Saturday 10th November 5.30 am! The phone went off. 5.32 am phone out the window!!!
As the morning arose, the Seniors finally descended upon the train stations, some with shoes and some without (Chris!). As the train left to York we all awoke, hyper as ever, but by the time we changed trains to Kings Cross Station, we were all falling fast asleep again.
As we arrived in Kings Cross Station and departed the train, we were concerned to notice that the front of the train had a rather unusual blood stained pattern covering, but at least we had got there in one piece. As we headed towards the Underground the heat became immense. Finally, after several changes, we wandered to watch the Lord Mayors show where, unlike last year, we received no freebies.
After watching the show we planned into our journey a life saving trip to Burger King (we had got up at 5.30!). With our stomachs full we went on the Underground to Oxford Street and Regent Street, where we split into 3 groups. Whilst some went shopping (to buy hats for the cold weather), other went to see the sights and lights.
After a short walk around the Cenotaph in preparation for the following day, and observing the garden of Remembrance, we traveled to the London Eye, and after a short disappointment that we were not important enough to be fast tracked and a slightly longer wait in the long queue, we entered the small pod. Although we had had a slight wait, it was actually perfect timing to allow us to see the fireworks from the River Themes. It was also perfect timing to wind Chris up about what happens to the pods in the case of an emergency. (In case you don’t know they swing out into the water and become water tight – well that is what Chris believes!)
As the light dimmed and the curtain of fame rose, we found a group of buskers, and decided to help them along with a little spot of dancing. This led to a large crowd for the band and a lot of other people dancing!
After all the dancing we were rather tired, so headed to the Pizza Hut, where we ate until we were ready to explode. After waddling off the train and onto a bus to get to The Boys’ Brigade headquarters in Hemel Hempstead where we were staying over night. Just as we were about to get on the bus, Chris realised he had left his bag on the train! Luckily no bomb explosions were reported! After a hectic and interesting day we hit the hay like a ton of bricks and slept until the late hours of 5.00am!!!
Sunday 11th November
After getting up at 5.00, we got on the coach into London and arrived at Whitehall, where we met up with the lads from companies in Ireland and Scotland. We also had a nice chat to The Girls’ Brigade. The streets were full of people and this is where the feeling of just how honoured we were to represent The Boys’ Brigade began to really sink in.
After the cannons had sounded and we had had the two minutes silence, the parade began to move off. We began to march down the street between the huge crowds and television cameras. As we passed the Cenotaph, we were given the command eyes left to look at all of the wreaths of poppies which had been laid. All our Seniors looked extremely smart and marched very proudly.
As we reached Horse Guards Parade, the ranks passed Prince Philip, who made eye contact with us all. After falling out we had many different photographs taken and met up with Elliot’s family for a few more photos.
After a dinner stop, we got the Underground to Tower Hill Memorial, as a request from Stephen’s granddad. We photographed some more and then moved towards the river for a trip up and down the River Themes. The boat trip was very interesting, but we were all so tired and we were pleased when we arrived back at Kings Cross.
The train left the station at 8.00pm and we were all asleep by 8.02pm. After a fantastic weekend, Scarborough finally came into view and we all very quickly departed to our beds.
