anyone queuing to see the coffin in London atm?

[DickDarstedly]

I am wondering how long the queue is and how the organisation is working out. Are there enough toilets? Is it true that the wristband allows you to leave and come back?

EDITED BY MNHQ Please find the link to the new thread www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4635946-anyone-queuing-to-see-the-coffin-in-london-atm-pt-2

Hi Hels and Crusty

they are now saying "queue nearly at capacity, don't travel to join". So Hels you probably got there just in time.

I have just past HMS Belfast and its completely stopped

So I have been queuing since 2.28am (and joined when told queue at near capacity) and am Butler’s ChopHouse - not quite gone past Tower Bridge yet - about 100m away. We have now stopped for at least 15 mins…

It's stopped as they are returning the.state funeral. Police just informed us

rehearsing

I made it in at 5.40am so got to see the changing of the guards. Walking in took my breath away. It was so so beautiful and really very fitting. It made me understand the importance of the ceremonial aspect in a way that I hadn't yet grasped. I'm so pleased I went.

All in all it took 12 hours, the tracker at the time said 24. I hope everyone who wants to go gets to go as it will be a treasured memory of mine.

Now at HMS Belfast - took me 4 hours to get here and queue has been stationary for 20 mins again.

@Piccalino3 - sounds amazing. Do you have any idea how long it took you from HMS Belfast or even London Bridge? Trying to steel myself…

At the globe now

Good morning to

@Crustyjuggler92
@IncessantNameChanger
@Hels20

and anyone else queuing; hope it hasn’t been too cold a night for you

@Piccalino3 : good to read your updates!

@hels: based on my own timings/what I read here, 7-8 hours, possibly worst case if rehearsal is causing big delays - sit when you can xx

I've noticed there are lots of stoppages affecting the queue. Every guard change - and they're much more frequent than you'd think, for cleaning, not to mention stoppages outside mentioned upthread. From the live stream you can see that progress past the catafalque is incredibly slow for many people. I know they have queued for hours and it needs to be respectful, but it could be quicker. They've been planning this for years.

I'm frustrated as we were planning to go, but it's looking like we wouldn't get in the queue, never mind see the coffin. I couldn't take time off work as it's coincided with one of the busiest weeks I've known in over ten years and it was far too risky to take time off sick and go anyway with all the camera crews and the live stream.

I think @IncessantNameChanger is about 2 hours ahead. No movement!! Bloody cold!

@Hels20 - sorry typo - 7-8 hours on the good side, 10 on bad - it’s the delays that make things hard to predict

I was 9 hours from LB but others got through 1 hour faster later that morning as there was a closure 2-3. So it ‘should’ be 8 from that point but it depends on impact of the rehearsal timings

I think they have done a pretty good job of managing all this. Yes they have had lots of time to prepare but the massive unknown was how many people would want to come (and the weather/time of year). From TV and posts here it sounds like they have done a pretty good job overall. (They can iron out any hitches for next time!)

@WeAreTheHeroes : I know it’s frustrating but actually I don’t think it can go any faster: the ‘stops’ are bottle necks but unavoidable (the guard changes, giving wristbands closures for cleaning which does need to happen etc).

Otherwise it would involve closing the whole route to pedestrians going the other way which would cause even more mayhem in London & make the queue a crushing risk if fenced in both sides & having multiple rows of people going through in the Hall (more than the 4 rows now)

I don’t know what others think?

I hope the situation for the accessible route improves particularly though - maybe more resources & a second row for that so 3 on each side?

@WeAreTheHeroes : when I did this, I noticed we were sent in ‘batches’ over Lambeth Bridge (so not a steady stream of people standing on the bridge but eg bottle neck to get on , a group of eg 20 go over, when they reach the other side another group allowed on). I think on this was to avoid a static queue there being a crush risk or any kind of target… I felt reassured going out of that.

BIG THANKS btw to the volunteers who made it safe if any are reading

Been toldcthey did a two hour dress rehearsal in the hall, no idea if that's true. Plus there was a crush with bad crowd control. At the tate now just before a one hour holding in place

I am heartened by the pp upthread who joined the queue when the tracker said it would 24 hours and got through in 12.

I was in 'batches' for the bridge, which meant the queue was stop-start from about the gardens at the foot of the London eye, and extremely slow until on the bridge. It meant that the bit along the Embankment by the Covid Memorial Wall at St Thomas Hospital was pretty tedious, and when I was there, there were only 7 portaloos for that whole stretch, but at least you could stand in another (parallel) queue for the loo just for a bit of variety.

There's a nice coffee truck along there (the one that's always there)

Plenty of loos in Victoria Tower Gardens, btw. The ordinary public toilets were open, plus lots of portaloos.

Marshals were lovely, and the one I spoke to (about passing on feedback that they needed more loos along the Embankment) was very polite and friendly. Others in passing were all friendly too. (I'd rather see them getting to use the VIP entrance as their 'pay' than parliamentary staff and guests - they deserve it)

@WeAreTheHeroes : longest time anyone has reported is 14 hours (including 1-2 hours stoppages) - so that’s probably a realistic ‘worst case’.

The big hold ups seem to be 2-3 am or today until 5-6 for the rehearsal so anyone joining after that indeed hopefully would be 12 and out the other side, we now know how long it takes for full length from back of Southwark Park and what the FULL queue takes (because it is the time from ‘capacity’ being enough to close the park yesterday)

I guess the media/govt website is giving a buffer in case of the unexpected

I had a one-hour standstill between 2 and 3 am, marshals told us it was for cleaning to be carried out (the wreathe is presumably checked too)

I've seen online that there are also rehearsals, which are likely to ve in the small hiurs.

so "open 24/7" must mean the queue, not the Hall

I spent 12 years living in Bermondsey and Southwark Park was my local park. I'm at least glad that thousands of people are getting to enjoy it. I suspect watching a drunk Chas n Dave or just admiring the ducks on the pond, both of which I have done there, were more enjoyable than queuing though!

has anyone seen any figures/estimates for how many people have been through?
Those of you with wristbands, what were your numbers & when did you get to the hall?

We have wristbands for later today after we queued for the accessible queue yesterday. The organisers were overwhelmed, and the organisation was awful. We joined at 11 am but it was hard to get there in the first place, with so many road closures. Secondly no one seemed to be in control. The two of us walked/ wheelchaired along Milbank to the front of the Tate Britain, and they sent us to join the end of the queue - which was firstly up the side of the Tate, then along John Islip street. It’s not easy with a wheelchair over the tree lined pavements at the back, and the queue was so long - nearly to the end of the street. Folk kept coming, yet no one diverted them up the side street to avoid the long trek. There were no chairs up there, no toilets, no refreshments - only in the Tate/ start of queue. Few had brought food or drink - well we had been told not to! There were lots of Marshals, but no communication equipment so none of them knew anything. There were loads of groups of families queuing - forget the ‘disabled plus carer’. The group behind us queued with a disabled teen but it was very very clear that the teen was never going to the lying in state, only the adults. (They said that in front of me. ) There were NO (zero, nada) checks as to entitlement - we took the Blue Badge and Pip letter, but no one asked for it. We queued for four hours, and by the end got our wristbands (just quickly stuck on us) and we’re then given the choice of going in at 3 am, or mid morning. We took a time slot for mid morning, so are just about to leave to go back. There needs to be the same ‘wait’ info as for the other line. There needs to be far better checking too.

@Hels20 hope you've moved along now. I think it took us about 8 hours from the other side of Tower Bridge, but that was with an hour for cleaning too so hopefully you move quicker