I still think in terms of school holidays (probably because both my parents were teachers) but this ‘Not Bank Holiday Monday’ had me discombobulated. I was one of 700 guests at the Lord Lieutenant’s Jubilee Garden Party. The rain pretty much held off for the two hours.  Most people had a greater right to be there than me – local community service workers recognised for their commitment during the pandemic.

Similar people are at my chosen charity, OnSide and it was great to meet the team at their open day. Working with anxiety, social prescribing, loneliness, dementia and wellbeing, this group are providing essential care, support and advocacy in these uncertain times. Well done Kate, Mo, Viv, Susanne, Alan, Adrian and everyone else.

On Wednesday I called in at Worcester’s trademark Royal Porcelain Museum which is showcasing its historic royal designs alongside Platinum Jubilee plates designed by schoolchildren from Stanley Road. The museum has had further funding to take its pop-up museum to people in the community who would not normally get into the Severn Street attraction.

On Thursday evening, Edward Elgar’s birthday, I was on Fort Royal Hill to launch the Jubilee celebrations in the city. Around 1,000 people came up to watch me light the beacon. It was amazing to see so many old and familiar faces. Many had made an evening of it, with camping chairs, wine and quiche. Others had wandered up as it got darker. They came from across the city, and also internationally. I met at least three groups of American visitors who reminded me, as an historian, of the great irony of lighting a Jubilee Beacon for HM The Queen, on the ground where liberty was fought for and the two US Presidents stood to recognise one of Worcester’s other great trademarks, the English Civil Wars.

It has been a rewarding week full of links with the past but celebrated in highly modern fashion, marking 70 years of great social, economic, cultural and political upheaval across the Commonwealth and the world. Seventy years of service by one woman who has also changed but who remains, for many, a symbol of stability.