Coronation 1953

Photo; Nick Fewings, Unsplash

A triple celebration!

by Pauline Gayner

It was my Dad's 50th birthday on the 2nd June 1953, and I was going to be 6 years old on the 19th. So we had a big family get together and party at our house.

We lived near Wandsworth Common in South London. All my aunts and uncles on Dad's side were invited, he had a very large family; 12 brothers and sisters in all, I'm sure they didn't all come though. And yes, we bought our first Television set to watch the coronation on.

Mum and Dad entertained everyone, as usual. Mum sang and Dad accompanied her on the piano. I was probably dragged out from hiding behind the settee (as we called it in those days) to sing a song or two. I used to dread it ... but Mum always insisted. However, it's probably where I got my love of singing from, so I suppose I should be grateful....as I'm still doing it today at 76 years old.

My memories of the whole day are unfortunately quite vague, but I'm sure we all had a jolly good time!