For four days we celebrated the remarkable 70 year reign of Her Majesty The Queen and it was joyous.
On reflection, it was also a celebration that connected people to the places that matter to them from country to community, county to city. We took in the big picture view of the Commonwealth and United Kingdom, and despite recent ‘bumps in the road’ how many times did we hear “it just makes me proud to be British”. And, more locally communities representing our counties, cities, towns and neighbourhoods did their own thing, were proud of their Queen and their place. It was a demonstration of how we are all part of many different places at once and can connect to them in different ways at the same time, and with different personal meaning; from street party sandwiches to the Paddington sketch.
Across the four days we experienced what we identify with in many different ways from the Queen (whilst accepting that not everyone agrees with the monarchy) to the cultural representation of these isles as seen through music, sport, theatre, dance, fashion, creativity, and even our national treasures! The pageant was a textural journey of what makes the UK ‘tick’ and importantly what makes us so different and mostly admired; all held together by the glorious glue of place, our identity.
We may never again see so many varied parts of our cultural character brought together in one place at one time and what a cornucopia of experiences it was from Rod Stewart to the Red Arrows and all the better for that! What we saw and experienced must be cherished and we should use place as the route to unifying often very diverse aspects of society. At the end of a breathless celebration we should perhaps reflect on the words of Her Majesty ‘I hope this renewed sense of togetherness will be felt for many years to come’.
Sarah Perry
Director
