The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the 80th Anniversary of HMS Albacore & the Ashford Sea Cadets
In 2022, Her Majesty the Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, 70 years of service, having ascended to the throne on 6 February 1952.
The extended bank holiday, from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June, was the opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate the historic milestone.
Ashford Borough Council organised a long weekend of celebrations and commemorations to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the 80th Anniversary of HMS Albacore, Warship Week and the Ashford Sea Cadets.
Video of some of our images from the Platinum Jubilee weekend below:
Past events
Lighting of the Civic Memorial Beacon
Ashford Borough Council was one of 1,500 Platinum Jubilee Beacons lit in towns, cities, and villages, from all four corners of the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Commonwealth to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. Civic Park was lit in celebratory colours, with pre-recorded music and live performances from Ashford Vision Signing Choir and Ashford Residents Jenny Bailey and Chris Symons who wrote 'It Matters to Me' the Ark 2030 Anthem. The public added their good-will wishes to the Queen on the Jubilee Blossom tree, which is central to the Ashford Tree Trail.
Download the lyrics for It Matters To Me PDF [pdf] 111KB
The Mayors Thanksgiving Service for her Majesty the Queen
A community celebration took place, in music and words to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. All seven decades of the Queen's reign were featured, including music sung at the Queen's coronation on 2 June 1953 and the words of Sir John Betjemen. Local choirs from the Ashford borough performed, including Ashford Invicta Singers and young people from St Mary's Primary School; who also performed 'It Matters to Me'.
80th Anniversary of HMS Albacore and Ashford Sea Cadets
A new dedicated memorial at Memorial Gardens, Ashford, was unveiled for HMS Albacore and Ashford Sea Cadets. The commemorative service was led by the Chaplains of both the Ashford Sea Cadet and Mayor Elect, with the Captain of the Sea Cadets, Captain Neil Downing RN, attending on behalf of both the Sea Cadet Corps and the Royal Navy. Ashford Sea Cadets performed before and after the service, with the history and importance of HMS Albacore and Ashford Sea Cadets shared with attendees.
To find out more head to the HMS Albacore and the Ashford Sea Cadets webpage on our website.
The Ashford Tree Trail
The Ashford Tree Trail ran from 2 - 25 June 2022. The Tree Trail was a community arts project created by Animate Arts CIC in partnership with schools, groups and businesses in the Ashford borough. It was a trail of 30 trees through Ashford town centre. Every tree in this trail was decorated to celebrate the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee. For more information about the Ashford Tree Trail visit the Ashford Tree Trail webpage.
Virtual Forest
You can now view a gallery of pictures of trees that have been submitted online by organisations and members of the community.
Make Your Own
You can make your own tree and decorations at home!
The free activity pack to get you started is available to download here Ashford Tree Trail Activity Pack [pdf] 20495KB.
You could also use our free Jubilee colouring pages for kids.
View A4 Jubilee Colouring Pages For Kids [pdf] 612KB
View A4 Jubilee Colouring Pages For Kids Tenterden [pdf] 213KB
Ashford Borough Jubilee 2022: a thank you to the Queen on Film
‘Ashford Borough Jubilee 2022: a thank you to the Queen on Film’ is a participatory film project about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in the borough of Ashford. This community film project was delivered by Funder Films and funded by the Arts Council's Let's Create fund and the Kent Community Foundation. It involved commissioning seven young aspiring film-makers to document the preparations for, and celebrations of, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Ashford. To view the films of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations in Ashford visit the Ashford Borough Jubilee 2022: a thank you to the Queen on Film webpage.
