Putting up Coronation decorations at the Town Hall, Reading
Photograph from Reading Chronicle Collection - May 1953
Workers putting up Coronation decorations on the Town Hall clock tower from mobile elevated platforms
Workers put up banners, flags and a large portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on Reading Town Hall in preparation for her coronation on 2 June 1953. Elizabeth ascended the throne upon the death of her father King George VI on the 6 February 1952.
Reading's council had formed a Coronation Celebrations Committee to discuss what could be done to mark the event. The Borough Architect put forward a scheme for the decoration of public and municipal buildings. This included flags and flowers in the main streets, floodlighting of the Forbury Gardens, the Town Hall clock-tower, St. Laurence’s Church and St. Mary’s Church, and fairy lamps in the Forbury Gardens, Christchurch Playing Fields and along Thameside Promenade. The Committee decided that the programme of events for Coronation Day should include band concerts, athletics, water sports, dancing, a fun fair in Hill’s Meadow, a procession, and fireworks.
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