Thursday 7 June 2012

Jubilee Beacon

Monday night we were watching the great concert on TV when Bill looked at his watch and said it was time to go. 

I thought it was a fantastic venue but I'm not sure the Queen necessarily
will have enjoyed all the acts.  I think she has to tolerate a lot of
nonsense; it's part of the job.



One of the many things going on around the country was the lighting of several thousand beacons after which the Queen herself would light the last one.





As we reached the riverside, Bill commented on the large orange moon rising out of the sea. 



I noticed the sea spray on the beach at South Shields, over the river.  Also a yacht heading upstream.




These are called the light nights, but in truth they are neither light nor dark but somewhere in between.

My camera isn't good enough, or perhaps I simply lack the skill, to capture a sharp image with this level of light.  That didn't stop me pausing to take a few snaps anyway.






There were quite a few of us gathered out there, running about trying to find the beacon at The Priory.





One young man said he'd hurried down all the way from Alnwick, 




I never tire of the dramatic skies here.



about 40 miles north, to see the beacon lit. 









We knew we'd missed something when the fireworks went off across the river in South Shields, indicating they had lit their beacon. 



We were all quite disappointed when someone pointed out the tiny flame - Bill said someone lit a match -



by the Coast Guard station behind the priory. 



I just managed to get a photo by standing on top of a bench.  English Heritage and whoever else was involved in that should be ashamed of themselves. 




Love the dog watching us out the window!


The moon was amazing, however, and on our way back home we noticed someone else was having a good time at least.

4 comments:

Anna at the Doll House said...

You have really captured the drama of dusk, especially the silhouetted priory. However, I would have missed the candle (sorry,beacon), had you not mentioned it.

Anna

Anonymous said...

I can only imagine how thrilling it would have been to see these lights come on...there's nothing to compare with it in the states.

Suburban Princess said...

I was wondering what all the beacons were...it was never really well explained here. The concert played here a few days later but omitted quite a number of acts...like Tom Jones!!

I thought it was fun tho and the smile on the queen's face when she thanked Charles was magic!

Shelley said...

Anna - Thank you, I rather like those photos myself! Yes, the Beacon was really disappointing.

Terry - I think there are advantages to being a very small country without the division of separate States. Remember, Britain can practically fit into a state the size of Oklahoma or Utah.

SP - Some people seem to have seen Tom Jones and others didn't. No idea what that is about. It did seem like quite a line up of golden oldies, but then I heard that it was meant to be acts from all decades of the Queen's reign. Which might explain why Robbie Williams did Mack the Knife...probably no one left from that era to sing?