Lighting the Beacon

 Three days of celebration began yesterday evening with the lighting of a beacon to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee outside the Castle gate, overlooking the square.

I wandered up about 9pm, when the sounds of a choir singing the Welsh national anthem were coming out of the speakers around the square.  Later they played a bit of Pomp and Circumstance and Land of Hope and Glory, but there was a real piper, who played a medley of tunes from the Castle steps, and the Hay Community Choir sang.

The local Scouts and Cubs were up there with their flags, as well as Gareth with the British Legion flag (which he held at attention for ages!).  There was also an adorable small child with toy bagpipes, who only just avoided tripping up over them and tumbling down the steps (he wasn't hurt).

George the Town Cryer was acting as master of ceremonies - he has a voice that can be heard across the square without amplification, after all, and he started the countdown to the time that the beacon was lit.

The new mayor was also there in her chain of office.

The original purpose of beacons was to be seen from afar, so that a chain of beacons could be lit to send a message, or raise the alarm.  This beacon could probably be seen from across the Wye Valley, if you were looking for it, but it was really a symbolic gesture, in the knowledge that similar beacons were being lit at the same time all over the country.

I had met a friend in the crowd that had gathered in the square, and we treated ourselves to a half of Jubilee beer from the Tudor Brewery, who were running a bar in the Cheese Market.  A group of us got together on the Castle steps, and we were among the last to leave, after the beacon had been put out and disassembled.

A Platinum Jubilee probably isn't going to happen again in the lifetimes of anyone who was there last night, so that was a little piece of history we were all involved in.

Today, there's a fun day happening at Brecon Road, and tomorrow there will be a fancy dress parade through town, starting from Cartref at 12.30.