It wasn't exactly Marlon Brando in the Wild Ones.
Firstly it was a Harley not a Triumph and secondly, it was West Cumbria not the USA.
But riding through the villages it seemed that there was a welcome party in each village.
The whole of Cumbria is decorated with Jubilee Bunting and every village has a sign announcing its Jubilee Weekend activities.
It is scary just how much people have decided to join in with the hype of the jubilee.
Maybe it will be an opportunity to forget just how bad things have actually become under the con-dem government.
Even their supporters are turning against them.
Sir Richard Branson expressing how disappointed he is with their failure to invest in business and how little support entrepreneurs are receiving from the Government.
Various erstwhile supporters use words like lack of vision, no strategic direction, aimlessness, no policies, failure to deal with the deficit, lack of investment.
And as both the Royal Jubilee and the Olympics were either fixed years ago or the campaigns were successfully won by a Labour Government and a Labour Mayor of London, all the con-dems can do is to try to capitalise on the events.
Obviously I hope that British athletes are successful in the Olympics, lots of Medals, Gold, Silver and Bronze, including some sports in which we have done less well in previous games and of course, plenty of rowing, shooting and cycling medals where we seem to excel.
Equally I hope that people have an excellent Jubilee and that the Queen enjoys the support it implies, she is a gracious and popular head of state.
But there are fact thousands of folk whose valuable work in communities across the nation goes unacknowledged and unrewarded.
If Mr Cameron had seen fit it might have been possible to have woven into the celebrations some idea of a peoples jubilee, it might even helped to promote his big society which is in real danger of being sidelined as the damp squib it has become.
We may be better off as a nation than we were in 1952 but the reality of 2012 is a divided nation continuing to drift apart on a rising tide of apathy, with inexcusable wealth being accumulated alongside undeserved and unneeded poverty.
The statistics clearly demonstrate that the cuts are not affecting people equally and it is mainly those who have no power or political clout, the poor, the disabled, the workless, children, the elderly, who are paying the highest price, it is those individuals subsisting on welfare in its broadest and correct sense, who are seeing the cuts bite deeply and because their political capital is low to begin with, they have no champions to promote their cause.
The major social agents who have historically stood alongside the poor, Unions, Labour Party, Churches, Charities are themselves challenged by the con-dems wreckless pursuit of policies which impact negatively on budgets, on balance sheets and social effectiveness resulting in damage, possibly irretrievably, to social cohesion.
Naturally, being the cynic I am, I would have queried the sentiments behind a peoples jubilee if Mr Clegg or Mr Cameron had announced it, nevertheless it seems to be the case that many people will be celebrating the coming weekend as both a royal jubilee and a People's Jubilee.
Firstly it was a Harley not a Triumph and secondly, it was West Cumbria not the USA.
But riding through the villages it seemed that there was a welcome party in each village.
The whole of Cumbria is decorated with Jubilee Bunting and every village has a sign announcing its Jubilee Weekend activities.
It is scary just how much people have decided to join in with the hype of the jubilee.
Maybe it will be an opportunity to forget just how bad things have actually become under the con-dem government.
Even their supporters are turning against them.
Sir Richard Branson expressing how disappointed he is with their failure to invest in business and how little support entrepreneurs are receiving from the Government.
Various erstwhile supporters use words like lack of vision, no strategic direction, aimlessness, no policies, failure to deal with the deficit, lack of investment.
And as both the Royal Jubilee and the Olympics were either fixed years ago or the campaigns were successfully won by a Labour Government and a Labour Mayor of London, all the con-dems can do is to try to capitalise on the events.
Obviously I hope that British athletes are successful in the Olympics, lots of Medals, Gold, Silver and Bronze, including some sports in which we have done less well in previous games and of course, plenty of rowing, shooting and cycling medals where we seem to excel.
Equally I hope that people have an excellent Jubilee and that the Queen enjoys the support it implies, she is a gracious and popular head of state.
But there are fact thousands of folk whose valuable work in communities across the nation goes unacknowledged and unrewarded.
If Mr Cameron had seen fit it might have been possible to have woven into the celebrations some idea of a peoples jubilee, it might even helped to promote his big society which is in real danger of being sidelined as the damp squib it has become.
We may be better off as a nation than we were in 1952 but the reality of 2012 is a divided nation continuing to drift apart on a rising tide of apathy, with inexcusable wealth being accumulated alongside undeserved and unneeded poverty.
The statistics clearly demonstrate that the cuts are not affecting people equally and it is mainly those who have no power or political clout, the poor, the disabled, the workless, children, the elderly, who are paying the highest price, it is those individuals subsisting on welfare in its broadest and correct sense, who are seeing the cuts bite deeply and because their political capital is low to begin with, they have no champions to promote their cause.
The major social agents who have historically stood alongside the poor, Unions, Labour Party, Churches, Charities are themselves challenged by the con-dems wreckless pursuit of policies which impact negatively on budgets, on balance sheets and social effectiveness resulting in damage, possibly irretrievably, to social cohesion.
Naturally, being the cynic I am, I would have queried the sentiments behind a peoples jubilee if Mr Clegg or Mr Cameron had announced it, nevertheless it seems to be the case that many people will be celebrating the coming weekend as both a royal jubilee and a People's Jubilee.
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