days of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022

Living in the UK, you couldn't have avoided the Jubilee celebrations last week even if you had tried.

Four days of events and gatherings were held across the country to mark the Queen's 70 years of service as the longest-reigning monarch in our history.

In London, there was the Trooping of the Colour, a concert outside Buckingham Palace, thousands thronging the Mall, big fancy affairs, church services, and thousands of more modest street parties. 

You couldn't move far without spotting flags and bunting throughout the land..and there was  one event which united all parts of the kingdom. It's the old tradition of a beacon chain. Lighting a beacon chain in villages, towns, and cities was a tool of communication, perhaps used to warn of invasion and danger. Now, it's used to celebrate jubilees and as a symbol of unity and celebration.

Back here at home in our teeny, tiny village, we celebrated too. With less than thirty houses here, our events aren't on a grand scale, but we do enjoy ourselves.

Our beacon lighting event took place last Thursday at 9.45pm in a huge field on the top of a hill which is only a couple of hundred yards outside the village. You can see for miles from here.....

The beacon was set and expertly lit by Phil on the right side of this photo...

Some of us brought a bottle or two of something to celebrate, some didn't but everyone enjoyed meeting up, chatting, and watching the amazing skies putting on their own dramatic show.

It grew darker and some began to edge away from the beacon which was well and truly alight and throwing out quite a fierce heat

Thanks to Joe (below on the right) who lent his fabulous field for the beacon lighting 

We now have two lovely Ukrainian families living in our village and it was so good to see them join in the celebrations. As we chatted, they told me about the ritual of a bonfire on Kupala night back home which takes place every July. 

After sunset, young couples, holding hands, leap over the bonfire. If they don't separate their hands, they will marry and are destined to be together ...if not, their relationship won't last. It's a fascinating tradition, but luckily no one attempted to do that over our beacon bonfire!

Later as I walked home with friends, we all agreed that it had been a wonderful evening. Standing on the hilltop and watching other beacons light up in neighbouring and more distant villages, made us feel part of something bigger, I loved the conversations in the open air by firelight at a time when we would all usually be indoors, the sense of community and feeling invigorated.

On Sunday morning, there was a special Jubilee service in our village church which was beautifully decorated with flowers.

Afterwards there was a village barbecue. This should have been held on the land behind the village hall, but the rain put paid to that idea.

Luckily, a family offered their barn to host the barbecue and bring and share lunch.

Ian and his son Dan worked hard on the barbecue,

Everyone spoilt the two new babies in our village, and it doesn't matter what age you are, a few party games never go amiss.

Whilst others caught up for a chat....

The pomp, ceremony and sheer razzamatazz of the Jubilee celebrations elsewhere seemed far away as we marked the Jubilee here in our small village. Instead, there was just a real sense of enjoyment, of being together, and of making memories of a landmark year in our little part of the world.

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