The speaker at the Wyre Forest and District Centre's May meeting was Colin Bowden, who talked about life aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Mr Bowden joined the Royal Marines in 1945, and went on a royal tour to South Africa the following year as a dummer/bugler on HMS Vanguard.

He served on Britannia from 1954 until 1971 as a member of the Royal Marines band, retiring in 1985 after becoming drum major.

There have been 83 royal yachts since the Restoration in 1660. Britannia was launched in 1953, was moved to Edinburgh in 2001 and is now open to the public.

Mr Bowden illustrated his talk with slides, referring to the state banquets, and "beating retreat" ceremony.

Then he showed slides of a voyage to Sydney, via Madeira, Barbados, the Panama Canal, Galapagos and Easter Islands, Tahiti and Pitcairn Island, and described the "Crossing the line" experience by those crossing the Equator for the first time.