Mayor of Walsall invites residents to share their memories of The Queen

Residents are invited to share their memories of Her Majesty’s visits to Walsall over the years.

“ On a visit to Walsall in 1962, Her Majesty had a tour of the Crabtree factory in Walsall. Although the factory is long gone now, many local people will be familiar with the saying ‘if you don’t work at Crabtree’s, you’ll know someone who does.

The company gave cine cameras to various employees to record the occasion and the footage was put together with Ted Richardson narrating. Ted was the Crabtree employee who organised the event. He doesn’t feature in the video because he was always a few steps ahead of Her Majesty making sure everyone was in place. Ted was forever after known at Crabtree’s as ‘goes before The Queen’. It really is a lovely video.

I know the Crabtree Society is still active, although of course the pandemic has curtailed their social events. While COVID is still with us, we’re learning to live with it as safely as we can and I’d really love it if the Crabtree Society members would like to come to the Mayor’s Parlour to share with me their recollections of a very special day.

When Her Majesty came to the throne, I was a toddler in Malta, my country of birth, which for many years was a British colony and so I unfortunately have no memory of the momentous events of 1952 and 1953. I’d love to hear from people who are that little bit older than me, who also came to Walsall from other countries, about their recollections of the Coronation and visits the Queen made to the countries they hail from. “

“ 2022 is a year of national celebrations, so the clock doesn’t stop after the big weekend at the start of June.

I’d be really fascinated to hear from local residents born in 1926, the year of her Majesty’s birth, who will recall what times were like in her formative years and also how it felt to watch the Coronation as it happened. So many people would only have been able to watch it crammed in the front room of that one neighbour lucky enough to have a black and white 9” television!

We fully appreciate that residents of this age group may not be mobile enough to come to the Mayor’s Parlour, but I can come to you. “