Dave Sanders writes of his once in a lifetime trip to London.

It all began with an email telling me that His Majesty King Charles had allocated 3800 tickets in a specially constructed grandstand at the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, from where ticket holders who were from Emergency Service Personnel, NHS workers, and Armed Forces Veterans could watch the Coronation Parades, the appearance on the balcony, and the flypast which would form part of the Coronation Celebrations.

With the allocation of tickets being by a ballot, and with encouragement from my first wife Allison, (those who know, know!) I sent off the application, assuming that would be the end of it, and that like so many others we would spend the day watching proceedings at home on the TV.

However, on the 19th of April another e-mail arrived telling me that two tickets had been allocated in my name and that further instructions and the tickets would arrive in the week prior to the event.

So now we had to organise getting to London, and somewhere to stay. I never thought that being married to a Southerner could have proved so useful, for as Allison’s Sister and Brother-in-law live in Reading the accommodation was soon sorted, as were details of train travel into the capital on the day,

Result especially as we could use our Senior Railcards to get discount fares on the train. (You can take the lad out of Yorkshire, but you will never take Yorkshire out of the lad!)

Which is how we came to be spending Friday afternoon driving from North Yorkshire to Reading.

Saturday came early as the alarm went off at 02:15 and with sandwiches made and flasks filled, (Pay London prices for a dodgy sandwich, no thanks!! we had some good Yorkshire Ham and Wensleydale Cheese in our pack-up) we set off on our half hour walk lit only by the full moon, to the rail station from where we caught the train to London having strict instructions on which route to follow to access the grandstand area and go through the three security checks before taking our seats in the Grandstand by the stated time, with warnings that if we were not there on time we would be refused entry.

The journey into London was largely uneventful, and we made our way from Paddington to Victoria and then on foot to Buckingham Palace.

And so it began, 3800 people queuing to get through one gate into our allocated area. And yet once inside I heard a voice say, ‘ I think you know my dad, and sure enough I did, for it was none other than Rachel, the daughter of our very own Mike Harvey who had travelled down from Northallerton the night before.

The view we had was exceptional, the atmosphere electric, and of course as the appointed hour grew ever nearer, so the weather became ever drearier, with the stewards handing out disposable plastic rain ponchos, so before long the grandstand appeared to be full of oven ready, or boil in the bag people.

We saw carriages arrive, empty., and then leave full, with everyone keen to catch the first glimpse of King Charles and his Queen Consort, and no one was disappointed. As we had a privileged view of what so many could only watch on their TV screens.

Once the procession was over, we were able to ‘restore ourselves to our personal comforts,’ whilst listening to the proceedings in Westminster Abbey on the loudspeaker system, before awaiting the return of our newly crowned King and Queen, and just to keep us company the rain came back too.

The parade was fantastic, and from our ringside seats so was our view. And even though we were damp and uncomfortable, we all knew that was nothing compared to each of those on parade, who didn’t have the luxury of plastic ponchos, knowing that the uniforms and standards were getting wetter and heavier by the minute. But the eyes of the world were on each of them and so they would each ‘stand firm and do their duty.’

The appearance of the King, Queen, and working Royals on the Balcony, along with the Grand Master, was an unforgettable moment and the cheers of the crowd, and singing of The National Anthem, had to be heard to be believed.

Of course, we could only imagine looking in, how those on the balcony must have felt looking out.

Yet there was more to come, for the last salute came from the Royal Air Force; and the sight of the Red Arrows trailing smoke of Red, White, and Blue, flying along the Mall, and over the Palace, with the Royal Standard flying in the breeze was a moment to be cherished, and made everyone there proud to be British.

Eventually we were able to get a Train back to Reading, where footsore and weary we were finally able to sit down on a comfortable chair and relax before turning in for the night. Knowing that Sunday morning we would be driving back to North Yorkshire.

And so finally at 17:32 on Sunday evening we arrived home and were able to look back on the events of the last two days. Events which we were both extremely privileged to have so close a view of, and which will be remembered for many years to come, with both of us agreeing, in the words of a certain Wensleydale Cheese loving cartoon character, it had indeed been, ‘A Grand Day Out.’