Seventy years young!

How many people expected, way back in 1952, to celebrate another Jubilee seventy years on? In the meantime we have enjoyed the Queen's silver, golden and diamond Jubilees. Now there's only one milestone to be passed: the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King of France, and he was less than five years old on ascending the throne.

There's a special sense of release this time around, knowing that if this anniversary had fallen in 2021 or 2020, it would have passed without much celebration. I have one reason to be grateful for the lockdowns, for without them I would probably never have found Red Cross Garden in Southwark. It's around there that I find a series of outdoor parties with music, dancing and chilling out.

The hub of all this is around Buckingham Palace where crowds are gathered for the evening entertainment. With some of the musicians more famous than talented, I don't stay long but some of the crowd are in for the long haul.

The final day witnesses a street party almost in my backyard, in Cleaver Square. Charlie's Patch, near a house when Charlie Chaplin once lived, is resplendent, as are the numerous cakes which look almost too nice to ruin by eating. The girl from the group From the Hip, belts out James Brown's "I got you, I feel good". So do we but the little dog, maybe less so.Read more