Royal Celebrations in the Three Towns

[down south]

Well, Bob, you're entitled to your opinion. but we don't all have to share it.

Nevertheless, I daresay there won't be a lot of street parties around the Three Towns during the upcoming Jubilee . Not sure if there will even have been much in the way of official celebrations at the time of our Queen's silver jubilee back in 1977 ? ; maybe some of you will know about that.

But back at the time of King George V's Silver Jubilee in 1935, people looked at things a bit differently. Not least because in the days before we all had so much entertainment on tap these kinds of events made a good excuse for having a party .

And the article below ,which appears with full acknowledgements once again to The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, describes the celebrations locally that accompanied that Jubilee. Wonder how the tree at Castlecraigs is doing now ?

Susan


THE SILVER JUBILEE

The 1930s were a decade which both at the time and in retrospect contained little of cheer or encouragement. Beginning with a general depression of trade and industry, and ending with the second world war, the middle -years contained such dis­turbing features as the Abyssinian war, the Spanish war, the abdica­tion of King Edward VIII; so any excuse for celebration was seized upon with perhaps more enthusiasm than the subject might have warranted otherwise.

One such event was the Silver Jubilee of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary which was celebrated on Monday, May 6, 1935.

On that occasion there were interesting breaks with the previous pattern of celebrating national events in this locality. Hitherto there had been somewhat of a concentra­tion on children's sports, with buns and milk, and processions — generally carried out either in drizzling rain or in cold, dull conditions — so in 1935 the organisers decided to show good sense and play safe. They organised instead special film programmes for
children in the local cinemas in both morning and afternoon — the films consisting of cartoons and westerns. These perform­ances were packed to the doors, but as it happened, it was a glorious summer's day.

Each schoolchild in Ardrossan received a shilling and a bar of chocolate; in Saltcoats they received just a bar of chocolate; in Stevenston they don't seem to have received anything although it is fair to remember that there was no town council to provide it.

Flags and bunting decor­ated the principal streets and there was widespread decoration of houses. On previous occasions, house decoration had been con­fined to the dwellings of the VIPs in each town, but since the last such jollifica­tion the new housing schemes had been built, and it was noticeable that the council house tenants went to town in covering their houses with flags and streamers in patriotic colours.

Ardrossan Town Council planted a tree — a copper beech — in the garden of the council chambers, the provost expressing the hope that the memorial tree would still be in existence when the next jubilee came along, and that they would all be there to see it. (The tree is still there; the next jubilee falls due in 1977: but the council won't be there. )

There were united ser­vices in the parish churches; the old people of Saltcoats were enter­tained to a concert in the Beach Pavilion; and Ardrossan castle ruins were floodlit for the first time; but the particular highlight of the day was the chain of bonfires around the coast.

A large bonfire was built on the Castle Hill, the material being supplied and erected by the Harbour Company, but Ardrossan Scout Troop decided to go one better and build a beacon on the highest hill in the neighbourhood — Knockjargon.

Having received permis­sion to do so from the farmer of Busby, the boys spent every evening after school the previous week, felling trees in the wood near the hill and dragging the timber to the summit... a task which could only be achieved across some swampy ground by boy-power. During the weekend before the great day a party of Scouts camped at the site to ensure that no one set fire to the pile beforehand. On the Monday evening most 4 of the Scouts were accom­panied at the hill by a large crowd of parents and friends.

Stevenston Scout Troop did not travel so far, but did distinguish themselves by building at the foreshore one of the largest bonfires in Scotland. It measured 24 feet in diameter and 40 feet in height; was built of pitch pine logs and was estimated to weigh over 100 tons. Eighty gallons of tar and 20 gallons of paraffin were poured over the structure.

The bonfires were lit in sequence from London outwards, and when the Irvine bonfire was seen from Stevenston, the one on the shore was fired in the presence of about 4000 spectators; then the one on Castle Hill, followed by the one on Knockjargon.It was a still, warm, perfect evening, and as the bonfire on Knockjargon blazed, the Scouts sang the National Anthem then led the crowd in com­munity singing which was heard for miles across the valley and had an oddly thrilling and moving effect.

Commenting on this, the editor of this paper, writing in his leading article for the issue of that week, said: "Youths that are indeed the torch-bearers of the future, and let us hope these beacons only betoken cheer and rejoic­ing. But, if so incursion threatens, it will be youths who are called to carry the fiery cross, and who will be first to be sacrificed in protection of this land." On that summer evening there was a chilly wind arising in Germany.

[5eulbdog7]

I take it that the people of Scotland have moved on from these last remnants of colomialism- Bit like Jamaica saying thank you maam for making us slaves - Unfortunately the Bolsheviks never killed enough of them nuff said

The Queen is still very popular in Scotland we just celebrate differently to- day.

[down south]

Here finally is the last of the series of articles from the Herald; about the coronation of King George VI in 1937. Who knows,we might even be within living memory here of a few of our veteran members.

There are some pictures already on 3T showing the street party in Herald Street; the paper certainly didn't have to travel far to report on that event:

http://www.threetowners.com/images/Herald_St.jpg

http://www.threetowners.com/images/Coronation1937_1.JPG

And there are some contemporary reports with a few extra details of the events in all three towns at this link:

www.threetowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=78054#p78054

Jim Mollison, the famous aviator mentioned in the article as delivering the film of the Coronation to the cinema, is probably best known as the husband of the even more famous Amy Johnson. Wonder where he landed his plane ?

