Ivor Mills

I was thirteen at the time of the Coronation and remember that a few months before the event the school gardener came into the classroom (at Boxhill School) and told the teacher that he needed me.

He took me out onto the lawn in front of the school where a sloped frame about 20 x 6 foot had been built. He said he had the head-master’s permission to take me out of classes for six weeks to help to get the coronation display ready. I was quite happy to miss lessons but did point out that it would take me six weeks just to fill up the frame with soil!

‘Don’t worry about that’ he said ‘the other boys will fill it for you during their gardening lessons – I want you to level it and get it ready for planting.’

This was all done and then the gardener and I carefully planted out 3000 seedlings about the size of my thumb.

In the end the whole project took about eight weeks – the best two months I ever had at school – but by the time of the coronation we had a wonderfully colourful display with flowers picking out the shape and colours of the royal crest – crown, unicorn, the lot!

On the day itself there was a procession through the village led by the carnival queen – I think it was Jean Webb, daughter of the landlord of the Fox – to the Village Green where there was a tea party.