Queen Elizabeth the Second, her visit to Rhyl in 1953 after the Coronation

How many of you are old enough to remember when the new Queen came to Rhyl on her tour of the country in 1953.
My Father had an architect's practice on the top floor of a Queen st building on the right looking towards the sea, my family were all at the front window waiting for the Queen to drive past with the public jammed on the pavement below. As with these things they were running late. Very boring for a 7 year old boy, but suddenly the crowd started cheering coming from the sea front the direction she was to travel getting closer and closer. What did we get but a very confident dog trotting up the white line tail in the air. Eventually the Royal convoy drove past with Her Majesty waving to the crowd. The dog was the best part of the day.

As part of the celebrations Cilcain School was part of a parade through the village to honour the Coronation. We were all given banners to wear and some of us were given musical instruments for the parade. I was given a small drum to wear on my chest like the big base drums in brass bands, and 2 sticks to beat it. We were told we could keep them after the event. What boy does not like being able to bash a drum with an audience. I imagine there were instructions on where and when to make music. All went well as far as I was concerned, what the teachers and public thought of the performance, I cannot remember. When we arrived back at the school, the instruments were taken from us and taken away. I was devastated, floods of tears at the unfairness of it all.

Interesting post Rhod. A decade before my time.

I have managed to find a picture of the royal visit.

https://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/21252945.queen-visited-rhyl---memories-elizabeth-ii/

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a picture of you with the drum, or any news article concerning the injustice of that day. Only found this picture of some children in Rhyl at a coronation party.

https://rhyl-life.blogspot.com/2015/02/princes-street-1953.html

Before my time too! A good reminder though of how long Her Majesty served in.
the role.
I really enjoyed picturing your story of that confident dog trotting up the
white line!

The area top of Queen Street is changing a lot at the moment.

I remember it well I didn’t live in Rhyl. I was 8 when the king died and 9 for the coronation we went to a friends house to watch the coronation no party as I remember not the most exciting TV I have watched. We were given a copy of the New Testament at school and I still have mine not looked at it much over the last 69 years.

I was 8yrs old.We all got a mug with the coronation on it.
I was thinking the other day that if i still had it,I could make a few bob selling it on Ebay.

VALVEBOUNCE wrote:

I was thinking the other day that if i still had it,I could make a few bob selling it on Ebay.

Surprisingly not much value. You might get a thousand .... but only about a thousand old "d". 240 old pennies to an old pound.

I am slowly clearing out a house at the moment. Lots of very old stuff you might think would be worth something, but finding little that actually is.