Jubilations

"Congratulations and jubilations" 

Cliff Richards

It was completely by chance that we arrived in England in time to join in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne sixty years, certainly something worth commemorating. There was a huge concert outside Buckingham Palace in honor of the celebrations and jubilations.  While the Queen was rocking out with Sir Elton John and Sir Paul MaCartney, we were participating in a village walk which would culminate in the lighting of a beacon.  

“There'll always be an England,

While there's a country lane.”

 Ross Parker 

A small crowd, dressed in red, white and blue clothing and Union Jack hats gathered at the corner at Lamb's Lane.  This narrow winding country road was the official start of our Jubilee ramble.  The pleasant summer afternoon promised to draw out into a long shadowy evening as we wandered alongside the hedgerows filled with cowslips and buttercups.  A couple of the local guides began to tell a few historical stories to keep us all amused (to be local here you need two sets of grandparents buried in the churchyard).  The route then veered off the road to follow a bridleway.  Once we'd clambered over the stile, I tried to teach the kids the art of avoiding cowpats.   On past the 200 year old windmill and then along by the 300 year old church we met with other villagers to walk along the seawall.  The clean air, green fields, the smell of cut grass and the never ending summer twilight drew me back into childhood memories.

"God's grace and Pilling moss are endless." 

1745 Pilling Proverb

The Parish of Pilling has around 1700 people scattered over a large area of mossland.    Much of the area is below sea level and actually is reclaimed land.  The district forms part of the coastline of Morecambe Bay and to the West the Irish Sea stretches across to the majestic peaks of the Lake District. Eastward is the stark grandeur of the Bowland Fells.  When you stand on the salt marshes atop the sea wall, it feels like you are in an huge bowl of billowing grasslands surrounded by the sandy tidal waters of the bay and rugged beauty of mountains.   Many of the farms in the area serviced the Cockersands Abbey in the 1300's and the area still has a spirit of self sufficiency.  Such home bred autonomy has created an organized council and strong community, hence the very efficient "Jubilee Committe" and calendar of weekend events.

We neared the end of the final leg of the walk and wafting out of the gazebo's in the nature preserve was the smell of bacon butties (sandwiches). Jazz and Josh played football (soccer) with the locals kids and Mom, Dad and I chatted with some of the villagers.  A local teen band had set up on a tractor trailer and they were started to tune up as the sun went down.  The anticipation of the lighting of the beacon was palpable in the swelling crowd.

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”

 Francis Bacon

Unfortunately, as the sun went down so did the temperature and I hadn't quite gauged quite how long it would take for darkness to come when you are 55 degrees North in Summer.  Beacons have been lit here as a form of communication throughout history.   The high visibility of "Beacon Fell" a few miles from Pilling was used as early as 1002.  Beacons were used as a warning when the Spanish Armada was seen approaching the British Coast in 1588.  Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee was also celebrated with lighting a chain of beacons.  I heard that over 4000 beacons were lit in total, but at 10pm I was tired and cold and I desperately wanted this one single pile of wood to burst into flames so I could go home.  With the usual British Pomp and ceremony there were several speeches formally introducing the lady with the lighter.  She turned out to be having her 60th birthday and so was indeed a Coronation baby.  

"this vast empire on which the sun never sets" 

George Macartney 

The sun had set on the Empire decades ago, but perhaps all this community feel-good spirit would be the start of a new dawn.  As the flames licked the into the purple night air, my eye followed a few sparks skyward and I caught sight of another beacon burning a few miles away.  Shouts went up and cheers rang out, followed of course by the singing of the national anthem.  Scanning the distance for shady silhouettes of far flung hills, we began to see other beacons blazing their commemorations.  We managed to make out a handful more burning bonfires scattered throughout the area.  It was remarkable to communicate a message of kindred celebrations in such an ancient way.  No high definition, no digital anything, no telephone, just plain and simple fire.  I felt quintessentially English and I felt a collective unity under the Union Jack that I had not felt before. 

"I have to be seen to be believed."

Queen Elizabeth II 

The Queen thought it would be nice for everyone to sit down and eat a meal together. Which I thought a most sensible idea and complied immediately.  Hopefully we will be pardoned for the Italian Red we toasted her good health with.  It made me consider what kind of sit down 'do' was she having?   What does the world's most famous 86 year old Great Grandmother (worth $500 million) eat for lunch?    

The Queen seems to have become an icon of longevity as much as anything else.  There are not many people left who can remember life without her.  She has come to represent 'sameness' in a world of change.    It blew my mind to think she was the Queen to 12 English Prime Ministers, the first one was Winston Churchill.  When she came to the throne, President Truman was in office and she has met every President since then bar one.  To know how many Presidents have come and gone and sought an audience with her makes me laugh considering the great lengths their country men went  to get rid of her great great great great grandfather.  She has witnessed 5 Popes and the Queen is the 40th Monarch since William the Conquerer in 1066.  During her reign there has been incredible changes in the world such as the advent of commercial flight, TV, space exploration, the EEC and the dorgi (the Queen's own creation - a cross between a corgi and a dachshund).

“I sometimes wonder if two thirds of the globe is covered in red carpet.”

Prince Charles

It was the home stretch in the Jubilee celebrations, today was a picnic and evening variety show.  Today I figured out why we carry a blanket in the car.  It was not warm on the village green while we shivered through the picnic and waited for the presentation of the Jubilee mugs to all the village children.  I got to thinking about how much the Queen actually goes through, every day she has some sort of official event.  It seems to me she has the three ring circus act down pat.  She puts in the appearance, smiles, waves, nods, smiles some more.  She has an incredible relationship with the crowds who wait endlessly in the rain to merely catch a glimpse of her hat.  Like a rare animal in the zoo, she patiently allows the public to get their fill before disappearing into a mysterious world behind ornate gates in various palaces.  I hear that she has all these signals to notify her Royal Entourage that she's over it and it's time for home and a nice cup of tea.  How can you tell if the Queen is just not into you?  She switches her handbag from one arm to the other? Not convinced?  Think about it. She doesn't carry money or have a passport.  What's in the bag? A handful diamonds to throw into the crowd to create a diversion in case she needs a getaway?  I was only halfway through the picnic and I'd switched my bag so many times I was in danger of contracting repetitive strain syndrome.  

“The Queen Elizabeth II provides vast amounts of entertainment 

for an age that has forgotten how to amuse itself unaided.”

 Hans Koning

The kids were having a ball, a Royal Ball.  Jazz was batted up and ready to go for the concert.  The two hours were filled with a variety of acts; a group of 10 year olds  singing, dodgy magicians, comedy skits and solo singing. The final act was an old time sing song.  I knew lots of the words and thanks to the intermission and a couple of pints of lager, was most happy to sing along. The culmination of the evening was of course the National Anthem and boy did I want God to save the Queen.  There is nothing as rousing as an English Village Hall full of patriots singing their heart out.  No-one does pomp and pageantry like the Brits.  I suppose in a culture so bound up in historical etiquette and formal reserve, it gives a sense of order to everything and a feeling of control in a a world that doesn't really have any.  These last few days I have sung the anthem more times than ever before.  The song is so old no-one is quite sure where it came from, there are historical references to it as far back as 1619.  I wonder how many times the Queen has listened to it?

I left the village hall very content to know that my folks were living in such a wonderful place with an incredible sense of community and collective caring.  Everybody knows each other and there is a sense of extended family everywhere.  The people here knew we were from elsewhere but we were warmly accepted into the fold of village life and shared in a small slice of Jubilee heaven.   

"For me, heaven is likely to be a bit of a come-down."

Queen Elizabeth II