AFD23 (3)

Today Was The Day
Only four of dozens of photos and videos available are included in todays Blip, marching immediately behind the Chelsea Pensioners I appear in a fair few.
It has been a long day for Mrs S and I, made possible by Sam who has been Paddy ‘wrangling’ during a day when the noise of fast jets, low helicopters and fireworks has unsettled him.

Mrs S and I were required to be in the Veterans tent for 0815 for an 1130 parade, the wait was quite pleasant. Free breakfast bap with a coffee whilst we chatted with old friends, made new ones and oohed & aahed with everyone else when the Chelsea Pensioners arrived to sit with us.
The parade in the midday heat passed in a blur, maybe not the 100,000 visitors they were hoping for but definitely 10’s of 1,000’s. I doubt there wasn’t a single Veteran left unmoved by the cheering and applause.
The reception on completion of the parade gave us a chance to cool down and rehydrate as well as enjoy a pasty.
The afternoon was spent visiting the many stands in the Navy, Army and Charity ‘villages’ before the aerial displays began.
Home to change into shorts and polo shirt before the evenings ‘Last Night At The Proms’ held in the grounds of Pendennis Castle.
All the acts were great but the Kernow Sinfonia were amazing and I found myself feeling immense pride and emotional at their performance of Abide With Me/The Last Post played simultaneously.
You could have heard a pin drop during it!
Mrs S and I walked home tired and happy after a very long day, we walked through the front door at twenty to midnight and I was asleep unconscious by midnight.