With all eyes on the
Jubilee, these enchanting photographs give an insight into what life was like 60
years ago when our Queen came to the throne.
Discovered in a
photographic agency’s archives, they show a world which moved at an entirely
different pace. As L. P. Hartley wrote: ‘The past is a foreign country, they do
things differently there.’ So true.
Crime levels were a
tenth of today’s. There were only 2.5 million cars on the road, as opposed to
25 million now. Few homes had phones and only a tenth owned fridges. But storing
food wasn’t a problem as rationing did not end until July 1954. Shopping was a
daily trail around the butcher’s, the baker’s and the greengrocer’s.
Televisions were
rare — there was only one channel — but sales rocketed before June 1953, so the
nation could tune into the Coronation.
Your Hovis, madam: Like a scene from the nostalgic TV
advert, a baker¿s boy delivers in a quiet Suffolk street. There¿s not a yellow
line - or car - in sight
What¿s your tip for the big race? A woman chats to a
kennel lad exercising half a dozen racing greyhounds in a quiet Worcestershire
lane. Let¿s hope the dogs don¿t catch sight of a real live hare
Perfect fit: A Hereford farrier¿s young apprentice learns
how to shoe a horse
Home on the range: The fire¿s glowing, the kettle¿s on -
and baby¿s cot is in the warmest place in the house
Pedal power: A family go for a 1953 picnic in the
Cotswolds by bicycle. A Thermos of tea for Mum and Dad and pop for the kids
Please, sir: Schoolboys chat with a master at King's
College School, London
All by hand: Artists creating flags and banners for the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Edgington's factory in Sidcup, London
The capital at a standstill: An aerial view of the Queen's
coronation procession through London, with streets lined with well-wishers
Beating heart of London: Traffic and pedestrians bustle in
Piccadilly Circus, which has only grown more hectic since
What's in that basket? Giraffes peer over a fence at a
young zoo visitor
Crowd pleaser: A woman on a window seat reads to children
listening intently in Billericay, Essex
Home brew: A woman holds up a tea cosy shaped like a
miniature thatched cottage in Stratford-upon-Avon
Slower pace of life: Wives of bargemen rest and talk on
decks of barges tied up in a canal in Warwickshire
Sign of the times: Children in London lean out of a window
to hang a message for their newly crowned queen
Hear ye! Men in Hastings, East Sussex, compete in a town
criers' contest
Time and tide: Boats stranded by low waters sit below St
Botolph's Church, known locally as the Boston Stump, in Lincolnshire
Quaint: Morris dancers perform on a village street as
spectators watch in Maidstone, Kent
Hideaway: Tourists in Nottinghamshire stand inside a
decaying part of an ancient tree called Major Oak
Hello sailor: A young couple lingers to talk in municipal
park in Hampshire
Service with a smile: A woman stands behind a bar loaded
with sandwiches at a 17th-century inn in London
Thatcher's Britain: An apprentice learns to trim new straw
on a cottage roof in Hereford
Dressed to impress: Two young textile workers inspect
colorful striped silks modelled by an older colleague
Fresh wounds: Four girls in Hampshire read a memorial for
the Allied forces who fought on D-Day
Idyllic: Women pet a shy sheep on a hillside overlooking a
green valley in Denbighshire, Wales
Sands of time: People watch a sculptor build a miniature
cathedral on Weymouth beach, Dorset
Crossroads: Women on a weekend cycling trip through
Lincolnshire pose beside a road sign near a meadow
The modern game: Boys at the very same school in
Wimbledon, London, get stuck in during rugby practice
Old meets new: Much of Suffolk, such as this street in
Bury St Edmunds, has hung on to its traditional look, but gradually it is moving
away from the scenes pictured above
Isn't it great to look back and to reminisce about the England of old and the think that two world was were fought to give us the freedom we so rightly deserve. Lazy sunny days spent in the parks with all the family, children helping thier Mums to cook or the children playing out, the lads playing Cow boys and Indians and the girls playing hop scotch or skipping, or has Mary Hopkins would sing Those Were The Days My Friend.
Yes those were the days, and never to be seen again. Lots have changed over the last sixty years and they have changed for the worse, something so vile was about to come to Britain and turn the country upside down, and that thing was Multiculturalism, the ways of the English and the British people gone for ever. Who would have thought that our country would ever go from this to.....
Makes you wonder doesn't it...can you imagine having a Christian demonstration against Islam in downtown Baghdad!
View the pictures below and decide how you really feel about the future of the Western World. These pictures are of Muslims marching through the STREETS OF LONDON during their recent 'Religion of Peace Demonstration.'
Why would anyone think that we should be at war with such nice, peaceful Muslims? You need to forward this one to everyone! These pictures tell it all!
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