Richard rests in repose........Days TWO and THREE...........23 - 24 March 2015

Early start today and not too sure what the day was going to bring we had our bacon sandwiches at the cafe around the corner and I went to buy some hessian from the market; I decided to walk up through High Street, get some milk and buy a Mercury, which came with a free tin of Baked Beans. The road was empty, think only 24 hours before it was packed full of people waiting for Richard III, T. V, media...where was everybody?, well didn't need to search  much further, as I turned the corner into the Cathedral Gardens, I had my answer.......

People had already started to queue at 8am and the Cathedral wasn't due to open until 9.30. At one point the queuing time was 5 hours and was circling around to Jubilee Square.

I had the wonderful job over the next few days of collecting in all the gifts and flowers from the public. The Cathedral Flower ladies made the displays in the Cathedral. The gifts and cards all went on display. 

I don't think anyone had any idea the amount of gifts and flowers that were presented to the Cathedral. In the end we had ran out of baskets and space and we decided to do a carpet of flowers outside.

I had many gifts handed to me during the week, flowers, cards, but one of the most moving was from a Buddhist monk. He told me it was tradition to leave a silk cloth on the coffin, obviously I told him he couldn't leave it on the coffin, so instead he prayed on it in front of me and then handed it to me for safe keeping. I told him it would go with all the other gifts and cards and he was pleased with that.

The yellow cloth is the silk scarf given by the Buddhist monk

On the Tuesday night we had arranged a party at the local pub called the 'Rutland and Derby'. Over the past few months we had made many friends from around the globe and many were coming to Leicester for the week.  Now I'm sure many will feel a celebration was disrespectful but it wasn't. We were celebrating our friendships. Who could have imagined two years ago we would be meeting in a pub, eating and drinking with people we never new existed. People from as far as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. It was fantastic. Ali had made bunting and I had attempted to make a cake, which unfortunately wasn't so fantastic, bit burnt with squashed icing, but, what the hell!!!!....

Fabulous Bunting

Not so fabulous cake, although cutting through the burnt bits it was edible!!!!



It was a super fantastic night, and who would have believed that the discovery of a medieval King could bring so many wonderful people together in (as some people have said and repeated time and time again)...an insignificant town in the Midlands!!!!!!!!!!!


NOT SO INSIGNIFICANT NOW!!!!!!!.........................................