Attention: You are using an outdated browser, device or you do not have the latest version of JavaScript downloaded and so this website may not work as expected. Please download the latest software or switch device to avoid further issues.

News > General > Remembering the Queen

Remembering the Queen

It is with great sadness that we hear of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We extend sincere condolences to her family at this time.

The Queen – an archivist remembers

            I must be the only person on the West Buckland campus who remembers the Queen becoming Queen.

            I was at school, one morning in early February, 1952.   I was engaged in compiling a giant family tree of all the kings and queens of England, back to Alfred the Great and before.   I had got right down to the twentieth century, to the House of Windsor.  King George VI, in fact, was on the throne on the day I was printing the names of him and his family.

            I had carefully pencilled in the names of his two daughters – Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.  (Oddly, in those days, she was always referred to by everybody with both her names – Margaret Rose.)

            Suddenly the news broke that the King had died. When I heard it, I clearly remember putting down my pencil, picking up a rubber, erasing ‘Princess Elizabeth’, and putting in ‘ELIZABETH II’.

            How`s that for coincidence?

            And as for irony, I could never have imagined that I would still be working at a school seventy years later.

 

Berwick Coates

Most read

We welcomed back a few familiar faces for a festive feast... More...

OWBs from the 1980s were out in force!

Last Friday night the Royal and Fortescue Hotel, Barnstaple played host to 82 Alumni, Former and Current Staff as we resurrected the North Devon Dinne… More...

Champions - OWBA Tennis Team 2024

Events taking place in the 2024-25 academic year More...

Have your say

 
This website is powered by
ToucanTech