By Nick Pollard
The passing of Her Majesty Queen Eliza-beth, so soon after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, was a shock to us all. As I write this the State funeral is about to take place, and her final journey to Windsor will take her through Spelthorne, along the A30 through Ashford and Staines. Of course, this is far from her first ‘visit’ to our area. In the days before the Staines bypass, her family fre-quently travelled though Staines town centre and over the bridge on their way between London and Windsor. In 1929 her father, the Duke of York (later King George VI) was travelling in a car which was in collision with a motorcycle and sidecar at Billet Bridge, now the site of the Crooked Billet roundabout. Kempton Park racecourse was also a draw for the Royal family, and although perhaps most associated with the Queen’s mother, she was also a frequent visitor. In 1956 for example, her horse High Veldt won the 2000 guineas trial race at Kempton. As recently as last year another of her horses, Fresh Fancy, proved to be a winner at our local course . On 22nd February 1980 the Queen came to Staines to open the new Elmsleigh shop-ping centre. She was met by her Lord Lieutenant in Surrey, Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, who accompanied her around the crowded mall. I was fortunate enough to be there, as was my sister Judith who ap-pears in this photo of the occasion, third from the left in photo above. Sunbury was honoured with a visit from the Queen on 14th June 2001 to see the Millennium Embroidery and take tea with the embroiderers. This was before the Embroidery Gallery was built (it opened in 2006), so the newly completed work was housed under a large temporary gazebo for the occasion. The Queen chatted to many of the embroiderers and tea was served by the Sunbury Guides. Representatives from local organi-sations were also invited, and again I was lucky enough to be present on behalf of the History Society. I am grateful to the Embroidery Gallery for permission to use these photos of the event.
