Memories from Jubilee Year BY HAROLD CUNLIFFE
This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Coronation of HRH. Queen Elizabeth II.
I
have no recollections of this event due to my age, but I was reminded of the celebrations during the 1960’s when I started work age 15 at a cabinet woks in Heywood. I must admit to not paying much interest to the conversations related by the older tradesmen as we sat round our workbench at lunch time, because it was mainly the subject of wartime experiences. But there was one conversation which I remember clearly. This was the recollections of the Coronation of 1953. Television was in its infancy I believe, with television sets being expensive and few and far between. One of the cabinet makers I worked with was a wizard with electronics having gained this knowledge from the time he did his bit for his country in World War 2. He related that he purchased an ex-military oscilloscope which he converted in to a television set. Mazel Radio, who had shops dotted around Manchester sold all the valves and paraphernalia required to perform this task. The problem was that the screen was round in shape and was very small in comparison with today. Many people related watching the Coronation in a neighbour’s house. Stories related of living rooms being packed with friends and neighbours all attempting to catch a glimpse of the action on a six inch television screen.
Arthur Horridge with his wonky vegetables
J.P. had a wonderful sense of humour. He was not fussy about ‘wonky vegetables,’ as seen in the photograph. Should you wish to visit his shop during the mid-1950’s, it was very easy to find, especially on a Saturday afternoon. All you had to do is look for the shop which had a crowd of men huddled together on the footpath, all peering intently into the window display all watching the televised football match on a demonstration television set. It is obviously a football match being shown in the photograph judging by the lack of interest shown by the women who are seen standing next to the shop window having a good gossip.
1953 Television with 12 inch screen
At the time of the Coronation, Mr Arthur Horridge was in business who became well known in North Manchester for stocking the most up to date television and radio sets. Arthur who later became an Alderman, Mayor and 16
LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
Punters eagerly watching the match
www.lancmag.com
