Those of us who weren't an official part of the parade met up at Hogarths where one overworked barmaid was doing her best to serve everyone in spit of two of the most popular draught beers coming to the end of their barrels and the recently changed keg of lager producing as much froth as liquid. Utter failure on the part of the management.
The Old Speckled Hen was empty by the time I got to the head of the queue so i had a half of Pedigree and went out to sit at a table on the street. A few minutes later a statuesque woman, a grandmother, asked if she and her party could sit at the same table. I was fiddling with my heels at the time because I had worn flats to walk from my car but wanted to wear heels in the parade, she asked if I was having problems with them. I said "Always". In this case one of the buckles had got somehow jammed in the loop at the heel and I was struggling to free it thinking that if I pulled too hard it might break the elastic. She said she couldn't wear heels, this seems to be a common refrain. After a while I finished my beer and strolled out among the others waiting for the parade to arrive. Took few selfies, I'll post those in a separate comment.
At last the parade came round the corner.
Once the official part had passed we all set off. I though the placard the woman in the purple top was carrying was rather apposite
Along the way I had a conversation with one of the volunteers in the parade. She complimented me on my lipstick, a bright red from Rimmel (510 Mayfair Red Lady). She was wearing pink and said it was the best pink she could find. She had it in her hand and it was the cheapest one that Superdrug sell, I have one in red but didn't know the pink was any good, perhaps I'll go and get some, all the pink lipstick I've tried so far just didn't seem any good but hers was bright and covered well. She reminded me to run my tongue over my teeth as I had lipstick on them, mortifying. I said that was terribly embarrassing and he smiled and said it happens to all of us.
It took us about twenty five minutes to walk to Victoria Park. About five minutes before we got there i found that I was walking a bit faster than average and ended up in amongst the Samaritans group. A neatly dressed woman with no obvious indication of any LGBTQ+ identity spoke to me and pointed out that I was in the Samaritans group and asked if that meant anything. A very discrete way of asking if someone needs help I though. I said that no, it was completely random where I ended up. I can't remember exactly how we got to it but I remarked that I was getting more practice wearing heels as i had attended several such events over the last couple of months. She said she had given up wearing heels and felt that she was getting too old for it. I remarked that I was sixty nine thinking that I must surely be older than her, she laughed and said that she was several years older. I said, quite truthfully, that she certainly didn't look it! We fell to talking about changes in society and I remarked that I came late to this and said that had I wanted to express this side of me fifty years ago it would have been a very different experience than today's. She concurred saying that she had been a demure church going girl, and shook her head, saying how remarkable, and remarkably silly, that seemed seen from now.
Then we arrived at the entrance to Victoria park and we parted ways.
Here's part of one of the queues to get in:
I walked through the open part of Victoria Park past the bowling green, glasshouses, and aviaries and as i was passing one of the glasshouses saw a pretty young drag queen:
