REJOICE AT THE QUEEN’S CORONATION

1953

QUEEN elizabeth ii’s Coronation (inset) takes place at Westminster Abbey. edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of mount everest and fish fingers and electric washing machines became available to buy.

THE couple had been married for nine years when they finally got their own home, a newly built three-bedroom council house in the Somerset village of Blackford.

They are still there more than 60 years later with their youngest son, Steve, who bought the home for them a few years ago.

‘I was thrilled to have water coming out of a tap,’ says Nancy. ‘There were no fitted carpets. In fact, it was 15 years before we could afford them.’

However, more excitement followed as Eric, who now worked for the Somerset Rivers Authority, increased his earnings.

In the mid-1950s Nancy — who supplemented their income by cleaning — got her first twin-tub washing machine. With a growing family — Derek was born in 1951 — she needed it.