Diane Bright from Northamptonshire came to our street party on Upper Green last week with memories of being nine years old in June 1953. “I lived at Upper Larkstoke with my grandparents – we had no running water and no electricity. The Queen’s coronation was a cold and rainy day and we all squashed into the school house to watch it on television. There was a procession of floats through the village: I was a fairy and my sister was Little Bo Peep. In the evening we had a torchlight procession up Foxcote Hill to light the beacon.” Irene Sabin, pictured on coronation day 2023, another cold and rainy one, has lived in Ilmington all her life and volunteers in the shop every week. Irene was 16 in 1953 and has shared a photo of herself on a float looking very serious in her Girl Guide uniform. Then there’s Barbara Peachey, living on the other side of the world in North Island New Zealand. She and Diane were best friends in Ilmington in 1953. Barbara keeps in touch over the miles and has sent us images of her coronation prayer book, 70 years old and none the worse for wear. Ladies, we celebrate you all and the diverse lives you lead! We treasure your connection with us. As Diane says “I come back to Ilmington a lot but it’s even more beautiful than I remember. It was the most idyllic place to grow up.”
