Newton Abbot Railway Station decorated for the Queen’s visit.                                                                    The Queen inspecting the horses at the Royal Show Stover July 1952

At the time of the Queen's Coronation I was one month short of my seventh birthday and in Mrs Lee’s class at Kingsteignton Church of England Infants’ School (now St Michael’s).

There had been a lot of build-up prior to the event and there was a buzz of excitement as people prepared for the big day. My mother and our next door neighbour, Mrs. Roberts had made bunting and this was displayed from our house at the corner of Rydon Estate to Mrs. Robert's house in Rydon Road. The bunting was red, white and blue and could be seen from quite a long distance away.

In preparation for the Coronation, shops were decorated and a week or so before, I remember walking into Newton Abbot with my brother, John, and my mother pushing the pram with my baby brother, Richard, to buy some flags to decorate our house. My grandmother had made me a dress especially for the Coronation, white with red squirrels and I had hair ribbons of red, white and blue. On the afternoon of the Coronation we went to Oakford Lawn where Coronation mugs were presented to all the children in the village. Because one of my brothers was only a baby, I had to collect his mug as well. During the afternoon there was entertainment in the Old Age Pensioners hall. We went home for tea and in the evening there was a firework display in Play Fields (now known at Clifford Park), the only play equipment there was a see-saw and four swings.

The next day the newspapers were full of the pictures of the Coronation. Not many people had a television set in those days and a film was made of the Coronation. I was taken to the Odeon Cinema with my brother and parents to see the film together with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Truman and their son. The cinema was full as many people wished to see the service in colour. It was very impressive. The dress which Her Majesty wore was decorated with flowers representing the United Kingdom, roses for England, thistles for Scotland, daffodils for Wales and shamrocks for Northern Ireland, and were depicted in diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. A few days after the Coronation, Mr. and Mrs, Truman went to London to see the decorations and brought me back a souvenir which was a small glass mug with the coat of arms painted on it. I still have the glass mug today but sadly my Coronation mug was broken.

The Queen later went on a tour of the Commonwealth and at school we followed the tour with pictures of the different countries the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh Visited and the welcome they received from the people.

Contributed by a member of the KHS