Lord Mayor's Show 2012

The London District of Rotary had been given a place in the Lord Mayor’s Show in November 2012, and they were using it as an opportunity to demonstrate Rotary’s support of the Wheelpower charity, which provides wheelchairs to disabled people participating in sporting activities. This seemed appropriate for Olympic year. Obviously they wanted the Consort to the DGN to be present, and I graciously accepted their invitation to attend.  I’m sure it was coincidental that the DGN has some smart Rotary insets to the wheels of her wheelchair, and would provide a useful link between Rotary and Wheelpower.

Whilst planning our visit to London for the Lord Mayor’s Show, a moment of sheer serendipity occurred. Normally when travelling to the metropolis by public transport, we have to carefully plan our route, ensuring that we get on and off trains and the Underground at accessible platforms. Not many stations are geared up for wheelchairs, although Shepperton station (our local station) and the terminus at Waterloo are accessible, and all stations have a ramp to assist with getting on and off trains. The problem is when stairs are encountered. Very few stations have lifts, although Hounslow West does have a stairlift. Some of the more recently built Underground stations, such as on the Jubilee line, are much better, but it makes planning a journey to central London on a Sunday, when many roads will be closed for the Show, rather difficult.

So, there I was looking through the Transport for London website when I made my discovery. I thought I would look to see if there were any accessible buses in London.  To my shock, I learnt that all London buses have ramps for wheelchairs! I had never considered this before, but suddenly London had become accessible to us. 

Sure enough, we caught the train to Waterloo early on the Sunday morning, went to the bus stop for the bus we wanted, and it duly arrived, with an automated ramp dropping down for us to use. Better still, wheelchair users go free on London buses, so I only had to pay for myself.

The next amazing thing about this day, was arriving in the City of London and finding it deserted. Most roads in the Square Mile are closed for the Lord Mayors Show, so we had the strange experience of walking up Lombard Street, Threadneedle Street and Cheapside, in the middle of the road, completely alone, with no traffic and hardly any other pedestrians. These are usually among the busiest streets in London, when just stepping off the pavement can be a dangerous activity. It made me imagine we were in one of those disaster movies, where Godzilla suddenly appears from behind a tower block. In fact I wonder if the makers of disaster movies pick on the Lord Mayor’s Show to do their filming.

Eventually we reached London Wall, where the parade was starting to assemble. We met up with Eve Conway, the District Governor of London District, and some other Rotarians, including Mike Thorn, a firm supporter of Wheelpower. Also with us was Rotary Young Citizen Award Winner, double amputee Lydia Cross, who is the recipient of the first sports wheelchair through the Rotary Wheel Appeal. Also joining us was former Paralympian Martin McElhatton, the CEO of WheelPower.

The Lord mayors procession has been going since the time of King John, and there are floats from the City's businesses, Livery Companies, charities, Her Majesty's Forces, the City Police and Londoners from all walks of life forming a procession from the Bank to Fleet Street and back, just as they did in the middle ages.

                                          The DGN meets a couple of well-dressed marchers

As the time to move off approached, and all the different groups collected together, it was a fantastic site, full of colour and sound. As would be expected, the livery Companies all wore their traditional garb, the Armed Forces marched with precision, marching bands looked magnificent, and the whole atmosphere was of fun and camaraderie. We were following one of many overseas groups, A Guild from Switzerland who had the most amazing colourful costumes, and an excellent marching band. Eventually we filtered into the main procession and  started walking down the streets, which were lined with huge crowds, all waving, taking photos and laughing at anything and everything. I understand that over half a million people turn out to watch the parade, which would take an hour to pass an onlooker by. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and the DGN’s hands were sore after all the high fives she was doing.

                                         London Freemasons march past us whilst we await our turn

The Lord Mayor actually followed a little way behind us in his very ornate horse driven coach. I would have stopped for a chat, but didn’t want to take any of the limelight away from him. Also he was probably well protected from people wishing to approach him, even VIPs like myself.

                                      The DGN enjoys her march through the streets of London

Three hours and three and a half miles later it finally came to an end and we said farewell to our new friends from the London Rotary District, before making our way back to the bus stop, and thence to Waterloo.