WE were very excited to hear from John Rostron of Southport who has uncovered some old photos of the Queen's visit to Dorchester in 1952.

John was clearing out some pictures belonging to a deceased aunt.

He said: "My aunt lived in Weymouth so I am unsure where they were taken."

Well, we've dived into the Echo archives to find out more and found some reports on Her Majesty's visit - a momentous occasion for the county town because the Queen was yet to be crowned - she was still Princess Elizabeth.

She visited Dorchester on July 3, 1952 and had a very busy morning in the town.

Crowds lined the amphitheatre at Maumbury Rings to get a glimpse of Her Majesty.

As well as meeting schoolchildren in Maumbury Rings, she also visited the soldiers garrisoned at the town barracks and then popped to Maiden Castle Farm, which is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, to meet the workers and their families.

Margaret Cox, who remembers the occasion, said: “It was a lovely day for us and a big thing for us to be invited to Maumbury Rings.

“There was a souvenir programme for the day – the Queen arrived at 10.15am and left at 12.20pm.

“She fitted a lot in and I think it was the last time she was in the town for longer than a flying visit.

“My cousin Brian was 11 at the time and had the day off school so he could stay at the farm. I think they had a party there to celebrate.”

Wonderful and ‘a real character’ is how Marion Mussell describes her grandfather John Fursey, who was a former Beadle of Dorchester and who met the Queen when she visited the county town in 1952.

At that time the Queen was on a tour of Shaftesbury, Poundbury, Maiden Castle and Gillingham – where she spoke to brush makers at a factory.

The 26-year-old, relatively new to Royal duties, confided at the time that she wished she could have spent more time talking to people.

“Whenever I am interested in something, someone always comes to tell me it is time to go,” she was rumoured to have said.

Princess Elizabeth met Mr Fursey in Maumbury Rings.

Mrs Mussell, speaking to the Echo a few years ago, said: “The Queen stopped and talked to my grandfather and shook his hand and I am sure it was a very proud moment for him.

“I don’t know what she said though.

“He was the town Beadle and carried a stick and wore a funny hat. The Mayor at the time was a Mr Hedger.”

Mr Fursey spent most of his life working the land around Dorchester, at farms near Bradford Peverell, Higher Burton and Puddletown.

When he moved in to the town, he lived in Charles Street with his wife Maud – they had six children and Mrs Mussell can remember sleeping round at their house.

She said: “He was a wonderful man and had a lovely face.

“He used to work for Simmonds and Sampson and one of his jobs was to get up at 6am and empty all the pennies out of the coin boxes in the public toilets.

“He once wrote an article for the Dorset Chonicle and the headline above it was ‘The youth of today are OK’.

Footage of this Royal occasion can be viewed on YouTube. Go to youtube.com/watch?v=P2v-iUKraL0

*John has supplied Looking Back with the hard copies of these pictures to give away to anyone who would like them. Get in touch the usual way.

CONTACT ME:

t: 01305 830973

e: joanna.davis

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