memories of yeovil
memories of yeovil
The 1953 Coronation remembered by Patricia Ann Smith
Many, many thanks to Patricia Ann Smith for taking the time to recall all these fascinating memories of, and insights into, the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II -
"There was great excitement at the idea of a Coronation and an enormous amount of preparation was being made on all levels. Being a staunch Royalist, Dad decorated the front of our house and next door’s with a large shield which he had fashioned out of plywood and on which he had mounted a poster of the same shape showing the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and numerous patriotic pictures. He surrounded it with small Union Jack flags with their sticks fastened to the edges of the plywood. We were proud to be able to say that we had the best display in the whole of West Street (and probably Huish as well) for the Coronation.
Prior to Coronation Day the air was full of excitement and anticipation: the country was still recovering from the privations of the war and food rationing had only just come to an end. Princess Elizabeth had been married to Prince Philip only a few years before and already had two children, Prince Charles who is now King Charles III, and Princess Anne. At that time (1948) clothes rationing had been in force for years and many people gave up their own carefully accumulated clothing coupons to send them to the Princess so that she might have enough for a wedding dress suitable for a Royal bride. The United Kingdom was still very much in the doldrums with very little money; bomb damage was still evident and rebuilding was going ahead as quickly as finances would allow.
On Sunday lunchtimes there was a programme called “The Billy Cotton Band Show” on the BBC Light Programme and a song promoted by Billy Cotton and his Band “In a Golden Coach” became very popular. It began “In a Golden Coach, there’s a heart of gold, riding through old London Town; With the sweetest Queen the world’s ever seen, wearing a golden crown”. My little sister, Carol, who was only six years old used to sing, “In a Golden Coach, there’s a silver brooch”, much to everyone’s amusement.
The shops were full of Coronation merchandise: toy replica golden coaches drawn by white horses in all sizes in metal were very popular and Moffatt’s window in Yeovil’s High Street was full of them. I still have a child’s plastic handbag (pale green, I don’t think a blue one could have been available or I'd have got blue yet again!) with the coat of arms and Union Jack flags printed on the front.
Despite its being the beginning of June, Coronation Day itself was chilly and damp. Mum’s brother, our Uncle Albert, had a friend who lived in a prefab on Larkhill and who owned a television set, which was something quite unusual at the time, but which had probably been bought for the occasion, as many were. We were invited to go to the house to view the live broadcast of the Coronation ceremony and duly packed ourselves like sardines into the tiny front room before the even tinier, grainy black and white TV. I had been given a propelling pencil with red, white and blue stripes down the length of it and a jewelled crown on the end; Carol had one of the a little metal golden coaches drawn by white horses and I can remember the two of us sitting on the floor clutching our special Coronation treasures.
Arrangements were made for a large party to take place for all the pupils of Huish Junior and Infants Schools that afternoon in the Junior School playground and a roundabout was hired, together with various other entertainments for us. The rain slackened off to a drizzle and eventually stopped and we all received Coronation mugs as souvenirs of the occasion. In the evening Mum and Dad took us down to Yeovil town centre to the ancient George Hotel, where the licensees were friends of theirs. On the premises in one of the private ground-floor rooms there was another tiny, grainy, black and white TV where they were going to see the recording of the ceremony. Carol and I knelt on a bench in the yard of the George and leaned in through the window (children were never allowed into pubs in those days), clutching our bottles of Vimto and packets of Smiths’ crisps (the kind with a little blue screw of paper containing salt) to watch the Coronation all over again."