Susan


TEAS IN THE STREETS

The silver jubilee of the king and queen in 1935 had given a timely excuse for jollity and hope, midway through a decade that was proving depressing in almost every aspect, and in the following couple of years another royal event — a coronation —proved even more of an antidote to a steadily worsening situation nationally and internationally.

King George V survived his jubilee by only eight months, dying peacefully in January 1936. There was sorrow at his death: he had been a good enough monarch, and there was a general feeling of hope for the future in that his successor was the person most widely known, publicised and probably liked, throughout the kingdom — the Prince of Wales. On his accession he took the title Edward VIII, and his coronation was arranged for May 1937.

The arrangements were duly carried out — although it was a different king who was crowned. When Edward VIII preferred to abdicate rather than forego marriage to Mrs Wallis Simpson, the older people sensed that, along with wars and rumours of wars from Europe, unemploy­ment and general depression, the whole structure of the empire was tottering; so the coronation of George VI was celebrated with an enthusiasm which had undertones of desperation — and which now, par­ticularly in local events, can almost be recognised as a demonstration by a community of its deter­mined cohesion — destined to be put to the test a couple of years later.

The coronation on Wednesday, May 12, 1937, was noteworthy in Ardros­san and Saltcoats for one particular feature — the arrangements made by residents of individual streets to celebrate it, outwith the usual processions, sermons and speeches of the civic authorities.

As usual on national occasions, houses, shops and public buildings were lavishly decorated — and one especial house's tableau, which some readers may recall, was a set piece of dolls repre­senting their majesties in accurate robes, displayed outside a house in Wind­mill Street, Saltcoats.

At school on the previous day the children had been presented with a souvenir medal (these cost the town councils £15 per thousand), a coronation mug; the girls a jelly-spoon and the boys a knife.

Sports for the school­children were held at Campbell Park, Saltcoats, and South Beach Green, Ardrossan, with buns and milk being freely distributed, and the old people of the towns were entertained to tea and concerts.

But it was in what the paper's reports of the time described somewhat patronisingly as "the working-class streets" that the main interest lay.

The residents of those streets — who were in all honesty not very well off — combined together for some months previously to save what they could afford, and on the afternoon of coronation day they erected tables in the middle of the streets and the children and old people especially were treated to lavish tea parties.Fortunately it was a beautiful day.

At each of these "street teas," especially in Ardros­san, opening ceremonies were held, when at the invitation of the organising residents, the provost and magistrates officially entered through decorated arches at the ends of the streets, and expressed good wishes to all.

Old photographs show the sunlit, flag-bedecked aspects of such streets as Kilmahew Street and Herald Street, Ardrossan, where the normally gloomy looking tenements were a background to happy neighbours dressed in their best clothes, enjoying tea and cakes at laden tables in the middle of the road.

Following the teas, infor­mal galas were held in the streets in which the older folk joined. Sports, com­munity singing, dancing and games were promoted, and a jolly time was had by all.

The Lyric Cinema, Ard­rossan, pulled off something of a coup, by showing a brief film of the coronation ceremony in London on the evening of the same day. The film was flown from London by Jim Mollison, the famous aviator, and rushed by car to the cinema.

There was a coronation regatta at SaItcoats model yachting pond, corona­tion schools football tournament, and a corona­tion treat to children of Lochranza, Arran, who were brought to Ardrossan and taken to the cinema for the first time in most of their lives.

In the evening of coronation day there were bonfires on Saltcoats Braes and Ardrossan Castle Hill — the last to be seen for eight troublous years.

[Penny Tray]

Susan,

The Glasgow Herald of 7 May carried a story that Jim Mollison intended to fly film reels of the Coronation on the London/Glasgow/Edinburgh route in under two hours. It doesn't say where he would specifically land in the Glasgow area.

[brvhrtjimmy]

i also posted a coronation photo,but im sure it was on the old site and was quite chuffed when hughie put it up on the home page,i have had a search on this site for it,usung the advanced search but had no luck maybe hughie will know how to find it.
Brvhrtjimmy (James Barr)

[down south]

I've seen lots of good photos of yours on Threetowners, Jimmy, but I can't say I' ever remember coming across that one I'm afraid.

Thanks for the detail on Jim Mollison, PT. Must have been delivering films for a number of cinemas from each stop on his journey. Quite impressive when you think about it in the state of technology then, to have the film of the Coronation processed and multiply copied, all ready for distribution to be shown that same day ...presumably there would have been many more copies going by different means all across Britain.

And now, though I haven't got any further articles, a reminder of one more Royal occasion locally, when the Queen paid her one and only visit to the Three Towns in July 1956; I'll link here to our main previous topic on that event, where some photos and memories of that ( and one or two other Royal visits ) are collected:

www.threetowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7796#p7796

Susan

[brvhrtjimmy]

thanks Susan for the compliments on my fotos that you have seen,always good to know that they are apreciated,as for the coronation street party one that i mentioned,it was taken at blakely road and i think it was on the old site but not 100% sure about that. i was hoping hughie might have pointed me in the right direction to it
Brvhrtjimmy (James Barr)