Did you see the Queen?

Such was the eagerness to produce and sell celebratory goods in red, white and blue, and the readiness of the world to purchase it, that there is a fairly good chance some of it still lingers in our drawers and boxes.  London Illustrated printed a series of Royal Family portraits; Shredded Wheat boxes gave us a complete procession to "cut out and keep"; the centre of attraction in toyshops was a model Coronation Coach.  Flags and ribbons were devoured by the mile for the biggest excuse for a party since VE Day eight years earlier.  This was the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second.

We may have attended a street party – the weather for that was at least kind if held the previous weekend, even if June 2nd itself was a weather washout.  Cakes, sandwiches and jelly, with races, entertainment and a gift for the children; oh, and that other essential, a fancy dress competition.  We, in Woodland Drive, had held the '45 party at the bottom of the older part of the road.  By 1953 we had spread our wings and organised something really special on the ground which would later become Oakwood School.  In the evening a bonfire and fireworks party took place on the ground which is now Irene Stebbings House.

As to the official celebrations and crowning, if you wanted to see that you either had to be there; or – and that meant the majority of us – we found a friend or relative who had a "television receiver".  Children sat near the set on the floor (just as well, given the size of the picture, a rather fuzzy 9 or 12 inches).  In the evening a procession of decorated vehicles lined up in Oakwood Drive and made its way via Hatfield Road to the city centre and then Verulamium.  By then the rain had relented and there was a little sunshine.

Watching the procession at Ballito in Hatfield Road.

And that, my friends, was all of sixty years ago.  There have been plenty of major events since then, which we celebrate in exactly the same way.  It still rains on some of them.  Maybe the only difference is that now, we may be invited to watch the event in a friend or relative's house on their 80-inch cinema display 3D TV with surround sound and bass woofer.

A St Albans' firm which had bred and supplied orchids since the 1870s, and supplied a number to the Royal Household, earning its owner a Royal Warrant, was the Camp Road headquarters nurseries of Friederick Sander, later taken over by this sons.  The Camp Road premises was closed down in 1957, but the collection, breeding skills and expertise continued elsewhere, not least by the Eric Young Orchid Foundation in Jersey, which acquired a sizeable amount of the Sander catalogue.

The original Orchid House seen from Sander's garden on
the other side of Camp Road, now a school.

On Bank Holiday Monday Peter Sander, great grandson of the founder, spoke to a churchful of eager orchid growers and others at St Stephen's Church.  He provided a thoughtful and family-based talk on a style of business which, of necessity, was run by a fanatic.  Obsessive owners rarely provide the foundation for sustainable enterprises over many generations, and it is to the credit of Friederick's children and grandchildren that the name and reputation of  the firm and its products continue, even if the original firm no longer trades.

Unfortunately, the only tangible reference to the nurseries which exists is a name on a block of flats in Cecil Road.  Mr Sander's original and fine Orchid House in Camp Road, was demolished a long time ago.  But at least we have Vanda Crescent, Aspasia Close, Flora Grove, Lycaste Close and Edward Close to remind us of a world-renowned horticultural enterprise which lasted in George Street and Camp Road for nearly 80 years.  I have no doubt that bouquets of choice orchids were sent to Buckingham Palace for the Coronation.

A "new" Orchid House in Cecil Road.