The Silver Jubilee of 1977

I've never been much of a royalist but watching the wedding of William and Kate recently made me proud to be British. It reminded me of an England that I thought had long been forgotten. It also reminded me of the Silver Jubilee of 1977. The royal family were extremely popular at the time and thousands of people turned out to see the Queen and Prince Phillip when they visited Plymouth. Being a kid, I headed off into town on the bus to take some photos. I remember as I got off the bus, the driver said to me, 'You off to see the Queen then?' which was funny because he hadn't said it to anyone else! The whole route of the Queen's journey was packed with people. I found a spot down by The Walrus in Notte Street and waited with many other people for the Queen's car to drive by. My photos never were going to be very good, I just had an old pocket Kodak 126 camera and some Magicubes (remember them?). Anyway, the Queen was driven by and Prince Philip waved and I took a photo. The crowd then headed up towards the Hoe and I followed them. There was a ceremony on the promenade and I manage to get a few more photos although from a long way away. Later, I got back home, told my parents about it all and then sent off my film to be developed. Three weeks later, I got the photos back. There was a good one of Prince Philip's hand and another of a figure, dressed in blue, well in the distance. I thought it was probably the Queen but it could have just as easily been a lamp post.
In those days, at the end of programming on Westward Television, 'God Save the Queen' was always played before the station shut down for the night. The film of the Queen visiting Plymouth was shown in this slot for many years afterwards.
It's funny that I'd gone out of my way to see the Queen and had got nowhere near her. Years later, in 1988, I was crossing the road down by the Theatre Royal and we were all told to wait a minute. The Queen was driven right by me, she looked at me, and waved. I was inches away from her. Another time, I was driving by HMS Drake and I saw some kids from the local nursery waving flags. As I drove, I looked to my right and there again was the Queen being driven by me, slowly, in the opposite direction. As our cars passed, we both turned and looked at each other and she waved again! If our windows had been open, we could have shook hands. On both occasions, I hadn't even realised that she was visiting the city. Perhaps she was stalking me.
Anyway, my photo of Prince Philip's hand and the lamp post went in the bin many years ago and the photo that illustrates this piece was kindly lent to me by Gillian Long.
It seemed a great year - lots of flag waving, street parties and daily news about the royals. I thought that the England I remembered in the 1970s as a kid had gone forever but, then again, perhaps not!

(Photo credit : Gill Long).