THURSDAY'S ROYAL VISIT

Enjoyed a little pomp and ceremony on Thursday when HRH Queen Elizabeth visited Barking.  Here she and the Duke of Edinburgh are accompanied by the Leader of the Council Cllr Darren Rodwell.  Hopefully, by now, she will have glanced through my new book  BARKING & DAGENHAM FROM OLD PHOTOGRAPHS that was presented by Cllr  Rodwell.   Therein, she will find numerous images of herself and her family snapped on earlier visits.  On this occasion, it was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the two towns amalgamating to become a London borough. The royal party also looked in on Chadwell Heath and Sydney Russell School (the old Dagenham County High), before arriving at Barking.  These venues, along with dozens of others, were part of my own perambulations during the last two years of study and research in preparing my book.

Lots of good natured fun took place along the route, among a huge police presence, a few well behaved horses, dogs and a helicopter or two.  No idea where these two rather tall red-jacketed guards on stilts, came from.   And I was almost fooled by the  "press" jokers, but they too, provided much merriment for the waiting crowds, 12-deep behind me.