ROYAL WEDDING STREET PARTY 29 APRIL 2011
On Friday 29 April 2011 Prince William married Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey and Elmwood Avenue in Crosby held a street party to celebrate and join in their celebrations.
A group of the neighbours got together and held a series of meetings to decide what was going to happen on the day. First, permission had to be sought from the local council to close the road to traffic and this was given in due course. All the residents were asked if they wanted to be part of it and with just a few exceptions most of the road were glad to join in. We were kept informed of the progress made at each stage by a newsletter. The ‘committee’ bought tablecloths and bunting and all the necessary items out of a small contribution from each household and it was decided to have bouncy castles and games for the children to go on during the course of the day. On the evening before some of the men were asked to put the bunting up between the numerous trees in our road and hoped that it was not too windy for it to blow away before the morning. Lots of rosettes in red, white and blue were also put on the tree branches and as I write, there is still evidence of some of them still around.
On the ‘day’ the residents had to put their cars in the surrounding roads, to keep the road clear for the tables and chairs. The party did not officially start until after the Wedding was over to give everyone a chance to watch the service on the television, although the majority audience was mainly women! The tables, mostly pasting tables, were covered in union jack tablecloths and decorations, and many a cake and drink was blown on to the floor by the wind. All the children looked as if they were having a good time and we all met neighbours we had never seen before or only knew by sight. I have lived in Elmwood Avenue for 18 years, so it was lovely to meet them. During the day there were 2 bouncy castles, one at each end of the road and a notice board with a timetable to tell the children when their activities were starting, such as football games etc. We also had a rock band courtesy of the son of our immediate neighbours.
Most of the neighbours had got into the spirit of it all and the front drives were full of garden tables and chairs, barbecues and garden awnings, as there was a bit of a chilly wind. My family also came to the party, although the small babies did not know what was going on. The local newspaper came along to take a photograph, but I had just taken my granddaughter for a walk to get her to sleep when they came, so I missed my moment in the newspaper as did baby Emma, so baby Dylan had his moment in the paper – not me!
As it got dark, we lit the cheminea and lots of people came to warm themselves by it and the rock music grew louder! As you can imagine the adults began to take over for the evening and a good time was had by all, dancing in the street and karaoke and even dancing on the garden walls, which all seem to have survived quite well. The road was re-opened for traffic at midnight.
There were lots of headaches, tired faces and hangovers the next morning as the clearing up began. As with all good occasions it was sad to see everything almost back to normal very quickly. I wonder if the next celebration will be for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – I have saved all the flags and bunting – just in case we do it all over again. I wish to thank all the neighbours who made it happen.
AND YES I DID GET IT RIGHT ALTHOUGH I SEEM TO HAVE LOST A PHOTO I USED OF A BOY AND A CAKE SO NEARLY MAYBE
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