What were you doing June 2nd, 1952?

[Rodney Mills]

I was 15 years old, and working as fry cook at the Regency Grill Bar. A restaurant next door to the pub 'The Ivy House, on the 'front' at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. Southend was packed with wall-to-wall people, down to see the 'lights' and celebrate the Coronation. The lights being animated figures, outlined by small colored light bulbs, plus strings of light bulbs across the 'front' ( the road parallel to the sea.).

June 2nd, 1952 I fried 2 1/2 TONS of chips. I worked from 7:30am until 1am the next morning. Then back to work at 8am for a regular 12 hour summer season shift at 1 shilling and six pence an hour.

Holidays in sunny Spain had not been "invented" then, it was mostly: Butlin's Holiday Camps; Southend if you lived in London, and Blackpool, Brighton etc.; many families went to Kent picking hops or apples, to have a family vacation and make a few 'bob'.

Once cheap package holidays became avalable, that was it for Southend. No more out of the B and B before 10am, come rain or shine, with no re-admittance until after 4pm. It's raining and cold? Too bad, huddle under the sun shelters, or hang around the amusement arcades, or in the pubs, kids trying to shelter in the doorway with an arrowroot buscuit and a lemonade.


I'm not sure kids of fifteen could work those kind of hours today in the U.K. or Oz, they couldn't in the U.S.

Cheers, Rodney

P.S. Enjoy your holiday!

[Tony Wilding]

i was 13 then, would have been doing one of two things, either digging bait to sell to fisherman on southend pier, or collecting empty lemonade bottles on the beach and getting the deposits back, was very lucerative weekends and bank holidays. had an old pram to collect them in, used to be full more than once in a day. easy to make a fiver or more. used to sell the worms we dug half price to the bait shops. enabled us to buy the best fishing tackle. earn more than my first job paid. sometimes worked helping on the pleasure boat Westcliff Belle, got my first motor boat 3 years later did fishing parties weekends.

[Tony Morcom]

My mum and dad did not have the pleasure of conceiving me for another 4 yrs and 9 months!!

[Jim Brady]

What was so special about this date.June the 2nd the following year was the Queens Coronation I do believe.
Regards.

Jim.B

[Rodney Mills]

Jim,

Chips all over my face with embarrassment. We (in the U.S.) have been bombarded with t.v., newspapers, and magazines about all the parades and stuff in London. June 2, 1952 was the Queen's ascension to the throne. I was in school. You are correct, I should have waited until 1953 for this post. In '52, I worked after school sorting sweet coupons from Southend 'Rock' sales (separating them by months). This thread should read 1953.

I have never been a Royalist, however, I've read the 60th anniversary goings on will cost 3 billion pounds, but are expected to return 15 billion pounds in tourist revenue. Not a bad return on investment. Thanks for your eagle eye, even though my face is red.

Cheers, Rodney

READERS PLEASE READ JUNE 2nd 1953.

[John Pruden]

I would have been on the tit at that time. and after all thees years i still am? hahahaha

[Colin Hawken]

I was on a Shell tanker heading for Singapore and Shanghai. Correction, we weren't heading for Shanghai,we'd been Shanghaied.

[Tony Wilding]

i really envy all who got to far eastern ports.

[Frederick Lacey]

e
Working the dates out in my discharge book I was about to leave Aussie or NZ for home as we arrived in London on the 6th July. 52. I was on the "Port Adelaide" at the time. What does puzzle me is that King George V1 died on my mothers birthday Feb. 6th 52. Surely she was Queen from that date.??

Fred.

[Tony Wilding]

dont think she is a queen untill crowned at her Coronation.