Opened by the Queen, closed to the public!...

Today was the official opening of the new war memorial in the national memorial arboretum. This huge circle of Portland stone has the names of the fallen carved on its inner edge. It is set on a huge mound, and has a slot specially aligned so at 11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11 month, a shaft of sunlight will illuminate a statue of servicemen holding aloft a fallen comrade. The Queen and other dignitaries were on hand to perform the opening ceremony. Security was tight, and I had to cut through the back lanes in order to avoid the road closures.

You've never seen so many police, vans, cameras, motorbikes, plainclothes. All the local farms were being used as temporary bases for security personnel.

Still, I managed to find my way to the outskirts of the arboretum where the Queens entourage would arrive by car. As you can see I have no pictures, but you know what she looks like...big hat, nice car... I have no love for the Royal family; bunch of freeloading gits!

The general public weren't allowed in. I tried to explain that I wasn't a member of the public and never have been, but they weren't having any of it. Instead I found a little known car park by the nature reserve, that the royal security had adopted as their own. I parked alongside a black supercharged Range Rover that a man in a flack jacket with a gun was sat in monitoring the wireless cameras placed on the lampposts....if my car wasn't safe there it wasn't safe anywhere.
After a bit of wandering around looking for a good site overlooking the events, I came across a large van inhabited by some men in black with machine guns. I asked "Is there anywhere I can see the Queen and get a good shot?" As the words left my mouth, I realised they had been poorly chosen. Any way, I repacked my rucksack following the search and went on my way.

The closest I could get was across the lake in the nature reserve. The action was about 1/4 of a mile away, so I couldn't see much, but here there a some sailor chappies and a TV crew doing an interview.


The Queen sensibly kept out of sight, but did push her husband out into sniper range....

My main reason to be there was to watch the military flypasts. There was promise of a visit from the last Vulcan bomber still to fly. Vulcans are huge delta wing planes with an engine note that jibbles with your innards! It didn't show.....but there were Tornados, Typhoons etc.

Anticipating not being able to gain entry, I took some photos a little earlier so that you lot could see inside.

The National Memorial Arboretum is a 150 acre site with 50,000 trees set within the National Forest. The National Forest is a plan to recover Britain with trees once more. It's only 33,000 acres and so far they've only planted 7 million trees, but it's a good start and there are plans for another 20 million in the next 30 years.

The above statue is, "Shot at Dawn". During World War 1 many soldiers were shot for 'cowardice' or 'desertion' when often they were suffering from post traumatic stress and really had no control over their actions. Each of the posts has the name of a soldier executed by firing squad.

One of my favourite, and the first to be erected on the site is the polar bear representing the 49th West Riding Division.

I love the detail on this carving.

Memorial to maritime gunners.

The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Association), a non government, volunteer based organisation that has saved countless lives around the coast.

One of the most stark and poignant is the open gate of a concentration camp...

All the Queens soldiers....

Sunshine and showers this week, "nice weather for ducks" apparently. So, I thought I'd go and feed them.... I love feeding the ducks. I've never seen an animal so chuffed with a bit of bread. Waddling around, smily beaked contented muffled quacks.

Busy Sparrows collecting all the bits others have forgotten about.

The Mallards try and be camouflaged, but have one showy bit just so they can feel 'special' too.

I gave this chap loads of bread because he'd got a poorly wing. He ate tons, he won't be hungry tonight.

You little ba#&$*d!!! Poorly wing! He'd took me for a chump. I'll remember you...cos you look like all the other hundreds of Canada geese. Damn, he'd got away with it.

The Swans were slow to arrive, and after admiring themselves in the wibbly wobbly reflection of the car spot lamps, came over for a snack. They played nicely and took the bread gently. Just as well for such a big bird. All was fine until the bread ran out.....

"WHERE'S MY BREAD?" Legs were pecked, pockets examined, cameras lunged at, and finally....

SWAN ATTACK!! Oww! I left him to it hoping he'd realise his mistake, but no, he was going to chew on this arm until he could pull a chunk off. There was nothing I could do. All the Swans in the UK (if unmarked and on open water) are owned by the Queen. A law dating back to the 12th century meant I would be in big trouble for harming a Swan, you could get 7 years transportation! Hang on, a free 7 year holiday to the Australias, didn't seem so bad....but on the other hand, my arm was beginning to hurt. Ooh! Blood! Well, a tiny bit.

"Yeah, yeah, you wouldn't have got away with it if you didn't know the Queen. "......."Yes, alright I'm going!"

It was probably bedtime anyway.....