Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
The Jubilee
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated by the whole country over four days in June 2012. Earlier that year the Parish Council started a collaboration with other village groups to coordinate the village celebrations and to circulate information from the Department of Media, Culture and Sport about the commemorative use of royal names and titles.
Rowlands Castle Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Group, RCDJCG
A group of villagers formed RCDJCG with the objective to organise social events to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and recommend commemorative features thereafter subject to funding. The team consisted of a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and included representatives from the Parish Council, the RCA, the Women’s lnstitute, the Historical Society and local churches, together with other village residents.
The RCDJCG produced a trifold leaflet outlining all the events that would take place over the jubilee weekend.
The Celebrations
On Saturday 2nd June it may have been raining in London, but in Rowlands Castle the sun shone, as almost everyone in the village turned out to enjoy the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. There was a vintage carnival/procession with cars, mums, dads and children dressed in fancy dress or costumes. At the same time villagers and their families from Finchdean were invited to walk to Rowlands Castle via Whitehill, footpath 13 to Wellsworth Lane, then down Bowes Hill to The Green.
More than twenty village organisations joined the procession that walked from Saint John’s Church, down Redhill Road, up Links Lane, down Bowes Hill and ended on the Green, where the WI provided a sumptuous tea and youngsters were presented with commemorative medals. The images provide just a flavour of the village’s big day that was celebrated by young and old alike. It’s estimated that more than a thousand people took part.
The Celebrations editorial is courtesy of Richard Milton, editor of the RCA magazine in 2012.
Click to scroll through all the images and enlarge them.
On Sunday 3rd June at 11am there was a Thanksgiving Service for all church denominations on The Green followed at 12noon by a Diamond Jubilee Lunch Party on the Recreation Ground with gazebos and BBQs. At 10pm there was a fireworks display by Selstar Fireworks Ltd from within Deerleap Gardens.
The celebrations were sponsored by local businesses and organisations
The Photo Book
Editorial, the following paragraphs were written by the RCDJCG to promote the sales of the photo book
Following the very successful celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in the village, the RCDJCG joined forces with the Photographic Club to create a photo book to remember the event. The book went on sale in the autumn of 2012 at the village stores with a guide price of £6. All profits went towards a permanent commemoration of the day in the village.
So, as the nights draw in and temperatures drop, what better way to remember the parish’s Jubilee Extravaganza than by purchasing copies of the Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Photobook. The Photobook is packed with 80 pages of pictures, and we’ve included as many of you as possible. There are photos from all the Parish events; the school’s celebrations; Montessori Fair and children’s tea party; Children’s Bake off; walking procession and Grand Tea Party on the Green; Recreation Ground Tennis Tournament, Hog Roast and Games; the many street parties; and of course those fabulously patriotic Fireworks.
It even has a message from HM The Queen herself inside, with accompanying photographs!
As well as a wonderful reminder of the Jubilee celebrations, the Photobook is an ideal Christmas present, stocking filler, and/or could go into children’s memory boxes. The photo books are £6 each, and if you bought two or more they are at the bargain price of £5 each. They are available from Londis and Home Hardware, and from all the RCDJCG members.
A Permanent Memorial
The RCDJCG built upon the funds leftover from all the donations made before and during the Jubilee Weekend to raise as much money as possible for a long-lasting commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee in the village.
After some discussion, members agreed this installation should take the form of a mosaic. The RCDJCG sought approval from the Parish Council for the mosaic to be situated on the grass verge adjacent to the WI garden, and prepared a brief against which artists could submit their design ideas.
Please see Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Mosaic for more details of the mosaic which was chosen.
The completed mosaic with an inscription dedicated to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II