Problem
How will Remembrance Sunday affect you? If I had remembered from last year I could have anticipated this year. I knew that central London had road closures, but events would be taking place all over England and all over the world. That means parades and barriers in the High Streets. In Harrow the mayor places a wreath on the memorial.
Remembrance
The Mayor - he (or she) - has already spent time the previous day placing wreaths on the graves of war heroes. In Harrow a wreath is placed on the grave of Leefe Robinson, hero of The Great War - since WWII known as the First World War. If you want to take a photo of your local hero for a history book on your area, or a blog, here's an opportunity for a picture to show that the old heroes are still remembered and honoured.
The Queen And The Cenotaph
A cenotaph is a memorial to the dead, but not a gravestone. Nobody is buried underneath. For years Queen Elizabeth II has laid the wreath. In 2017, H M The Queen, watched from the balcony as Prince Charles placed the wreath on the Cenotaph on her behalf.
The Queen, born in April 1926, was 91 in November 2016. Newspapers reported that she said she wished to stay on the balcony beside her husband, Prince Philip, who is 96.
The Lord Mayor's Parade
Amongst the groups in the parade will be the British Legion, also members of the emergency services, fire, police and ambulance. That's handy for security.
For car passengers there's lots to look at, veterans, scouts and guides, police, people wearing uniform, even if you are passing on your way somewhere else. More pedestrians are milling around, stepping off pavements into the roadway, (Americans would say stepping off sidewalks onto the pavement. So you have to drive slowly.
This year I am recording what happened in London, England, so I can be prepared next year. What happened?
Answers
The gym was half empty, plenty of room in the car park. The aqua class numbers were down from 15-20 to 9, presumably because many people were involved in parades. I remember, after previous events, hearing that the retired policeman was called back as a paid or unpaid volunteer to supervise or add to security.
Sunday Shop and Supermarket Openings
Many supermarkets open on Sundays restricted hours, required by law to give staff a day of rest. Only the tiny shops, such as family corner stores, are allowed to stay open all day, and they are supposed to sell only perishable goods such as food, which is why you will see the clothes and household goods curtained off or behind barriers.
The English supermarkets, at least in London, can open 10-4 or 11-5. Sometimes, if you miss the supermarket which closes at 4 pm, you can drive up the road to one which opens 11-5.
Remembrance
On Remembrance Sunday, November 2017, Waitrose had a sign saying they were opening two minutes late to allow for the two minutes of silence at 11am. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the WWI armistice was signed and guns ceased worldwide.
TV Revelations
I watched the Lord Mayor's Show on TV yesterday. Other members of my family missed it. I described it to them. What else did I remember?
The Lord Mayor's Parade
After the two minutes' silence, the jolly parade starts. First come the members of the armed forces. You might think it would be dull, but it's very interesting. One army group included a soldier demonstrating a remote-controlled mine detector, small, moving along in front of him. It reminded me of watching a kid operating a tiny remote-controlled boat on the pond at Hampstead Heath. But this has a more serious purpose, saving lives.
Another group had members all in camouflage kit. The tanks are camouflaged. The uniforms are camouflaged. The helmets are camouflaged. Even the backpacks are camouflaged.
I looked in Wikipedia and found a picture of the Lord Mayor's coach displayed at the Museum of London. Previously, the Lord Mayor of London had seemed a remote figure. Now I have seen the current Lord Mayor of London (2017-2018), such a handsome, well-spoken man, wearing a huge black feathery hat, and his jolly Lady Mayor, wearing a black top hat, waving to the people on the parade, I regard the coach in which they ride as far more interesting.
What To Remember?
1 Photos of Wreaths On Heroes' Graves
2 Road Closures
3 Empty Gyms
4 Supermarket Opening Hours
5 Watching The Lord Mayor's Parade Live
6 Watching The Afternoon Fireworks
7 Catching the BBC replay
8 Seeing The Lord Mayor's Coach
The Day's Times
8.30 Flotilla (boat parade)
Next year I shall look back on what I wrote this year. I won't watch the parade as an afterthought, but plan ahead, like so many other people.
The last thing I did was go back to the official page. Suddenly the whole timing of the day clicks into focus. The 5.15 pm fireworks have nothing to do with the timing of ending of daylight. They celebrate the end of the mayor's first day of office. I presume it takes him (and other workers) fifteen minutes to get from the place of work to the riverside to watch the fireworks.
My first thought was, why is the mayor not working until six, like most offices. But the mayor was up early to ride along the river, which would have been the main transport route used when the parade started 500 years ago.
Cities were built on rivers. Rivers existed before roads. Boats were built before cars.
Nine to five is the traditional working day. Builders work 8-4 to make use of daylight. Shops operate 9-5. Office workers in London work 10-6, a measure brought in by the government for government offices to ease traffic congestion, later copied by non-government offices.
Useful Website Giving Details And Times
https://lordmayorsshow.london
Read All About It
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Mayors-Show-Years-1215-2015/dp/1908990554
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and phtographer, author and speaker. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.
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