Its impossible to think that the weather today could have been any worse. It started off reasonably okay, perhaps a little on the chilly side but it was tolerable as we were still dry. However as the parade progressed the weather got worse and worse: wetter and windier (to the point of gale force winds.) Absolutely awful conditions to be outside standing in a press of people but we, and thousands of others, managed to preserve for most of the parade.

The Lord Mayor’s Parade is an annual event which has the newly elected Mayor making his way to the Royal Courts of Justice to pledge allegiance to the Crown. The parade is over three miles long so there are plenty of spots to take a spot and watch. The first part the parade takes the Lord Mayor from Mansion House to the Royal Courts of Justice (where he/she takes his/her oath) which takes about 100 mins. There the Lord Mayor spends about 75 minutes before commencing again from Temple Place to return to Mansion House. If you followed it from start to end it would take just under three hours.

I wanted us to get a spot outside St Paul’s Cathedral as it’s a good backdrop and also the Lord Mayor stops there to get a blessing. Sandra and I arranged to meet at just about 10am and considering the Lord Mayor wasn’t scheduled to arrive until about 12.20 (with the front of the processing passing by at 11.20) it was just about perfect timing to get a front position.

The day started off so brilliantly weather-wise but it wasn’t long before the rain and the wind started.

People were putting up their umbrellas left right and centre which made things awkward as the rain would then drop on to Sandra and I plus they get in the way of everyone else’s view so people were pushing and moving around. Sandra at least was smart enough to bring a rain parker … not me. I had a hoodie and a coat – neither of which was waterproof. What a genius.

All sorts of people participate in the parade including Band of the Scots Guards, Worshipful Company of Butchers, Clarissa Dickson of Two Fat Ladies fame, Actuaries, a Pea Harverster, the Royal Airforce, City of London Solicitors’ Company (who had a weird jungle animal concept – great costumes though), Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, and dogs! By this point Sandra and I were getting really really cold and me very very wet.

Finally the Lord Mayor arrived in his golden carriage. To be fair he was on time but it felt like we had waited forever because we were so cold, wet and miserable!

By then we’d had enough. We walked back into Chinatown and had …. Crispy Duck!

We had planned on occupying ourselves until the fireworks started at 5.30 but we made a call that the wild winds (strong enough to pick a person up and fly them away) would mean they’d be cancelled, plus we still hadn’t really dried off and it really hadn’t gotten any warmer so we decided to call it quits after lunch.

It was a good call – I got home and found out the fireworks had indeed been cancelled.