Fantastic day of events on Saturday including a prize giving ceremony for the competing Tall Ships crew members in the grounds of the the Queen’s House following their impressive parade through the town centre. The event reflected the sense of pride and emotion as the crews cheered on those that picked up their prizes with the loudest cheers going to our very own Borough crew members.
The Town Centre was heaving with massive crowds joining in the Festival fun, all of the restaurants had a extensive queue outside while M&S had a large number of people trying to get some refreshments. The Queen’s House lawn was filled with families having their picnics. Walking through the grounds I met an elderly lady who was reflecting how enjoyable the event was but reminded me of the last time such an event in Greenwich some twenty five years ago. She suggested that next time we should hold a Regatta Ball in the Fan Museum which happened on the last occasion.
After a brief respite with our Grandson Daniel we spent the evening in the Royal Arsenal where similar numbers were enjoying a range of events and, of course, the Tall Ships themselves with many visitors boarding the ships for an evening cruise.
The cynics will continue to capitalise on the negative rather than the positive. However, thousands of people voted with their feet to pack the areas where the events were happening. The Tall Ships Regatta will live in the memory for many years to come except for one young child who spent the afternoon on a Tall Ship with his parents but slept right through the event.
Off to bed having an early night. On duty first thing on Sunday when the fun starts all over again.