is ill so can't attend. After lunch Anna and Dave left for home and after a while the rain eventually stopped so we went to visit Mevagissy. It is a typical working fishing village quite pretty but also quite grockley, not quite as nice as I remember. We walked round a bit but then headed home via St Austell, which was a bit of a pit. This evening we wondered down to the town and had a drink before cooking our dinner and a quiet night watching a film. It looks as if my eldest daughters miscarrying for a second time which is very sad. I'm not sure anything crazy happened today. The aquarium in Mevagissy was the smallest I've ever seen, about the size of a garden shed 6th June 2012 Today has been a wonderful day, we have done a tour of south west Cornwall. The day started off at St Michael’s mount. We parked by the beach and then walked along it and over the causeway to St Michael’s mount. The beach was gorgeous and the views over the bay to Penzance lovely. St Michael’s mount was beautiful, truly a mini Mont St Michel. Shame we didn't have a chance to visit the house. From there we went onto Lands End. It has begun to be turned into a small "pleasure park" but the scenery cannot still be faulted, spectacular and it was good to be able to walk around the area too enjoying the views. At the end of the day we headed to St Ives. Again a beautiful place and like the rest of the day the weather was good so we sat on the beach for a while just soaking up the sun and watching children building castles. The hot sun and all the driving had made us tired so a welcome cup of tea lifted us for the journey home. Dinner tonight was freshly cooked local mussels and crusty bread that we had bought. Lovely with a bottle of fizz. Not much crazy today, more spectacular, anyway probably the brave old lady, in her seventies, in a bikini on the beach in St Ives! 7th June 2012 Weather has taken a turn for the worst today so we headed for the Eden project. Just up the road near St Austell so an easy journey today. The place was very full but really enjoyable. Most of the area is under cover so the rain didn't matter. The two biomes, Mediterranean and Rain Forest were wonderful. I preferred the jungle one, despite being boiling and sweaty it was really interesting seeing all the topical plants and crops. Seeing all the spices and what the plants look like was fascinating. The outside parts were good two, vegetable gardens, small forests, plants for making materials etc. lunch was amazing, a huge canteen with lots of lovely fresh food, their salads and vegetables making all the dishes, and all for £5. Tom I expect would have loved it Crazy moment for today was an enormous 7 foot high and extremely smelly flower in the rain forest at Eden project. It only flowers for 48 hours so we were lucky to see it. Also an old lady wearing a woollen hat and cardigan in the rainforest whilst everyone else was sweating in t shirts! 8th June 2012 After the winds of last night today is decidedly breezy. However we set off for a walk along the wooded banks of the river Fowey. Used the ferry to cross over to Polruan which was quite exciting in the small boat. The walk was picturesque and relaxing, ending with a beer at the Old Ferry Inn before another ferry back to Fowey. This time we entered the town from another end and saw even more pretty streets and had coffee in the oldest house, dating from 1460. Dinner tonight our usual Friday meal of fish and chips before we head off home via Bethan and Chris tomorrow. This has been a good holiday despite the weather.

S4002

I live in cardiff with my husband and cat. I'm 33 and work at a university. I like making things, writing, reading modernist literature, and watching soap operas Saturday 2 June We woke up late, around 10.30. My husband went to the market to buy breakfast as usual. We were both a little hungover after a party the night before. A new gallery opened in town and we caught up with a lot of friends we haven’t seen in a while. Instead of being really productive, we hung around the house. I made a quilted square for a charity blanket and in the evening my husband went to DJ in a local bar. He played a Jubilee (ish) themed half-an-hour during his set, which we discussed during the day. He played some Queen, Prince, etc, etc. We went to be around 2am. Sunday 3 June We woke up late again, around 11am and had breakfast. We planned to go to the beach, but I woke up with a splitting headache. We got as far as hobbycraft (so that I could get some glinty eyes for my quilted cat’s face) which is where we abandoned our trip to the beach. On the way home we talked about the jubilee a little. My husband doesn’t get what we were celebrating. Why we were celebrating. A lot of people see it as a reinforcement of class hierarchies, and the pomp and ceremony do little to dispel that belief. I see it a bit differently. I’m not a royalist, so I don’t exactly care or have any nationalistic feeling towards the jubilee, but I see it as a marker of a generation. To me, the queen represents a dying breed of old lady. The fact she is so active well in her 80s is an inspiration to a generation. I feel she really believes she has sacrificed a lot for the country. And in many ways, she probably has. But I’m not sure I can feel much sympathy or gratitude for someone sacrificing stuff for me from their castle, travelling around in their private jet, etc. I guess as a person, I do admire the queen, but as an institution or a symbol, I don’t really have much feeling either way. After we got home, we went for a walk in the rain and stopped in a tea shop for a drink and a bit of cake. My headache lifted when the rain started. After that, we came home, watched a film, made a birthday card and then watched a little of the jubilee pageant. It looked really wet and cold and miserable. It reminded me of playing hockey in school. We went to bed about 1pm. Monday 4 June We had yet another late start. I had to ring autogalss to fix a chip in the windscreen then went to an out of town designer outlet. We haven’t been there in year’s, but my husband needed new jeans and sandals, and we thought we might get something a bit cheaper there. It is a totally soulless place, but we did get him some shoes. We then went for a walk at Nash Point and spent a bit of time sat in the sun, taking in the sea air. My husband filmed a few things for a project he’s working on. When we got home I started making a cloth book for my niece’s first birthday present. My husband and I wrote a story together, he illustrated it, we got it printed onto fabric and then I had to turn it into a book. We tried to watch a bit of the jubilee concert in the evening, but it was a bit embarrassing and only managed to stomach about half an hour. Went to bed late again after a lot of crafting. Tuesday 5 June We got up and went out for breakfast with one of our friends for his birthday. He spent the weekend camping. The weather was miserable again, so I spent the day doing some more crafting. I spoke to my sister, who lives in London. My parents had been down to visit for the pageant, along with my brother-in-law’s sister and nephew. My mum had turned up with loads of union jacks and flags sticking out of her bad. Apparently she tried to get everyone involved until a pissed skin head started going on about ‘rule Britannia’ at her. I don’t think my mum gets what the union jack can mean to people outside of their little country village, especially to British Indians in their 40s (my brother-in-law and family). They then didn’t get to see much of the pageant because of the crowds and people weren’t allowed on the bridges because of the security risks. My sister wasn’t too impressed with the whole affair, but my mum gets very enthusiastic about these things. Like my husband, my sister found the whole thing strange, celebrating social hierarchies. I mean, it is a strange thing to have two days off for, but I really enjoyed having the extra time out of work. I think, to me, it was just a really nice long weekend.

