Ow am ya, Ma’am
Brownies give Queen Black Country welcome
ST George’s Day in 1957 was a red letter day for the Black Country as Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to the region since her coronation.
The Queen was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh on her tour of north Worcestershire and the Black Country, which took in Halesowen, Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Dudley, Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Kidderminster and Worcester.
The Queen had been on a state visit to Paris, April 8-11, 1957, and then had returned to Britain to celebrate her 31st birthday on April 21. On the day of her visit to the Black Country she travelled from Windsor by the royal train.
Royal saloon
The train was made up of eleven coaches, which included a first class coach, the royal saloon, the Queen’s saloon, the Duke’s saloon, royal diner, equerry’s saloon, two sleeping cars, railway official saloon, a first class diner and a power car. It arrived at Hagley at 10am, hauled by two Castle class locomotives, 7001 Sir James Milne and 7027 Thornbury Castle.
The royal couple were met by the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Admiral Sir William Tennant. The party then proceeded by car to Halesowen, where the Queen and the Duke were taken on a tour of the Walter Somers foundry. Next on the itinerary was a half-hour visit to the old council building in Oldbury. Then it was on to Rowley Regis, where these photographs were taken.
Our front page picture shows Brownies lining the streets to wave as the Queen and the Duke passed by on their way to a civic presentation in Old Hill. There 11 year old Margaret Duncan presented the Queen with a bouquet.
From there the royals drove to Dudley where they had lunch at the Town Hall. their next visit was to the Stevens and Williams glassworks in Brierley Hill, before going to Stourbridge, where they toured Mary Stevens Park in a specially converted Land Rover and met civic dignitaries at the council offices.
The Queen and Prince Philip then left the Black Country for another civic reception at Kidderminster before dining in the evening at the Guild Hall in Worcester. they then returned to Windsor by the royal train.