Well I'm only only managing to get to write something about this today, been a bit hectic!
Yesterday morning, we took Faye to the Long Stratton Leisure Centre so that she could join her friend Franka for some roller skating to celebrate Franka's birthday.
We came back from the roller skating, had lunch, then at Kevin's insistence we all had a bit of a lie down and the kids (and Kevin) managed to have a sleep. I can't sleep during the day at all, but had a rest, as I was somewhat knackered from running around the basket ball court with Faye on her roller skates!. At about 3pm we got ready and left for Norwich Park & Ride (we went to the Park & Ride at Thickthorn because it is open until 11.30pm at night). The bus into Norwich came about fifteen minutes later - it was already hot and sunny! It cost £4.20 for all of us return on the bus into Norwich, which isn't bad at all. The trip is just on 15 minutes.
We arrived at Norwich Bus station and then wandered around, until Kevin decided that the best place for us to sit would be on a grassy and treed slope across from the main traffic circle, at the start of the procession route as you enter Norwich town.
We got settled and waited for the arrival of the floats. The Lord Mayor's Piped Band lead the procesion with the bag pipes, followed by the Town Crier and Snapdragon /Whifflers ... then the floats (all 67 of them), started coming through at about 5pm. I think our favourite was the Star Wars one ... but they were all brilliant.
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| SnapDragon and Whifflers |
SNAP the Norwich Dragon
SNAP
has a long and illustrious history, being originally a character from
the Guild of St. George, who survived the Reformation, the Commonwealth
and other changes in English History
Snap, the
representation of a dragon which for many years was carried about the
city of Norwich on Guild day in grand procession with flags and banners,
bands of music, and whifflers with swords to clear the way, all in
fancy costume. Snap was of great length, a man was in the middle of the
beast to carry it, and caused its head to turn and jaws to open an
amazing width, that half-pence might be tossed into it and caught in a
bag. The procession was stopped in the year 1824, when Snap was laid up
in St. Andrew’s Hall. It has since been removed to the Castle Museum.
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| Chewy |
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| Princess Leia |
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| Miss Diss |
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| Norwich's answer to Axel Rose? |
These
Go Go Gorillas are all over Norwich - painted in different skins.
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| The Castle lit up, waiting for the firewords to start |
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| 3 .... 2 .... 1 |
I can't upload the video I took of the fireworks display at the moment - I will try and get this posted tomorrow. It was one of the best fireworks displays we've ever seen!
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| Please sir, can we take a picture of you and Ewan ... no problem. |
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| On the bus coming back to the Park & Ride - notice how clean it is. This was at about 11pm |
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| Our car was one of a few left in the Park & Ride ... off home now. |
Looks like a you guys had a great day out,glad its finaly summer in the UK!.The kids are getting so big.LOL
ReplyDeleteGreat set of photos, looks like a really good day for all!!...kids look pleased as punch with life!.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon and Steve. It was a very enjoyable day out, though rather exhausting but well worth it to see the fireworks. I'm busy loading the video to YouTUbe.
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