A new Queen and another FA Cup victory
Nostalgia Editor WHATEVER your take on the monarchy, it’s remarkable to think our current Queen has been on the throne for the last 65 years - longer than many of us have been alive.
We step back to recall the life and times of 1952, the year which saw the death of King George VI - an event which sparked tears in the classrooms and workplaces of Britain when the news was announced in February that year.
He would be succeeded by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II who would be crowned at Westminster Abbey the following year.
Here in the region, Newcastle United’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Wembley was the club’s second FA Cup triumph in two years. Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented the trophy to United captain Joe Harvey.
Just seven years after the end of World War II, rationing and austerity meant day-to-day life was still sometimes difficult, but at least the North East’s postwar shipyards, coalmines, and factories had full order books so most people had a job.
Back in 1952, the average house price was £1,800, and such has been the extent of inflation over the last 65 years, a pound then would be worth £23 today!
Back then a pint of milk cost 4p (in today’s money); a loaf of bread was 6p; and a dozen eggs was 8p!
All incredibly cheap by 2017 standards, but then again the average yearly salary then was just £580.
In the wider world in 1952, the summer Olympics took place in Helsinki, Finland; the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb; and Mother Teresa opened a home for the dying and destitute in Calcutta, India.
In other news, the Big Bang theory explaining the origins of the universe was propounded; a young political activist Nelson Mandela was arrested by police in South Africa, and Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott to become world heavyweight boxing champion.
On the home front, thick smog in London killed at least 4,000 people; 30 people died at the Farnborough Air Show when a De Havilland fighter aircraft broke up over spectators; and Britain joined the nuclear age by announcing it had its own atomic bomb.
Away from the serious headlines, popular films included Greatest Show on Earth, The Quiet Man, and Singin’ in the Rain.
The Diary of Anne Frank was published recalling the war’s Nazi tyranny, and Agatha Christie’s murdermystery play The Mousetrap opened and would become the longest running stage play in history.
That’s the way we were 65 years ago. Enjoy our selection of North East photographs from 1952.
Front: Newcastle United return home with FA Cup,1952; the Ashington coal queen, c1952 (Six Townships Group); the 15,000-ton tanker Merchant Knight at Sunderland, 1952; Middlesbrough Corporation bus, 1952
Above, the ancient Riding the Bounds ceremony, Morpeth, 1952; left, Manors Station, Newcastle, 1952