Published on:
28
May 2012
Beacons will be lit, flags will be flying, street parties held and a host of terrific events will take place all over Clackmannanshire as the county celebrates the Diamond Jubilee in style.
Buckingham Palace is co-ordinating a programme of events around the long weekend of 2nd to 5th June 2012. This will include a Big Jubilee Lunch, a Diamond Jubilee Pageant with 1000 boats on the Thames, a concert at Buckingham Palace and the lighting of over 4000 beacons across the UK.
Four of the beacons will be in Clackmannanshire, along the Ochils on Dumyat, the Nebit, Wester Kirk Craigs and Law Hill. Individual communities have been encouraged to organise their own celebrations, such as Diamond Jubilee lunches or parties, commemorative tree planting or parades. And dozens have taken the opportunity to join in the celebrations.
All events are being co-ordinated by Lord-Lieutenant Rt. Hon. George Reid and the Depute Lord Lieutenants.
The Council will hold a touring exhibition which will include Coronation memorabilia, photographs of the Queen's visits to Clackmannanshire in 1963 and 1997, reminiscences of Her Majesty's Coronation and local visits, as well as a look at the changes in the county during the last sixty years. It launches in the Dumyat Centre, Menstrie during Gala Week and will travel to seven venues throughout the county over the next three months.
Clackmannanshire Provost Tina Murphy said: "The Diamond Jubilee is a wonderful occasion for the whole country and the people of Clackmannanshire should be warmly congratulated for the large number of events which have been organised over a long period of time. They have really risen to the occasion.
"The Council exhibition will also give many people the opportunity to recall some fabulous memories and at the same time for our young people who see for themselves part of the history of this wonderful county."
The beacons will be lit at 10.15pm on Monday 4th June. The public are encouraged to attend the event at Law Hill, but are asked to view the other three beacons from ground level and are asked not to go onto the hills. There will also be a torchlight procession up Alva Glen on Monday 4th June. At the same time both Clackmannan Tower and Alloa Tower will be illuminated.
Plans include a celebration featuring Dollar Academy Pipe Band at Arndean Farm prior to the lighting of the beacon on Law Hill. There will also be a torch lit procession in Menstrie prior to the lighting of the beacon on Dumyat.
Alva will also be the venue on Monday, 4th June, for a Jubilee Night in Alva Glen from 7.30pm until 9.30pm with pipes, games, dancing, music and much more. There will then be a procession at 9.30pm by local scouts, guides and army cadets, to light the beacon on the Nebit.
The council would like to thank Diageo for providing the staves for the bonfires.
Many communities in Clackmannanshire are organising their own celebrations. Events will kick-off on Friday, 1st June with the Diamond Jubilee Ball in Alloa Town Hall from 8pm until midnight.
There will be a ceilidh in Dumyat Centre from 6pm until midnight on Saturday, 2nd June. And also on 2nd June, there will be Bell Ringing and a coffee morning in St John's Church, Alloa. A Jubilee event - "The Big Lunch" will take place at the Play Park Muckhart on Sunday 3rd June, from 12 noon until 4pm.
A dinner dance will take place on Saturday, 2nd June, in the Masonic Hall, Alva, from 7.30pm until 1am.
Alva will also be holding a family fun afternoon on Sunday, 3rd June at the No.5 Inn, at the top of Brook Street, below the entrance to Alva Glen, with a bouncy castle, a barbeque, stalls, games and music. The Diamond Jubilee Garden Party will also take place on 3rd June in the Nova Scotia Gardens, Menstrie from 3pm till 7pm.
Sauchie and Fishcross are having a street party on Tuesday 5th June, outside Sauchie Hall on Mar Place from 10 am until 5pm. There is also a street party being held in Holly Grove, Menstrie, from 10am until 11pm.
Tullibody, Cambus and Glenochil Community Council are also holding events, with community councils, the Scouts, Guides and schools all involved. All Gala Days in Clackmannanshire throughout the summer will also have a Jubilee theme.
Dollar Museum are also holding a Jubilee exhibition featuring Coronation Day, 2nd June 1953, in Dollar.
There are photographs of some of the events during the day: Tree Planting, Fancy Dress Parade, Children's Sports, Five-a-side Football, Floodlighting of the Burnside, Bonfire on Gloom Hill and Dancing to Andrew Rankine's Band in West Burnside.
Also featured is the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to Dollar on 28th June 1963. Photographs record Provost Miller greeting the Royal couple, their entertainment by gymnasts and the Pipe Band at Dollar Academy and the Guard of Honour formed by the CCF, Boys Brigade, Girls Brigade, Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Brownies. Also recorded is their arrival by car and their departure by the Royal Train from the gaily decorated Dollar Station. Visitors may also see many souvenirs of the Coronation with Dollar connections.
There is also an exhibition in Alloa Tower, which will take place between 31st May and 4th June.
Lord-Lieutenant Rt. Hon. George Reid said: "Her Majesty has given 60 years of committed and unstinting service to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, which we celebrate with respect and gratitude.
"I have to be at the official celebrations in London as the personal representative of the Queen in Clackmannanshire. I am sorry not to be in the Wee County with local people, but I am sure that my Deputy-Lieutenants will be actively engaged in our many Diamond Jubilee events."