S4507

Male 39 Years Old Married Newport, South Wales Secondary School History Teacher As a family interested in history and the royal family, we had been long planning our Jubilee celebrations. In the run up to the Jubilee weekend there were parties and events organised at the school where I work and at my son’s school. The Jubilee weekend proper, got started with a Jubilee themed quiz at our church on Friday 1st June. Saturday 2nd June began with us decorating our house with bunting and flags, inside and out. The garden already had Jubilee themed plants, hanging baskets and tubs although with the rather dull weather, these weren’t at their best yet. Later in the day we made our way to stay with family living near London so that we could attend the Thames River Pageant on the Sunday. It was interesting that the closer we got to London, the more Jubilee decorations etc could be seen. Having said that, there were far more decorated houses around where we live in Wales than we had seen for the Golden Jubilee. Sunday 3rd June and we made our way into London. It was rather nice that on the underground train, people were all carrying Union Flags and wearing patriotic outfits. Arriving at Green Park, it was good to see London decorated for the celebrations. A large ‘Congratulation’s Ma’am’ banner adorning the side of the Ritz. We wandered past Buckingham Palace where we heard Tom Jones practicing for the concert due to be held the following day. At the entrance to Clarence House we were stopped because the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall were just leaving, giving all of the people watching a wave. There was a real sense of everybody together for a very special day. We made our way towards the Thames which was already thronged with huge crowds. After a little while we found a spot next to a restaurant boat and from here we could get a glimpse of the river. We could also see one of the big screens that had been set up especially. One of the most amazing moments was when HM The Queen was seen getting out of her car and right the way up the Thames you could hear the crowd cheering. Despite the cold and wet and the long wait, the crowd were fantastic. Lots of people from many different backgrounds, together celebrating their ‘Britishness’. Our 5 year old son was at a bit of a disadvantage because he couldn’t see and the people on the restaurant boat were kind enough to let him and another little boy go up the ramp to their boat and watch the first boats go past and take some pictures. Our son took some great pictures and he is convinced that the Queen waved to him. Maybe she did! I was able to see the Glorianna, the Spirit of Chartwell and the ‘Belfry’. It was amazing to hear the bells on the river, before we could see them and then to hear the bells across London ringing out to answer them. The only downside was that just before the boats came along the river, there was a surge of people that hadn’t arrived earlier and did their best to push and shove – a few firm words were spoken to them! Unfortunately, because the weather was really deteriorating, once the royal boats had passed, like many others we moved away from the river. There then followed a very wet walk through London to Fortnum and Mason’s so that I could buy a souvenir tin of their Jubilee Blend Tea! Driving home, we stopped at Windsor for a McDonalds and we saw the Royal Standard flying over the castle. It was nice to know that after what must have been an amazing day, HM was now safely at home. The policeman at the gate of the castle ‘doffed’ his hat at our son (who was wearing a pretend policeman’s helmet) which made a wonderful, historic day complete. We may not have seen much but we experienced the atmosphere and we can say that we were there! Naturally, 4th June was a quieter day. There were events in Newport but we decided to spend the day at home and watch the Jubilee Concert on the television. We made Jamie Oliver’s Jubilee Chicken recipe – delicious!!! The concert was amazing and the only sad part of it was that HRH The Duke Edinburgh was in hospital. Gary Barlow’s song ‘Sing’ with the Military Wives and the Commonwealth Band was a highlight. At 10pm we woke our son up and made our way out into the street where you can see the mountains and we saw the lit beacons. Amazing to think that these stretched the length and breadth of Britain and indeed across the world! Tuesday 5th June and Jubilee Day itself, we had invited family to come over to watch the celebrations and have lunch with us. Lots of Jubilee themed food, balloons, music and we all watched the carriage procession back from St Paul’s Cathedral and then the fly past and balcony appearance. Once again, although it was with family, it was the sense of being British and being part of something that really stood out. It was rather sad when it all came to an end but like many people I was left with a feeling of having witnessed history and a real pride for my country and HM The Queen’s achievements.